Guest Post

Top Risks for Investing in Oil and Natural Gas

May 11, 2012
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Top Risks for Investing in Oil and Natural Gas

The following is a guest post from  Lynn Jackson Every investment opportunity has its share of risks. Whether you’re putting your money in real estate, buying and selling gold, or trading stocks, you are bound to face, not only general management risks, but industry-specific threats. In the following post, we will take a look at investing in oil and natural gas, to see what you are putting on the line while investing in this specific industry. Politics If you are at all interested in oil and natural gas, you’ve probably read quite a bit about government regulations on this investing industry. All oil and natural gas companies are limited by governmental regulations, concerning the locations, times, and processes for oil and gas extractions. These regulations typically vary from state to state and are known for increasing considerably with governing oil and natural gas deposits outside of the country. In an ideal investing world, oil and natural gas companies would mine exclusively from politically stable nations, which would adhere to long-term leases. Unfortunately, oil and gas is a limited resource, and those looking to invest in either or both must often deal with the politics of less structured nations. This is where the bulk of politic risk stems from, as these unstable

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How Payment Method Impacts Product Quality Choice

May 2, 2012
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How Payment Method Impacts Product Quality Choice

The following is a guest post from David Rodwell, enjoy the post! We like to think that we’re responsible and thorough consumers. When we get ready to make a major purchase, we consider all of the financing options, and choose the right one for the product. Yet, what you may not realize is that the method you use to pay for a given product may actually impact which product you choose. That’s the conclusion of some recent research by Professor Promothesh Chatterjee of the University of Kansas and Professor Randall Rose of the University of South Carolina. Their recent paper suggests that the payment method consumers choose impacts just how they make their decisions. The basic thrust is this: when you use cash, you’re more likely to be concerned about cost. When you use a credit card, you’re more likely to be concerned about a product’s benefits. Benefits over cost This raises some interesting questions. For example, if you’re looking for a long-lasting, robust solution to a given problem, yet you’re paying cash, you may not wind up with what you really need. Let’s suppose, for example, you want to procure a new entertainment system. You want a crisp, clear picture and theater-quality sound. If you’re paying with cash,

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Surgery and the 10 Questions You Need to Ask Your Doctor

April 12, 2012
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Surgery and the 10 Questions You Need to Ask Your Doctor

The following is a guest post from PB, who is the primary author of Economically Humble, a blog for college students, graduate students and professors who are interested in saving money at home and on campus. Enjoy the article. My partner, like most college students, graduate students and professors, uses her keyboard throughout the day. It came as no surprise, then, that an old wrist injury from her Semi-pro Volleyball days flared up. A surgery was needed. As I sat in the waiting-room I ran over the questions to ask the doctor in the planning stages of the surgery. Some of the questions were obvious, but others came to mind only because I have colleagues that are health policy researchers. I am listing 10 of the most critical questions below. By asking these ten questions you help make certain that your surgery is appropriate, effective, and necessary. Perhaps more importantly, you can put your mind at ease and concentrate on the healing part of the process without being worried at other aspects of an expensive surgery. 1. Is the surgery in or outpatient? This is a simple question but an important one. Once you know this question you can focus on costs and preparing your budget and home for post operation healing.

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Welcome Get Rich Slowly Readers

April 1, 2012
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I am very excited to have one of my guest posts published on perhaps the best personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly today about my upbringing, regular readers can follow the link to read the guest post at GRS. Welcome new visitors to One Cent at a Time, aka OCAAT If this is your first visit to One Cent At A Time, I don’t want to let you go back before checking a few things out. You can start with my about to develop an idea about me.  I am a first generation immigrant in America with a master in Computer engineering and working for a financial multinational. I write about saving money, investing, personal betterment and productivity, environment and becoming rich, you might want to check why my site is named One Cent At A Time. Now that you are wondering where to click next, why don’t you check some of my most popular articles to date? Which are available on the “Popular Posts” section. Or click from the below list, they are my favorite. Living Well on Less Than $10,000 a Year How to be RIch? Create Value First 20 Ways to be Productive and Happy at Work Consumer, You are King,

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Bad Financial Habits That You Might Be Not Aware Of

March 23, 2012
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Bad Financial Habits That You Might Be Not Aware Of

The following is a guest post from Henessy Cervano For some people, bankruptcy is for certain. If you are one of them, those overly secure of the thought that they have a regular source of handsome income, so they just keep on spending without keeping track of their expenses. You’re sure to keep falling off the financial ladder… if you continue spending more than you earn, mindlessly making purchases more than you can actually afford. You absolutely don’t have a shot at getting rich… if you keep making  saving a chore for tomorrow, always thinking that you’d always have money to expect anyway. There are a number of bad financial habits and ways of thinking that have driven lots of people into the depths of financial ruin. Some of them seem too harmless that you wouldn’t even realize how much it could lead to your economic demise. This article is written to give you a heads up on these habits and pull you up before you reach that depressing pit called “bankruptcy”. Bad Habit: Endless Generosity Counter-habit: Being practical Some people are either too easy to persuade or just plain show-offs that they keep treating people or lending them money even when they don’t really

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Will Increasing Retirement age for Social Security Hurt Seniors?

