Scottrade Review: Discount Online Stock Broker

By MoneyBlueBook

As the economy steadily recovers from the devastating recession that has gripped the nation for months, stock market prices that were previously beaten down into the depths of generational lows are finally starting to rise again. With opportunities afoot, it's perhaps time for those of us who have been cautiously hoarding cash on the sidelines to consider jumping back in again. Stock prices are extremely cheap right now, and tremendous long term gains are ripe for the taking. If you have been contemplating the prospect of getting back into the market again or perhaps getting started with investing for the very first time, now may be the time to consider opening up a new discount broker account. In the hopes of earning your business, a host of online brokerage firms are now offering consumers extraordinarily low prices for cheap stock trades - without scrimping much in the way of premium brokerage amenities and features.

One of the most highly touted low cost brokerages in the market today is Scottrade, a brokerage firm with which I have retained an investment account with for years now. While certainly the company's website design and palette choices aren't exactly the prettiest or most intuitive around, the firm's online trading tools and statistical reporting features are more than sufficient to satisfy the discerning needs of most run of the mill investors.

Scottrade's Best Features: Low Broker Commissions, Low Account Minimums, and No Hidden Maintenance Fees

Compared to all-in-one brokerage giants like E-Trade or Charles Schwab that

By MoneyBlueBook

The month of August 2009 is going to go down as a particularly momentous period in my life. It's going to be the month that I finally pulled the trigger and made the decision to purchase my very first home. While the actual date of my contractual signing will likely be dragged out until the first or second week of September as things currently stand - it was during the last few weeks of August when most of my major home purchasing decisions were rapidly set in motion.

The last few years have been quite the whirlwind for me. I know on this personal finance blog I may frequently portray a sense of stability and perhaps frequently offer up an air of someone who appears to know exactly where he wants to be in life and knows exactly how to get there - but the reality is quite far from it. I've been blessed with an incredible amount of luck, remarkable timing, and good fortune - with much of my financial success starting only a few years ago when I first started blogging online to make some extra cash on the side. My early attempts at trying to make money money blogging started rather surreptitiously without much fanfare and without the knowledge of most of my friends and family. Through the struggles and early process of starting my very first blog, I developed and honed a variety of entrepreneurial skills that I ultimately leveraged into the start of my own fledgling legal practice as

By MoneyBlueBook

Updated List Of The Best Nationally Available Bank CD Rates Below

Below, I've included a list of the best CD (certificate of deposit) rates presently found online - periodically updated by yours truly whenever I am alerted to major changes in the rates. All of the bank CD rates listed below are nationally available and not restricted to residents of any particular state(s). While national annual percentage yield (APY) rates for banks have fluctuated and dropped across the board due to the economic troubles we've been experiencing, the interest rates offered by CD's still remain consistently higher than that offered by other forms of FDIC insured deposits such as savings accounts and money markets.

For many years now, I've kept my short term cash and emergency fund money saved in a variety of online savings accounts and online CD's - jumping from one bank to another in pursuit of the highest interest rate yields. To maximize my money to its highest passive income potential, I never keep my short term cash idle for too long. At the very least I always ensure that they are properly invested in the best interest bearing accounts offering me the most competitive yields based on what I'm willing to give up in terms of account accessibility and liquidity. While I keep my most short term emergency funds stored in ultra accessible savings accounts, I store the bulk of my regular cash savings into certificate of deposits, neatly arranged into CD ladder setups for maximization of return and liquidity.

Contrary to

By MoneyBlueBook

Review Of The Balance Transfer Credit Cards I Use To Pay Off Debt

As a fan of balance transfers and zero percent credit cards, I've been feeling rather forlorn these past few months. With the recent enactment of new laws and regulations clamping down on how credit card issuers run their practices, it seems the era of 0% balance transfers and 0% APR deals has finally reached its apex and is now beginning its downward decent into the annals of credit card lore. Only a mere few years ago, one could effortlessly lighten the burden of high interest credit card debt with the assistance of balance transfer offers - lucrative deals that dangled everything from waived transfer fees to long term interest free durations that extended into perpetuity for the entire life of the loan. At its heyday, it was a common place to hear stories of those who were able to engage in balance transfer arbitrage and profit immensely from the 0% APR offers that credit card companies issued to attract new card members to the fold. Back then, the savvy and opportunistic card arbitrager could simply apply for a credit card, obtain a 0% balance transfer, pay no money up front, and immediately transfer the free funds into a remarkably high yielding (5.00 - 6.00% APY) online savings account - reaping what was essentially free interest profit.

Sadly for those of us who once depended on these types of offers for so long, those days are now sorely missed and all but gone,

By MoneyBlueBook

As a long time apartment renter for many years, I'm finally on the verge on purchasing my very first home. As such, I've been super keen on tracking my credit reports and credit scores closely in recent months to boost my attributes as a prospective mortgage loan seeker. For a while now, I've been spending a tremendous amount of time learning everything I can about home mortgages and figuring out how to position myself to ultimately qualify for the very best rate on a home mortgage���� loan. One of the most crucial pre-requisites I've discovered about interest rates for mortgages and personal loans in general - is the shear importance of having a clean credit report and a good credit score. Banks, credit unions, mortgage brokers, and even credit card issuers utilize credit reports and credit scores to ascertain the credit worthiness of loan applicants - mulling over everything from the number of timely on-time credit payments and the severity of late payments, to the age and number of active credit accounts. Such historical data is compiled and reviewed by the lender to determine the appropriate interest rate the lender must charge the loan applicant to compensate the lender for the level of credit risk that it must expend. Those applicants with banged up credit histories and low credit scores tend to get slapped with higher interest rate fees on their loan offers than those with stellar credit histories. Individuals who have decent credit reports with good credit scores to match almost invariably enjoy much

By MoneyBlueBook

It's time for my monthly net worth report. As long time readers know, for months now, I've been calculating my networth changes and posting an analysis at the end of every month to chart the step by step progress I've been making in my lifelong financial journey. The purpose of such networth updates is not to necessarily boast about monetary successes or lament about the investment mistakes made during the preceding month - but rather, it's to serve as a routine reminder that the daily decisions, actions, and inactions in one's life truly have a ripple impact on one's long term financial health. While I post my own financial net worth reports throughout the year for my own statistical benefit and to share with readers a little about about what I've been up to during the previous weeks, this habitual exercise is also to encourage others to do the same as well.

It's About Time - I'm Finally Looking To Buy A Home For The Very First Time

This month has been a bit more hectic than usual. For one thing, I'm in the early stages of becoming a first time home buyer. Right now, my anticipated home purchase date is still likely months away, but I can already envision the prospect of finally moving out of my longtime apartment rental after all these years and into my very own single family home or town house for the very first time. If you've been following my previous networth reports, you probably already know that I've