Savings and Debt

What is your reaction to the article? How do people get into debt so easily? How can finance charges be so dangerous? Also include a chart on the US declining savings rate. Why don't Americans save money anymore? See if you can compare the savings rate of US citizens to the savings rate of another nation.

It is actually quite easy for people to get into debt. It is really all about money management. It is very difficult to save money for many people because there are so many bills that have to be paid and usually people only work to pay out those bills. The use of the credit card worsens many people's situations because they include interest rates that you have to pay.

US Trade Deficit: getting better?

Read this New York Times article. What is this article discussing? What is a trade deficit? Why is the US trade deficit likely to go down in the future? What kind of products is the US selling overseas? And what about the US dollar - how can a weak dollar actually help the US economy and the trade deficit?

Over half of the 9.1 million vehicles produced last year were sold in foreign countries. More KFC fast food restaurants are opening in China now than in the United States. $765.3 billion last year was our trade deficit and it could gradually decrease. Trade deficit can help to tell how much a country is worth. The S&P market says that they traded almost half of its goods to foreign countries. They say that this will narrow the gap in between the goods for this year and will contribute to the country's economy. The US trade deficit is likely to go down because of all the business that the US economy is doing overseas. Because our exports are growing, it is helping our economy to become stronger creating more domestic jobs and a better domestic economy.

Taxes - How Does The Government Get Money?

Explain the different types of taxes Americans pay. How does the federal government get money? How about the state government? And how do local (city) governments get money? Make a chart and track all of the different ways Americans are taxed. Hint - there is more than one!

Federal Taxes:
Payroll Tax: Collected from wages and salaries only
Income Tax: Collected from wages, salaries, interest from bank accounts, rents, royalties and dividends
Corporate Income Tax: Collected from a corporations net income
Excise Tax: Collected from sales of items
Estate Tax: Collected from a deceased person’s estate
Gift Tax: Collected during the transfer of property between living people

State Taxes:
General Sale Tax: Collected mostly from general sales
Excise Tax: Collected from sales of items such as tobacco, alcoholic beverages and gasoline
Estate Tax: Collected from a deceased person’s estate
Inheritance Tax: Collected from a person after they have inherited something from a deceased person

City/Local Taxes:
Property Tax: Collected from financial and real assets, this includes, stocks, bonds, houses, cars and artwork

Student Loans - Beware

Student loans are one of the worst experiences anyone can go through. I believe that some of these culinary school students took out such large loans because they did not properly plan for the future. I believe these students believed that after college, with their new jobs, they could easily pay it back. What most people dont realize that it is the interest loans and fees that really kill you. I believe that student loans are good and bad. They help you pay for your college education, but having to pay them back is where the trouble starts. Because I was not awarded any financial aid, I will have to take out student loans for school. How much, I have no idea. I'll let my parents worry about that ;)

Critique of Federal Reserve Podcasthttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

1.) How strong is the content of the podcast? Does it thoroughly discuss all of the important aspects of The Fed?
2.) How is the recording? Is it loud, clear, and listenable?
3.) How are the images? Do they contribute to and match the verbal content?
4.) How effective is the style of the podcast? Is it interesting and creative; or not?
5.) Did you learn anything from the podcast? Is it educational?

Would you like to see this podcast for yourself???
CLICK HERE

Compound Interest and the rule of 72

COMPOUND INTEREST:
Compound interest is very good for saving and earning money because you accumulate "free" money. Compound interest keeps the money that you originally invested plus adds the extra or the interest money. An example of this is if you had $2000 in the bank and added $500 every year for 10 years with 5% annual interest (which is very very rare), you will have accumulated $9,800.!

THE RULE OF 72:
The Rule of 72 is a rule that shows how long it will take to double the money you have invested. The rule is to divide the interest rate by 72 and the answer you get will be the number of years it will take to double the money you have invested.

Insider Trading Scandal - What Happened?

On Thursday, March 1, 2007, thirteen people were arrested for insider trading After five years the federal authorities discovered one of the most far-reaching insider trading schemes on Wall Street. In this were involved four investment banks, a web of hedge funds, day traders, lawyers and even a few supervisors, who on discovering evidence of insider trading, blackmailed the traders to keep quiet about it. The illegal part of this deal was that these inside trading deals gave people a heads up on which stocks were doing better and worse letting them know which stocks to invest in. These inside traders were sentenced to 25years in prison