Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Made me look, but was that really the point? Everyone receives credit card offers. People with excellent credit. People with horrible credit. Maybe even people who have previously declared bankruptcy. Everyone gets credit card offers. So, what can the marketing department at a credit card company do to make [...]

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New York Times: In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich. By almost any definition — except his own and perhaps those of his neighbors here in Silicon Valley — Hal Steger has made it. Mr. Steger, 51, a self-described geek, has banked more than $2 million.
A million just ain’t what it used to [...]

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Palo Alto Online reported that the city utility will be raising water rates.

The commission also recommended raising water rates by 10 percent to generate $2.2 million. A fixed charge of $5 per residence and more for businesses would also be added that is not based on water usage, according to a staff report. Additional [...]

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Even with GasBuddy.com showing me the lowest priced gasoline in my area, I still rang up a $70 charge. That’s the most I’ve ever paid for a tank of gas. And, while gas prices do fluctuate up-and-down, the general trend is up, up and away. I don’t think we’ll be returning to [...]

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Expectant fathers and mothers are often told that it’s never too early to start saving for college. Unless they have an unusually precocious child, most parents have 18 years to accumulate enough savings to pay for college expenses. Then again, if their child is unusually precocious, maybe a free ride on an academic [...]

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The Los Angeles Times ran an interesting article today on pay option loans. Essentially, these home loans work just like credit cards in that each month the lender only requires a minimum amount due. This minimum amount though does not even cover the interest due, leading to negative amortization. In other words, [...]

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When the first Chinese arrived in America, they were literally searching for gold. Today, the goal is no different. However, instead of gold, the rush is for cash, real estate, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. With new financial options available to the modern Chinese, the age old challenge remains. So long [...]

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While the dot.com meltdown may have sobered up investor expectations as well as lightened up brokerage account balances, the interest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds remain. However, the one thing that has not changed is determining what the best approach is to investing. Should an investor just buy an index fund? [...]

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