Blog Posts by InvestingAnswers

Follow these smart money steps when you land a new job. Congratulations! You got a new job -- and in a pretty bad economy at that. Whether you were unemployed like millions of other Americans and just got a job or you moved from one position into a new one, a new job will be a transition.

These transitions are happening more and more now. Once upon a time, a worker commonly stayed with a company for decades. Not anymore. According to a 2010 report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, younger Baby Boomers -- those born from 1957 to 1964 -- changed jobs an average of 12 times between ages 18 and 44. And that trend seems likely to continue, or even intensify.

Ideally, your new job will come with a higher salary than your previous one. However, once you've negotiated a salary and nailed down the job, there are still many more money moves to make. Help make a positive financial transition by following these four steps when you get a new job.

Take Full Advantage of Company Benefits

If your company offers matching 401(k) contributions and

Do you really need life insurance for children?

Learning about insurance policies may seem about as exciting as a graduation speech, a trip to the DMV and the color beige. However, if you don't do your homework, you could get convinced to buy policies you don't need -- costing yourself a small fortune.

Many types of insurance policies simply don't make sense for folks either because they're redundant, they solve a problem that really isn't a problem or for other reasons.

Here's a list of five insurance types you could likely do without:

1. Life Insurance for Children

What it is: If a child dies, it will pay the parent an indemnity.

Why you don't need it: People buy life insurance to provide for their dependents, so it makes little sense to take out an insurance policy for kids -- since they have no dependents. According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the death rate for children in 2010 aged 1 to 4 was 26.1 per 100,000 children. For kids aged 5 to 14, it was even lower, at 13.9 per

Avoid turning your home into a money pit. Want to get a handle on our household money? Use what psychologists call "creative visualization." Imagine yourself as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of My Family, Incorporated.

A major part of the effective management of a household budget is discovering where money is wasted. It's crucial to determine the most common areas where family money goes down the drain. Sit down with your family at the kitchen table, as if it were a board meeting, and discuss the following:

-Who is responsible for paying the bills? -How many credit cards should your household use and who will have possession of them?
-What's the family's cash flow -- i.e., how much money is coming in and how much is going out?
-What's the overall family budget?
-What's the budget for each individual member?

Above all, look at places in your family's budget where your money is poorly or inefficiently spent. One of the best ways to do this is to have every family member keep a record of their spending for a month and

Buy produce in season to keep your wallet and waistline in shape. Rising food prices and stagnant job growth have many Americans looking for ways to save on food bills, but that doesn't justify an unhealthy diet of fast food or frozen pizza for you or your family.

In fact, fast and cheap food isn't "cheap" at all. An unhealthy diet can result in additional long-term healthcare costs.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-third of all U.S. adults (33.8%) and approximately 17% of all U.S. children and adolescents are obese, and in 2018, the cost of obesity nationally is projected to be $1,425 per person in direct medical costs. That doesn't include indirect costs such as a lack of productivity at work, low energy levels and possible depression.

You can prevent obesity by eating smarter, even if your funds are limited. A healthy diet doesn't have to be costly; it just has to be well planned and prepared. Here are 10 ways you can maintain a healthy diet and a healthy budget.

1. Stock Up on Calorie-Dense Whole Foods
To get

A new government proposal is about to make credit cards even more expensive.If you've got bad credit, it can cost you a fortune to have a credit card. Now, a new proposal from the nation's top consumer watchdog may send those costs even higher.
The proposed rule change, released on April 12 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says there would be no limit on application fees and other fees credit card issuers can charge people before their account is open.

Once the account is open, there will still be a cap of how much issuers can charge in fees for the first year. However, if the proposal is approved -- it's open for public comment through June 11 -- credit card issuers will be free to charge whatever they see fit prior to the opening of the account.

One bank has already started charging the fee. And if history is any guide, more are likely to take the plunge.

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 -- the most sweeping, pro-consumer regulatory change in the history of the credit card business -- took direct aim at companies that charged excessive fees. The

Raising a kid costs more than $200,000! Taking these four steps can help you avoid disaster.Raising a child from sweet baby to hormone-riddled teenager will cost a typical American family nearly a quarter-million dollars, according to government data -- and that's not even including college.

However, before you toss the idea of being a parent out the window, understand that with some forethought and advance planning, you can handle those costs. Just don't expect it be easy.

According to a 2011 U.S. Department of Agriculture study, a middle-income family will spend $226,920 raising a child born in 2010 from birth to age 18. (Add in the cost of college and that number could possibly double.) Those with lower incomes can expect to pay about $163,000, while the more affluent could pay more than $350,000.

The cost is up 60% from just 10 years ago, the report says. Numbers such as those demand parents have a plan well before a baby comes into the equation. Here are four steps you can take to help you plan for the costs of that new, little bundle of joy:

1. Break Down The Costs

Learn from one of the savviest investors of all time. What can a woman born in New England in 1834 teach us about investing in today's market? Plenty.

Hetty Green was one of the savviest investors of all time. Her steely resolve, unwavering discipline and glacial patience are every bit as important to market success today as they were a hundred years ago.

And yet Hetty -- once the richest woman in the world -- remains mostly a footnote to financial history, a curious bit of eccentric Wall Street lore. That's too bad. There's much to be learned from her.

Hetty's father, "Black Hawk" Robinson, was a notoriously hard-driving New Bedford whaling magnate, and he imbued his daughter with his business acumen and insight into the darker side of human nature. His was a not a rose-tinted, sentimental perspective. Black Hawk taught his daughter never to owe anyone anything, not even a kindness. Hetty wasn't merely tough, she was ruthless. "The Witch of Wall Street" once foreclosed on a church. When she died in 1916, she was worth $100 million, a

Need more time to pay your tax bill?It's that time of year again. If you haven't already started the laborious task of filing your taxes, here's a reminder: The due date is April 17.

Of course, you can get an extension of up to six months from the Internal Revenue Service. However, filing for an extension with the IRS won't help you defer payment if you owe money.

If you are having a hard time scraping up the cash to pay the taxman, you have a few options. However, it is essential to file your tax return before the deadline. If you don't file, you will be penalized and owe interest. Failure to file on time can cause the amount you owe to increase by up to 100%.
Here are four options to help you when you may not be able to pay right now:

1. Set up monthly installments.

If you owe less than $25,000 and agree to pay off the balance in five years or less, you can request more time and set up a monthly automatic payment plan. You can fill out an Online Payment Agreement form, search "installment agreements" at IRS.gov or