What’s a man to do when one has $43 billion dollars? How about building a $2 billion dollar skyscraper house? That’s what Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is doing in Mumbai.

I think it’s excessive but it’s his money and he has the right to do what he wants with it.

Take a look at the place called Antilla. It’s 400,000 square feet. Sure makes Bill Gate’s house seem small (at ONLY 50,000 square feet) and cheap ($136 million).

In contrast, Warren Buffett is giving away most of his fortune. Now that’s a move that I really admire.

According to Buffett, he “agreed with Andrew Carnegie, who said that huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should in large part be returned to society.”

Consider this - according to the World Bank statistics on poverty, “it has been estimated that in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day.”

How many people would $2 billion dollars feed?

Let’s keep things in perspective.

Technorati Tags: Antilla, 2 billion dollar house, billionaires, Mukesh Ambani, excess, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, philanthropy

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Not too long ago, I noticed that Google Finance got a makeover. The new interface seems a bit more crowded to me. I think I like the old portal which was simpler and looked “cleaner”. Will it soon look like Yahoo Finance?

Which do you prefer? Yahoo Finance or Google Finance? Or is it some other site that you turn to first for checking up on your portfolio and stock news?

If you have a Google or Yahoo account, you can set your own personalized portfolio to show you the stocks that you own or are currently tracking. The portfolio page will also include news items and blog posts related to any of the stock tickers that you include in your portfolio. So this is just a convenient way for me to keep up with company news.

Technorati Tags: finance sites, finance portals, Google Finance, Yahoo Finance

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I strongly believe that children should be taught the value of money starting from a young age. Too many times parents simply give their kids money to go to the mall or to the movies without the child understanding that the money had to be earned in some way. This makes the kids less appreciative of the value of money. You don’t want them to grow up and be financially irresponsible.

(image credit: qwurky via Flickr)

Even in schools and colleges, financial literacy is not a subject that is widely taught. Therefore we are seeing many kids graduate from college and starting out with a whole lot of debt - both student loans and credit card debt. They are digging themselves into a deep hole!

Everyone knows that the things that you buy for yourself are those items that you will take good care of. Spending your own money that you have saved, then buying that treasured item, makes it that much more important to you. You know that you wanted that item and you will take care of it.

It should be no different for your children. When your kids start demanding to have things, use that opportunity to make them work and earn it. You will find out very quickly just how badly they wanted that item in the first place if they have to earn it.

Around the house, there are many chores that your children can help out with. If you have older kids, have them rake the leaves or mow the lawn. Younger kids can straighten up the magazines or run out and get the paper in the driveway every day. Once the chores are done, you can reward them with some spending money. Explain to them that they can (and should) save a portion of the money as well. The point is they should earn the right to purchase the item they covet so badly.

Kids should tell their parents that they are working towards buying something. Parents can then set monetary values on the different chores the child will do. If the child wants to buy a $50 video game, it does no one any good if they were to pay them $50 simply to sweep out the garage. The child should be made to work and save.

Ideally for older children it would be great if they were to find extra work to perform at a neighbor’s house. You will find that when kids really want something they will be constantly asking if there is anything they can do to make some money. Parents should view this as both a way to instill some financial values in their children as well as making the child a functioning member of the family.

Another thing you can do is to buy them a share of a stock in a company that they can identify with. Do this as a birthday or Christmas present. For example, younger kids may like to own stock in Hasbro or Mattel. Older kids may identify better with Apple or Intel. This will also be an opportunity to teach them about how the stock market and investing works.

Helping children become more financially literate will help them on later in life. They will understand the value of money and learn how to set and accomplish their goals.

Technorati Tags: financial literacy, teach your children about money

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It looks like Noble’s stock (NYSE: NE) is starting to move upwards again. The stock is inching up towards it’s 52-week high of $58.09 closing at $57.46.

Take a look at the key ratios here. I like the low long term debt and high return on equity numbers.

Technorati Tags: Noble Corporation, NE

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I am currently reading Jim Cramer’s Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)

There’s some good advice in there. Whatever impression I have of Cramer comes only from my occasional viewing of Mad Money. However, his voice and personality seems a lot more toned down in the book.

Technorati Tags: Jim Cramer, Mad Money, Stay Mad For Life

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I just saw the news that JP Morgan Chase is buying Bear Sterns for all of $240 million which is about $2 per share. That’s a bargain basement price considering that the stock closed at $30 on Friday.

The news has caused Asian stocks to tumble. Is this another buying opportunity?

Technorati Tags: JP Morgan, Bear Sterns

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Warren Buffett tops the Forbes list of billionaires this year as the richest man in the world. If you are a fan of his, you will enjoy reading the latest 2007 Berkshire Hathaway annual report.

The top 3 people on the billionaire list are estimated to be worth $62 billion, $60 billion and $58 billion, respectively. After Buffett, comes Carlos Slim Helu and Bill Gates. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg becomes the youngest self-made billionaire at age 23.

Technorati Tags: Warren Buffett, Forbes billionaire list, Mark Zuckerberg, Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates

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The crime of identity theft is a serious one. You can get a lot of information about how to prevent identity theft at the FTC site.

5 steps to saveguard your personal information

1. Buy a shredder. Shred financial statements before you put them in the trash.

2. Protect your Social Security number at all costs. Try not to write down your Social Security number where others will have easy access to it. Leave your Social Security card at home rather than carrying it in your wallet.

3. Don’t give out personal information over the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you absolutely know who you are dealing with.

