foreclosure agents

BR: Funny you say that — I referred to the NAR chief economist as Baghdad Bob in one of the “previously” links mentioned: Former NAR Economist David Lereah is a Jackass (January 6th, 2009)

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:11 am

If your stocked up on Insulin, try the ever sugary http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for your daily firehosing of rich, delicious Kool-Aid. You thought the NAR was hyper sunny. They’re simpletons compared to whomever runs this site.

You’ve been warned….

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:13 am

If you’re fully stocked with Insulin, try http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for a daily firehosing of rich, delicious Real Estate Kool-Aid. You think the NAR is hyper sunny? They’re simpletons compared to the people who run this site.

You’ve been fairly warned.

Soylent Green Is People.

ACS Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:32 am

How long before we reach Sanford’s step 12?

gavingunhold Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:45 am

I used to work at NAR. And I once time forwarded a blog post by Barry Ritholtz to Lawrence Yun, kind of just as a heads up. Lawrence was none too pleased. Heh.

JustinTheSkeptic Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:49 am

BR, you can continue with the “Bank Spin, Auto Company Spin, etc.” Take your pick….

rktbrkr Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:53 am

Take your pick…

“The manufacturing sector has maintained its momentum at least through August,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. The report “makes clear the economy is not slipping into recession any time but it’s still reasonable to be concerned about where we’re heading over the next three to six months.”

General Motors Co.’s sales fell 25 percent last month and trailed analysts’ estimates, as the U.S. auto industry headed for its worst August in 28 years.

GM said deliveries fell to 185,176 from 246,479 last August, when the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” incentive program boosted sales.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am

Regrets for the double post. The first one did not show so I rewrote it again. I confess to my foolishness.

machinehead Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Since the time I bought my first house, the cry of the Realtor(TM) has been, ‘Buy now, before prices go up!’

They are Permabulls, like many Wall Street brokers — not to be taken seriously. Pay them for transacting, not for their stuck-clock market predictions.

And — until proven otherwise — don’t regard them as professionals. That’s what the idiot NAR has accomplished — to deprofessionalize the image of a group which includes some very dedicated people. It took the NAR decades of hard work to break into the circus-clown limelight. Take a bow, bozos!

lalaland Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm

I doubt it’s the NAR’s fault that people expect their homes to appreciate 10% a year. Nobody really pays attention to them outside the statistics junkies I would wager. I blame exactly the kind of stupidity that has proven to be rampant across all sectors of the economy. Oh, and, you know – unrelated – it’s time to go watch Dick Fuld.

Mark Wolfinger Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:16 pm

The news media eat up those NAR reports.

Surely you have contacts at the big media to whom you can pass along this report with the hope that someone does the right thing.

http://blog.mdwoptions.com/options_for_rookies/

Expat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:21 pm

There is no one thing to blame for all this. The NAR is not the cause of the bubble. Wall Street is the proximate facilitator but not really the cause. Washington was a complicit beneficiary but not the cause. Assholes who bought homes that cost more than three times their income are victims and perpetrators but not truly guilty of anything but stupidity and gullibility. Lereah, Yun, and the NAR are in the unfortunate position of being mouthpieces for this mass hysteria so they are singled out.

But in reality, Lereah is no worse than any US president or member of congress when it comes to huge, important lies. What about the pope or any priest with a pulpit? The hellfire and brimstone, homophobic racists on the Bible Belt circuit? Imams calling for jihad. Etc.

Personally, I think the NAR is guilty of high crimes and treason against the US, having done more damage to our country than any blind or diabetic islamic terrorist. And what do we try to do to islamic terrorists? And what should we do to all members of the NAR? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

How the Common Man Sees It Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:03 pm

What do they expect when they are always selling houses as investments and not places to live? In the investing world RE is the equivalent of the summer resort if we are talking timing. What I’m saying is that the owners of a summer resort know their product is only marketable a few months out of the year and that is what they target for.

Do you think the folks in the RE industry and/or the NAR want to be telling folks their ‘investment dream’ is only a great deal a few years out of many in the investment cycle? NO! That would put them out of business for years until the crowds came back every cyclical summer

That’s not gonna happen

d4winds Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Red pill HGTV sounds like a fabulous idea–to replace that NAR of the “financial” TV, CNBC.

Julia Chestnut Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 3:04 pm

The NAR are liars, and they aren’t even very good at it. Lawrence Yun is a laughing stock. The people who need to be strung up are the corporate media outlets that just take the press releases full of whoppers along the lines of “cotton candy cures cancer!!!!!!!!” and reprinting it along side what passes for “news.”

Industry shills are industry shills and always have been. What has changed is any semblance of concern for truthful and accurate reporting of statistics, facts, and trends. Statistics, facts, and trends are considered so malleable these days, no one worries about what conflicts of interests the spinners may have – they just care how little they have to rewrite it from the NAR’s website before press/broadcast time.

Despicable.

TomL Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Why is that *every* article written by or quoting a real estate professional includes the refrain “It’s never been a better time to buy.” ?

Reminds me of the warning how do you know a politician is lying…

loganagent Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm

It’s so true I recently had an experience where the local newspaper quoted me, after I said that our local market was going to decline, in my blog: http://loganrealestate.blogspot.com/2010/02/number-of-logan-homes-for-sale.html The local Board President came to me and told me not to speak with the media anymore. He said those in leadership had special “training” in how to handle media.

The ironic thing is that my market falling predictions came true. But we don’t want the public to know the truth do we.

philipat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 8:37 pm

The “Blue Pill” being Viagra. Or, in other words the NAR is saying “Up yours”?!!

Very appropriate!

IrvineRenter Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 9:30 pm

I have beaten up on RE agents a couple times over the last year:

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/realtors-treated-as-lackeys-and-maids-grovel-for-6/

and

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/urgency-versus-reality-realtors-win-buyers-lose-14-jackson-irvine/

I totally agree with your assessment of the foolish way they operate. In fact, the growth of my side business as a broker is largely due to the fact that I refuse to spin BS the way they do.

BTW, thank you for the link yesterday. I greatly appreciate it, and I am flattered that you stop by and read my blog.

canoles Says:



September 2nd, 2010 at 8:36 am

“In other words, mislead the public with spin. Create false hope. Lie.” – Sir, that is NAR’s job as a trade association. Please name one trade association that does not do this.

BR: Funny you say that — I referred to the NAR chief economist as Baghdad Bob in one of the “previously” links mentioned: Former NAR Economist David Lereah is a Jackass (January 6th, 2009)

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:11 am

If your stocked up on Insulin, try the ever sugary http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for your daily firehosing of rich, delicious Kool-Aid. You thought the NAR was hyper sunny. They’re simpletons compared to whomever runs this site.

You’ve been warned….

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:13 am

If you’re fully stocked with Insulin, try http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for a daily firehosing of rich, delicious Real Estate Kool-Aid. You think the NAR is hyper sunny? They’re simpletons compared to the people who run this site.

You’ve been fairly warned.

Soylent Green Is People.

ACS Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:32 am

How long before we reach Sanford’s step 12?

gavingunhold Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:45 am

I used to work at NAR. And I once time forwarded a blog post by Barry Ritholtz to Lawrence Yun, kind of just as a heads up. Lawrence was none too pleased. Heh.

JustinTheSkeptic Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:49 am

BR, you can continue with the “Bank Spin, Auto Company Spin, etc.” Take your pick….

rktbrkr Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:53 am

Take your pick…

“The manufacturing sector has maintained its momentum at least through August,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. The report “makes clear the economy is not slipping into recession any time but it’s still reasonable to be concerned about where we’re heading over the next three to six months.”

General Motors Co.’s sales fell 25 percent last month and trailed analysts’ estimates, as the U.S. auto industry headed for its worst August in 28 years.

GM said deliveries fell to 185,176 from 246,479 last August, when the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” incentive program boosted sales.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am

Regrets for the double post. The first one did not show so I rewrote it again. I confess to my foolishness.

machinehead Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Since the time I bought my first house, the cry of the Realtor(TM) has been, ‘Buy now, before prices go up!’

They are Permabulls, like many Wall Street brokers — not to be taken seriously. Pay them for transacting, not for their stuck-clock market predictions.

And — until proven otherwise — don’t regard them as professionals. That’s what the idiot NAR has accomplished — to deprofessionalize the image of a group which includes some very dedicated people. It took the NAR decades of hard work to break into the circus-clown limelight. Take a bow, bozos!

lalaland Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm

I doubt it’s the NAR’s fault that people expect their homes to appreciate 10% a year. Nobody really pays attention to them outside the statistics junkies I would wager. I blame exactly the kind of stupidity that has proven to be rampant across all sectors of the economy. Oh, and, you know – unrelated – it’s time to go watch Dick Fuld.