March 21, 2012
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Will Increasing Retirement age for Social Security Hurt Seniors?

The following is a guest post The Social Security Income is the benefit provided by the Federal government. The Social Security program is funded by levying a tax on both the employers and the employees. This program was created by the Social Security Act of 1935 to provide benefits to old people, and survivors and their families. The money is paid to the person and his family on the basis of his employment records and his contributions to the whole government system. Retirement age for receiving Social Security The retirement age was previously 65 and the earliest when a person could start receiving Social Security retirement benefits was 62. But, recently the retirement age has been increased to 66 and is supposed to increase by two months each year starting from 2017. This will continue till the retirement age reaches 67 in 2022. However, till now the age to receive Social Security benefits for those who retire early is 62. The leaders of the deficit commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, proposed a continual increase in the full retirement age a few days ago. They proposed that the retirement age may be increased to 69 within about 2075. Similarly the early retirement age would also

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Managing Personal Finance is All About Making Choices

February 29, 2012
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Managing Personal Finance is All About Making Choices

This article was written by Ashley over at Money Talks. Her passion in life is to help you get control of your money. If you like this article you can stop by her site or subscribe to her feed. Someone said to me yesterday “If you make great choices today, you will have a great tomorrow.” Isn’t that the truth? Then later in the day I heard something along the lines of “Yesterday’s choices created today. Are you happy with the life you’ve created?” The quotes emphasize what we know to be true. Our choices affect our lives. If we want better lives we have to make better choices. If we want to be fit and healthy we needs to exercise and watch what we eat. If we want to have better relationships we need to spend more time with our loved ones. If we want to be better off financially we need to spend less money than we earn. Since this is a personal finance blog and I’m a personal finance author let’s take a deeper look at our desire to be better off financially. We can make better financial decisions by tracking, measuring, and analyzing our spending and

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Let’s Talk About Debt

February 23, 2012
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The following is a guest post from Suzanne of CareOne Credit No, I am not joking, I really want to talk openly about debt.  For many American’s living with economic challenges has become quite normal. Of course, most of us don’t really view the stress of mounting credit card debt as a ‘challenge’, but more of an inconvenience to be dealt with eventually…like retirement. Paying off or consolidating debt is one of those things on our to-do lists, something we resolve to work on with the New Year etc.  But, it’s not something we actually deal with, not until we have to. It is the lack of familiarity with their options that holds most people back from finding debt help.  It can be confusing to understand the difference between debt consolidation, debt management, debt settlement, bill consolidation, loans and more. The only well-known way to get rid of debt is bankruptcy and that is not really a solution as much as a last resort. So let’s make this a reality.  Take a few minutes, get online and do some research.  There is a wealth of information available on; blogs, providers of debt relief services websites, and reviews sites, all talking

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How to Shop for an Engagement Ring to Maximize Value for Money

February 17, 2012
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How to Shop for an Engagement Ring to Maximize Value for Money

Is the fear of how much an engagement ring will cost holding you back from taking that next step in your relationship? Shopping for an engagement ring should be a pleasurable experience…one you remember forever! Not one filled with anxiety and pressure! Below are tips that will not only help men eliminate the stresses involved with purchasing an engagement ring but also save money in the process. Set a Budget A good idea would be to establish what is the most you would spend and what would be the least. Giving yourself a high and a low baseline will allow jewelry dealers to pinpoint exactly what range you are able to purchase in. Determining these two pricing points will depend on several variables including but not limited to how much you earn, what your monthly expenses are and how much money you currently have saved. There is no precise formula for determining what you personally should be spending on a ring. You are going to have to come up with pricing the fits your budget. You want to make a purchase that your bride-to-be will be happy with but not one that is going to set you in extreme debt. If you are in a situation where money is tight now, but you expect

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Cost Cutting Ideas We Can Learn From India

February 13, 2012
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The following is a guest post from an American, Kristy, who now lives in India, just the opposite of us. Enjoy reading. When I lived in the United States I listened closely to all the things we were taught of saving money and energy and the environment. Those of you who live there know very well how many commercials run and how many innuendo’s there are in everyday television shows. Even when I followed all the tips such as replacing my light bulbs with incandescent lights, turning off the water while I was brushing my teeth and other such money saving tips my light bills were still too high. I tried all of the usual tips but nothing seemed to lower that one massive bill enough. In the pursuit of a life change and to alleviate some of the problems I was having in my personal life I decided to move to India and marry my long time fiancé. I knew ahead of time how the lifestyle was going to be but I didn’t fully understand just how green I would be living once I got here. It’s taught me quite a bit and those tips are well worth sharing

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