Kids2ProSports.com promotes a segment of the sports market not being addressed by other sport sites. In its effort to compete in this lucrative sport-obsessed market, Kids2ProSports.com is currently being developed* to offer an interactive, multicultural, Sports Portal and Search Engine chronicling the evolution of child athletic competition…to professional…. and beyond. Targeting ten demographics that include grade school children, teens (through high school), college, professional, parents, family members, friends…. and the business and social community enthusiasts.
Through the option of creating multiple profiles and a self-managed account, members will be able to submit their opinions, videos, expertise, promote their personal sport activities and generate future professional and educational opportunities in real time, from their own computers, directly to the Portal, in their written languages of preference, within seconds of their confirmed submission…24/7.
The Portal will feature 70 sport venues with over 1,400 sport categories and thousands of identifying terms, relevant content, sport literacy, health and social interactivity. It will showcase thousands of interactive features based on a single destination platform, where all sports enthusiasts can participate, showcasing their talents in comparison to their peers.
Prototype is available upon request.
For investor, sponsor and participation opportunities, please call Alan Chokov at 877.424.6568
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Alan Chokov, new member of New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers
Alan Chokov has become a member of The New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers
The NJSSA is a group of like-minded auctioneers who have joined together voluntarily to hold themselves accountable to a higher level of integrity and professionalism. When choosing an auctioneer, always choose an NJSSA member, and ask for references.
The auction method of marketing is one of the most widely used methods of marketing real and personal property throughout the world. Billions of dollars of real and personal property are sold every year using this exciting method. The auction method can turn assets into cash in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Choosing a professional auctioneer for your particular needs is an important step in this process.
The NJSSA is a group of like-minded auctioneers who have joined together voluntarily to hold themselves accountable to a higher level of integrity and professionalism. When choosing an auctioneer, always choose an NJSSA member, and ask for references.
The auction method of marketing is one of the most widely used methods of marketing real and personal property throughout the world. Billions of dollars of real and personal property are sold every year using this exciting method. The auction method can turn assets into cash in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Choosing a professional auctioneer for your particular needs is an important step in this process.
Top Five Reasons Why Searches Find No Matches
No matter how carefully you design a search engine, there will always be some searches that fail. Our search log analysis shows that it's often a simple mistake or misunderstanding, so there's no one to blame. Some search engines are better than others at finding useful matches and providing helpful pages when nothing can be found.
Top Five Reasons Why Searches Find No Matches
1. Empty searches
Amazing numbers of people just click the search button or press Return when the cursor is in the search field. So the search engine gets an empty query, which is usually treated as a search failure.
What to do: either chose a search engine which brings up a helpful search page when the search is empty, or make sure that you have wording on your no-matches page to explain what is going on.
2. Wrong Scope (trying to search the whole Web)
Whether it's a site, Intranet or small portal, your search engine covers only the topics on your site, not the entire Web. For example, searching for shot put on a site about medieval art is just as useless as searching for marginalia on a sports portal! Despite this, people often see the search field or button, and think they're getting a webwide search engine. If you look in your search logs, you'll see the wide variety of searches which clearly are not directed correctly.
What to do: Several search engines provide versions with options to search the entire web, as well as the local site or portal. In any case, the no-matches page should explain the scope of the site and explain what materials the search index covers.
3. Vocabulary Mismatch
Searches containing terms which are too specific, too general or just not used. For example, on a medical site, someone searching for doctor may need to look for physician; a horse site may talk about Paso Finos instead of walking horses; and a beginning web design portal may not include any sites that get into details on onblur tags, though they may have some links to JavaScript pages.
What to do
Some search engines perform linguistic stemming -- they search for several forms of a word instead of just the exact match. For example, a search for run might also find running, runs, ran, or runner; a search for goose might also look for geese. This makes it more likely that a search will find a match, but must be implemented carefully so it doesn't display inappropriate matches at the top of the results list. Note that multilingual sites must be very careful in implementing the correct stemming algorithm for each page's languages, or they may return some very odd results.
