Archive for January, 2009
In The News: AIG Wants More
January 23rd, 2009. Published under UrbanSpeaker. No Comments.
After the American government recently “loaned” AIG $85 billion USD, the executives took a lavish trip to a California spa and awarded each other huge bonuses. Now the company continues to flounder, losing $15.8 billion in the past four quarters, and wants more money.
CNN Money writes:
The New York Federal Reserve is lending up to $37.8 billion to American International Group to give the troubled insurer access to much-needed cash.
In exchange, AIG is giving the New York Fed investment-grade, fixed-income securities that it had previously lent out to other institutions for a fee. Those institutions are now returning these securities and want their money back.
For The Masses: Budget 101
January 19th, 2009. Published under UrbanSpeaker. 4 Comments.
Arguably the most important part of great financial health is being about to make, and more importantly stick with, a budget. Often when people hear the word “budget”, they cringe in fear of luxury starvation. They feel like if they are going to have a budget, they are going to have to stop having fun and start penny pinching.
Budgets are not about starving yourself of all the things you want, they are about reaching the financial freedom needed to achieve your goals and dreams. When you start out on the road to financial freedom you have to decide what it is you want. Once you have your goals down, you will have the motivation necessary to get when you want to be.
Things To Ask When You Buy A House
January 12th, 2009. Published under UrbanSpeaker. 4 Comments.
As the middle of the university school year is passing, I have started doing some more serious house hunting for next year. Once I decided that I would rather buy then rent, I began looking online for houses that were in a good proximity to the school. But what else should I be looking for in a house?
To keep me focused on what I wanted, I sat down a few days ago and wrote out all the things I wanted in a house. This quick list has made sifting through the myriad of real estate listings quite a bit easier. Here’s the list I came up with: