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Featured Article Retires Will Need a Fortune Saved for Healthcare CostsAccording to a study published last week by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, people retiring today will need a ton load of money to cover healthcare expenses over the course of their retirement. No one knows what will happen with President Obama’s plan to cut $131 billion in Medicare / Medicaid spending and reform the [...] |
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Help the Poor While Getting a Return on Your Money with MicroPlace
Want to put your money to work while helping poor people around the world? Then you should consider MicroPlace (a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay Inc). Microplace, launched in 2007, is a website that enables everyday people to invest in the world’s working poor. (See CBS Evening News Video Clip Below).
Video: The World of Micro-Loans | CBS Evening News
A simple loan of a $20 can allow a poor woman to start a business and work her way out of poverty. In most countries, organizations that function like banks make loans to the poor. However, these organizations need funds to lend to the poor. Your investment helps fund these organizations while making a return on your money. It’s a win-win scenario because your help fight poverty and get your money back with interest!
Microfinance is one of the most effective poverty alleviation tools around because:
- Microfinance is a hand- up not a hand out. Empowering people to help themselves is an effective way to fight poverty.
- When you give to charity you give your money away. When you invest your money, it compounds while it is invested and is available to reinvest at maturity. You will always have money to help a poor person start a business
How you can invest as little as $20:
- Open an investment account (just like at Schwab or another broker)
- Use the search tools to find an investment on our site
- Pay with either PayPal or your bank account
- Receive your interest payments and your money at maturity back into your PayPal or bank account
Your loan will:
- Help a poor person start a business and work her way out of poverty
- Enable an institution helping poor people expand its business
- Participate in a solution that can help alleviate global poverty by helping people help themselves!
For more information visit MicroPlace.com. Note: Another site offering the same service is Kiva.org.
Debt Free U Helps College Students with Finances and Education
College students and young consumers across the country now have access to education and financial tools designed expressly for their needs. This 100% free, non-commercial portal launched today, just in time for the start of a new school semester.
Debt Free U empowers young adults to master money management during this critical stage in their lives. With a full range of interactive tools and practical information on the issue that matters most to young consumers, Debt Free U helps college students face tough financial decisions with confidence. Online calculators, an extensive resource guide and blogs with the latest information help students cut through the financial jargon and get clear, simple information on how they can control their debt.
Additionally, Debt Free U established social media websites including Facebook, Myspace and Twitter @DebtFreeU, to establish ongoing dialogue with the students and young consumers utilizing the site’s resources.
Now more than ever, students need education and support to establish smart money management habits. According to a national study conducted by Sallie Mae, one of the nation’s largest student loan providers, the average college student carries more than $3,000 in credit card debt on at least four credit cards, and close to one fifth of seniors carry balances of more than $7,000.
For more information visit DebtFreeU.org.
Track and Analyze Your Expenses with Texthog
If you are looking for a really simple real-time expense reporting application then consider using Texthog. Texthog is a free simple online application that allows you to track your expenses wherever you are.
The service is designed to simplify tracking and analyzing business expenses while traveling. No need to wait to get back to the office with a ton or receipts to go through.
Texthog recently added the ability for users to post transactions to their Texthog account via Twitter.
The service allows you to:
- Send transactions via SMS and Email
- Tags and Categories help organize transactions
- View trends and generate expense reports
- Set up Budgets and Reminders to Stay on Track
- Track expenses among large and small groups
- Export Data to Quickbooks, Excel, and Quicken
For more information visit Texthog.com.
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Use Thrive to Manage and Improve Your Financial Health
Thrive is a free online financial advisory service designed to help those in their 20s and 30s monitor, manage and improve their Financial Health.
With its patent-pending personal financial advisory engine, Thrive bridges the gap between the currently available online money management tools and expensive face-to-face meetings with financial planners. Thrive members can get their finances in order, get on a budget, and get financial advice personally tailored for their own lifestyle and goals.
Thrive sets itself apart by offering members a complete understanding of their entire financial lives, assessing their Financial Health Score and helping them improve it by providing step-by-step advice. Through Thrive’s simple online interface, members can reduce the clutter in their financial lives by gathering all of their credit card, checking, savings, retirement and investment accounts in one place.
Thrive’s proprietary financial advisory engine analyzes 11 dimensions of a members financial life, providing personalized advice to help them make better decisions for a financially secure future.
Video: Thrive, Watch Your Money Grow at JustThrive.com
For more information visit JustThrive.com.
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Purchase Unlimited Travel Pass for $599 on JetBlue
What would you do with an All-You-Can-Jet pass on JetBlue Airways? Today through August 21, you can purchase an unlimited travel pass for only $599 on JetBlue, which allows you to travel to any of the airline’s 56 international and domestic destinations as often as they like between September 8 and October 8, 2009. Now that’s a deal if you travel a lot!
Pass holders will have access to every available seat on every flight with no blackout dates, and can book travel up to three days prior to departure through October 5. Thirty-five TrueBlue points from the airline’s customer loyalty program will also be awarded with the purchase of an All-You-Can-Jet pass.
Customers who purchase a pass can book new travel or make changes or cancellations to previous pass reservations without penalty up to three days before departure. All travel using the All-You-Can-Jet pass must be booked between Aug. 12 and Oct. 5.
Changes or cancellations made less than three days before departure will be subject to JetBlue’s $100 change/cancel fee. All pass purchases can be made by calling 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583).
Customers must be TrueBlue members to take advantage of the pass. For more information about TrueBlue, or to register to become a member, visit www.jetblue.com/trueblue.
Related Article: Use Twitter to Find Bargains on JetBlue and United Airlines
Save Money Shopping with Bing’s Double Savings Day
Microsoft’s new search engine Bing is offering a new feature to save money when shopping online called “Double Savings Day”.
Double Saving Days is a Bing cashback promotion where the amount of cashback offered by most stores will be doubled (up to a total cashback reward of 50%) for a limited time.
The program started on August 10, 2009 and will run to the end of the month; however, Microsoft has reserved the right to end the program early.
When you shop you will see a message that explains the Double Savings Day. See screen shots below.
Screen Shot of Search Page
Screen shot of Shopping Page
For more information visit Bing.com/Shopping.
Consolidate Your Student Federal Loans Now
If you are a former student with federal student loans (Stafford and PLUS loans originating before July 1, 2006), now is the perfect time to consolidate your loans.
Consolidating your loans will enable you to lock in the current low rates potentially saving your thousands of dollars in interest payments. This may be your last opportunity to get these historically low rates.
Student loan consolidation combines federal education loans into a single fixed rate loan. Rates have dropped last July 1st so now borrowers with Stafford loans who consolidate can lock in a rate of only 2%. Plus loan borrowers can lock in at 3.38%.
Borrowers wanting to consolidate need to contact the Federal Direct Consolidation Loans program at the U.S. Department of Education by visiting LoanConsolidation.ed.gov.
Related Article: Lower Your Student Loan with the Income Based Repayment Plan