Adding metadata to pages can help match search words, especially for broader and narrower terms. If you have pages describing DSL and cable modems but never use the word broadband, adding that term to the META Keywords tag content will allow the search engine to find those pages
Search engines may allow search administrators to set up synonym lists or thesari to provide appropriate alternate terms. For direct synonyms, such as urticaria as the technical term for hives, it's appropriate to simply add that to the query. For less obvious equivalents, such as red for crimson, and for broader and narrower terms, the search engine should display them and allow the searcher to click on them rather than typing them in.
4. Spelling Mistakes
People make mistakes in spelling all the time. For simple typos, log file analysis shows that searchers will re-enter the word correctly. However, they often are unable to remember unfamiliar terms such as diseases, product codes, and names in general.
What to do
Synonym lists (described above) can help with common misspellings of important words on a site -- the engine can simply translate the bad spelling to the correct version and continue.
A spellchecker can provide a list of correctly-spelled words, allowing searchers to switch to the right spelling.
Complex Solutions
Information Retrieval theorists have come up with some clever solutions to spelling errors, but they can be frustrating to users unless presented properly. Be careful when implementing a search with fuzzy matching: use usability testing and search logs to track whether the results are substantially better than exact matching.
Fuzzy matching techniques try to reduce words to their core and then match all forms of the word. For example, searching for serach would properly locate search, but a search for locks might find looks, whether or not that was wanted.
Phonetic, sound-alike or "Soundex" matching uses linguistics to search for words which may sound similar. This is particularly useful for names, so a search for licos will find Lycos, but also brings up odd results: a search for fuzzie may match fees or face.
5. Query Requirements Not Met
If the search engine automatically searches for all terms or a phrase, or the query includes operators such as + or NOT, there may be no pages which fulfill all the requirements. Examples include brown bear(both terms), "Olympic gold medal" (phrase), claymation +British (required term), MP3 NOT Napster (excluded terms).
This can also happen when searching in a particular section or zone of a site for words which are used in different sections of the site. Yahoo and CNet are good examples where people can limit searches to a subsection, but searching for roses in the tropical fish area will never find a match.
What to do: Search engines which show the number of pages matched for each term are particularly helpful in this case. The no-matches page can clarify which of the terms caused the problem and provide advice on how to enlarge the search.
Other Causes of Search Failure
Problems with Query Syntax: some search engines are very picky about how the query must be entered. If a searcher puts a space after an operator such as +, or uses NOT instead of AND NOT, the search may fail.
The search engine should provide helpful error messages and instructions in this case, or better yet, be more accepting in its query parsing. For example, if a close parenthesis ")" is missing, the engine can simply add it at the end of the query, with an explanatory message in the results page.
Capitalization and Extended Characters: some search engines require exact matches for capital letters and diacritical characters (such as ü, ß, ñ). In that case, searches for pokeman will never find pages with the word Pokéman.
If your search engine is strict about these elements, make sure that explain the problem on the no-matches page.
Stopwords: to save index space and time, some search engine just don't include common words in their index. This can range from prepositions and conjunctions (such as a, an, the, with, from) to words which are extremely common within the index (baseball and TV on a sports site, for example). Unfortunately, people often search for these terms (think of As You Like It) and are confused when they can't find the pages which contain them.
If your search engine must use stopwords, make sure the no-matches page explains what they are and how to search around them.
Short Words: some search engines have a lower-size limit for indexing words, so they don't have to store thousands of entries for the word I and other short words. However, if those are required parts of a search, omitting them from the index means that the search nay not find any matches (to be or not to be, for example).
Whenever possible, index everything. If your search engine will not index short words, make sure the no-matches page explains how to search around them.
Numbers: some search engines don't index numbers, either because they are short or just because they are not words. But people search on them all the time!
If your search engine will not index them, make sure the no-matches page explains that numbers can't be searched.
Avoiding Future Failure
Be sure to track your search logs so you can see why and how your customers are having problems with search. Watch those searches that find 0 matches like a hawk, and do your best to add new synonyms, terms and information that addresses these questions.
Alan Chokov, Publisher
Top Five Reasons Why Searches Find No Matches
1. Empty searches
Amazing numbers of people just click the search button or press Return when the cursor is in the search field. So the search engine gets an empty query, which is usually treated as a search failure.
