Finance Globe

  The start of the school year is just around the corner. Here are some strategies to help you save money on back to school shopping this year. Start by rounding up all of the school supplies you already own. You may already have plenty of school supplies lying around your house, forgotten at the bottom of a drawer or the back of a closet. Determine what can be reused this school year before you set...

The federal reserve recently announced that it cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, the first cut since the 2008 financial crisis. The new short-term range will be between 2% and 2.25%. The rate they reduced is the federal funds rate, which is what banks and other financial institutions charge one another for very short-term borrowing. Most consumers don’t do that sort of overnight borrowing, but the Fed’s moves still affect the borrowing...

As I wrote on what a bond rating is last month, I wanted to also write an overview of what equity research is as well. You may be familiar with what equity research is, some may not. Below is a high-level overview of what equity research is, and feel free to ask any follow up questions in the comments section below. Equity research is primarily focused on publicly traded stocks. The purpose of equity research is...

While some of you may be familiar with what a bond rating is, many of you may also be unfamiliar and do not understand the bond rating process. Below is a high level overview of what a bond rating is, and feel free to ask any follow up questions in the comments section below. A bond rating is a rating that an independent or unbiased agency issues to measure the credit quality of a particular bond...

Financial Wellness, a new term for me, is all the rage. In fact, many companies offer financial wellness as an employee benefit. But many may ask, what is financial wellness and how does it help you? Below is a general summary, and please feel free to post in the comments section for any follow up questions. Financial wellness is not just about your net income, but its about having to experience positive financial outcomings, having a...

2019 is off to a fast start and hopefully the winter is over. Now that you are getting your taxes done for 2018, you may want to look at your financial picture for 2019. This is a great time to start boosting your savings and really focusing on your financial plan. Below are tips and helpful guidelines to help improve your savings in 2019. Please feel free to add any in the comments section below. Breakdown...

While 5-10 years ago most people had never heard of the term sharing economy or knew exactly what it meant. Fast forward to today, and the reality is very different. Our modern economy includes an economic model that includes a sharing economy. But what exactly does that mean? Below is a summary of what a sharing economy is and how it affects your everyday life. A sharing economy has many facets, but is a mode of...

There is an issue I think needs to be addressed in public high schools. While the core classes like algebra, geometry, and English are critical, these schools are putting enough focus on everyday skills like personal finance. I think personal finance should be a core class in high school. Learning these skills in high schools will help the student through adulthood, and may even find a job. I bet there are many that find themselves behind...

In today’s startup world, you have probably heard of the terms accelerators, incubators, and innovation labs. These are great to help startups and founders grow their business into something viable. While there is a lot of similarities, the programs do have some key differences and are set up differently as well. Below I will describe these in detail. Please feel free to ask any follow up questions in the comment section. Also please feel free to...

For those who don’t follow the stock market on a regular basis, I thought I would provide a high level summary and recap. Most investors are relieved that 2018 is over. There were a lot of highs, including the tax-cut optimism, to quite a lot of lows, especially the last few months. From a U.S. stock market perspective, it was the worst performance since 2008 during the financial crises. The S&P 500 fell 6.2% for the...