Mark Wolfinger Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:16 pm

The news media eat up those NAR reports.

Surely you have contacts at the big media to whom you can pass along this report with the hope that someone does the right thing.

http://blog.mdwoptions.com/options_for_rookies/

Expat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:21 pm

There is no one thing to blame for all this. The NAR is not the cause of the bubble. Wall Street is the proximate facilitator but not really the cause. Washington was a complicit beneficiary but not the cause. Assholes who bought homes that cost more than three times their income are victims and perpetrators but not truly guilty of anything but stupidity and gullibility. Lereah, Yun, and the NAR are in the unfortunate position of being mouthpieces for this mass hysteria so they are singled out.

But in reality, Lereah is no worse than any US president or member of congress when it comes to huge, important lies. What about the pope or any priest with a pulpit? The hellfire and brimstone, homophobic racists on the Bible Belt circuit? Imams calling for jihad. Etc.

Personally, I think the NAR is guilty of high crimes and treason against the US, having done more damage to our country than any blind or diabetic islamic terrorist. And what do we try to do to islamic terrorists? And what should we do to all members of the NAR? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

How the Common Man Sees It Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:03 pm

What do they expect when they are always selling houses as investments and not places to live? In the investing world RE is the equivalent of the summer resort if we are talking timing. What I’m saying is that the owners of a summer resort know their product is only marketable a few months out of the year and that is what they target for.

Do you think the folks in the RE industry and/or the NAR want to be telling folks their ‘investment dream’ is only a great deal a few years out of many in the investment cycle? NO! That would put them out of business for years until the crowds came back every cyclical summer

That’s not gonna happen

d4winds Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Red pill HGTV sounds like a fabulous idea–to replace that NAR of the “financial” TV, CNBC.

Julia Chestnut Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 3:04 pm

The NAR are liars, and they aren’t even very good at it. Lawrence Yun is a laughing stock. The people who need to be strung up are the corporate media outlets that just take the press releases full of whoppers along the lines of “cotton candy cures cancer!!!!!!!!” and reprinting it along side what passes for “news.”

Industry shills are industry shills and always have been. What has changed is any semblance of concern for truthful and accurate reporting of statistics, facts, and trends. Statistics, facts, and trends are considered so malleable these days, no one worries about what conflicts of interests the spinners may have – they just care how little they have to rewrite it from the NAR’s website before press/broadcast time.

Despicable.

TomL Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Why is that *every* article written by or quoting a real estate professional includes the refrain “It’s never been a better time to buy.” ?

Reminds me of the warning how do you know a politician is lying…

loganagent Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm

It’s so true I recently had an experience where the local newspaper quoted me, after I said that our local market was going to decline, in my blog: http://loganrealestate.blogspot.com/2010/02/number-of-logan-homes-for-sale.html The local Board President came to me and told me not to speak with the media anymore. He said those in leadership had special “training” in how to handle media.

The ironic thing is that my market falling predictions came true. But we don’t want the public to know the truth do we.

philipat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 8:37 pm

The “Blue Pill” being Viagra. Or, in other words the NAR is saying “Up yours”?!!

Very appropriate!

IrvineRenter Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 9:30 pm

I have beaten up on RE agents a couple times over the last year:

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/realtors-treated-as-lackeys-and-maids-grovel-for-6/

and

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/urgency-versus-reality-realtors-win-buyers-lose-14-jackson-irvine/

I totally agree with your assessment of the foolish way they operate. In fact, the growth of my side business as a broker is largely due to the fact that I refuse to spin BS the way they do.

BTW, thank you for the link yesterday. I greatly appreciate it, and I am flattered that you stop by and read my blog.

canoles Says:



September 2nd, 2010 at 8:36 am

“In other words, mislead the public with spin. Create false hope. Lie.” – Sir, that is NAR’s job as a trade association. Please name one trade association that does not do this.

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Now that Wesabe is officially closed, many users are looking for an alternative that offers the same flexibility and features -- for many this alternative is, or should be MoneyStrands.



MoneyStrands is a free tool that has helped people manage their money online since it launched in March 2009 -- and in short order has won a Webby award for the best of the web in the banking and bill-pay category. This honor is no surprise when you consider that MoneyStrands offers features you won't find in many competing tools such as Mint.