What to do: either chose a search engine which brings up a helpful search page when the search is empty, or make sure that you have wording on your no-matches page to explain what is going on.
2. Wrong Scope (trying to search the whole Web)
Whether it's a site, Intranet or small portal, your search engine covers only the topics on your site, not the entire Web. For example, searching for shot put on a site about medieval art is just as useless as searching for marginalia on a sports portal! Despite this, people often see the search field or button, and think they're getting a webwide search engine. If you look in your search logs, you'll see the wide variety of searches which clearly are not directed correctly.
What to do: Several search engines provide versions with options to search the entire web, as well as the local site or portal. In any case, the no-matches page should explain the scope of the site and explain what materials the search index covers.
3. Vocabulary Mismatch
Searches containing terms which are too specific, too general or just not used. For example, on a medical site, someone searching for doctor may need to look for physician; a horse site may talk about Paso Finos instead of walking horses; and a beginning web design portal may not include any sites that get into details on onblur tags, though they may have some links to JavaScript pages.
What to do
Some search engines perform linguistic stemming -- they search for several forms of a word instead of just the exact match. For example, a search for run might also find running, runs, ran, or runner; a search for goose might also look for geese. This makes it more likely that a search will find a match, but must be implemented carefully so it doesn't display inappropriate matches at the top of the results list. Note that multilingual sites must be very careful in implementing the correct stemming algorithm for each page's languages, or they may return some very odd results.
Adding metadata to pages can help match search words, especially for broader and narrower terms. If you have pages describing DSL and cable modems but never use the word broadband, adding that term to the META Keywords tag content will allow the search engine to find those pages
Search engines may allow search administrators to set up synonym lists or thesari to provide appropriate alternate terms. For direct synonyms, such as urticaria as the technical term for hives, it's appropriate to simply add that to the query. For less obvious equivalents, such as red for crimson, and for broader and narrower terms, the search engine should display them and allow the searcher to click on them rather than typing them in.
4. Spelling Mistakes
People make mistakes in spelling all the time. For simple typos, log file analysis shows that searchers will re-enter the word correctly. However, they often are unable to remember unfamiliar terms such as diseases, product codes, and names in general.
What to do
Synonym lists (described above) can help with common misspellings of important words on a site -- the engine can simply translate the bad spelling to the correct version and continue.
A spellchecker can provide a list of correctly-spelled words, allowing searchers to switch to the right spelling.
Complex Solutions
Information Retrieval theorists have come up with some clever solutions to spelling errors, but they can be frustrating to users unless presented properly. Be careful when implementing a search with fuzzy matching: use usability testing and search logs to track whether the results are substantially better than exact matching.
Fuzzy matching techniques try to reduce words to their core and then match all forms of the word. For example, searching for serach would properly locate search, but a search for locks might find looks, whether or not that was wanted.
Phonetic, sound-alike or "Soundex" matching uses linguistics to search for words which may sound similar. This is particularly useful for names, so a search for licos will find Lycos, but also brings up odd results: a search for fuzzie may match fees or face.
5. Query Requirements Not Met
If the search engine automatically searches for all terms or a phrase, or the query includes operators such as + or NOT, there may be no pages which fulfill all the requirements. Examples include brown bear(both terms), "Olympic gold medal" (phrase), claymation +British (required term), MP3 NOT Napster (excluded terms).
This can also happen when searching in a particular section or zone of a site for words which are used in different sections of the site. Yahoo and CNet are good examples where people can limit searches to a subsection, but searching for roses in the tropical fish area will never find a match.
What to do: Search engines which show the number of pages matched for each term are particularly helpful in this case. The no-matches page can clarify which of the terms caused the problem and provide advice on how to enlarge the search.
Other Causes of Search Failure
Problems with Query Syntax: some search engines are very picky about how the query must be entered. If a searcher puts a space after an operator such as +, or uses NOT instead of AND NOT, the search may fail.
