Category Archives: tools
Online Calculators
Calculators can make mistakes; some calculators have built-in assumptions that may or may not be explicitly stated; and some sites provide calculators for less than altruistic reasons. For these reasons, it’s generally a good idea to use more than one calculator. calculators on this site: |
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calculators located off this site: |
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Budget Calculators
Budgeting 101
Holiday Spending Worksheet
Debt Consolidation
Cost of Raising a Child
Should your spouse work, too? |
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Car Loan Calculators
Loan Payment Calculator – From Bank of America Loan Calculator – From WebFoot
Various calculators from Bankrate.com: |
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CD / Savings
from Bankrate.com: |
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College Cost Calculators
Student Loan Calculator College Parent Debt Calculator Monthly College Expected Family |
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Investing
from Bankrate.com: |
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Life Insurance
FIC Insurance Group Life Insurance Underwriter.com ReliaQuote |
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Mortgage and Moving Calculators
from Bankrate.com:
Hugh’s Calculators How much? The Salary Calculator Mortgage HomeFair Calculators4Mortgages
Time Value Software The Moving Calculator from Bankrate.com: |
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Retirement Calculators
U.S. News Retirement Roth IRA Conversion Time Value Software |
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Small Business
from Bankrate.com: |
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Online Broker Directory
- A.B.
Watley
Offers
NASDAQ II quotes. Real-time quotes and trades from $10. - Accutrade
$30 per trade up to 1000 shares. Online trading requires
free proprietary software. Also mutual funds and options
trading. Margin rate is 1-2% above the brokerage call rate.
$5000 minimum account balance. One notable feature is the
ability to place trades at a future time when specific
conditions are met. Compatible with Sharp’s Zaurus PDA. - AFTrader
$9.95 per trade, Wireless trading at no extra charge, free
news alerts, free premium research, no fee IRA’s and free
unlimited real-time quotes. - American
Express Brokerage
$14.95/trade for up to 3000 shares.
Also mutual funds trading. No minimum account balance. News,
quotes, alerts, company research, S&P MarketScope, and
Comtex are included. - Ameritrade
$8/market orders, $13/ limit orders. Also options, mutual
funds, and bonds. - Amerivest
$27/trade for stocks and mutual funds. - Atlantic
Financial - Bidwell
& Co.
Starting at $12 per trade. - Boom
Hong Kong. - Brown
& Co.
Cheapest. $5/trade for market orders,
$10/trade for limit orders. 100 real time quotes per trade.
They only want investors with five years of experience. - Brunswick
Direct
Focused solely on 22 emerging markets. - Burch
& Company
Fees from $9.95 to $14.95. - Bush
Burns – $25/trade. - Charles
Schwab
Allows you to buy and sell stocks, mutual
funds, options, and Treasuries. $30 trades up to 1000
shares, or 3 cents a share for more than 1000 shares. They
also offer 50 real-time quotes per trade, plus research from
Credit Suisse First Boston and Hambrecht and Quist for
$30/month. $5000 minimum account balance. - Citibank
– Online banking and trading. - CompuTEL
$9/trade for market orders for 1000 to 5000 shares, 1 cent
per share additional over 5000 shares. $19/trade for limit
orders. Also options. 100 free real time quotes per day.
No-fee IRAs. $5000 minimum opening balance. - Credit
Suisse First Boston Australia Equities Private Limited –
Australia. - CyberCorp
Online broker that caters to active traders. Subsidiary of
Schwab. - Datek
$10 Nasdaq and NYSE trades. Unlimited real time quotes. 1
minute order execution or it’s free. Also, you can set price
limits for your stocks and they’ll email you when the
conditions are met. $2000 minimum account balance. - Delta
Equity Services
$35 plus half a percent of the total
amount. - D.F.
Mainland Group – New Zealand. - Discover
Brokerage Direct
$15/trade. Also mutual funds,
options, and bond trading (including Treasuries). Fee-based
package adds research from Morgan Stanley, news, real time
quotes, and portfolio management. Margin rate is 0.75 to
2.5% above the brokerage call rate. $2000 minimum account
balance. - CSFB
Direct
$20/trade for up to 1000 shares. Also options,
bonds and mutual funds. No minimum account balance.
