5 Things To Know About The Stock MarketWritten by Alan Korber
50% Of U.S. Households Invest In The Stock Market Individuals invest in stock market directly, through mutual funds, their pension plans, profit sharing plans, 401k's, IRA's, etc. Mutual Funds Dominate The Market It is mainly mutual funds, buying and selling, who move market and cause individual stocks to go up and down. Mutual funds are 800-pound gorillas of stock market; at end of 2003, mutual funds held more than $3 trillion dollars worth of stocks. The Dow Jones Average Is Not The Stock Market The Dow Jones Industrial Average is comprised of only 30 selected stocks. In reality, there are more than 7,000 different stocks listed on 3 major U.S. stock exchanges. That makes it quite possible that, in a given time frame, Dow Jones Average may be flat or down but many individual stocks may actually be up.
| | Federal Debt Consolidation Loans For StudentsWritten by Roy Thomsitt
For American students, U.S. Government came up with a plan that can help a student manage their student loan debt. The plan they came up with is called a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. It does not matter if you are a recent graduate student, well into your career already, still at school, or in your grace period for repayment of a student loan. For any of those student categories, a Federal debt consolidation loan may be applied for.Students successful in their application for a federal debt consolidation loan may reduce amount they need to repay each month, or increase time that they have to pay off their current debt. How Does a Federal Debt Consolidation Loan Help a Student Pay Off Their Debt? For a student who has student loans under several different programs, bringing them all together under one direct Federal Debt Consolidation Loan can make your debts easier to manage. By combining all of your loans into one, you're only responsible for making one payment to one lender - U.S. Government. To help make option of debt consolidation more attractive, there are four flexible payment plans available, including two that which take income and/or income expectations into account. The Federal Debt Consolidation Loan is Available to Help you Manage your Student Debt. Student loan debt is not something that you want dragging at your feet like a ball and chain. It provides a good opportunity for students to learn to manage their finances. Even if you are still at school, it is a good time to learn to manage your debt. That will hold you in good stead as a consumer long into future. For example, if you choose to consolidate all your student debts into one before you leave school, you can lock in an interest rate that as much as .6% lower than if you attempt to refinance later, after you have left and are no longer a student. For more how a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan can help lower your repayments, and manage your student debt, you can visit Department of Education's web site. Once there, you can make use of their online debt calculator at https://loanconsolidation.ed.gov to estimate your projected monthly payment under various plans.
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