It is vital to be in control of your personal finances and to build and maintain good credit in order to get access to some of the most basic things in life. For instance, in order to easily purchase a home, or other major items, you need to have good credit. This is the same when it comes to receiving the best possible rates for whatever it is that you are purchasing and avoiding the aggravation of having to deal with credit repair companies and collection agencies. Additionally, any future purchases you make are made easier with an excellent credit history.
In order to maintain good credit, there are a few things that need to be kept in mind as general rules of thumb:
- Higher-income allows for higher debt.
- Job stability shows your responsibility; at least two years on the same job is ideal.
- Having assets available shows that you are able to pay for debt.
- Maintaining low balances and steady payments on existing debt, auto loans and credit cards has a positive effect on your credit rating.
Some of the most common reasons for poor credit include when debts go into collections for being more than 90 days past due; any sort of judgments that have been made on your credit report for not paying medical bills, taxes or other responsibilities; being over extended with the debt-to-income ratio; and making no payments, or late payments, on bills—better known as being delinquent. In order to ensure that you keep your credit intact, in addition to paying your bills on time, obtain an annual credit report and review it for errors and correct them as soon as possible.
In addition to maintaining a good credit rating, there are also benefits of investing in the stock market. One benefit of investing in the stock market is the simple fact that it has the ability to earn you a greater return than putting your money into a bank or Certificate of Deposit (CD). The money in a savings account will earn interest, but it usually ends up being less than the rate of inflation while stock market returns can be unlimited. Another benefit of stock market investing is that some stocks pay a dividend, which simply means that in addition to the appreciation, you can also receive a monthly cash flow. This cash flow may even be enough to support you if you hold enough shares.
When investing, it is important to be educated with the investments you are making. It is a good idea to diversify your portfolio in order to lessen the amount of risk and to ensure that at least a portion of your investments is always doing well. For instance, bonds have a tendency to do well when stocks do not, so investing in both stocks and bonds helps to ensure that you are always earning something. Another way to diversify is to invest in securities that are in the same class of assets, but are not affected by the same type of variables such as airlines, grocery stores, utilities and entertainment companies.
Stock Market Basics
- Stocks Basics: Introduction
- Basics of the Stock Market
- Stock Market Educational Materials
- Stock Market Basics
- How to Trade Stocks
Stock Market Terminology
- Stock Market Glossary
- Stock Market Dictionary
- Stock Market Terms
- Stock Market Terminology for Beginners
- How To Stock Market Terminology
Speculation
- Financial Speculation – Penny Stock Pick Alert
- Financial Speculation Tax
- Campaign: Financial Speculation Tax
- Financial Transaction Tax
- Financial Speculation
Stock Derivatives
- Definition of a Stock Derivative
- More About Derivatives
- Derivatives and the Stock Market
- Derivatives
- Derivatives – Stock Option Basics
Investment Strategies
- Simple Investment Strategies
- Sensible Investment Strategies
- Investment Strategies for Peer-to-Peer Lending
- Investment Strategy Guide
- Investment Strategies
Diversifiable vs. Non-Diversifiable Risk
- Non-Diversifiable Risk
- Entrepreneurial Finance and Non-Diversifiable Risk
- Competition, Imitation and Growth with Non-Diversifiable Risk
- Diversifiable Risk
- The Price of Diversifiable Risk in Venture Capital and Private Equity
Diversifying Your Investments and Portfolio
- The Portfolio Pyramid: How to Diversify Your Investments
- Beginner’s Guide to Asset Allocation, Diversification and Rebalancing
- Diversify Your Portfolio
- Remember Diversification?
- Diversify Your Investments
Maximum Diversification
- Diversification
- Risk Management, Maximum Diversification, Quantitative Discipline, Liquidity Risk and Position Sizing
- Diversification and the Inefficiency of the Market Cap Portfolio
- Diversification Effect: Isolating the Effect of Correlation on Portfolio Risk
- Portfolio Diversification
Building and Maintaining Good Credit
- Building and Maintaining Good Credit
- Fundamentals of Building and Maintaining Good Credit
- Building and Maintaining Good Credit from Wells Fargo
- Maintaining Good Credit Can Finance Your Dreams
- Building and Maintaining Good Credit Rating
Personal Finance Misc. Resources
- Financial Skills
- Top 5 Personal Finance Resources Online
- Resources for Personal Finance
- Best Personal Finance Resources
- Personal Finance Resources – Get Smart About Your Money