With all the knowledge on this board, I'm calling out to our finance experts and stock gurus on here to create an FAQ on finance/accounting/investing/stocks for those who might be clueless when it comes to these issues.

Please post books, websites and links of where you might have come across some information, your "advice" on what to look for in stocks and basic finance information that you would like to share! Links are appreciated!

wow, like 40 views and no responses. i'll get things started:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html
read them all. quite entertaining.

I have experience in this area, so I will try to submit things from time to time. My specialties are insurance and financial planning.

Question: How much life insurance do I need?

Answer: There are many opinions on this ranging from arbitrary equations of multiples of income to none. The best answer is much more logical.

The first thing you must consider is what you are insuring against. If someone will pay funeral costs, etc for you, then you must start with that amount. Add to it the lost income from time out from work for the survivors. Add to that a reasonable amount to cover uninsured medical bills in case of a prolonged illness leading up to death. Finally there is income replacement. According to government studies, if a wage earner dies then the family can expect to need 70% of that person's income to maintain the same lifestyle without that person. First, you multiply that person's current income by .7, then you would want to determine how much you could conservatively estimate to receive from a diversified investment of a large amount of money. Historically, the stock market returns, on average, 10%. If you are comfortable with this assumption, then you would need to determine what lump sum you would need to produce the 70% of lost income as that 10% investment return. To do this, you divide the 70% of income by the percent you expect to get from an investment. In simple math, if you are replacing $100,000, then you need $70,000 annually. This would require a life insurance disbursement of $700,000 for income replacement alone.

Question: Should I buy term or whole life?

Answer: Contrary to current fads of buying term insurance, you should really analyze your personal situation and find what fits best. Life insurance is never an "investment" (unless we are talking variable life). Some facts hold true no matter what. Life insurance gets more expensive as you get older. Life insurance gets more expensive and difficult to obtain if you develop medical problems. Term life premiums increase at specific intervals in your life, usually every ten years. This is called ten year level term. You can buy different intervals including one year level term depending on the company. Term life is temporary life insurance. It is the amount that you buy that you won't need for the rest of you life. Whole life is permanent life insurance. It is the amount you will need even if you live to 100. The premium for whole life never changes assuming that the death benefit never changes. Term life is cheaper in the short term, but much more expensive in the long term. Whole life is more expensive in the short term, but much cheaper in the long term. Many times the best thing to do is buy a combination of both.

-Justin aka jkhamlin
Former Missouri all lines insurance agent and former Series 6 and 63 (variable contracts) NASD registered financial planner.

Guide to investing (http://www.investing.rutgers.edu/)

Home study course that is pretty decent for basics I hear. I haven't done it myself though.

Buying first home asked on yahoo.com with links included (http://ask.yahoo.com/20020723.html)

HUD's guide to buying first home (http://www.hud.gov/buying/) This will have a glossary to explain some of the terms too.

General Homebuying website (http://www.ourfamilyplace.com/homebuyer/first.html)

Fool.com's financing your home (http://www.fool.com/homecenter/finance/finance.htm)

Question: Should I buy term or whole life?

Answer: Contrary to current fads of buying term insurance, you should really analyze your personal situation and find what fits best. Life insurance is never an "investment" (unless we are talking variable life). Some facts hold true no matter what. Life insurance gets more expensive as you get older. Life insurance gets more expensive and difficult to obtain if you develop medical problems. Term life premiums increase at specific intervals in your life, usually every ten years. This is called ten year level term. You can buy different intervals including one year level term depending on the company. Term life is temporary life insurance. It is the amount that you buy that you won't need for the rest of you life. Whole life is permanent life insurance. It is the amount you will need even if you live to 100. The premium for whole life never changes assuming that the death benefit never changes. Term life is cheaper in the short term, but much more expensive in the long term. Whole life is more expensive in the short term, but much cheaper in the long term. Many times the best thing to do is buy a combination of both.

-Justin aka jkhamlin
Former Missouri all lines insurance agent and former Series 6 and 63 (variable contracts) NASD registered financial planner.


What about universal life and variable universal life. Give us everything, we are knowledge hungry.


I recommend everyone read, or at least have as a reference, this book
The Truth about Money by Ric Edelman.
I don't know what edition its up to now, but get the latest one. I know I have it on my desk and constantly use it as a reference.

Credit Education

1. MyFICO Credit Education (http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/). All about the FICO score and an idea of how it's calculated and what goes into it.
2. "Your Credit Scores" (http://www.myfico.com/Downloads/Files/myFICO_CFA%20pamphlet.pdf). A 6 page PDF pamphlet from MyFICO.
3. "Understanding Your FICO Score" (http://www.myfico.com/Downloads/Files/myFICO_UYFS_Booklet.pdf). A 20 page PDF pamphlet from MyFICO.
4. CreditBoards forums (http://creditboards.com/forums). Huge, active community and tons of FAQs. There is much to learn on this site, and there are no commercial interests involved. Credit, mortgages, student loans, bankruptcies, business credit, etc.

