Wednesday, August 25, 2010

personal finance planning





photo: elycefeliz 


Do you want to become rich beyond your wildest dreams? The question may seem right out of a late-night infomercial — unless you follow one strategy that may actually help you achieve it: Act poor.


If you do this, you’ll be fast on your way to having a million dollars — or more. That money can buy you a lot of stuff, of course, which would allow you to act rich and show off in no time. But if you’re smart, you’ll use it to buy freedom and give yourself options that the rest of your graduating class won’t have because they just weren’t as smart coming out of the box.


What do I mean by “act poor?” Pretty much act like you have for the past four years. Maybe even live with Mom and Dad for a year or so, promising that you’ll tell them when you’re coming home at night and help with the dishes. (As a parent, I had to say that.) The point of keeping your expenses low is to save your socks off.


Your friends probably won’t be doing this. The moment they get jobs, they’re going to want a better car; fewer roommates; dinners on the town. And that’s ever so tempting to do since you’ve likely suffered through lean years as a college student. And that new job you’re getting could allow you to pay for some luxuries, even if it doesn’t pay a lot.


But there’s a great pay off to living like a college student. If you manage to save really prodigiously for just a couple of years, you can build an emergency fund that will tide you over when times are really bad. And you can get started on long-term stock market investing at the best possible time.


How could I possibly say that this is the best possible time to be investing in the stock market, when stocks have gone nowhere for a full decade? I’m a student of the market, the author of Investing 101 and can say with some authority that the market’s miserable decade-long performance is exactly what spells huge opportunity for you.


A company called Ibbotson Associates has been compiling data on investments for decades. Let me throw a few of their statistics at you so you can understand why I’m so bullish — and particularly bullish for those of you who get to start investing now.


Average stock market returns from 1926 to the present work out to 9.6% for big company stocks and 11.67% for small company stocks. But stocks rarely hit that average in any given year. Instead, prices dive and soar, scaring out the faint of heart — and those who don’t understand why they’re investing. These price swings are often lasting, which is why you never invest short-term money in stocks. Put the rent money in the stock market, and a normal market swing might just send you back to living with Mom and Dad. But over the long run, those downswings are matched by equally rewarding upswings.


Consider: During the decade of the 1920s, big company stocks returned an average of 19.2%, according to Ibbotson — way above the long-term average. But the next decade was miserable, with returns on big company stocks dropping 0.1% over the 10 year period. In other words, if you invested $10,000, at the end of that decade, you would have a little less than $10,000 and probably feel demoralized. What happened then? In the 1940s, market returns were pretty manic — alternating between big losses and huge gains. The average return, however, ended at 9.2%. Still, because of the really rotten returns in the 1930s, investors could expect a “catch-up” decade and they got it. During the 1950s, average stock returns rose 19.4%.


Stock gains were below average in the 1960s and 70s —  up 7.8% and 5.9% respectively; then way above average in the 1980s and 1990s — up 17.8% and 18.2% respectively. Are you detecting a pattern?


Okay, so the relevant decade for you was the one just completed, when stock prices fell 1% on average, according to Ibbotson. That’s the worst decade in history, which is a really good sign when you’re starting now.


It’s not clear whether your “catch up” returns will hit this year, next year or some time in the future, but the chances are great that you’ll get a stretch of above-average returns. What does that mean in dollars and cents?


For the updated version of Investing 101, I did an analysis of what would happen to somebody who put $1,000 a month into the stock market starting in January of 1970 — the last really miserable decade for stocks– and stuck with it for 30 years. The first decade was rotten (5.9% returns), but the next two decades were awesome.


At the end of 30 years, this investor had $4.03 million. If he earned just the average return over that time– or earned his returns in a different order — he would have had $1 million less — $3.08 million to be precise. Why? He had the least at stake when returns were rotten and a lot of money to compound when times got good.


I know $1,000 a month is an insane amount and feels really crazy to you now. You don’t have to save that much to get a big reward; you just have to start saving as much as you can.


But if you get a job where your employer offers a 401(k) plan, it’s not as hard as you might think to save even that stunning $1,000 a month. That’s because your contributions come out before tax, which reduces your out-of-pocket cost because it also cuts your tax withholding, and most employers match your contributions — some even at 100% on the dollar.


In other words, you contribute $500 and your employer contributes $500. And because your contribution comes out before tax, your paycheck is reduced by just $400 (assuming you pay 20% of your income in state and federal tax).


Think you can’t save that much — or even at all? Try tracking all of your expenses, suggests Danny Kofke, a special education teacher and author of How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher’s Salary.


Little things like going to lunch each day, instead of packing a sandwich, are likely to cost you about $5 bucks a day, $25 a week and $1,300 a year. The soda that you buy from a vending machine is likely $1 more than the one you bought at the store. And, of course, if you put off buying that new car and drive your junker (or take the Metro or bus), you’re likely to save $150 to $300 each month on car payments, too.


“Times are tough to get a job, but if you can start off without immediately getting used to spending how much you’re making, you can get way ahead,” Kofke said.


This is the formula that Thomas Stanley explains in The Millionaire Next Door and is, in fact, the most reliable way to get rich. If you play your cards right, you could be the youngest millionaire on your block.


Kathy Kristof is a syndicated personal finance columnist, speaker and author of three books, including the recently updated Investing 101 (Bloomberg, 2008).


More on Money Watch



  • 6 Things Never to Post on Facebook

  • Couch Potato’s Guide to Getting Rich

  • 10 Great Things Still Made in the USA

  • Investors: 10 Smart Ways to Make More Money




Personal finance site for women LearnVest has had a big year. Launched last fall at TechCrunch50, the startup raised its first round of funding from Accel Partners and seed investors a few months ago ($4.5 million to be exact).


LearnVest has a simple goal: to help women organize their finances and learn how to become financially savvy. It’s kind of like an online version of financial planner Suze Orman blended with personal finance site Mint.com.


Today, the startup is launching three online programs, called ‘bootcamps,’ to educate women on various financial subjects, including a Financial Basics Bootcamp, Cut Your Costs Bootcamp, and Investing Bootcamp. Instead of creating a book-like online experience, LearnVest is making email newsletters the foundation of the educational sessions.


For example, the Investing Bootcamp, which costs users $7.99, teaches women how to make smart investing decisions and properly allocate their portfolios. For three weeks, women will receive daily emails with advice and actionable items that they can perform on LearnVest, making the newsletter interactive. For example, for the Financial Basics bootcamp, one of the daily actionable items is ‘Get Your Credit Score.’ Cut Your Costs Bootcamp topic range from Bootcamp topics range from ways to save on energy bills to exactly how to negotiate a lower cable bill. Learnvest will incorporate all of the information users complete and input in bootcamps into their LearnVest account.


Alexa von Tobel, LearnVest’s CEO and founder, tells me that the idea is to encourage women to not only learn, but also motivate them to make actionable decisions about their accounts and finances at the same time. She chose a newsletter format because the ‘LearnVest woman’ simply doesn’t have time to read the same information in a book. Women are more inclined to read a daily tidbit in an email vs. sitting down with a book, says von Tobel.


LearnVest held a pilot bootcamp in January and saw impressive results—8,000 people signed up for the basic financial bootcamp. With the new additions LearnVest expects to sign up a total of 40,000 participants. LearnVest plans to launch additional bootcamps in the future, including sessions realted to how to get a mortgage for a home.


The integration between the bootcamp educational sessions and the user’s LearnVest profile is key to the success of the initiative. As we wrote in our initial review of LearnVest, the site will ask you a series of questions about your financial health (i.e. how much credit card debt do you have), you life stages (i.e. do you rent, are you planning a family soon, do you own a house) and your financial education level and will diagnose your financial health and give you a snapshot of what you need to learn and improve. LearnVest will create customized plans for you, depending on your goals, and allow you to chart off your improvements and achievements.


Von Tobel says that LearnVest is steadily adding more female users flock to its site and is currently seeing 500K uniques per month. The next step is to take the site mobile, says von Tobel, and help women access LearnVest on the go.




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<b>News</b> Corp. Executives Actually Recently Met With Saudi Billionaire <b>...</b>

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Progressive media watchdog group Media Matters recently created a television ad critical of News Corp.'s $1 Million donation to the Republican Governor's Association, and have requested airtime during The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News to ...

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Friday, August 6, 2010

managing your personal finance



deals, Software, VC


Jive Software Nabs $30M in Round From Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital




Thea Chard 7/21/10

Jive Software, the Palo Alto, CA-based software company started in Portland, OR, has received $30 million in Series C financing led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.


This latest shot of cash, part of which comes from Sequoia Capital, means the company has raised more than $57 million in the last three years. Sequoia had been Jive’s sole investor up until this point, providing $12 million back in October, and $15 million in 2007.


