Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Investing

Should You Use Your Credit Card to Buy Gold or Silver?

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Gold and silver prices have been on the increase for many months and this is no surprise to Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, business consultant and publisher of the Trends Journal.

This “Trends Expert” stated that gold and silver prices would continuously increase almost two years ago.  As CNN Headline News stated, “When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”  As per usual, Gerald Celente called it right.

Many financial experts are stating that gold and silver demands will continue to be high for quite some time to come.  According to the vice president of the RBC Capital Markets Global Futures George Gero, he stated at Forbes.com that worries about the US debt and tensions in the Middle East are a couple of reasons why investors like to turn to gold.

As of the posting of this blog, gold was $1548 per ounce and silver was $36.21 per ounce.  Compare that to one year ago, gold was about $1200 per ounce and silver was $18.50 per ounce.

So investing in gold and silver is still proving to be profitable.
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Investing VS Speculating: The Difference Between Building Wealth and Gambling

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How do we know when we’re investing—or speculating but thinking we’re investing? It’s not always obvious.

One of the factors that can make it difficult to know the difference between investing and speculating is that both produce gains and losses.   Some sound investment strategies can turn losses for a few years, while speculating rakes in high returns just long enough to earn some credibility.

Since the lines between investing and speculating can often be blurry how do you spot the difference between the two? [Read more…] about Investing VS Speculating: The Difference Between Building Wealth and Gambling

How to use a Stock Screener and Build Your Dividend Stock Analysis Template

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As a dividend investor myself, I’m always looking for my next trade. In order to find the right stock to buy, I use a free stock screener and I complete my analysis with my dividend stock analysis template.  I wanted to share both tools so you can improve your stock research and build a strong portfolio.

One of the tools I use to identify dividend stocks for further analysis is the Fin Wiz Stock Screener. This is a free stock screener that allows investors to input reams of criteria to come up with a list of stocks to do further analysis on.

Here are the criteria I use to filter stocks:
[Read more…] about How to use a Stock Screener and Build Your Dividend Stock Analysis Template

ShareBuilder Now ING DIRECT Investing, a Redesigned Site, and a Bonus!

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ShareBuilder has undergone a facelift!

Not only has their parent company, ING DIRECT, redesigned the site to make it easier to use, they have also renamed it – ING DIRECT Investing.

It’s still the same awesome site it’s been when it was created over 10 years ago.  Their goal has remained the same: Bring Wall Street to Main Street.

I think they have succeeded.  They make it easy for the average investor to invest in the market.

So why a redesign and rebrand?

[Read more…] about ShareBuilder Now ING DIRECT Investing, a Redesigned Site, and a Bonus!

IRA Maximum Contribution Limits – Roth and Traditional

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An IRA can be a great tool to help you save for retirement and the traditional and Roth both have interesting tax advantages. But the amount you can contribute every year is limited.  The Federal government imposes limits as to how much money can be contributed to both the Roth IRA and the traditional IRA accounts.  An account holder’s age (and income) is also a factor in how much s/he can contribute per year.

The investors who are 49 years old or younger have had maximum limits that are $1,000 less that those investors who are 50 years old or older since the 2006-2007 investment year.

The nature of this investment fund demands that an investor contributes the maximum amount of contribution allowed every year in order to enjoy maximum yield.  For example, the contribution amount for a person 49 years of age or younger in 2010 was $5,000.  If he only invests $3,000 in 2010 he can’t add the $2,000 deficit to the $5,000 contribution allowed in 2011.  The IRA is a “use it or lose it” investment fund which means any money not invested into an IRA is lost forever. [Read more…] about IRA Maximum Contribution Limits – Roth and Traditional