Onecle Sample Contracts

Onecle is a great reference tool that has real world business contracts listed by category.
You can find actual contract SEC filings from such categories as: bankruptcy, separation agreements, consulting, credit, leases, benefit plans, compensation plans, franchise, proxy filing, promissory notes, stock agreements, severance, stock options, tax, etc.

This is a good reference learning tool because it is from real life contracts not sample documents.

http://www.onecle.com/

Best Places To Buy A House Based On Income

Business Week offers a ranking of best and worst places to live according to housing costs.
They rank the best and worst by measuring if the median house price is affordable for the median income in that area. Unfortunately, we live in the highest cost, the NYC metro area. The median income can not afford the lowest cost house in our area. They are stuck having to buy co-ops in apartment buildings. I don't know about you but I like a backyard, space, and having my own house without worrying that I have a mortgage I can't afford.

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105683/Affordable-Housing-Exists,-If-You-Know-Where-to-Look

Best Places To Live In

Money Magazine offers an excellent guide on some of the best places to live in the U.S.
Their rankings are based on jobs, schools and housing costs.
You can search by state and closest location to where you live now. You can also compare the cost of living in different towns. I often try to explain to people that their dollar will go a lot further outside of the big cities (especially in housing costs) and they will live a better quality of life. Hopefully, once you see the low cost, high quality neighborhoods available around the U.S., you might move to one of these great towns.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/index.html

25 Ways to Save Money

A BusinessWeek article provides 25 ways to save money. We have heard much of this advice before, but it is good to have it in a short article.
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105529/25-Ways-to-Save-More-Each-Month

Earn Money By Recycling

Did you know that you might be able to make money by recycling such things as your old cell phone, electronics, or car? The following article gives four websites that might provide a little something in return for your old nothing.
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105497/4-ways-to-earn-cash-for-recycling

How much will college cost for your child?

If your child is 2, how much will you have to pay for college when your child starts attending at the age of 18? To estimate your future expenses, you can use this calculator:
http://finance.yahoo.com/calculator/college-education/col-02

This calculator factors in an "Annual college cost inflation" of 6%.

What I like about this calculator is that you can enter the information for more than one child at once. The calculator will show you the results one graph and on one table.

What I don't like about this calculator is that you have to guess what the annual cost of the college would be today. This prediction is not easy to do. For example, it does not take into account any financial aid your child might receive.

To get the most information with this calculator, as with any calculator, type in and compare a number of your estimates.

Find Tax Deductions

MSN has a great online tool, provided by TurboTax, to help you find your tax deductions:
http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-software/ty07/msn/deduction-finder.jsp

How much did you really borrow?

It is well known that when you take out a loan, you have to pay back more money than you borrowed. You have to pay interest on top of the principal that you borrowed. But how much do you really have to pay back? An easy to use calculator from FinAid will quickly tell you the answer:
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

BankRate Glossary

Don't know a financial term that you heard in conversation or on the news? Look it up here. Info about credit, auto loans, atms, insurance, investing, iras, mortgages, small business, taxes.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/defhome.asp

Public Jobs Loan Forgiveness

Learn how to get some of your student loans forgiven if you qualify and are willing to work for a certain period of time. You can choose one of many public service options. Don't worry about the money you might lose if you don't go into private industry. Think of all the money you will save in years of loan payments!
http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml

Take Tax Deductions

You can learn what important tax deductions to take if you itemize instead of taking the standard deduction. (Medical, taxes paid, interest paid, charity, casualty losses, job expenses, misc losses). Tax deductions reduce your taxable income. Learn about what is deductible and how much is deductible.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/Financial_Literacy/Dec07_tax_deductions_a1.asp?caret=78b

Celebrity tax issues

Learn how some celebrities handle their tax issues and who they take advice from. Learn some of the tax pitfalls of being in the entertainment/ artistic industries. Learn how they handle the tax implications of having sporadic income but having to pay regular taxes.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/Financial_Literacy/Dec07_tax_experts_a1.asp?caret=80

Learn MBA Topics For Free

You can learn topics such as: accouting, economics, finance, management, marketing, operations, etc. Here you will find quick summary entries to complex topics. The topic entries are written for the more general reader.
http://www.quickmba.com/

Legal Topics / Vocab

Here you can find out information about different legal topics.
You can learn about the current regulations and laws such as: accident, criminal, estate, family, labor, real estate, bankruptcy, financial, legal, etc. This website offers legal information on various topics all in one place and it also gives important definitions for legal vocabulary terms.
http://business-law.freeadvice.com/all_topics.php

To Retire Early, Save Early

An article by Laura Rowley, "Meet the 29-Year-Old Retiree," tells the story of Madison DuPaix, a woman who retired very early. Madison DuPaix follows the simple, but difficult to implement advice: To retire early, you must save. It is interesting to note that the Madison DuPaix defines retirement broadly: "It means doing what I love, and knowing when I wake up every day I can do whatever I want."
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/118245

If you are interested in learning how Madison Du Paix saved enough to retire at the age of 29, read her method in her blog, "My Dollar Plan."
http://www.mydollarplan.com/%22%3E%3Cspan%20style=%22FONT-WEIGHT:%20bold%22%3EMy%20Dollar%20Plan/

How much is the name of a school worth to you?

I spoke with a friend who attended Columbia University for a masters in psychology. He currently has a job earning less that $50,000 a year and has over $80,000 in debt from undergraduate and graduate loans. He told me, "I will have to pay over four hundred dollars per month for the next thirty or thirty-five years." I asked him, "Was going to Columbia worth it?" He answered, "No, but at least I can say I went to Columbia."

Is college worth it?

A recent CNN Money article asks, "Is college still worth the price?" The article shows that cost of college has risen "at a faster rate than costs have risen on any other major product or service."
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/20/pf/college/college_price.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2008082214

Going to College Costs More

A recent article CNN Money article, "College prices rise," summaries a report from the College Board indicating that the costs of college have increased. For the 2008-2009 academic years, the average cost of attending college ranges from $14,333 per year for in-state students at public four-year schools to $34,132 per year for a private four-year college. These numbers include the cost of fees and room and board. The article gives other statistics, including statistics for aid given to students.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/29/pf/college/college/index.htm

10 Most Expensive Colleges

CNN Money lists the ten most expensive colleges. The information provided includes last year's tuition, this year's tuition, and the increase in the tuition from last year. At over $40,000 a year, some of these colleges can cost over $160,000 over four years -- a lot of money!
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0810/gallery.expensive_colleges/index.html

Financial Advice for Scary Financial Times

A timely article for Halloween, "13 Financial Frights," provides some solutions to thirteen financial problems people could currently be facing in this economic downturn. We like this article because it lists some of the main concerns we are hearing, including, having your retirement savings decrease, seeing your stocks tank, and an inability to get a student loan.
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106063/13-Financial-Frights