The search engine should provide helpful error messages and instructions in this case, or better yet, be more accepting in its query parsing. For example, if a close parenthesis ")" is missing, the engine can simply add it at the end of the query, with an explanatory message in the results page.
Capitalization and Extended Characters: some search engines require exact matches for capital letters and diacritical characters (such as ü, ß, ñ). In that case, searches for pokeman will never find pages with the word Pokéman.
If your search engine is strict about these elements, make sure that explain the problem on the no-matches page.
Stopwords: to save index space and time, some search engine just don't include common words in their index. This can range from prepositions and conjunctions (such as a, an, the, with, from) to words which are extremely common within the index (baseball and TV on a sports site, for example). Unfortunately, people often search for these terms (think of As You Like It) and are confused when they can't find the pages which contain them.
If your search engine must use stopwords, make sure the no-matches page explains what they are and how to search around them.
Short Words: some search engines have a lower-size limit for indexing words, so they don't have to store thousands of entries for the word I and other short words. However, if those are required parts of a search, omitting them from the index means that the search nay not find any matches (to be or not to be, for example).
Whenever possible, index everything. If your search engine will not index short words, make sure the no-matches page explains how to search around them.
Numbers: some search engines don't index numbers, either because they are short or just because they are not words. But people search on them all the time!
If your search engine will not index them, make sure the no-matches page explains that numbers can't be searched.
Avoiding Future Failure
Be sure to track your search logs so you can see why and how your customers are having problems with search. Watch those searches that find 0 matches like a hawk, and do your best to add new synonyms, terms and information that addresses these questions.
Alan Chokov, Publisher
Monday, February 1, 2010
Investment Opportunity
Kids2Pro.com, an Interactive, Multicultural Sports Network
Kids2Pro.com promotes a segment of the sports market not being addressed by other sport sites. In its effort to compete in this lucrative sport-obsessed market, Kids2Pro.com is being developed to offer an interactive, multicultural, Sports Portal and Search Engine chronicling the evolution of child athletic competition…to professional…. and beyond. Targeting ten demographics that include grade school children, teens (through high school), college, professional, their parents, family members and friends…. and the adult, business and social community enthusiasts.
Through the option of creating multiple profiles and a self-managed account, members will be able to submit their opinions, expertise, promote their personal sport activities and generate future educational and professional opportunities in real time, from their own computers, directly to the Portal, in their written languages of preference, within seconds of their confirmed submission…24/7. With a selection from 70 sport venues with over 1,400 sport categories, thousands of identifying terms, relevant content, sport literacy and databases, showcasing over 1,000 interactive features based on a single destination platform, where all sports enthusiasts can participate, showcasing their talents in comparison to their peers.
Kids2Pro.com will be the sports and social blend of twitter, facebook, myspace, you tube…and ESPN. It will resonate with athletes and fans alike…the online sports arena for the complete sporting experience in a multilingual format supporting 99 of the world’s most spoken languages. This cross-generational Portal will establish its prototype in New Jersey with future plans for all 50 states individually. Additional plans include national and international presentations, all under a secured platform.
Members control viewable duration, sponsorship and online placement throughout the site, creating their…“Soon to be memories”. All content submissions will be archived, editable and have feedback features.
The Portal empowers athletics and sport service providers to “Brand” and enhance their public image, services, products and expertise, while comparing their prowess with their competition.
The Portal will provide access to a cross-section of information relative to all of our sport keywords, features and components submitted by Members and the ability to search those Members with profiles through our internal search options including our patent-pending criteria search. Members will have the choice to receive our Email Subscription of content on the sport, topics and other members of interest… for free.
(1)
Revenue and Services
The Portal will offer free and fee-based products including but not limited to thousands of multilingual advertising placement and sponsorship locations; 25 technical service and development options; email point of contact features, vendor referral fees, a national platform for sport press releases, marketing and articles to enhance our Member’s participation. Corporate Sponsorships will be available, appealing to all segments of the marketplace benefiting from our geo-targeted content offerings. In 2009 spending on sports sponsorships exceeded $11.3 billion.