“This is the biggest joint investment that Kleiner and Sequoia have done since they partnered up with Google,” says Bryan LeBlanc, Jive’s chief financial officer.


The investors are betting big that Jive has figured out how to harness some key elements of social media for business. Jive provides social-networking, communication, collaboration, and social media monitoring tools to more than 5,000 businesses, a group that ranges from small and mid-size companies to huge global brands. Jive’s customer roster includes Nike, Starbucks, SAP, Cisco Systems, Charles Schwab, and Intel. The company also provides social networking and collaboration software for a number of U.S. government agencies, as well as congressional members and their staffs.


“We’re the largest and fastest-growing company in this new category,” says Christopher Lochhead, Jive’s chief strategy advisor. “It’s about a $5 billion dollar market growing at about 40 percent, and we’re the clear leaders.”


The company’s biggest competitors include Microsoft and IBM. But according to Lochhead, Jive has an advantage—the support of some significant VC dollars, which he says will give Jive the ability to expand its product offerings and hire the best talent Silicon Valley has to offer in “multiple gene pools.”


As part of the deal, Kleiner Perkins managing partner Ted Schlein will be joining the Jive board of directors. The $30 million capital will be used to “accelerate Jive’s rapid growth and further drive the company’s leadership in the social business market,” according to a company statement.


What does that mean for potential clients? That the company will be expanding on its current social business software—the “doppler weather radar” of what’s going on in specific markets as Lochhead puts it. It will also allow Jive to focus on developing four strategic pillars moving forward. First is what Lochhead calls  ”Jive What Matters,” a one-stop command center that encompasses “everything that you need to get your job done,” in terms of monitoring deadlines, status updates, sales numbers, all in one place. Then there’s Jive mobile apps; social widgets, such as YouTube and SalesForce, integrated into the software; and seeking out more strategic partnerships with companies like Google and Twitter.


“What social business software entails is a new way to engage with your employees, customers and the web,” Lochhead says. “Why is it so fun, effective and easy to do all of this stuff in my personal life, and yet work sucks? All of those innovations in the consumer social web, Jive is bringing to the enterprise.” He adds: “It’s a new way to do business that allows people to work together, interact, in a way that just wasn’t possible before.”


LeBlanc, the finance chief, added: “$30 million allows us to have the currency to execute that strategy.”


Though Jive, founded in Portland, OR in 2001, relocated its headquarters to Palo Alto, CA last May, it continues to maintain a growing presence in the Pacific Northwest. The company laid off one-third of its employees—around 40 people, including the vice president of engineering and vice president of sales—after the economic down turn in 2008. But Lochhead says it’s maintained profitability and is growing again, with 270 employees spread throughout the offices in Palo Alto, Portland, OR, and Boulder, CO, as well as two outposts in Europe. In January, the company posted record profits—an 85 percent increase in full-year revenue in 2009 when compared to the previous year.


And although LeBlanc could not give us exact figures on how Jive is doing this year, he did say that the financial support from Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia is a strong indication of the company’s potential.


“We do intend to build a large, relevant software company, and often when you look at large, relevant software companies, they’re $1 billion companies,” LeBlanc said. “Having that capital now—I think it’s a testament that Sequoia has been very bullish about this space…it’s unusual and we feel, frankly, very honored to have two of the titans of Sand Hill Road both behind us.”



Thea Chard is the Assistant Editor for Xconomy Seattle. You can e-mail her at tchard@xconomy.com or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theachard.



As you’ll read tomorrow (or Monday), I’ve entered a new phase in my life. After years of hard work and long hours building this blog (time that I’ve enjoyed), I’ve been shifting things around so that I have more free time. As a result, I’m going to have more time to devote to creating quality blog posts, instead of rushing around at the last minute looking for something to write about.


Because of this, it’s time yet again to take requests. I do this about once a year, and it’s a great way to get a feel for what GRS readers are interested in. I’d be grateful if you’d take the time to leave a comment below with topic suggestions or article requests. It doesn’t matter if we’ve covered the subject in the past. If you’d like me (or one of the other GRS staff) to write about it, let me know.


Have there been too many articles about credit cards? Too few articles about credit cards? Would you like to know more about individual savings accounts? Do you like the articles about the psychology of spending? Would it be helpful to have somebody come in to explain insurance concepts in plain English? Should I try to persuade my wife to share more of her recipes now and then? Let me know what you’d like to read about!


