Spring Break: Top Ways to Protect Yourself (Financially)

As this nifty infographic from Online Schools reminds us, the season of sex, alcohol, and bad decisions is rapidly upon us. All of that fun and sun soaked up during spring break costs a pretty penny, however. Between Florida and Texas alone, students spend an estimated $1 billion. College students on average spend $1100 a week on spring break — and less than half of that goes to lodging and transportation. We’ve compiled a list of the top ways for students to protect themselves financially on spring break so that they stay within budget and stay immune to any scams.

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A History of Financial Instruments

Throughout history, people have relied on various financial instruments to prosper. The concept of buying on credit goes back as far as 4000 BC and many fortunes have been made and lost through market speculation since the 17th century. From rice futures in the 17th century to Enron scam, we lay out the most monumental financial instruments in the history of time.

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Gas Meter, a Weekly Report

The price of retail gasoline has increased this yet again this week. The current national average price per gallon is $2.788, up from $0.037 last week.

U.S.-based oil refinery maintenance season is in full effect, and consumers’ options for low cost gasoline are limited. Most regions are within the $2.700 to $2.800 range; read on to see how average gas prices in each region stack up.

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20 More of the Biggest Ripoffs in America

Okay, we’ll admit it: trying to squeeze the biggest ripoffs in America into a single article was a pretty tall order. In fact, it looks like we only scratched the surface. Billshrink readers chimed in with some terrific ripoffs after we published our original article, so we decided to take another crack at it. Today, we’ll run down 20 more of the biggest ripoffs in America – many of them taken directly from reader comments and suggestions. Who knows? With a topic like this, there may even be a part three!

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Savings and Credit, an Interest Rate Round-up

On Tuesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will meet to discuss the outlook of the benchmark interest rate in the coming months. Any dissent among the ten members to Chairman Ben Bernanke’s statements that rates “will remain low”, may change the Fed’s policy going forward. Stay tuned here for updates on the meeting’s progress.

See this week’s interest rates from the Federal Reserve after the jump.
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401k the New Angel Investor

Using a 401k to start or fund a business has been a hotly debated topic among industry leaders. Some glorify their business success stories and the 401k plans that made it all possible. Others criticize the practice as an unstable and risky alternative to creating a business savings. To the opposition, why use an unreliable financial strategy when more conservative options can be just as appropriate?

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Five Investments To Avoid For The Long Term

This guest post is brought to you by SVB of The Digerati Life, a site that covers personal finance, ranging from reviews of online discount brokers to effective debt reduction strategies.

So you’re finally ready to invest for the long term and ready to receive a higher return on your money. The catch is that you’ll need to keep it somewhere for at least 5 years to really experience the benefit of long term growth on your assets.

If you’re ready to seek long term growth for your investment portfolio, then I’d like to point out those investments that you may want to avoid. The thing is, there are investments that are applicable for different purposes, and there are a few that may not fit your needs as a long term investor. For instance, many investments do not pay enough in interest to cover inflation and taxes on the interest you accrue. The rule of thumb is this: you want to receive returns that are higher than 6% on your long-term investments. Anything that yields 6% or lower in overall returns may not be as worthwhile because those returns are eaten up by taxes and inflation. That said, here is a list of the top five long-term investments you should avoid.

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DEVOUR by Motorola Hits Shelves Soon

The Motorola DEVOUR arrival is nearing and you can get an inside look here before the March 15 release date.

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