Most importantly, a portion of all proceeds will go to charities, grants and scholarships established by Kids2Pro.com
Goals and Options are Three-Fold:
(1) To rapidly generate value and impact the online (and traditional) business of real time sports presentation and self-image enhancement by providing the tools, support and promotion of athletes in all sport venues in an interactive, multilingual format by initially launching in selected states so that Kids2Pro.com would be a target consideration for acquisition by a larger market player (e.g. Major Search Engine, Professional Sports organization, or Media Conglomerate)
(2) To consider retention of the company proprietary assets and control of its distribution.
(3) To consider offering licensing/partnerships.
For consideration in licensing, partnership, development and funding opportunities, contact Alan Chokov at 877.424.6568 or by email: alanchokov@efinanceportal.com.
Alan Chokov
Founder/CEO
Kids2Pro.com promotes a segment of the sports market not being addressed by other sport sites. In its effort to compete in this lucrative sport-obsessed market, Kids2Pro.com is being developed to offer an interactive, multicultural, Sports Portal and Search Engine chronicling the evolution of child athletic competition…to professional…. and beyond. Targeting ten demographics that include grade school children, teens (through high school), college, professional, their parents, family members and friends…. and the adult, business and social community enthusiasts.
Through the option of creating multiple profiles and a self-managed account, members will be able to submit their opinions, expertise, promote their personal sport activities and generate future educational and professional opportunities in real time, from their own computers, directly to the Portal, in their written languages of preference, within seconds of their confirmed submission…24/7. With a selection from 70 sport venues with over 1,400 sport categories, thousands of identifying terms, relevant content, sport literacy and databases, showcasing over 1,000 interactive features based on a single destination platform, where all sports enthusiasts can participate, showcasing their talents in comparison to their peers.
Kids2Pro.com will be the sports and social blend of twitter, facebook, myspace, you tube…and ESPN. It will resonate with athletes and fans alike…the online sports arena for the complete sporting experience in a multilingual format supporting 99 of the world’s most spoken languages. This cross-generational Portal will establish its prototype in New Jersey with future plans for all 50 states individually. Additional plans include national and international presentations, all under a secured platform.
Members control viewable duration, sponsorship and online placement throughout the site, creating their…“Soon to be memories”. All content submissions will be archived, editable and have feedback features.
The Portal empowers athletics and sport service providers to “Brand” and enhance their public image, services, products and expertise, while comparing their prowess with their competition.
The Portal will provide access to a cross-section of information relative to all of our sport keywords, features and components submitted by Members and the ability to search those Members with profiles through our internal search options including our patent-pending criteria search. Members will have the choice to receive our Email Subscription of content on the sport, topics and other members of interest… for free.
(1)
Revenue and Services
The Portal will offer free and fee-based products including but not limited to thousands of multilingual advertising placement and sponsorship locations; 25 technical service and development options; email point of contact features, vendor referral fees, a national platform for sport press releases, marketing and articles to enhance our Member’s participation. Corporate Sponsorships will be available, appealing to all segments of the marketplace benefiting from our geo-targeted content offerings. In 2009 spending on sports sponsorships exceeded $11.3 billion.
Most importantly, a portion of all proceeds will go to charities, grants and scholarships established by Kids2Pro.com
Goals and Options are Three-Fold:
(1) To rapidly generate value and impact the online (and traditional) business of real time sports presentation and self-image enhancement by providing the tools, support and promotion of athletes in all sport venues in an interactive, multilingual format by initially launching in selected states so that Kids2Pro.com would be a target consideration for acquisition by a larger market player (e.g. Major Search Engine, Professional Sports organization, or Media Conglomerate)
(2) To consider retention of the company proprietary assets and control of its distribution.
(3) To consider offering licensing/partnerships.
For consideration in licensing, partnership, development and funding opportunities, contact Alan Chokov at 877.424.6568 or by email: alanchokov@efinanceportal.com.