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MoneyStrands also has a budgeting tool that tracks spending and sets email alerts when a budget category reaches a certain level so spending can be put in check. The tool is fairly simple and requires users to figure out their own goals, but Atakan Cetinsoy, General Manager of MoneyStrands told WalletPop in a phone interview that an improved budgeting tool that walks users through the process is coming in the next few months.



MoneyStrands is easy to use and offers significant value to users; especially those who can't or don't want to link their accounts directly to a third-party service.

Some Republicans and Democrats can get their heads together now and then.

When I had the privilege of working for Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in the US Senate, I had just moved over from serving as founding Executive Director of the Nixon Center for Peace & Freedom, later renamed (thankfully) "The Nixon Center".

Senator Bingaman at the time, along with his chief of staff Patrick Von Bargen, were asking key questions about the structure of international trade and finance and why such large bilateral deficits were building between the US and respectively Japan and China. University of Chicago-trained neoclassical economists regularly parroted the line that bilateral deficits were "meaningless" and would be balanced out over time with other global trade partners -- and would on a bilateral basis rise and fall, appearing and disappearing in a highly fluid global economic environment.

Bingaman's and Von Bargen's questions then are even more relevant today -- and given the time on the clock since, it's clear that the economists who argued that deficits were meaningless or that a job is a job is a job -- whether working as a wallet maker or a nano-technology app developer -- were wrong.

But Jeff Bingaman, even though skeptical about how the global economy was working in real rather than ideological terms, never turned his back on international engagement. In 1996, Bingaman, Von Bargen and I traveled to Japan, South Korea, China, and other parts of Asia. This, then, was an annual trip supplemented by his personal trips to Guatemala and trips to Europe, Russia and more. Bingaman, now Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, remains deeply engaged and interested in international affairs.

And while most Senators and Congressman make a point of pushing 95% of their available press time towards the Bartlesville news outlet (in the case of Oklahoma) over the demands of the Yomiuri, Le Monde, Al Jazeera, or the People's Daily, Bingaman is one that does make time for international media.

The Nixon Center as well was stacked with big personalities who were then and remain deeply committed to America's engagement in global affairs. While the Nixon Center is actually fastidiously non-partisan and has key Dems and Republicans engaged with it, it's hard to hide all of its Republican stripes when in fact the institution's inspiration and founder was a powerful two-term winning Republican President of the United States.

My point is that there are Democrats and Republicans -- lots of them -- committed to robust international engagement, to smart foreign aid, and to coherent and sensible U.S. international public diplomacy.

But just as when I worked for Bingaman in the Senate and there were some Democrats and more Republicans who looked at having a passport as a political liability, many in the Tea Party movement are a manifestation of a similar pugnacious nationalism that disdains international institutions and US engagement abroad.

One of the major bipartisan NGOs committed to internationalism in Washington is the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. I attended the USGLC's gala dinner last year featuring NBC's Andrea Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

But the guy who really impressed me was the charismatic Republican Congressman from Illinois, Aaron Schock -- who went on stage and made a case as strong as any liberal internationalist I have heard for the hard core national interest reasons that the U.S. should support global affairs and engagement -- and yes, foreign aid budgets.

Aaron Schock is a serious player on the way up -- and too many are distracted by his better than average looks and youth. I didn't support his approach to Honduras (for the most part) that he seemed to have jointly worked out with Senator Jim DeMint -- but that is beside the point. Schock is thinking hard about smart policy, not just coasting with his new found power and privileges in Washington.

If the USGLC can bring Hillary Clinton and the Republican House Deputy Whip together to sing from similar playbooks, then I have time for this private sector initiative to promote public support for international engagement.

If you are in DC (and if not, I am sure that there will be "live streaming" that I will arrange to have run here at TWN), you might want to attend the annual USGLC 2010 Washington Conference (registration information here) that takes place September 28-29, 2010 at Washington's Grand Hyatt.

I would support this meeting whether I was speaking or not -- but I happen to be on the program along with NBC Meet the Press' David Gregory, Under Secretary of the Treasury Lael Brainard, US AID Administrator Rajiv Shah, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and the indefatigable Joshua Rogin -- who writes Foreign Policy's "The Cable".

