I’ve never actually sat down and counted how many websites there are related to finances and money but I know that there is a slew. In fact, it seems to me that health, weight loss and money must be the three most popular topics for websites. If you search Google on the phrase money management, you’ll get nearly 90 pages of results, that is websites that are related to money in one way or another. I’ve checked out many of these sites and here are my favorites or those that I think are the most valuable.
This site can be very helpful if you need a loan. You can fill out one form and then get offers from a number of different lenders – of course if you qualify. The Lendingtree.com site is very easy to navigate and includes a number of helpful tools including a table of the current mortgage rates for 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed and 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages. While Lendingtree.com does not provide the loans itself, it is linked to a number of entities that do and so can hook you up with a wide range of loans in addition to mortgages and home equity loans. For example, you can use it to apply for a student loan, a debt consolidation loan or a personal loan. It will also help you find non-interest credit cards.
Dave Ramsey just might be America’s leading guru on money matters. He has a weekly radio program and classes that are taught both live and via the Internet. Dave teaches a very disciplined approach to money management that emphasizes getting out of debt and then paying cash for everything. He calls it his Seven Baby Step approach to money management. Dave’s site provides some useful information but also is a promotional vehicle for his books and his personal finance software. He sells an MP3 titled “Instant Access – Budgeting Software and Cash Flow Planning”. People who are having a problem managing their finances could certainly profited by going to this website and by buying Dave’s book “The Total Money Makeover”.
This site is interesting because it’s a kind of offshoot of the investment-oriented group The Motley Fool. It admits that its goal is to abuse, educate and enrich. The site has a section called Top Stories that is updated almost hourly. It also provides information on Today’s Market that updates every few minutes in a section called Latest News with articles that will keep you abreast of what’s new in the business community that could affect your investments. You can also use Fool.com to create a personalized stock watchlist so that when you sign on you can see what happened with your investments that day.
Money.com (CNN Money)
If you would be interested in a website that is a sort of general magazine having to do with finances, this would be a good choice. It includes news of all sorts of things relating to money. The site also has a Watch List that displays the prices of that day’s five most traded stocks. There is a section called Most Popular with that day’s five most popular articles. Its first page has a Mortgage and Savings Center that displays the interest rates on a variety of mortgages. The one downside to this site is that it’s there to make money and has more than its share of ads that can sometimes get in the way of browsing.
This site is a kind of online version of the Forbes magazine. It includes Top Stories and Most Popular articles. As an example of Top Stories the day I last visited the site there was an article titled eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar Fights To End Modern Slavery” and one of its Most Popular articles was Who’s Getting Hired Right Now. Forbes.com also has video articles, and a section on Markets where you can track your own investments.
Yahoo’s Finance site was one of the first and is certainly one of the most popular websites for information on personal finances. It has resources to help with portfolio management, international market data, free stock quotes, up-to-date news, mortgage rates and even message boards. It incorporates articles from CNBC News & Analysis. For example, when I last visited the site it had articles on Cars That’ll Cost You, 2012 Best Jobs In America and The Companies Hiring The Most Right Now.