Alan Chokov
Founder/CEO
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Counter Tax Certificate Investing
http://www.efinanceportal.com/efp/alancommentardetails.do?orderId=30394&industryId=15&languageCode=en
Posted by Alan Chokov
Tax lien certificates can make a great investment. Many people want to invest in tax lien certificates but stop themselves because they think that they need to go to the live auction to do it. Yes, it's entirely true. The most common place to invest in tax lien certificates is at the live annual auction. The auction varies by state and even county, so check with your local county tax collector to see when they have their auction. Can I let you in on a little secret? I have been investing in tax liens for several years now and have NEVER been to a live auction. How can that be, you ask? Easy! I invest in Over The Counter certificates (OTC).So, what is an OTC certificate and how can you profit from it? An Over The Counter certificate is one that did not sell at the live auction. In many states, when the certificate does not sell, it is "struck off" to the county. The county simply has a list in their office and you just call them up and get it. Then, you do some research, pick out the ones you want and get the lien without any traveling or hassles.Just because you can buy tax certificates Over The Counter, should you? Well, maybe and maybe not. Remember that in most cases, Over The Counter certificates are liens that did not sell at the regular tax sale. So, there are some precautions that you should take to make sure that you are getting a good deal.First of all, start with counties that have websites. Luckily, nowadays it is very easy to find a county with a good property research website. Then, you simply enter the parcel number into the website and it will tell you what is there, and how much it's worth. Ideally, you want to find properties that have a structure already on them, but it's not always easy to find. Next, you need to see the total taxes due from all years and compare that to the tax valuation. The reason you need to know this is that in the event of a foreclosure, you will need to pay off all the back taxes. The worst thing is to find out that there are more due in back taxes than the property is worth.Once, you find that out, then copy down the legal description and call the local Realtor. Tell them that you are planning on investing in a certain property and may eventually need their services to resell it. I have never had a Realtor not give me an honest opinion of an area. Many times, they tell me NOT TO BUY there and that's ok too. It's better to find out now than to find out when it's too late. And there you have it! With proper planning, you too can be an armchair investor. eFinance Portal of New Jersey, www.efpnj.com
Posted by Alan Chokov
Tax lien certificates can make a great investment. Many people want to invest in tax lien certificates but stop themselves because they think that they need to go to the live auction to do it. Yes, it's entirely true. The most common place to invest in tax lien certificates is at the live annual auction. The auction varies by state and even county, so check with your local county tax collector to see when they have their auction. Can I let you in on a little secret? I have been investing in tax liens for several years now and have NEVER been to a live auction. How can that be, you ask? Easy! I invest in Over The Counter certificates (OTC).So, what is an OTC certificate and how can you profit from it? An Over The Counter certificate is one that did not sell at the live auction. In many states, when the certificate does not sell, it is "struck off" to the county. The county simply has a list in their office and you just call them up and get it. Then, you do some research, pick out the ones you want and get the lien without any traveling or hassles.Just because you can buy tax certificates Over The Counter, should you? Well, maybe and maybe not. Remember that in most cases, Over The Counter certificates are liens that did not sell at the regular tax sale. So, there are some precautions that you should take to make sure that you are getting a good deal.First of all, start with counties that have websites. Luckily, nowadays it is very easy to find a county with a good property research website. Then, you simply enter the parcel number into the website and it will tell you what is there, and how much it's worth. Ideally, you want to find properties that have a structure already on them, but it's not always easy to find. Next, you need to see the total taxes due from all years and compare that to the tax valuation. The reason you need to know this is that in the event of a foreclosure, you will need to pay off all the back taxes. The worst thing is to find out that there are more due in back taxes than the property is worth.Once, you find that out, then copy down the legal description and call the local Realtor. Tell them that you are planning on investing in a certain property and may eventually need their services to resell it. I have never had a Realtor not give me an honest opinion of an area. Many times, they tell me NOT TO BUY there and that's ok too. It's better to find out now than to find out when it's too late. And there you have it! With proper planning, you too can be an armchair investor. eFinance Portal of New Jersey, www.efpnj.com
Many Americans Lack Basic Financial Concepts
http://www.efinanceportal.com/efp/alancommentardetails.do?orderId=30803&industryId=17&languageCode=en
