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In the old days, if you wanted to figure out how you were doing financially, you had to sit down with a pen, paper, and a calculator and do some math but, as technology has advanced and more people took an interest in their finances, more and more financial calculators began to pop up. Today, there are hundreds, if not thousands of financial calculators for you to choose. As great as this sounds, though, not all financial calculators are created equal. Many have shortcomings that could lead you down the wrong path. Today I am going to show you what to look for in financial calculators so that you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

In this article I highlight 10 ways to pay off your house early. You can pick out the one that suits you best, or find a way to combine multiple tips to pay off your mortgage in as little as half the time! Imagine not having a mortgage payment any longer. What would that enable you to do?...What are you waiting for?

While most people understand that their credit score is the key to getting approved for a loan, not all realize that having a high credit score also improves their finances because it can save you money. The higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate you will qualify for, thus saving you money over the life of your loans. This post guides you through your credit score, from everything that determines it, what helps and hurts a score, what leads to bad credit, how to check your score, and most importantly, how to improve your credit score fast.

If you want to experience financial independence or live the life of your dreams, you are going to have to avoid going into debt. Put simply, when you are in debt, you are working for someone else and, as a result, you can never reach your goal of financial independence... The key, then, is to avoid debt altogether and this post outlines ways to avoid debt so that you can make sure your money is working for you and not working against you.

There are certainly times when you can see that the odds are heavily stacked in your favor and we have one of those potential scenarios right now in gold.

Do you really need portfolio diversification?...Everyone assumes that broad asset class portfolio diversification is advantageous...[as it] reduces the risk associated with events that can trigger a decline in any one asset class...[and makes] financial planning more reliable and predictable by reducing the variations in portfolio performance from year to year. Simply put, portfolio diversification is a sound investment practice but, [that said,] exactly how much risk reduction, in actual numbers, is obtained through application of this philosophy? [Bottom line, is] asset class diversification all that it’s cracked up to be? This article...addresses...the benefits of diversification among various classes.

Whenever some financial “pundit” says that the best way to get into a stock is by averaging down, we sometimes cringe. Why? Because, at best, you’ll be getting into a stock at a lower average price...but more importantly, you can be getting into a stock that’s poised to sink much, much lower and that’s a risk no one wants to take.

Debt plagues millions of Americans every day. It is such a common problem that many of us don't even think twice about what we owe, or how we landed in such a predicament. The simplest explanation is that debt happens when you spend more than you earn but it's not actually that simple when real life steps in. Unexpected events and bad planning...can leave you facing big debt that may take years to pay off. By understanding some of the main causes of debt, we can make better financial decisions in avoiding it. Let's take a look at some of the worst offenders.

Along with the prestige of being a medal recipient, the awards themselves have worth. The Olympic silver medal value, for example, may surprise you. However, just how much you can get for a medal varies depending on how you break it down.

Using beta to build a portfolio is a smart and easy thing to do. All you have to do is make sure you understand your risk tolerance and not build a portfolio that is overweight in one sector of the stock market...