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note. Clemons can be followed on Twitter @SCClemons

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Democrats Accuse Fox <b>News</b> Of Illegal Support To Ohio Republican <b>...</b>

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Coast Guard: No Sheen At Site Of Platform Explosion - New Orleans <b>...</b>

NEW ORLEANS -- An oil platform explodes in the Gulf, and the US Coast Guard is monitoring for signs of leaks. Thursday, September 2, 2010.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Power!

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Create interactive sites:
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Oil platform explodes in Gulf, rescues under way – This Just In <b>...</b>

[Posted at 11:53 am] US Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough tells CNN that 12 people from the production platform are in water immersion suits as they await rescue. Colclough told CNN there are reports the production platform is ...

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Sept. 2 <b>...</b>

Investors and traders in China's main financial district in Shanghai are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Industrial activity in China improved in August. The purchasing managers index of the China Federation ...

Bangai-O heading to XBLA Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

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Oil platform explodes in Gulf, rescues under way – This Just In <b>...</b>

[Posted at 11:53 am] US Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough tells CNN that 12 people from the production platform are in water immersion suits as they await rescue. Colclough told CNN there are reports the production platform is ...

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Sept. 2 <b>...</b>

Investors and traders in China's main financial district in Shanghai are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Industrial activity in China improved in August. The purchasing managers index of the China Federation ...

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Prosecutors denied it, but Sullivan described their offering as a "sweetheart deal" and suggested that the public might see it as "a free ride." None of the Barclays employees faced punishment, just the corporation -- and ultimately the shareholders.

The Wall Street Journal notes that these cases share more than defendants who accepted bailout money:

The common thread of the rejected settlements seems to be a request for "more serious sanctions against individual managers," said Robert Heim, a former SEC assistant regional director. "Right now, it's numbers negotiated between prosecutors and the accused. Judges are concerned the penalties are too small" and that shareholders are burned twice, first by the wrongdoing and second by the fines.



Think of the alleged Wall Street miscreants of the last decade: Merrill Lynch's Henry Blodget, Credit Suisse's Frank Quattrone, Bear Stearns's Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tanin, Bank of America's Theodore Siphol, the New York Stock Exchange's Dick Grasso, Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker, and Citi's Jack Grubman--the list goes on.

None of those individuals were convicted.

That pattern has been a big concern for the three judges, who the New York Times points out were all appointed by President Bill Clinton. The Times noted the frustration of Sullivan in the Barclays case, after asking the lead prosecutor, "You agree there must have been some human being who violated U.S. laws?"

He proceeded to ask that same question in a dozen different ways, growing increasingly exasperated with the answers, until he finally interrupted the government lawyer to ask, "Can I just share a thought with you?"



"You know what?" he asked. "If other banks saw that the government was being rough and tough with banks and requiring banking officials to stand before federal judges and enter pleas of guilty, that might be a powerful deterrent to this type of conduct."

If putting a banking official on trial would please the court, it may happen soon in Rakoff's chambers. That's a location Bank of America has been trying to avoid since last year's ruling. Now, two of the company's former executives, ex-CEO Kenneth Lewis and ex-CFO Joe Price, are facing fraud charges connected to their personal involvement in the same Merrill Lynch deal. This time, it's not federal prosecutors pressing charges but New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Defense lawyers are asking for the case to be thrown out.

But baring a dismissal from Rakoff, an individual banker could finally have his own day in court.

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I am a 25 year old college student (school, job + savings, back to school… long story) and boy do I wish I knew about all the resources available to me back then. Good for you for starting early!

Lucky for me I have 1 parent (divorced) who is so bad with money that I have been scared into financial responsibility from a young age. Was I perfect? Hahaha.. but I am doing better than 95% of my friends are right now so I guess I am doing something right?

Here is my advice:

1. GET A JOB! - 2 shifts a week is all it takes. I have friends who just graduated from college without ever having a job. Result? No work experience so nowhere will hire them. Some had problems even getting an internship! Try for customer service jobs. Employers value people skills more than flipping burgers.

2. BUDGET! - Cant teach an old dog new tricks so it is best to start young. Add up your monthly expenses such as rent/insurance/cell/gas/etc and divide by 2 or 4 (depending on weekly/bi-weekly payday). Put this money in savings and no touchy! Once you can live on that budget a certain % for an emergency fund and then % for savings. The rest is your “fun” money. As others have said: pizza, ipods, and clothes are “fun money” and NOT emergencies!