Alan Chokov, eFinance Portal of New Jersey, www.efpnj.com - So you think you're good at dealing with day-to-day financial matters. Seventy-five percent of Americans say they are, 77 percent say they're pretty good at math and 70 percent rate their financial knowledge as high.But Americans, including many who give themselves high marks on math and finances, make common mistakes that cost them a bundle in needless charges, penalties and fees. They also have trouble answering five simple questions:1) Suppose you have $100 in a savings account earning 2 percent interest a year. After five years, would you have more than $102, exactly $102, or less than $102?2) Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account is 1 percent a year and inflation is 2 percent a year. After one year, would the money in the account buy more than it does today, exactly the same or less than today?3) If interest rates rise, what will typically happen to bond prices? Rise, fall, stay the same, or is there no relationship?4) True or false: A 15-year mortgage typically requires higher monthly payments than a 30-year mortgage but the total interest over the life will be less.5) True or false: Buying a single company's stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.These questions were part of a "National Financial Capability Study" commissioned by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA stands for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). The correct answers, and the percentage of Americans who got them right are: 1) More than $102, 65 percent; 2) Less than today, 64 percent; 3) Fall, 21 percent; 4) True, 70 percent and 5) False, 52 percent.This translates to an average of just 2.72 correct answers out of five (and some correct answers may have been lucky guesses). If you are good at math, you can figure out that's a score of just 54.4 percent, or an "F" on a typical grading scale."Many respondents had difficulty with basic financial concepts," concludes the FINRA study, based on a telephone survey of 1,488 Americans 18 and over.FINRA's survey was developed in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. By exploring how people manage their resources and how they make financial decisions, the FINRA Foundation and others can best extend the reach of financial education programs in communities across the country.The need is enormous. Survey results were discouraging in four key components of financial capability: making ends meet, planning ahead, managing financial products, and financial knowledge and decision-making.Nearly half of survey respondents reported difficulties in covering monthly expenses. Most lack a "rainy day" fund for emergencies and do not plan for predictable events, such as their children's college education or their own retirement.More than one in five Americans reported engaging in expensive non-bank borrowing methods such as payday loans, advances on tax refunds or pawnshops. Even among those who said they were good with finances, many bounced checks and were late with credit card payments, among other things.Few compared the terms of financial products or shopped around.One in 10 people with a mortgage did not know the interest rate they are paying and 17 percent of investors in retirement plans did not know how much of their portfolio is in stocks or stock mutual funds. Regarding investments for retirement, "it is difficult to distinguish accurate responses...from guesses and misstatements," the study said. For the full report, see Web site www.finrafoundation.org/capability.Humberto Cruz contributed to this article
Alan Chokov, eFinance Portal of New Jersey, www.efpnj.com - So you think you're good at dealing with day-to-day financial matters. Seventy-five percent of Americans say they are, 77 percent say they're pretty good at math and 70 percent rate their financial knowledge as high.But Americans, including many who give themselves high marks on math and finances, make common mistakes that cost them a bundle in needless charges, penalties and fees. They also have trouble answering five simple questions:1) Suppose you have $100 in a savings account earning 2 percent interest a year. After five years, would you have more than $102, exactly $102, or less than $102?2) Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account is 1 percent a year and inflation is 2 percent a year. After one year, would the money in the account buy more than it does today, exactly the same or less than today?3) If interest rates rise, what will typically happen to bond prices? Rise, fall, stay the same, or is there no relationship?4) True or false: A 15-year mortgage typically requires higher monthly payments than a 30-year mortgage but the total interest over the life will be less.5) True or false: Buying a single company's stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.These questions were part of a "National Financial Capability Study" commissioned by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA stands for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). The correct answers, and the percentage of Americans who got them right are: 1) More than $102, 65 percent; 2) Less than today, 64 percent; 3) Fall, 21 percent; 4) True, 70 percent and 5) False, 52 percent.This translates to an average of just 2.72 correct answers out of five (and some correct answers may have been lucky guesses). If you are good at math, you can figure out that's a score of just 54.4 percent, or an "F" on a typical grading scale."Many respondents had difficulty with basic financial concepts," concludes the FINRA study, based on a telephone survey of 1,488 Americans 18 and over.FINRA's survey was developed in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. By exploring how people manage their resources and how they make financial decisions, the FINRA Foundation and others can best extend the reach of financial education programs