Careers, Finance and Investing : Money-zine.com

This 403b calculator allows you to figure out how much money you can save in your 403b plan by retirement.  The calculator will predict the 403b fund balance at retirement, a projection of the annual income you might expect from this type of account, as well as the percentage of final pay replaced by this fund.

If you're interested in putting your home to work for you, then you might want to consider an equity release strategy.  This type of arrangement allows you to use the money you have invested in your home to provide a steady source of income.

If you're intelligent enough, it's easy to learn the technical skills you'll need to be successful at work.  But if you're looking to climb that corporate ladder, you're going to need superior soft skills too.  Unfortunately, all too often we see people promoted to leadership positions that lack the soft skills required to be successful.

A stock market downturn is often the best time to identify potential takeover targets.  And investors can use the same valuation techniques as corporate raiders when searching for stocks that are undervalued.

Financial hardships, such as the sudden loss of a job, can often force homeowners to delay payments on their monthly mortgage.  Unfortunately, when a homeowner starts to fall behind on their payments, they run the risk that their lender may try to foreclose on their home.

Back in 2005, Congress passed into law some wide-reaching changes to the bankruptcy process.  At the time, it seemed these laws were aimed at making it more unpleasant for individuals to file for Chapter 7 protection.  However, one of the unintended consequences of that legislation appears to be an increase in the cost of bankruptcy.

Buying a home normally provides the homeowner with both a place to live as well as the prospects of earning a respectable return on their investment.  But with the downturn in the economy, the average price for a home decreased to $292,400 in 2008, a decline of 6.8% from the average home price of $313,600 in 2007.

There are prime loans, subprime loans, and somewhere in between is the Alt-A loan.  This type of loan is a mortgage that is considered riskier than an A-paper loan (prime), but not quite as risky as a subprime loan - which is generally considered the riskiest type of mortgage a lender can write.

Owing a credit card is a convenient alternative to carrying cash to make purchases.  But using a credit card has its drawbacks too - especially if your desire to buy goods or services overshadows your ability to pay for them.  Prepaid debit cards offer consumers both the convenience of electronic purchases, as well as protection against overspending.

You can use this calculator to determine the value of a college degree.  By entering the cost of a college education, along with your expected salary after college or high school, the calculator will tell you how much a college degree is worth.

When tough financial times hit home, one-income households can sometimes use a temporary boost to help them make ends meet.  Homemakers often find themselves scrambling to update their resumes, but they frequently don't know where to start.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the United States entered a recession in December 2007.  And while economists might define a recession as a reduction in a country's gross national product, indivdual families might be faced with financial hardships, including the loss of a job.

At one time, the stock market provided serious investors with an opportunity to put their money to work over the long haul.  Today, investors like to move quickly in and out of the market and that's just one reason technical strategies, such as price momentum, have grown in popularity.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contains a number of tax relief provisions that will save both individuals and families money over the next several years.  In total, there are ten different provisions under this economic stimulus package that can help lower the tax burden of many Americans.

Each year we go through the ritual of gathering up the information we need to file our federal income tax return.  Once we've completed our return, we organize all of our current records and file them with our prior returns.  We then stare at our bulging files and think to ourselves...  How long do I need to keep my tax records?

In the tax year 2008, the federal government extended its e-file service to include Free File Fillable Forms.  This program allows taxpayers with access to a computer and the Internet to prepare and file their federal income tax returns.  As was the case with earlier programs, electronic filing is both a swift and accurate way to securely-file your return.

The title of this publication might be resumes for older workers, but its aim is really to help those individuals with a great deal of work experience.  Older, or more senior, employees have an advantage over their younger counterparts - they've been around longer and therefore have knowledge that is more valuable.

During economic recessions, or market downturns, investors typically add defensive stocks to their portfolios.  That's because defensive stocks can be expected to perform relatively well during all phases of a business cycle - even during difficult economic conditions.