3. DEBIT, CREDIT, or CASH?

DEBIT- I am a die hard debit card user. My credit union has detailed (free) online banking. I check my online bank statement in the morning and at night and go over my spending. Think of it as an instant virtual slap in the face about your spending habits. It hurts for the best.

CASH - Some people just cant be responsible enough to respect the plastic and do better with cash. Try and keep bigger bills on you. Breaking a $5 is less mentally painful than breaking a $20. $1s are dangerous. That can of coke is “only $1″. $7 a week, $30 a month. It adds up.

CREDIT - Many say don’t get a credit card, but I disagree. If you are responsible college is a great time to build credit (unless you have some serious control issues… if that is the case, these are not the droids you are looking for…). Not building credit early is the BIGGEST regret I have. Good credit means better rates when buying a house or a car. Do your research first. Consider a student, or if you have to a secured card.

More about credit-

*Do NOT apply for a credit card on campus. It is like selling your soul for a candy bar. Every time you apply for a credit card they run a credit check, which “pings” you. Too many pings hurts your credit score. Not good. Friend did that at every kiosk that offered something free to sign up when she was 20. This was 7 years ago and her credit is still recovering! The same is true for store credit cards. Do.Not.WANT!

*Pick a required expense, such as gas or cell phone bill and put it on the credit card. Pay off the card at the end of each month. Repeat.

*Do NOT use your credit card to buy “fun money” purchases. No clothes, no ipods, no pizza. This is why you have your debit card of cash. Don’t even think about it mr.!

4. EATING/DRINKING - This is going to be the weird random one from one young person to another.(Part of this only applies to you on/after your 21st birthday!) The young person’s life revolves around being social. For a 20 something this normally involves dinner and/or drinks with friends. It is expensive! So much money can be saved if you plan ahead!

*Eating - Going out to eat is a much needed social experience but NEVER go out to eat starving! Just like you don’t go shopping when you are hungry you never want to experience the whole “eyes bigger than stomach” thing while dining out. Have a snack an hour or so before you meet friends for dinner. This will help you avoid ordering that $8 appetizer! Also, try and order things that reheat or are good cold. LEFTOVERS! Also, water is free. It is good for you! Coke is $3. Go buy yourself a 12 pack and have one when you get home.

*Drinking - Most 20 somethings drink. It is a very expensive part of our lives. It is a social event to help us forget about school and work. We like bars. Unfortunately $5 for a beer is highway robbery! NEVER go to a bar completely sober (when you are 21+ & no drinky + drivey!). Have a drink or 2 at home and then have a beer at the bar. You will save TONS. Also, bring cash to a bar. Only bring as much cash as your sober self would like to spend. Alcohol impairs judgment. Sober you will thank drunk you for not spending. Drunk you will thank sober you for being smart enough to make sure you can afford the advil to take care of that hangover the next day. It is a win win.

Put all that saved food and drink money towards something that will last.

5. BOOKS - Buy used whenever possible. Check online first because campus stores are normally a ripoff. Try and sell the books back online, even if they have released a new edition. Most student book stores on campus will only give you 1/2 of what someone online will be willing to give you!

6. CARS - Buy used and reliable, but not “cheap”. New cars lose tons of value when you drive them off the lot. Don’t buy a “cheap” used car on it’s last leg. Think Goldilocks - not too new, not too old, juuusssttt right! Save up as much money as possible. Pay for it in cash if you can. If not, save up at least 2/3 before purchasing and do your homework!

And whatever you do: AVOID parking tickets, speeding tickets, registration fines.. may as well light the money on fire! Or if you do not want it I will give it a nice home and save you the trouble.

zrcnizv

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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).

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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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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…

penis extender

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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RoboForm Version <b>News</b>

Version News. News and details from current and past versions of RoboForm. Version 6.10.0 * Add import of logins and bookmarks from LastPass and KeePass. * Add welcome help balloon on new install. * RoboForm2Go installer can be started ...

Introducing the CNET <b>News</b> iPhone app | Digital Media - CNET <b>News</b>

We know you've been clamoring for an official CNET News iPhone app, and we're happy to let you know it's finally here. Read all about what it does and why you should download it. Read this blog post by Josh Lowensohn on Digital Media.

And nobody got hurt ...

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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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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