With unemployment at 8.2% as of March 2012, many Americans find themselves relying on the same unsuccessful job hunting tactics. Recent graduates are stuck looking for work in an extremely saturated job market where supply is high and demand is low. So what makes one candidate stand out from another? When I entered the workforce […]
Archives for April 2012
How a Mutual Fund’s Expense Ratio Impacts Your Bottom Line
There are literally thousands of mutual funds out there and many of them claim to be diversified, low cost, low fee, etc. But if there’s one thing that has the most direct impact on a fund’s return, it’s the expense ratio(ER). When comparing similar funds, I primarily look at the expense ratios first and foremost. […]
How to Use a Virtual Credit Card
You may have heard about the recent Global Payments Breach in which credit card data for over 1.5 million users was exposed to hackers. Although this is only a fraction of the billion credit cards currently in use by Americans, it’s alarming to see how easily hackers can penetrate secure sites. A virtual credit card is […]
The Social Media Bubble: Facebook Just Bought Instagram for $1 Billion
No matter who you are, one billion dollars is a ton of money. But to Facebook, this is barely 1% of it’s estimated $100 billion value. Facebook’s looming IPO has drawn Google like valuations of the soon to be public company. This most recent absurd purchase is the latest to define the social media bubble. […]
Help Me Buy Something with My Tax Refund
I just received my yearly merit increase: a whopping 3% to stay right in line with inflation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very appreciative of the extra money, but in the grand scheme of things, how much will this improve my life? Will I be able to buy more, spend more, save more? In the […]
Your Take on the Health Care Law
This past week, the Supreme Court wrapped up three days of oral arguments over the health care law. At stake is the health care law’s individual mandate that would require most citizens to have health care as part of a systematic overhaul intended to lower medical costs. The individual mandate is crucial to the survival […]