The Unique Finance Blog

A page from ftc.gov site begins with the headline Secured Credit Card Marketing Scams and then it places a copy of an advertising sample that reads, “ANYONE CAN QUALIFY FOR A MAJOR CREDIT CARD! Separated? Divorced? Bankrupt? widowed? BAD CREDIT? NO CREDIT? NO PROBLEM!”

When creating a budget to get out of debt the hardest part is just sitting down and getting started. No one likes to face the fact that they overspend and creating a budget will be a very big eye opener in seeing where and how you overspend.

The incidence of homeownership on interest rate is mainly related to the risk involved in the financial transaction. Homeownership modifies the risk involved for the lender on the lending process in several different ways and consequently, the interest rate is modified because it depends on the risk associated with the transaction.

If you are into investments but you don’t want to invest in one kind of stock or another, perhaps you would rather invest in a mutual fund. With mutual funds you can diversify, meaning you can buy more than one kind of stock. By diversifying you reduce the risks without losing your returns.

If you are a first time investor you are no doubt wondering what the best investment vehicles to get involved with are. There are many to choose from including stocks, bond, and mutual funds. This article will focus on stocks and how to invest in them.

First of all, I want to point out the long term historical return of the stock market is a little bit higher than 10% per year. Very few long term investments can make this claim. Some would argue that real estate is a better investment, and it may be in some instances, but I would rather put my money in investments that require no maintenance, renters, property taxes, or other “drawbacks” as I would refer to them. Of course, your own house, that you live in, is another story.

For most individuals, whether to sell a stock is the hardest decision in stock investing.

It sounds simple at first: “Sell your losers and let your winners run.” Sure, obviously. But how do you know which stocks are your future long-term winners and losers? More to the point, how do you tell the difference—right now—between a stock that is only on a short-term losing streak as opposed to one which is destined to be a long term loser?