AAII's Guide to Top Web Sites
| Personal Finance |
| Personal finance encompasses the broad array of financial concerns that most individuals must deal with throughout their lifetimes, including banking, insurance, savings, taxes, health care issues and all kinds of financial planning. Many websites cover at least one aspect of personal finance, but the sites we have listed below offer extensive coverage of a range of personal finance issues, such as mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, CDs, money market accounts and insurance. Plus, most also have numerous calculators, planning tools and educational materials that can help you with budgeting, asset allocation, college planning, health care decisions, tax planning, estate planning and retirement planning. |
 Bankrate.com |
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www.bankrate.com
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If you want interest rate data and other information to help in the selection of bank CDs, checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, credit cards, mortgages, car loans, home equity loans and other personal loans, this is the site to visit. There are also numerous personal finance calculators (whether mortgage refinancing makes sense, how much to save for a child's education, etc.), several tax calculators, and information on debt management, as well as educational articles on personal finance. Though the information is good, the large number of ads makes the website look cluttered.
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| MyMoney.gov |
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www.mymoney.gov
Free |
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This site provides links to specific content on the websites of the 21 federal entities that compose the Financial Literacy and Education Commission. Nearly all aspects of personal finance are covered, including saving, spending and borrowing. The content covers all age ranges as well, from a spending guide written for young adults to instructions for notifying the Social Security Administration when a family member passes. Many tools are linked to, including a life expectancy calculator, a daily spending worksheet and a checklist for protecting your checking account.
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| SmartMoney.com |
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www.smartmoney.com
FREE |
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Covers all of the personal finance basics including banking, loans, insurance and tax and estate planning, along with coverage of related issues such as health care, small business and elder care. Good selection of in-depth articles within each personal finance section, and well-thought-out navigation tools. Emphasis tends toward "newsy" topics rather than the basics. Clicking on the Tools section of the website provides access to a wide selection of worksheets, calculators and other planning tools.
Personal finance topics are spread throughout the website, as opposed to being under a dedicated "personal finance" section. Visitors can click on a specific subject, such as "spend" or "borrow," from the top of any page.
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| Yahoo! Finance |
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finance.yahoo.com
FREE
Where to Find:
Click on Personal Finance.
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Numerous articles about all aspects of personal finance, including loans, insurance, real estate, saving and spending and tax planning. Also provides useful how-to articles that cover the basics of each area. Content is well-organized, although there is little original content. Topic-specific calculators are linked to in most sections. A thorough dictionary of financial terms is available. Navigation is well-organized, and the site is easy to use.
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