Credit Reporting

1. AnnualCreditReport.com (http://www.annualcreditreport.com/), the only official site to obtain one free credit report each year from all three major credit reporting agencies. Allowed under the 2003 FACT Act. Print these reports out and file them.
2. MyFICO.com (http://www.myfico.com), the only official site to obtain all three of your FICO scores. Either get the FICO Standard for just one score, or FICO Deluxe for all three. This costs money, but there's always discount codes floating around. Current discount code is "mw01" for 20% off.
3. OptOutPreScreen.com (http://www.optoutprescreen.com/), the only official site to opt out of marketing mailing lists from the big three credit reporting agencies plus another smaller one. You can opt out for five years or permanently. Cuts down on junk mail. Reduces chances of identity theft with someone stealing your mail.
4. Experian (http://www.experian.com/), one of the big three credit reporting agencies.
5. Equifax (http://www.equifax.com/), one of the big three credit reporting agencies.
6. TransUnion (http://www.transunion.com/), one of the big three credit reporting agencies.

Morningstar Investing Classroom (http://www.morningstar.com/Cover/classroom.html). Completely free and has 172 courses on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and portfolio management. About 10 minutes per course.

Link to a nationwide daily syndicated radio show that covers personal finance, investing, retirement, and whatever else about money you can think of. It's streamed for free on the site, or you can find a local station offering it. it's podcastable, too. (http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/?strMode=listen)

Morningstar Investing Classroom (http://www.morningstar.com/Cover/classroom.html). Completely free, and has 172 courses on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and portfolio management. About 10 minutes per course.
Good place to start, huh

Can anyone recommend a good program for tracking, besides regular personal finances, specifically student loans? I would like to be able to see a breakdown of all my student loans, status, payments due, interest paid, estimated interest accrued, etc. This way I can decide which loans I should pay when, and what payment plans are best suited for me, as well as how much interest I should pay while in school, etc, etc.

I would recommend " Motley Fool Money Guide, " by Selena Maranjian. You can buy it for two bucks used on Amazon. Its a great beginner's guide personal finance and investing in a question and answer format.

If you're a complete novice like I am and your parents never taught you anything about money, try:
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/

www.investopedia.com

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Mead

You mean like Al Qaeda or the Nazis?

What classes in undegraduate would you take to prepare yourself financially?


Like accounting classes or business classes?


Also, why would an MBA be necessary for learning the ins and outs of finance? If it is after a masters in business administration, gah finance is such an arbritrary field, it seems like there is no logical approach to it!

Okay. I think I am about to get into stocks. At this point I know virtually nothing.

I am going to start my self-education now.

I've maxed the Roth, all the credit cards paid off, working on the loans (much longer project), got a few mutual funds, have the high interest internet savings account, and yet more savings lolly-gagging around...

Was never really interested in stocks in the past, was happy with mutual funds, but can't think of anything else to do with my $$$. I am single and have a fairly high tolerance for risk....

Anyhow, I'll start reading now.... thanks for the resourse(s)...

Whole life versus Term life

http://www.diehards.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8844&mrr=1196645346

Best investing site on the web

http://diehards.org/

Best tax site on the web

http://fairmark.com/forum/index.php

List of fantastic investing books

http://www.diehards.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=172

Can anyone recommend a good program for tracking, besides regular personal finances, specifically student loans? I would like to be able to see a breakdown of all my student loans, status, payments due, interest paid, estimated interest accrued, etc. This way I can decide which loans I should pay when, and what payment plans are best suited for me, as well as how much interest I should pay while in school, etc, etc.

https://www.nslds.ed.gov
Government site that keeps track of all your edu loans.

Jim Cramer, the founder of thestreet.com and a highly successful fund manager has written various books that are a fabulous insight into stock picking and managing your portfolio for the beginner and intermediate.

To name a few, Mad Money, Stay mad for life, Real money.

They are really helpful books and he also has a tv series on cnbc

I had absolutely no clue about managing my finances, both before and after I graduated pharmacy school.

So, now I write a blog about my "quest to conquer the markets" in order to encourage others to do the same, and because I also enjoy it.

Stop by and say hi. I don't provide specific individual advice, but I can always point you the the right direction so you can better help yourself.

http://GuzzotheContrarian.com

If you are a fan of the show, here are some sites that may be useful:

http://www.madmoneystocks.com/

http://www.madmoneyrecap.com/

http://www.cramers-mad-money.com/