“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, January 19, 2001
• Tips for the Week: Daily Advice to Help Get You Through the Week
• Read the Latest: 5 Questions Your Banker Can't Ask
• Run the Numbers: Which Loan Offers the Best Terms?

Market Summary for Friday, January 19:

Close

Net Change

Percent Change

DJIA

10587.59

-90.69

-0.85%

NASDAQ

2770.39

+1.90

+0.07%

S&P 500

1342.55

-5.42

-0.40%

30-Year Bond

5.55%

----

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: 5 Questions Your Banker Can't Ask

By Jill Terry

In these days of online banking and faceless interactions, divulging only what's absolutely necessary to your banker should be expected. But what is absolutely necessary? In other words, what are bankers, by law, forbidden to ask credit applicants?

The federal government enacted Regulation B, better known as the "Equal Credit Opportunity Act," to combat unfair treatment reported by credit applicants when they applied for credit. The law prohibits a creditor from asking certain questions about you--questions that ultimately have nothing to do with your ability to repay a loan. Credit application forms usually comply with this law, but any time you have a conversation with a banker, make sure that he or she doesn't ask about and you do not volunteer the following types of information. More-->

Run the Numbers: Which Loan Offers the Best Terms?

Click here to compare loan terms to determine which loan will cost you less.

Questions

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