in communities across the country.The need is enormous. Survey results were discouraging in four key components of financial capability: making ends meet, planning ahead, managing financial products, and financial knowledge and decision-making.Nearly half of survey respondents reported difficulties in covering monthly expenses. Most lack a "rainy day" fund for emergencies and do not plan for predictable events, such as their children's college education or their own retirement.More than one in five Americans reported engaging in expensive non-bank borrowing methods such as payday loans, advances on tax refunds or pawnshops. Even among those who said they were good with finances, many bounced checks and were late with credit card payments, among other things.Few compared the terms of financial products or shopped around.One in 10 people with a mortgage did not know the interest rate they are paying and 17 percent of investors in retirement plans did not know how much of their portfolio is in stocks or stock mutual funds. Regarding investments for retirement, "it is difficult to distinguish accurate responses...from guesses and misstatements," the study said. For the full report, see Web site www.finrafoundation.org/capability.Humberto Cruz contributed to this article
Helping teach financial literacy to students
http://www.efinanceportal.com/efp/alancommentardetails.do?orderId=30673&industryId=17&languageCode=en
Posted by Alan Chokov - Students are heading back to school after the holidays, eager to pursue good grades, activities that will boost their resumes and that elusive summer job. Now is the time for parents to reflect upon their own contributions to family and community. Even when it seems like we all have less time, this spring may be a good time to assess opportunities to volunteer.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 26.4 percent of Americans volunteered in 2008. While that shows a significant number of people making an effort to give back, it also reveals that three quarters of our citizens are not volunteering.
What better way to help shape our nation's future than by personally investing in our children's education?
As students focus on their studies, there are a few subjects that most of them won't be taught: How to manage money; how to create a budget and balance a checkbook; how to avoid credit debt; how to get ready for a job in the real world.
The basics of money management what we call financial literacy are essential life skills. Few would disagree that better financial decision-making could have lessened the negative consequences of the current recession for many families.
Managing money needs to be taught early, before students head off to college or enter the workforce. Ten percent of 2008 college graduates left school owing $40,000 in educational loans, according to U.S. News & World Report. Credit card debt also is increasing. A 2009 Sallie Mae study reports students graduated with 41 percent more credit card debt than four years ago, with one in five owing at least $7,000 and 82 percent unable to pay the monthly balance in full.
More bad news is that current graduates face the toughest job market in years. A recent National Association of Colleges and Employers survey found that only 20 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for jobs have been hired.
Parents should consider volunteering to teach a financial literacy program that can help students internalize essential money and job skills early on.
We all can share our personal experiences and expertise.
Posted by Alan Chokov - Students are heading back to school after the holidays, eager to pursue good grades, activities that will boost their resumes and that elusive summer job. Now is the time for parents to reflect upon their own contributions to family and community. Even when it seems like we all have less time, this spring may be a good time to assess opportunities to volunteer.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 26.4 percent of Americans volunteered in 2008. While that shows a significant number of people making an effort to give back, it also reveals that three quarters of our citizens are not volunteering.
What better way to help shape our nation's future than by personally investing in our children's education?
As students focus on their studies, there are a few subjects that most of them won't be taught: How to manage money; how to create a budget and balance a checkbook; how to avoid credit debt; how to get ready for a job in the real world.
The basics of money management what we call financial literacy are essential life skills. Few would disagree that better financial decision-making could have lessened the negative consequences of the current recession for many families.
Managing money needs to be taught early, before students head off to college or enter the workforce. Ten percent of 2008 college graduates left school owing $40,000 in educational loans, according to U.S. News & World Report. Credit card debt also is increasing. A 2009 Sallie Mae study reports students graduated with 41 percent more credit card debt than four years ago, with one in five owing at least $7,000 and 82 percent unable to pay the monthly balance in full.
More bad news is that current graduates face the toughest job market in years. A recent National Association of Colleges and Employers survey found that only 20 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for jobs have been hired.
Parents should consider volunteering to teach a financial literacy program that can help students internalize essential money and job skills early on.
We all can share our personal experiences and expertise.
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