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Reference: Personal Finance, Homes, Interest Rates
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A
Accounting WEB, Financial Calculators
www.accountingweb.com/tools/calculators.html
Registered users can access mortgage, investment, lease, personal finance, retirement calculators.
American Stock Exchange
www.amex.com
Can search for Nasdaq, AMEX and NYSE quotes by stock, mutual
fund or option symbol; displays NASDAQ and DJIA market activity
charts, lists companies that exceed, meet or fail to meet
earnings expectations (data available for the last 5 days
of trading). News Releases registers new IPO
listings.
Amortization Table Calculator
www.bankrate.com/brm/amortization-calculator.asp
Can calculate monthly mortgage and loan payments and the impact of extra mortgage payments; can create amortization table.
Annual Credit Report
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
Can obtain free credit report annually from three major U.S. credit-reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, Experian. Reports are viewable online once identity has been authenticated. Includes FAQs, fraud alert information.
Apartments.com
www.apartments.com/
Can search for apartment rentals nationwide. Also provides Moving Center, which includes moving checklist, storage information and moving services.
Ask the Builder
www.askthebuilder.com
Web site for the radio talk show "Ask the Builder."
Contains database of home improvement and remodeling tips
from radio broadcasts and library of past columns, both
searchable by type of remodeling job or on a query.
Can subscribe to receive online newsletter, a semi-monthly
compilation of home repair and remodeling tips.
B
Bankrate.com
www.bankrate.com
Can compare mortgage and home equity loan rates based on ZIP code.
BankSite
www.banksite.com
Can order a credit report merged from Equifax, Trans Union and Experian for $29.95, delivered online. Provides more than 25 financial calculators, bank directory.
BestCalls.com
www.bestcalls.com
Portal provides links to investor resources, including associations, online brokers, quote and charting services, research, message boards, webcasts, public relations firms, financial publications, news.
Better Homes and Gardens Home Improvement Encyclopedia
www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jhtml?
categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/
data/homeimprovement.xml
Contains online database of home improvement, remodeling
and repair tips and instructions organized by type of work
and subtopics in each category. Each tip includes
index of project stages and jobs, estimated time, tools,
materials and skills necessary to accomplish it and link
to reference books related to the topic. Includes
project calculator that estimates the amount of materials
needed for different types of projects. Contains link to database of home
plans and other Better Homes and Gardens Resources.
C
Carfax
www.carfax.com
Can order vehicle history reports online for a fee.
Chex Systems
www.consumerdebit.com/
consumerinfo/us/en/
chexsystems/index.htm
Bank and credit union network of reports filed by institutions
about customers suspected of having overdrawn accounts or
of trying to use fraudulent information to open an account. Qualified customers can order a Consumer Report, most likely for a fee.
Consumer.gov
www.consumer.gov
Gateway to federal consumer information resources available online organized by category, including Home and Community, Product Safety, Money and Transportation.
ConsumerWorld.org
www.consumerworld.org
Catalog
of online information resources for consumers. Includes
product reviews, price comparisons, discount shopping, money
and credit, consumer agencies, consumer alerts, and other
information.
Conversion and Calculation Center
www.convertit.com
Provides
loan and sales tax calculators under Currency Exchange
Rates, then Financial Calculators.
Cost of Living Calculator from CNN and Money Magazine
cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/
costofliving/costofliving.html
Can input current salary and view cost of living comparisons between U.S. cities. Categories include groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.
Credit Union National Association
www.creditunion.coop
Consumer Information includes mortgage, auto, savings and loans calculators.
D
Daily Stocks
www.dailystocks.com
Can search for stock by ticker symbol, retrieves links to
quotes, analyses, history, charts, profiles and other financial
data. Provides links to other sites and search engines
with information on the stock. Stock symbol can be
looked up by company name.
E
Econsumer.gov
www.econsumer.gov
Provides contact information and links to consumer protection agencies in 35 countries and the European Commission; tips for safe online shopping; information about online fraud and schemes; guidance for e-commerce businesses. Can file complaints online.
EDGAR
www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Investor Info links to
FAQs, publications, calculators, broker background checks,
complaint center, investor alerts, investor education resources,
information on claims funds and settlements.
Edmunds.com
www.edmunds.com
Car-buying guide contains databases of new and used car prices; provides car comparisons, car buying tips and advice, safety reports, road test information; includes links to related online services.
