Careers, Finance and Investing : Money-zine.com

A collateralized mortgage obligation, or CMO, is a type of bond that is structured using mortgage-backed securities.  The performance of these investments depends on the quality of the home mortgages on which they're based.  Traditional lenders package these loans and pass them on to an intermediary company.  Principal and interest payments from homeowners are eventually passed on to investors in the CMO.

One often-misunderstood investment strategy is dollar cost averaging.  While some financial planners insist the approach is a great way to save for the future, others say there is no advantage to using this technique.  We've examined both sides of this story, and have concluded that advocates, as well as opponents, are correct in their thinking.

If you're wondering why you can't seem to save money each month, then we know the answer.  Saving money can be explained using one simple relationship.  When household income is greater than household expenses, then you're saving money.  On the other hand, when household income is less than household expenses, then you're going into debt.

After a relatively good year in the stock market, investors are anxious to see what 2010 has in the offing.  We're going to continue down our path of value investing, and use the techniques described elsewhere in this publication to find five good stocks to buy in 2010.

As we've done for five years running, we're once again ready to announce the Dogs of the Dow for the year 2010.  After experiencing a losing year in 2007, and taking a pounding in 2008 (a loss of almost 42%), the Dogs bounced back in 2009.  If you were following the rebound of the stock market last year, it's not surprising the Dogs made positive gains.

This online tool is able to calculate the federal 2010 tax rate, also known as tax bracket, for individuals.  The calculator takes into consideration, wages, salaries, income, adjustments to income, deductions, as well as exemptions.  The calculator not only provides an estimate of federal income tax owed, but also Social Security and Medicare taxes.

What better way to start the New Year then with a review of the income tax changes for 2010?  Due to the economic recession, there were not a lot of changes to the tax provisions in 2010.  That being said, we will outline changes to Social Security, standard deductions, exemptions, mileage rate deductions, earned income credits, Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits, as well as changes to retirement savings accounts such as 401k plans, IRAs, and Roth plans.

There was a time when retiring with a mortgage was unthinkable.  Making that last mortgage payment was something to celebrate, and that achievement was shared with family and friends.  There was even a name for those celebrations - they were called mortgage-burning parties.

This Black-Scholes calculator allows you to figure out the value of a European call or put option.  The calculator uses the stock's current share price, the option strike price, time to expiration, risk-free interest rate, and volatility to derive the value of these options.  The Black-Scholes calculation used by this tool assumes no dividend is paid on the stock.