Financial Focus - The New Citizens Press

Financial Decision Making

Rina Risper9 years ago06 mins

By Porsche Miles-Grant

If you can believe it, you can achieve it, but achieving financial success is reliant on the financial decisions you make. There is no magical solution to increasing your finances besides making the right decisions.

Jill on Money: Career advice for new grads

Rina Risper9 years ago06 mins

By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Content Agency

I am often asked to offer career advice to recent college graduates, which makes me think back to the advice I received before starting my first post-collegiate job as a commodities trader: “Do your job and don’t screw up!”

Jill on Money: How to spend your tax refund – responsibly

Rina Risper9 years ago06 mins

By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Content Agency

The IRS says about 82 million taxpayers have received an average refund of about $2,800. Although many love the concept found money, a refund is really just the return of a yearlong, interest-free loan that you extended to Uncle Sam.

Congratulations on your Student Loan DEBT… It has Increased!

Rina Risper10 years ago06 mins

By Porsche Miles-Grant

Did you know that the college graduates of 2015 made history by having the most student loan debt? In 2015, the average student loan debt totaled to 35k. In past years, student loan debt ranged anywhere from 26k-28k on average.

Jill on Money: Onus is on students, parents to nail down college costs

Rina Risper10 years ago06 mins

By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Content Agency

College acceptances are in, and now the hard part: figuring out how to pay for it! With the cost of tuition, fees, room and board at public four-year colleges running around $20,000 – and up to $70,000 for some elite private schools – how can families foot the steep education bill?

Jill on Money: Free trade: Good or bad for America?

Rina Risper10 years ago06 mins

By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Content Agency

There has been a lot of trash talk about U.S. trade policy this political season. Candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have led the rallying cries about how trade deals have killed U.S. jobs and upended the economy, which is a great way to incite disgruntled voters. However, as always, the facts are a bit murkier.

Jill on Money: Remembering the great bear market, and its lessons

Rina Risper10 years ago06 mins

By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Content Agency

I hate to bring you back to a scary time, but seven years ago this month the U.S. stock markets plunged to their worst levels of the entire bear market of 2008-2009. Although the entire financial system almost went over the cliff in September and October of 2008, it wasn’t until March 9, 2009 that stocks hit rock bottom.

Spending Plan or a Budget?

Rina Risper10 years ago07 mins

By Porsche Miles-Grant

In my opinion, a spending plan is a sophisticated way of simply saying budgeting. I found that people are more comfortable with making a spending plan rather than the notion of budgeting. Nevertheless, for the sake of this article we will refer to them both as a spending plan.

Jill on Money: No, mortgage apps aren’t going to cause Housing Bubble 2.0

Rina Risper10 years ago06 mins

By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Content Agency

Super Bowl commercials rarely create activity in my inbox, but the one for Quicken’s Rocket Mortgage earlier this month was an exception. In the middle of the game, people started sending me messages like, “Did you just see that mortgage spot?”

What Are You Waiting For? It’s Time to Repair Your Credit

Rina Risper10 years ago06 mins

By Porsche Miles-Grant

In life, you have 3 things; money, credit, or both. If you have money, more than likely you don’t need credit. Those individuals are able to buy all the things they need, want and desire. Unfortunately, if you’re like me, you will definitely need credit when making big purchases such as buying a home, car, or taking a vacation. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough to have both credit and money, you are living the America Dream.