The debit card is something that you and I use so frequently, that we are hardly conscious of it. We hardly think about our debit card transactions unless for the very few minutes when we are actually in the process of the transaction. But Visa is one company that is minding all your debit card transactions. The way you swipe your debit card will determine how much money the company is going to make the retailers cough up as fees. This is so high that retail outlets like Costco and Walmart really limit the way you swipe your credit card.  These processes are opaque to the debit card users. Signing The Bill V/S Typing Your Pin Makes A Huge Difference As a customer, it might not make a difference to you weather you sign your debit card bill or type your PIN on it, but for the retail outlets  [...] 

Learning financial prudence doesn’t necessarily have to be a boring affair now! TV shows, of all things, can teach you basic financial skills. Watch the new age sitcoms, dramas or reality shows and have a lesson or two to learn from them. TV shows are being viewed as potential teachers of financial skills, by many financial experts, especially for the Gen Y. The reason is very obvious. These days youngsters don’t give a damn to anything other entertainment. Ask them to attend special classes on financial skills and they are surely going to frown at the idea. Ask them to visit websites and they’ll find them dull and boring. Sit personally to teach your young one a tip or two on frugality and most probably you’ll be short of the appropriate audience, on one pretext or the other. You read  [...] 

Gone are the days when the man of the house was the designated breadwinner and financial manager for the family. These days, even women need to pool in financial resources from their earnings to run families. They too have to keep themselves abreast with the financial status of their families and also of the outside environment so that the family runs smoothly. Even though there is just one earning member the other needs to share the management of the finances to run the family efficiently. The woman of the house is conventionally designated the role of the homemaker who should know nothing about how much her husband earned and how he spent it. Eyebrows are raised when a woman enquires about the family finances. Surely the partners who are earning may feel that their finances are their private  [...] 

For long we’ve been hearing about global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, environmental pollution and the subsequent climatic hazards that they cause. But we’ve taken very less action towards checking this. It’s been almost half a decade now that the subject of environmental deterioration has shifted from the laboratories of scientists and the living rooms of intellectuals to the common man. Yes, now since people are able to see, feel and realize the effects of climate change, they have become responsive and the government has decided to take funds from them to fight the environmental change which if left unchecked will lead to catastrophic consequences. According to Reuters, at a recently held G20 meeting, global heads were debating on how the economically well off countries  [...] 

The recession has made us wiser in our financial planning and we don’t want to repeat the mistakes that have led to this crisis. This is the reason we feel the necessity of teaching our children money management so that they can eventually protect themselves during any such crisis in future. Government and private financial institutions are trying their best to make school and college children financially literate. Apart from that, parents are trying to teach their children money management by opening bank accounts and teaching them how to budget. However these efforts are not enough. Kids should be taught other skills too. This is because the young generation of today is faced with financial challenges which their parents might not have encountered. For example, the older generation might  [...] 

The much hyped and much controversial health care bill talks a lot of general health care issues like regular medical visits to doctors and treatments for specific illnesses, but you should know that our country has got a lot of elderly people who need long term consistent care. So what has this health care bill got for such people who are not ailing with any well defined illness in general or rather ailing with a host of them? They are not the ones going to the doctor with any specific health complaint but due to problems that oldage has brought upon them. These are the people who need long term general medical care as well as healthcare assistance. Surprisingly caring for the elderly seems to be a very expensive business. A Metlife Study says that a nursing home for the elderly costed around  [...] 

I’m a die hard movie buff and rent the hottest movie videos in town almost three to four times a week.  I’m a regular at Blockbuster. I was shocked, depressed and hurt when the video renting giant announced that it would close down 810-960 stores by the end of next year. Of course I do agree that people don’t watch videos anymore and it’s the age of DVDs. But as a consumer I get the hint that I should not depend on only one video store or library for hiring my videos. Today videos have become obsolete and tomorrow DVDs will when newer technologies come up. So depending on local movie renters does not seem to be as good an option. As Seton Hall University South Orange Professor Christopher Sharret says, “It’s only a matter of time before video is relegated to cyberspace, subscription  [...] 

I was surprised to know from a Ohio State University Study that the personal finance habits of a CEO can tell a lot about the financial health of a company. The chances are that if the CEO has personal debts its more likely for his company to be in debt and vice versa. Earlier I’d think that a company debt had nothing to do with the personal finance health and habits of its CEOs because it depended more on external economic conditions like the recession, inflation etc. But this study seems to have come up with more logical results. Of course, the leader sets the example, and his personal financial health and habits will obviously get reflected in his company financial health. The study reveals that companies with higher debts have CEO’s who have debts on personal properties. These companies  [...] 

As Chairman, Senate Finance Committee, Max  Baucus releases the health care reform bill, I’m sure there are butterflies in your stomach in anticipation of how your personal health care is going to be affected. So lets get to the highlights first. According to a CNN Money report, the fines that most of us don’t like seem likely to be imposed making health care a mandatory issue. The middle class might have to pay a penalty up to $3,800 for not being insured. But the government says, they’ll get tax credits which will help them in paying up for the health care insurance. For convenience of enrolment in insurance policies Web based insurance exchanges will be set up. You just log in from the comforts of your home and apply for insurance. There’s no need for you to go to any offices for  [...] 

The desire to be physically fit and have perfect bodies has caught on the fancy of so many of us and we do everything to get that impressive silhouette. Do you know that for you to be fit in the true sense of the word you need to gear up your emotional and financial fitness too? You can do very little for the former because its so very dependent on the latter two; amongst the latter categories, the former is dependent to a great extent on the latter. So ultimately, it’s your financial health that you’ve got to look into to take care of your fitness in totality. Nobody’s got a six pack abs, just by doing nothing. All those guys out there have exercised their muscles well and got results by following a diet and fitness regime. So if you want to be fit, following a regime is a must. Financial  [...]