Mahalo How To » Finance

Best Jobs in America

susan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:00:08 +0000

College professor is the #3 Job on Money's Top 50 2009 List

”Money” magazine’s November 2009 issue profiles the 50 Best Jobs in America. The top 5 are Systems Engineer, Physician’s Assistant, College Professor, Nurse Practitioner, and IT Project manager. These were selected based on a combination of pay, growth rate, flexibility, benefit to society, personal satisfaction, and stress level.

If you’re just interested in financial compensation, the top 5 jobs by pay are Anesthesiologist (median income $292,000), Obstetrician, (median income $222,000) Psychiatrist (median income $177,000), Sales Director (median income $140,000), and Attorney (median income $115,000).

There was also a category for the least stressful jobs – and these jobs also paid fairly well. The least stressful careers were considered to be Education Training Consultant (median income of $77,800), Physical Therapist (median income of $74,300), College Professor (median income of $70,400), Software Developer (median income of $79,400), and Technical Writer (median income of $67,400).

You can access the full list at CNNMoney.com.

How To Value or Sell Your Gold

karen — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:10:45 +0000

If you’re like many Americans, you may be struggling to make ends meet during these tough economic times, but you may be able to make some extra money buy selling some of your unwanted, unused or scrap gold. Check out Mahalo’s guide on how to test gold for some strategies on determining whether the gold you have is real or plated. If you have investments in the form of gold bars, our guide to selling gold bars can teach you where and how to sell them. For those who want to figure out how to quickly and easily determine the worth of their scrap gold or gold coins, visit our page on valuing gold online for some helpful websites and tips.

Improving a Bad Credit Score

Sara — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:06:59 +0000

Okay, there’s no shame in needing help with your credit score. If you are in a situation where you need some fixes, here are a few tips:

Start paying on time, and pay down what you can of your balance!
But, once you’ve paid that balance down, don’t close any accounts–your credit score is affected by how long your credit accounts have been open.

For more advice, visit Mahalo’s How to Improve Your Bad Credit Score

Stuff They Don’t Teach You In School: Car Loans

Julia — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:07:47 +0000

Unless you are independently wealthy, you will probably need to secure financing to buy a car. And, if you’re anything like me, this is not something they taught you how to do in school. Just the mention of APRs and financing deals makes my mind go a little fuzzy, but at some point in life, you have to take control of these things. If you don’t, you will get a crappy deal care of some pushy car salesman, and you’ll be paying for that car far longer than you’d care to.

So, here are some quick tips on Life Skill They Didn’t Teach You in School #571: How to Get a Car Loan:

1. Get a free credit report. Your credit score is used to determine the interest rate you will pay on your car loan. Know your score before you shop for financing. The only website authorized to give you a free credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com.
2. Start with banks and online lenders. Secure financing from a bank or online lender before you negotiate financing with the car dealer. You’re liable to get a better deal from the bank, and having your financing in place before you hit the lot makes you one seriously empowered buyer.
3. Get three quotes. Before signing on the dotted line, shop around. Get a minimum of three quotes before applying for a loan. The big online lenders include Capital One Auto Finance, HSBC Auto Loans and E-Loan Auto Loans.
4. Read the fine print. Ask whether or not there are any penalties associated with your loan. Are there any hidden charges, or can you be penalized for paying the loan off early?

Need more of the nitty gritty on securing that car loan? Check out Mahalo’s guide to How to Get a Car Loan.

Image: Creative Commons photo by Rick Hall