Equifax
www.equifax.com
One of the three major U.S. credit-reporting agencies. Can obtain credit history information, FICO score, and information available to lenders, insurance companies, prospective employers. Can obtain credit profile via U.S. mail or subscribe to online delivery service for $10 fee. Can subscribe to identity theft protection program and FICO score monitoring.
Experian
www.experian.com
One of the three major U.S. credit-reporting agencies.
Can order credit report online for $15 fee.
F
Federal Citizen Information Center
www.pueblo.gsa.gov
Includes
the full text of brochures on such topics as Social Security
and other benefits, buying government property, financial
planning, and labor and employment that are aimed at consumers.
Also offers publications for small businesses, including
protecting intellectual property, Employment Law Guide,
Small Business Administration programs and the Americans
with Disabilities Act. Fee is charged for some brochures.
Federal Trade Commission: National Resource for Identity Theft
www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
Consumer and business resources include publications, guidance, documents, links, online complaint form.
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
www.finra.org/RulesRegulation/index.htm
Database of information about individual brokers and securities firms. Can search current employment, previous employment and approved registrations for brokers; address, general information, types of services, legal status, registration for securities firms. Can order a report of disclosure events, such as criminal events, financial disclosure events, regulatory actions, customer complaints and civil judicial events. Can search database for broker by name, current or previous employment, CRD number; search for firm by name or CRD number.
Financial Times
www.ft.com
Can look up stock quotes and historical performance by company name or symbol.
Freddie Mac
www.freddiemac.com
News contains weekly mortgage rate survey, quarterly conventional
mortgage home price index, economic and housing forecast,
and housing and refinance survey.
G
GE Real Estate
usa.gerealestate.com/cms/servlet/enter
Online Tools provides daily updated market rates and currency exchange rates.
Get Human
www.gethuman.com
Lists toll-free customer service numbers, with tips on shortcuts to live representatives for more than 450 companies, intended to help consumers navigate automated telephone tree mazes. Companies are listed in alphabetical order by industry, including auto, car rental, bank and credit, insurance, mobile phone, health care, pharmacy, online retail, telecom, manufacturing.
Glossary of Insurance and Financial Planning Terms
www.haskayne.ucalgary.ca/haskayne
undergrad/rminlinks/glossary
Contains alphabetical list of insurance coverage and financial
planning terms with definitions.
Good Experience
goodexperience.com/
Online consumer forum designed to make businesses more aware of their customers' experiences with them. Visitors can post comments, including photos, about unsatisfactory products, customer service experiences
Guidestar
www.guidestar.org
Searchable database of more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Provides a synopsis of each charity's finances and explanation of its IRS Form 990. Allows computerized comparisons of charities by type, size and location. Free registration required. Detailed analyst reports require a paid subscription.
H
HomeAdditionPlus
www.homeadditionplus.com
Provides DIY home improvement how-to advice and home remodeling tips by project type; offers contractor bid sheets for sale.
HomeFair
www.HomeFair.com/index.html
Provides relocation tools, including city and school reports,
home and apartment listings, temporary housing information,
insurance information, crime statistics, community information,
storage and auto shipping information.
Homeportfolio
www.homeportfolio.com
Resource for home design products. Links to manufacturers
providing product specifications and product line information.
Offers broad selection of products, online brochures, informative
content, search capabilities, and personalized tools for
rating products and saving or sharing favorites.
I
ImproveNet
www.improvenet.com
Provides project estimating and calculating tools, house plans, home improvement and remodeling advice, message boards.
Inflation Calculator
www.westegg.com/inflation/
Adjusts any amount of money for inflation between any two years
from 1800 to present, using data from the Consumer Price
Index.
Insurance Information Institute
www.iii.org
Provides answers to questions about home, auto, business, healthcare, fire and
accident insurance. Also contains a directory of insurance companies and state insurance agencies.
Insurance Web
www.insweb.com
Resource center for information about insurance and quotes.
Can shop for insurance and compare quotes from different
insurance companies. Types of insurance available
are auto, business, home, renter's, life and health. Registered
users can enter personal information, get quotes specific
to their profile and compare quotes across different insurance
providers; personal information can be stored and retrieved
for updated quotes. Contains informational articles,
special reports and Q&A section arranged by type of
insurance.
Insure.com
www.insure.com
Provides
quotes for auto, life, medical, home, renter's, dental and
travel insurance policies; underwriting requirements. Includes
insurance needs calculators; guides to state laws on auto
repair parts, health insurance and taxes on life insurance,
annuities; insurance tips and guides.
