Pftown- Articles and Information about Business and Finance.

Even today, after having been productively employed for most of my adult life, when I indicate my major in college as communications, I see raised eyebrows, peculiar looks and even plain and simple bewilderment. On such occasions, I feel the need to holler out that a communications major is not that rare a species. Scores of colleges and universities produce thousands of communications majors each year. And I happen to be one such animal.
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There are many reasons why a person might decide to apply for a loan, but unless it is an emergency, you should take your time when doing so. There are a lot of variables of which should be considered, and you have to take your time to see where you can get the best deal. The difference of just one percent in an interest rate can cost you thousands. The larger the loan you are looking for, the longer you should take to search. Read the rest of this entry »

Though some parents are against it, getting a job is often a great way for teenagers to earn and handle their own money. There are plenty of jobs for teens out there, but not all teenagers are a good fit for all jobs. There are many factors parents should consider when their child asks if they can get a job. Children who are legal to work and want to do so can learn a lot about the world and who they are through the right job, and it does them well to learn about money management as young as possible. Some can learn that through allowance, but jobs are often the best way. Read the rest of this entry »

Online price-comparisons websites can be a valuable tool for finding the best deal on items you buy on the internet. However there are some factors which limit their effectiveness at always finding the best price.

Not all sites are listed.

Reason: price comparison websites are built not just as kind gesture to shoppers, but also to generate revenue. Generally, the sites that are listed pay for that privilege. Either they pay directly, or through their affiliate program. (Affiliate programs kick-back a commission on items purchased through an affiliates [in this case the price-comparison sites] link. If your favorite online stores don’t appear, you’ll need to do a separate check at their site.

Wrong prices, products missing, etc.

Reason, price comparison websites use programs that are powered by databases supplied by the merchants. The problem is, the merchants change prices on their site in real-time, but the data supplied to the comparison site is not updated in real-time. In fact it is often inaccurate or out of date.

Base price isn’t the only factor.

Reason, getting the best price involve taking things like shipping, and promotions into account. A good price with a rip-off shipping charge isn’t that great of a deal after-all. Some of the better comparison sites (like Shopzilla) let you compare shipping charges across merchants. However, there’s no way for a price comparison site to find every promocode or ‘free shipping over $50′ promotion and factor that into the overall price.

In the end, price comparison sites are definitely worth a look, but be sure to do your own research. Especially before buying from stores you’ve never heard of, or at prices that seem too good to be true.

When it came time to sell my first home, I was unlucky enough to be the very first client of the realtor that I chose. Many of the things that this realtor did were ridiculous, looking back on them, and most of them are confusing to me to this day. Read the rest of this entry »

College fees begin before you ever get accepted. It seems the average application fee is climbing, with universities charging $50 or even $65 just for the chance to be considered to become a member of the student body. Tuition rates are at an all time high, and Read the rest of this entry »

Following is a short overview of the different types of life insurance.

By Susan M. Keenan ©2007

Although you purchase life insurance for yourself, your dependents are the ones who typically benefit from it. The primary purpose of life insurance is to enable your dependents to protect the family home should you die. The proceeds from life insurance policies, referred to as Read the rest of this entry »

Are the ads you see on internet search engines, and on the web in general, safe to click? According to recent and not-so-recent articles in the wash. post, times online, wash. times, and vnunet, among others, using search and contextual ads to spread Read the rest of this entry »