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Personal Finance Personal financial planning is many-faceted. There are a myriad of Web resources available to guide and inform the individual, whether a novice or a seasoned investor. Here is a selection of commercial, non-profit, eduactional, and government sites with useful and free information; contact Ka-Neng Au if you have any suggestions for new resources to include on this page. A. Financial Management BasicsStart with Your Financial Organizer, an online tool from TIAA-CREF. (Other calculators and planning tools are also available.) Section I will help you determine your net worth and cash flow; the calculated values may be saved as an Excel spreadsheet. Many more financial guides (for boomers, women, children, late savers, etc.) are listed under Resources for Consumers by the National Endowment for Financial Education. The American Savings Education Council (of the Employee Benefit Research Institute) runs the Choose to Save public education program, with an extensive range of online and printable worksheets, calculators, and brochures. You can take a comprehensive online tutorial from Rutgers University called Investing For Your Future or one from Purdue University called Planning for a Secure Retirement. 
B. Borrowing for a Home or Car
Average fixed and adjustable mortgage interest rates (both current and historical) are compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association and presented as part of its Mortgage and Market Data (click on Bankrate.com will provide the latest average rates (both national and local) for Mortgages, Home Equity Loans and Auto Loans. How much car or house can you afford? Should you refinance? Should you buy or lease your next car? What's the difference between fixed and adjustable rate? For these and many other questions, consult Bankrate.com's Calculator Home Page. As residents of New Jersey, you are entitled to a free credit report each year from the major credit bureaus:
And if you already have a home, you might want to investigate reverse mortgages: consult the National Center for Home Equity Conversion as well as the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.
C. Investing in Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Funds1. SavingsCurrent savings interest rates for Certificates of Deposit and Money Market accounts are tracked by Bankrate.com A comprehensive site for information on "529 Plans" and saving for college is Savingforcollege.com. You can also consult Independent 529 Plan concerning prepaid tuition plans sponsored by private or independent colleges. 2. StocksBloomberg.com offers World Equity Indices as well as the Movers by Index, a sortable list of stocks and their performance on several major markets. Good market coverage is also available from Yahoo! Finance: Today's Markets has trading volumes, market indices, and financial news. The best source of Historical Quotes is Yahoo! Finance; you can obtain stock prices (open, high, low, close) back to December 1981, along with basic charts. More detailed charts can be created with SharpCharts from StockCharts.com. 3. Bonds
Current corporate bond prices and selected transaction data are available from the Corporate Market At-A-Glance of the Bond Market Association. More descriptive details (and more complete transaction data) on the individual bonds may be obtained from NASD BondInfo.
Current and historical (back to 2000) municipal bond prices can be found at MunicipalBonds.com. This site provides summary reports for each trading day, not by issuing authority or state agency. The Bond Market Association also provides a daily report of Municipal Market At-A-Glance which is sortable by credit rating, maturity, or volume traded.
The Treasury Department provides a description of the various Government securities as well as prices and yields from the Treasury Bill, Note, and Bond Auction History. 4. Mutual FundsThe most useful site for mutual fund (and bond fund) information is Morningstar.com, with free fund screening and profiles; detailed reports require a subscription but you can sign up for a free 14-day trial. For investors with concerns about corporate ethics, environmental initiatives, and workplace conditions, SocialFunds.com provides news and profiles of dozens of socially responsible mutual funds. 5. ResearchA comprehensive site for current stock quotes and market indexes is Reuters Investor. Financial highlights, stock charts, and earnings estimates are also available if you register. Some Rutgers-restricted databases include:
6. AdvisorsTo check up on your investment adviser firm, use the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website from the Securites and Exchange Commission.
Consult the Watchfire GómezPro Scorecards for various rankings (by category or user profile) of discount brokers and full-service brokerage firms.
To check up on your broker or brokerage firm, start with NASD BrokerCheck from the National Association of Securities Dealers. Monthly reports are archived at NASD Enforcement Actions.
If you are tired of dealing with a broker, consider direct investing with ShareBuilder (formerly Netstock Direct) and learn about dividend-reinvestment plans (or DRIPs) at DirectInvesting.com
D. Giving to Charities and Not-For-Profit OrganizationsHow do you evaluate a charity or social welfare group? Start with GuideStar's Tips for Choosing a Charity. Then use GuideStar's searchable database of not-for-profit organizations to locate a financial snapshot and recent IRS filings, if any are available. Free registration is required for access to the Form 990's. Another good site for tracking not-for-profit organizations (but fewer than at GuideStar) is Charity Navigator, with its comparison charts with similar organizations. The American Institute of Philanthropy also provides advice on giving through its Charity Rating Guide which must be ordered by mail. Top-Rated Charities are listed online but details are only in the printed Guide. Of course, you should be aware of fraudulent charities; consult the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's "Operation Phoney Philanthropy" page, which lists some organizations currently under investigation in various states.
To see if a charity or not-for-profit organization is tax-exempt (and your donations therefore tax-deductible), consult the Internal Revenue Service's online Search for Charities.
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office maintains a Directory of Registered Charities in this state; agencies in other states may be located through the National Association of State Charity Officials.
Finally, you can consult the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, which evaluates local charities and funnels grants to them. The Council's members are listed here by Type of Grantmaking Organization. E. Living with Taxes and InsuranceFor an statistical overview (population, employment, income, and expenditures) of the metro area or county you live in, consult the Community Demographics Library from Development Alliance (registration is required). BestPlaces.net will allow you to Compare Cities from among 3,000 in the nation, and see a side-by-side comparison of nearly 100 categories. More modestly, the firm ESRI offers demographic and lifestyle data with their Free ZIP Code Lookup, which includes household income, home values, and a description of the predominant ACORN™ (A Classification of Residential Neighborhoods) lifestyle segment. For state profiles and comparisons of the status of health and healthcare costs, consult State Health Facts Online from the Kaiser Family Foundation. You can compare insurance quotes (for health insurance, term life insurance, homeowners insurance, and more) via InsWeb. The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance offers help on Health Insurance Programs as well as Shopping for Auto Insurance in New Jersey including insurance premium comparisons by municipality (ZIP code, actually). Tax burdens (property, income, sales, and estate) are described by the Retirement Living Information Center in Taxes by State. Of course, you can obtain Federal Tax Information for Individuals from the Internal Revenue Service. Local municipal property tax rates (per $100 assessed value) are listed in the Abstract of Ratables from the Division of Local Government Services. You can search for property assessments at TaxRecords.com but registration is required.
Now, do you want to move? You can Find Your Best Place to live, work, or retire with this handy online tool from BestPlaces.net. Specify your own preferences in forty quality of life or cost of living categories, including climate, housing, and recreation.
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