Internet Crime Complaint Center
www.ic3.gov/
Partnership
between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National
White Collar Crime Center, IFCC's mission is to address
fraud committed over the Internet. Can file fraud complaint
online. Provides information about types of Internet frauds,
fraud statistics and alerts.
K
Kelley Blue Book
www.kbb.com
Can
view used car and motorcycle trade-in and retail value reports;
get new car pricing reports, with specifications and photos;
read tips on buying new and used cars; access other information
and services.
L
LoopLender
www.looplender.com
Provides current interest rates, commercial loan quotes and mortgage
calculators.
M
Mortgage-Calc.com
www.mortgage-calc.com
Provides calculators for mortgages, rent vs. own, affordability, amortization, consolidation, loan comparisons, retirement plans.
Mortgage Loan Page
www.LoanPage.com
Provides calculators, glossary of terms, articles and advice, lender directories, rate quotes, other resources for borrowers and lenders.
Move.com
www.move.com/
Provides information on builders, searchable by state, including new homes, subdivisions and developments, custom homes. Includes nationwide listing of builders' models, newly built homes and housing plans; provides mortgage tools; home buyer's guide; moving checklist and guide.
MyFICO.com
www.myfico.com
Provides information about FICO scores, which use software by Fair, Issacs Co. and mathematic formulas to evaluate credit-worthiness for lenders. Includes variety of financial calculators. Offers for sale credit histories, credit watches and FICO score products.
N
National Association of Home Builders
www.nahb.com
For Consumers provides guide to buying a home; information about carpet and wall discoloration, EIFS, mold, remodeling and building systems.
National Do Not Call Registry
www.donotcall.gov
Nationwide
registry that allows consumers who do not want to receive
telemarketing calls to register their home and mobile phone
numbers online.
New York Stock Exchange
www.nyse.com
Can search company by name or search lists of companies
arranged alphabetically, by location or industry.
Retrieves stock price, link to company home page. Provides
IPO listings of companies, requirements for companies to
be listed on NYSE, market information for listed companies,
such as stock quotes and market indices.
Nolo: Law for All
www.nolo.com/calculator.cfm/
objectID/1FD36A0B-0510-44C3
-BB1A85629CF38AF0
Calculators contains retirement, small business, real estate, debt and bankruptcy, affordability, other consumer calculators.
R
REALTOR
www.REALTOR.com
Database of homes for sale is searchable by state; includes
tools for locating neighborhoods and selecting a Realtor.
ReBuz Mortgage Calculator Tools
www.rebuz.com/Calculator/Mortgage-Calculator.htm
Includes mortgage, tax benefit, affordability, loan comparison, refinance, rent vs. buy and other calculators.
RepairClinic.com
www.repairclinic.com
Online
resource for appliance parts and accessories, repair tips,
troubleshooting and general technical information. Can browse
database of available parts and accessories, order online,
purchase repair manuals and e-mail repair questions.
S
Salary Calculator
www.homefair.com/homefair/
calc/salcalc.html?type=to
Can
compare the cost of living in U.S. cities. Users input their
current salary, cities they are moving from and to, and
housing preference; Web site calculates what salary is needed
in the destination city.
Standard and Poor’s
www2.standardandpoors.com/
Provides financial market information and analysis. Can browse indices, credit ratings and risk evaluation, equity research, risk solutions. Some features require free online registration.
Stock Exchanges
www.123world.com/stockexchanges/
Lists world's stock exchanges in alphabetical order, with links.
StopBadWare.org
www.stopbadware.org
Online campaign led by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute aimed at fighting spyware, which is hidden software that tracks user's online activity and feeds information back to marketers, who in turn deploy targeted ads, pop-ups and otherwise misuse the computers of others. Visitors can submit technical reports online.
T
TheStreet.com Ratings (Weiss)
www.weissratings.com
Provides ratings of banks and thrifts, including strongest and weakest lists; can look up banks by bank name, state, rating.
Trans Union L.L.C.
www.transunion.com/corporate/
personal/personal.page
One of the three major U.S. credit-reporting agencies.
Can order credit report by telephone, U.S. mail or Internet
for a fee.
Z
Zillow.com
www.zillow.com
Can look up home value estimates for more than 45 million residential properties derived mainly from public records and can view available property details, birds eye views, home valuation indices.
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