While you’re all providing feedback about the site, here are a few recent articles of note:


Over at The Simple Dollar, Trent and his readers had a thoughtful discussion about the obligations of wealth. “I think there is some inherent distrust of the rich in the mainstream of American society,” Trent writes as he describes how a wealthy person can keep from alienating his friends. There’s so much to say about this topic; I’m tempted to write an entire article about it.


GRS reader Steven writes a blog called Hundred Goals, which is about achieving your goals while managing your finances. After Sierra’s post this morning about travel, he dropped me a line to let me know that he has a recent article about how to have a great vacation.


Speaking of vacation, my pal Jason over at No Credit Needed spent time compiling day-use fees and free days for state parks across the United States. Handy page to bookmark!


And here’s more travel! At The Art of Non-Conformity, my good friend Chris Guillebeau has posted a beginner’s guide to travel hacking. I’ve been asking him to share this info for a long time; now I’ve got to take responsibility to use the knowledge he’s shared.


Finally, I’ve been giving a lot of interviews lately. I’m much more comfortable with these than I used to be. (They used to scare me to death!) Some examples:



  • Colleen from The Frisky interviewed me about how to save money even when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. This is a tough quandary, something I’m asked about a lot.


  • In an interview with BeFrugal, I discuss frugality, happiness, and conscious spending. (Note: “the ballot” should be “the balance” — I must have mumbled.)


  • Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents also interviewed me. This interview is very much about the process of writing a book, which may or may not interest you.


  • I also spoke with Beverly Harzog from Card Ratings. We chatted about credit cards, of course, but also about other aspects of personal finance.


  • Finally, USA Weekend has a short piece on how to give your 401(k) a midyear check, for which author Richard Eisenberg interviewed me back in May. This is a perfect example of how much work goes into even a small newspaper article. Eisenberg spent 20-30 minutes on the phone with me, and I’m sure he did the same with the other folks he quotes. Plus, I’ll bet he spent a lot of time writing. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 4-6 hours in this small piece.


Okay, one last thing before I go. Tim pointed me to a two-year-old New York Times series about the debt trap, which includes an interactive infographic showing average household debt loads over the past century.


That’s enough links for today. Please do leave a comment with topic requests or other feedback. Meanwhile, it’s time for me to go do some yardwork…










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deals, Software, VC


Jive Software Nabs $30M in Round From Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital




Thea Chard 7/21/10

Jive Software, the Palo Alto, CA-based software company started in Portland, OR, has received $30 million in Series C financing led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.


This latest shot of cash, part of which comes from Sequoia Capital, means the company has raised more than $57 million in the last three years. Sequoia had been Jive’s sole investor up until this point, providing $12 million back in October, and $15 million in 2007.


“This is the biggest joint investment that Kleiner and Sequoia have done since they partnered up with Google,” says Bryan LeBlanc, Jive’s chief financial officer.


The investors are betting big that Jive has figured out how to harness some key elements of social media for business. Jive provides social-networking, communication, collaboration, and social media monitoring tools to more than 5,000 businesses, a group that ranges from small and mid-size companies to huge global brands. Jive’s customer roster includes Nike, Starbucks, SAP, Cisco Systems, Charles Schwab, and Intel. The company also provides social networking and collaboration software for a number of U.S. government agencies, as well as congressional members and their staffs.


“We’re the largest and fastest-growing company in this new category,” says Christopher Lochhead, Jive’s chief strategy advisor. “It’s about a $5 billion dollar market growing at about 40 percent, and we’re the clear leaders.”


The company’s biggest competitors include Microsoft and IBM. But according to Lochhead, Jive has an advantage—the support of some significant VC dollars, which he says will give Jive the ability to expand its product offerings and hire the best talent Silicon Valley has to offer in “multiple gene pools.”


As part of the deal, Kleiner Perkins managing partner Ted Schlein will be joining the Jive board of directors. The $30 million capital will be used to “accelerate Jive’s rapid growth and further drive the company’s leadership in the social business market,” according to a company statement.


What does that mean for potential clients? That the company will be expanding on its current social business software—the “doppler weather radar” of what’s going on in specific markets as Lochhead puts it. It will also allow Jive to focus on developing four strategic pillars moving forward. First is what Lochhead calls  ”Jive What Matters,” a one-stop command center that encompasses “everything that you need to get your job done,” in terms of monitoring deadlines, status updates, sales numbers, all in one place. Then there’s Jive mobile apps; social widgets, such as YouTube and SalesForce, integrated into the software; and seeking out more strategic partnerships with companies like Google and Twitter.


