“When your dream appears as an opportunity, you must have ready cash to take it home with you.”

- Anonymous

Welcome to Money-Smarts, MsMoney.com's weekly newsletter of financial facts, features, and tools. Money-Smarts is designed to provide quick and useful information to help secure your financial future. Enjoy, and tell a friend about MsMoney.com!

In This Week's Issue:

• Market Summary for Friday, November 10, 2000
• Tips for the Week: Daily Advice to Help Get You Through the Week
• Read the Latest: Sharing the Wealth
• Run the Numbers: Which Car Loan Has the Best Terms?

Market Summary for Friday, November 10:

Close

Net Change

Percent Change

DJIA

10602.95

-231.30

-2.13%

NASDAQ

3029.06

-171.29

-5.35%

S&P 500

1365.98

-34.16

-2.44%

30-Year Bond

5.87%

-----

N/A

Source: Reuters

Tips for the Week: Daily Advice to Help Get You Through the Week

Monday: To minimize the number of hours you spend at work while maximizing your productivity, you must identify and eliminate the "time-suckers" or areas of wasted time from your workday. Learn more about career time management.

Tuesday: Tap the experts through mutual fund investing. Mutual funds are managed by professionals to whom individual investors might not otherwise have access. Learn more about mutual funds.

Wednesday: Are you in a book club and looking to save money? Use your local library instead of buying your next book club selection. Learn more about taking control of your money.

Thursday: By investing in a tax-deferred vehicle, you avoid paying capital gains taxes (as well as taxes on dividends) each year and that allows your investment to grow faster over time. Of course, eventually you'll have to pay taxes when you withdraw the money. Learn more about retirement accounts, the most common tax-deferred investment.

Friday: Planning ahead on the job is the best way to take control of your time. It keeps you on track, makes efficient use of your work hours, and allows you to stay focused on priorities. Learn more about how to plan ahead.

Read the Latest: Sharing the Wealth
A New (and Cheap) Way for Novice Investors to Buy Stocks

By Kara Stefan

"For so long I had been missing out on the benefits of investing in the markets because I don't have large sums of money to play with. But with Sharebuilder, I was able to start right away with a very small amount of money. I also plan to start investing for my toddler daughter and let the power of time work for her."

- Leslie A. Cox, Nashville, Tennessee

So you don't own shares of Yahoo and you didn't get in during the early days of IBM. And well, okay, maybe you live pretty much paycheck to paycheck and don't have much discretionary income to invest. And with the little you do have--what's the point?

I know that I get a little embarrassed buying five shares of Microsoft at a time. I feel like a pauper trying to scrape together enough money for a decent meal. Well, the point is this: a little can go a long way. And there's a Web site that can help you get there.

Sharebuilder.com takes the automatic investment strategy and applies it to stocks. If you contribute to your 401(k) plan at work, you're already using this technique. Just as money is taken out of each paycheck and invested in your retirement plan, the Sharebuilder process works the same way. More-->

Run the Numbers: Which Car Loan Has the Best Terms?

Click here to compare auto loans to determine which will cost you less in interest expense.

Questions

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