Careers, Finance and Investing : Money-zine.com

It's uncomfortable to be in debt. No one likes the feeling of being out of control, especially when it comes to their personal finances. If you're in that situation, then you have two problems to solve: getting out of debt, and staying out of debt. 

Over the last two years, it's been difficult to tell where the stock market is heading. Investors are hoping the momentum that started late last year will carry over into 2012. Consistent with the approach taken in the past, we'll use the techniques of value investing described elsewhere in this publication to identify five good stocks to buy in 2012.

Over the last twelve months, we've witnessed one of the most volatile stock markets in several years. As we start a new year, it's time to announce the Dogs of the Dow for 2012. After experiencing losing years in 2007 and 2008, the Dogs bounced back with positive gains over the last three years.

It's time, once again, for a review of the upcoming income tax changes for 2012. As was the approach over the last several years, we'll outline changes to Social Security and Medicare, federal income tax standard deductions and exemptions, mileage deduction rates, earned income credits, Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits, in addition to changes to 401k plans, IRAs, and Roth plans.

It's a great feeling to get a "bargain" when shopping. That's something all marketers hope for when offering retail credit cards to consumers. Discounts are great, but there is a down side of accepting these offers too.

This HELOC calculator helps you to understand the payment patterns associated with a home equity line of credit. The calculator begins by asking the user to supply variables such as the current HELOC balance, interest rate on the loan, draw and repayment periods. Using this information, the calculator then provides values that include the monthly payment, ending loan balance, as well as the repayment amount.

On December 9th, the IRS revised the standard mileage reimbursement rates for the calendar year 2012. These rates should be used to calculate the tax-deductible costs for using a car for business, charitable, medical, and moving purposes. The most common use of these mileage rates is to reimburse employees for expenses involving use of their own cars for business purposes.

When buying and selling stock through a broker, the investor generally has three types of orders they can place: market orders, limit orders, and stop orders. When working with a broker, it's important to understand both the trades that are possible as well as the firm's policies and procedures.