“What social business software entails is a new way to engage with your employees, customers and the web,” Lochhead says. “Why is it so fun, effective and easy to do all of this stuff in my personal life, and yet work sucks? All of those innovations in the consumer social web, Jive is bringing to the enterprise.” He adds: “It’s a new way to do business that allows people to work together, interact, in a way that just wasn’t possible before.”


LeBlanc, the finance chief, added: “$30 million allows us to have the currency to execute that strategy.”


Though Jive, founded in Portland, OR in 2001, relocated its headquarters to Palo Alto, CA last May, it continues to maintain a growing presence in the Pacific Northwest. The company laid off one-third of its employees—around 40 people, including the vice president of engineering and vice president of sales—after the economic down turn in 2008. But Lochhead says it’s maintained profitability and is growing again, with 270 employees spread throughout the offices in Palo Alto, Portland, OR, and Boulder, CO, as well as two outposts in Europe. In January, the company posted record profits—an 85 percent increase in full-year revenue in 2009 when compared to the previous year.


And although LeBlanc could not give us exact figures on how Jive is doing this year, he did say that the financial support from Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia is a strong indication of the company’s potential.


“We do intend to build a large, relevant software company, and often when you look at large, relevant software companies, they’re $1 billion companies,” LeBlanc said. “Having that capital now—I think it’s a testament that Sequoia has been very bullish about this space…it’s unusual and we feel, frankly, very honored to have two of the titans of Sand Hill Road both behind us.”



Thea Chard is the Assistant Editor for Xconomy Seattle. You can e-mail her at tchard@xconomy.com or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theachard.



As you’ll read tomorrow (or Monday), I’ve entered a new phase in my life. After years of hard work and long hours building this blog (time that I’ve enjoyed), I’ve been shifting things around so that I have more free time. As a result, I’m going to have more time to devote to creating quality blog posts, instead of rushing around at the last minute looking for something to write about.


Because of this, it’s time yet again to take requests. I do this about once a year, and it’s a great way to get a feel for what GRS readers are interested in. I’d be grateful if you’d take the time to leave a comment below with topic suggestions or article requests. It doesn’t matter if we’ve covered the subject in the past. If you’d like me (or one of the other GRS staff) to write about it, let me know.


Have there been too many articles about credit cards? Too few articles about credit cards? Would you like to know more about individual savings accounts? Do you like the articles about the psychology of spending? Would it be helpful to have somebody come in to explain insurance concepts in plain English? Should I try to persuade my wife to share more of her recipes now and then? Let me know what you’d like to read about!


While you’re all providing feedback about the site, here are a few recent articles of note:


Over at The Simple Dollar, Trent and his readers had a thoughtful discussion about the obligations of wealth. “I think there is some inherent distrust of the rich in the mainstream of American society,” Trent writes as he describes how a wealthy person can keep from alienating his friends. There’s so much to say about this topic; I’m tempted to write an entire article about it.


GRS reader Steven writes a blog called Hundred Goals, which is about achieving your goals while managing your finances. After Sierra’s post this morning about travel, he dropped me a line to let me know that he has a recent article about how to have a great vacation.


Speaking of vacation, my pal Jason over at No Credit Needed spent time compiling day-use fees and free days for state parks across the United States. Handy page to bookmark!


And here’s more travel! At The Art of Non-Conformity, my good friend Chris Guillebeau has posted a beginner’s guide to travel hacking. I’ve been asking him to share this info for a long time; now I’ve got to take responsibility to use the knowledge he’s shared.


Finally, I’ve been giving a lot of interviews lately. I’m much more comfortable with these than I used to be. (They used to scare me to death!) Some examples:



  • Colleen from The Frisky interviewed me about how to save money even when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. This is a tough quandary, something I’m asked about a lot.


  • In an interview with BeFrugal, I discuss frugality, happiness, and conscious spending. (Note: “the ballot” should be “the balance” — I must have mumbled.)


  • Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents also interviewed me. This interview is very much about the process of writing a book, which may or may not interest you.


  • I also spoke with Beverly Harzog from Card Ratings. We chatted about credit cards, of course, but also about other aspects of personal finance.


  • Finally, USA Weekend has a short piece on how to give your 401(k) a midyear check, for which author Richard Eisenberg interviewed me back in May. This is a perfect example of how much work goes into even a small newspaper article. Eisenberg spent 20-30 minutes on the phone with me, and I’m sure he did the same with the other folks he quotes. Plus, I’ll bet he spent a lot of time writing. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 4-6 hours in this small piece.