4. Beware of phishing scams. Don’t click on links in unsolicited emails. Sometimes these emails masquerade themselves as coming from banks, Ebay, PayPal or other popular sites. Use anti-spyware and anti-virus software to protect your computer.

5. Use a secure password. Mix it up with letter, numbers and symbols. Don’t use easy to guess words or dates like your birth date. Try not to use the same password all over the internet on different sites. If one password is compromised, your other passwords won’t be affected.

Signs that require your attention

1. Bill do not arrive as expected. Could they have been intercepted?

2. Unexpected credit cards or account statements

3. Denials of credit for no apparent reason

4. Call or letters about purchases that you did not make

Check your credit report

Everyone should use www.annualcreditreport.com at least once a year to get a free credit report. You can get reports from all three credit monitoring agencies - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. You can ask for one of them at a time so this lets you have 3 free credit reports per year. Spread them out in 4 month periods.

If you suspect identity theft, place a fraud alert on your credit reports. This will alert the creditors to call you whenever someone tries to apply for credit in your name.

Here are the toll-free numbers for the consumer reporting companies:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

Experian: 1-888-397-3742

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

Once again, you should read up on the information at ftc.gov/idtheft.

Technorati Tags: identity theft, protect your identity, free credit report, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, fraud alert

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It seems like almost everything that relates to borrowing money requires a look at your credit score. Banks and lenders use your credit score to determine whether or not they should lend you money. Want to get a car loan? Want to get a mortgage? A credit card? These all require a check of your credit score. There are three main entities that keep track of your credit report - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

A loan officer will use your credit score to increase or decrease your interest rate. Even the electric company uses the credit score to decide whether or not to charge you a deposit for new service. Every time you look around someone is talking about a credit score, but what does it mean?

In a nutshell the credit score is a number that determines your credit worthiness. The higher your score, the more worthy you are of credit. On the other hand, the lower your score, the less worthy of credit you become. The score is a numerical summary of all the information on your credit report. Lenders use the credit score in order to determine how much risk is involved with extending you credit or a loan. The credit score ranges anywhere from 300 to 850, 300 being the lowest possible score. Most people have a score that is in the 700-800 range.

Things that determine your credit score

There are many different factors that are used to determine your credit score. Some of these factors have a greater impact on the score than others. The most significant factor for your credit score is the number of delinquent accounts you have. This accounts for 35% of your credit score. Each time you are more than thirty days late on a payment creditors report you as being delinquent and your score decreases. The frequency and length of delinquencies both have an impact on your score. Creditors see delinquencies as a sign that if you were late before you will be late again. They want to be sure that you will pay them on time.

Another factor that influences the credit score is the way that you use credit. This includes the total amount of money you owe and the total amount of credit that you have available to you. This makes up 30% of the credit score. Having a lot of debt and maxed out credit cards will hurt your credit score.

The length of your credit history is 15% of the credit score. Having credit for a longer period of time with the same creditors is favorable. Creditors assume that if you have had credit for a long time then you are less risky than someone who has only had credit for a short period of time.

The mix of credit that you have accounts for 10%. If you only have revolving credit cards, it is not as favorable as having revolving credit along with installment credit. When you have a variety of credit, it shows that you know how to handle money.

The last 10% of the credit score is comes from the number of times that you ask for new credit. It looks worse to creditors if you have made several requests for credit in a relatively short period of time. A high number of credit applications looks worse coupled with negative points in other areas, such as delinquent payments.

What factors are not included in determining your credit score

Credit scoring does not include factors such as age, race, income, education, marital status, a previous decline of credit, length of time at an address, or the ownership of a home. Many times lenders and creditors will use this information in order to approve or decline an application, but these items do not affect the credit score.

Your credit score is based solely on information that is contained in your credit report. If your credit report contains inaccurate information, this will be reflected in the credit score. It is important to check both your credit report and credit score periodically and prior to making any large purchases. You can improve your credit score by disputing any inaccurate information on your credit report.

When all is said and done, your credit score is the measure that lenders use to determine if you’re at risk of not being able to pay back the money you borrow. If you have a low credit score, you’ll have a hard time getting any loan or if you do get a loan, the interest rate will be much higher. So you should pay attention in trying to keep your credit score as high as possible.

Technorati Tags: credit score, credit report, interest rate, borrowing money

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Ben Franklin said, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. ”

Taxes are due again in April, and there are actually a surprising number of events that can affect how and what kinds of taxes you will pay.

If you got married withing the past year, you will have to decide either to file jointly or separately. I’m no financial advisor, so please talk to your accountant or get one.

Speaking of accountants, many people decide to use software such as Turbo Tax thinking that it’s cheaper than hiring an accountant. This is true if your taxes are not complicated. However, if you run a business (i.e. self-employed) you may find that getting a good accountant is well worth the cost.

If you had a child in the past year, you should be able to claim an additional dependent. If you adopted a child, you may qualify for the adoption tax credit which is up to $11,390 for the year 2007.

If you have fewer dependents due to death, separation, a vacancy in the household for any number of reasons, these will affect your taxes as well.

Now is the time to start collecting all your statements to file your tax returns. 1099’s, W-2’s, receipts for charitable donations, mortgage interest payments, etc. I usually get a binder and place everything in there as they come in the mail. This way, I don’t have to hunt for them come April 15th.

Turn Your Donated Items Into BIG Tax Returns

image credit: inkyfingerz (Flickr)

Technorati Tags: life events, taxes

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