Car buyers will spend hours researching reviews on their favorite models looking for the vehicle that best fits their needs and their budget. For instance, according to a report by AutoTrader Group, the average car shopper spends more than 11 hours online researching cars and three and a half hours offline. The loan used to finance the car, on the other hand, is often just knocked together in the back office without the buyer giving much thought to anything but the total amount of the monthly payment.

In just two years time, California has gone from a basket case state with a shortfall of almost one-third the size of its entire budget to having a $7 billion surplus. Why does California, the largest economy in the U.S. with a GDP the size of Russia’s, have such income volatility issues? More importantly, what can we learn from how the state legislature is trying to fix the problem?

Consumers, that’s you and me, are naive and gullible creatures. We may think we have a sense of what is a fair price, but we are just playthings for marketing and advertising executives. You have to give them credit though when you think of the prices we are willing to pay for stuff we either don’t need or could find cheaper elsewhere.

Student-Athletes Should Be Paid, And They Are; But Is It Enough?

So you have a great business idea you’re excited about and you’ve managed to squirrel away some seed money to make your dream a reality. However, you’re still not ready to launch your business. What should you do with your cash? Great question. This article will give you some clear and actionable advice on what you should do with your spare cash until your start-up takes off.

If credit cards were bicycles, secured credit cards would be a set of trusty training wheels.

So you’re close to hitting 35, huh? The clock is ticking and the time we could get away with procrastinating about financial decisions is over. Sigh.

When it comes to personal finance management, your brain is a two-edged sword. If well trained, it can be a cold and calculating machine capable of incredible feats of self-control and frugality. If not kept in check, your brain can become putty in the hands of marketers, and ready to be manhandled by retailers and lenders.

We all want our children to succeed and be happy in life. These days, there are more options than ever for kids as they grow up and start their careers. One of the most popular ways is through entrepreneurship, which is why we’ve compiled a list of job ideas for kids who love to be creative (and earn some cash along the way).

Loyal3 is a new entry into the hungry pack of online discount stock brokers. However, it’s different to any of the other brokerage firms we’ve reviewed. While other wholesale brokers offer low commissions and trading fees, trading on the stock market is completely free with Loyal3. Yes, you read correctly. There are no buying or selling fees or commissions to worry about.