Okay, one last thing before I go. Tim pointed me to a two-year-old New York Times series about the debt trap, which includes an interactive infographic showing average household debt loads over the past century.


That’s enough links for today. Please do leave a comment with topic requests or other feedback. Meanwhile, it’s time for me to go do some yardwork…










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The temperatures cooled just a little bit before the Giants held their first full-pads practice of training camp. And if you had tonight in the "first fight" pool ... well, you lost. The hitting was fierce, but tempers didn't flare...



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Thursday, August 5, 2010

personal finance planning

Personal finance site for women LearnVest has had a big year. Launched last fall at TechCrunch50, the startup raised its first round of funding from Accel Partners and seed investors a few months ago ($4.5 million to be exact).


LearnVest has a simple goal: to help women organize their finances and learn how to become financially savvy. It’s kind of like an online version of financial planner Suze Orman blended with personal finance site Mint.com.


Today, the startup is launching three online programs, called ‘bootcamps,’ to educate women on various financial subjects, including a Financial Basics Bootcamp, Cut Your Costs Bootcamp, and Investing Bootcamp. Instead of creating a book-like online experience, LearnVest is making email newsletters the foundation of the educational sessions.


For example, the Investing Bootcamp, which costs users $7.99, teaches women how to make smart investing decisions and properly allocate their portfolios. For three weeks, women will receive daily emails with advice and actionable items that they can perform on LearnVest, making the newsletter interactive. For example, for the Financial Basics bootcamp, one of the daily actionable items is ‘Get Your Credit Score.’ Cut Your Costs Bootcamp topic range from Bootcamp topics range from ways to save on energy bills to exactly how to negotiate a lower cable bill. Learnvest will incorporate all of the information users complete and input in bootcamps into their LearnVest account.


Alexa von Tobel, LearnVest’s CEO and founder, tells me that the idea is to encourage women to not only learn, but also motivate them to make actionable decisions about their accounts and finances at the same time. She chose a newsletter format because the ‘LearnVest woman’ simply doesn’t have time to read the same information in a book. Women are more inclined to read a daily tidbit in an email vs. sitting down with a book, says von Tobel.


LearnVest held a pilot bootcamp in January and saw impressive results—8,000 people signed up for the basic financial bootcamp. With the new additions LearnVest expects to sign up a total of 40,000 participants. LearnVest plans to launch additional bootcamps in the future, including sessions realted to how to get a mortgage for a home.


The integration between the bootcamp educational sessions and the user’s LearnVest profile is key to the success of the initiative. As we wrote in our initial review of LearnVest, the site will ask you a series of questions about your financial health (i.e. how much credit card debt do you have), you life stages (i.e. do you rent, are you planning a family soon, do you own a house) and your financial education level and will diagnose your financial health and give you a snapshot of what you need to learn and improve. LearnVest will create customized plans for you, depending on your goals, and allow you to chart off your improvements and achievements.


Von Tobel says that LearnVest is steadily adding more female users flock to its site and is currently seeing 500K uniques per month. The next step is to take the site mobile, says von Tobel, and help women access LearnVest on the go.




Normally when people sign payment plans with a bank, they are not able to calculate the final costs themselves. This is mostly because they do not know how to factor in everything and how to derive the final charges. Thankfully they can use the services of a wonderful tool name CalcMoolator.


CalcMoolator is a website that offers a collection of free financial calculators online. You can use the site to compute payments involving vehicles, mortgages, jobs, taxes, money saving schemes, loans, credit cards, and anything else.



Each type of calculator has different values you input to reach your result. For instance the “Mortgage Payment Estimate Calculator” requires you to enter values of principal amount, interest rate (in percentage), duration of plan (in years), home value, annual taxes, annual insurance, and annual PMI. It factors in all these values and reaches the required mortgage amount.


Similarly other calculators on the site help people conduct financial calculations without having to learn any mathematical formulas.



Features:



  • A collection of free online financial calculator.

  • Each calculator factors in a number of values to reach a reasonably accurate result.

  • No extensive knowledge of banking or financial formulas is required.

  • Can be extrememly helpful for anybody planning to sign up a payment deal with a bank.

  • The website also has an iPhone app that Apple device owners can use.

  • Similar tools:  Mookal, MyBankTracker, IRS Withholding Calculator, WhatsTheCost, TripLittle and Repayment Calculator.


Check out CalcMoolator @ www.calcmoolator.com (by MOin from ThumbPress)



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