Excellent information package, including S&P MarketScope,
Zacks analyst recommendations, 100 real time stock and
option quotes per trade, Reuters market news, and Lipper
mutual fund research. Also, research from Donaldson Lufkin
Jenrette. Integration with pagers and handhelds. - Dreyfus
$15/trade (first 3 trades are free). Best rate on options:
$1.75/contract with a $15 minimum. Real-time quotes when
ordering. Margin rate is 0.5 to 1% above the brokerage call
rate. $1000 minimum account balance, $2000 for margin
accounts. - EquityStation.com
Caters to active investors. $19.95 market orders for 1-99
trades a month, $16.95 per trade for 100-299 trades a month,
and $14.95 per trade for 300+ trades a month (price change
is retroactive). - EmpireNow.com
$7 for market orders, $12 for limit orders. Market orders
of 1000+ shares of stocks above $5/share are
commission-free. Also options, bonds and mutual funds. No
minimum balance. - E*TRADE
$15/trade for up to 5000 shares on market orders of listed
stocks, $20 for unlisted stocks and limit orders up to 5000
shares. Includes portfolio tracking system (with alerts),
current market data, and candlestick charts and other
technical analysis tools. Real-time quotes $30/month. Also
options and bonds. $5 to talk to a live broker. Margin rate:
1.75-2.25% over brokerage call rate. $1000 minimum account
balance, $2000 for margin accounts. The site also includes a
trading demo so you can see how everything works. Some
access to IPOs at the offering price. - Fidelity
$29/trade for up to 1000 shares. Unlimited real time
quotes. Investment research from Salomon Smith Barney, plus
access to IPOs. - Fifth
Third Bank - TheFinancialCafe.com
Free market order electronic trades, $4.95 limit order
electronic trades, online banking, mortgage, and insurance. - First
Discount Brokerage
Full service, discount and online
brokerages services. - Firstrade
$10 per order, $5 per NASDAQ order over 1000 shares. - FreeTrade.com
Free equity trades, $5 stop and limit orders. Will open a
in a new window. - FREETRADEZ
Online broker offering 100% commission free trades
(ad-based revenue). - Freedom
Investments – $15 per trade. - Freeman
Welwood
$15/trade for market orders, $20/trade for
limit orders, up to 2000 shares. Above 2000 shares are one
cent per share. - GE
Financial Brokerage - Global
Access
Nasdaq Level II trading as low as $9.95 for
unlimited shares. - Harris
InvestorLine
$13/trade for market orders, $18/trade for limit orders. - Howe
Barnes NetInvestor
Commissions are $19 + $0.01/share. Also mutual funds,
bonds, options, and CDs. Portfolio tracking, news, and
research. $5000 minimum account balance. - Interactive
Broker - INTLTRADER.com
Trades in foreign and domestic securities. - Investex
Securities Group
$15/trade for most trades. Also mutual funds, options,
and bonds. No minimum account balance. - InvestIN
$10/trade. Free real-time quotes. - InvestorLine
$25/trade for market orders. From the Bank of Montreal.
Also mutual funds. - InvesTrade
$8/trade for stocks. Automated touch-tone phone trading
at the same price. Options trading is $1.75/contract, $15
minimum. - Jack
White & Co
Commissions start at $12/trade. Free real-time quotes
with an account. Also mutual funds. $5000 minimum account
balance. - J.B.
Oxford
Commissions start at $14.50/trade. Unlimited real time
quotes. Also mutual funds, bonds, and options trading. $2000
minimum account balance. Customers receive free Internet
access as long as they keep the minimum balance in the
account - Killiney
Investments
A brokerage company which offers Internet based dealing
service in FX, Futures, Options and Stocks for both
institutional and private investors. - InternetTrading
- LiveTrade.com
Live Level 2 screens, execution via all ECNs, NYSE, and
portfolio management. - LowTrades.com
This online broker offers limit orders and market orders
for $4/trade. Do your research with InvestorGuide
Research and place
cheap orders here. Market
Touch Web
$15/trade under 1000 shares. - MB
Trading
Day trading. $15 to $24 per trade. - Muriel
Siebert & Co.
$15/trade. - Mr.
Stock
$15/trade up to 1000 shares. Also mutual funds and
options. - Mydiscountbroker.com
$12/trade up to 5000 shares. - National
Discount Brokers
$14.75/trade for market orders, $19.75/trade for limit
orders. Real time quotes. Over 7500 mutual funds. $2000
minimum account balance. - Net-Invest
From Capital International Securities Group. $25/trade.
Also in Spanish. - NetVest
Discount Broker. -
Newport Discount Brokerage
$19/trade. - Norwest
- Peremel
Online - Quick
and Reilly
$15/trade for market orders, or $20 for limit orders.
Also options trading. No minimum account balance. Two
ways to trade, including one with the aid of a broker. - Regal
$20 for Nasdaq trades of 1000 or more shares, $25 below
1000 shares, and $29 for listed trades up to 5000 shares.
Unlimited real time quotes. No minimum account balance.
Every tenth trade is free. Margin rate is 0.5% above the
brokerage call rate. - R.J. Forbes
Starts at $10/trade. - RML
Trading - RushTrade.com
- Sanford
Securities – Australia. - Schwab
Allows you to buy and sell stocks, mutual funds,
options, and Treasuries. $30 trades up to 1000 shares, or 3
cents a share for more than 1000 shares. They also offer 50
real-time quotes per trade, plus research from Credit Suisse
First Boston and Hambrecht and Quist for $30/month. $5000
minimum account balance. - ScoTTrade
$7/trade for market orders, $12/trade for limit orders.
100 real time quotes per trade. $2,000 account
minimum. Also options trading. - ShareBuilder
Buy and sell stocks in dollar amounts. No account or
investment minimums. Only $2 per transaction. - Sharex.com
- Sherry
Bruce’s State Discount Brokers - Sloan
Securities - SuccessTrade.com
For daytraders – $7.95 market and limit orders. - Summit
Trading
Day trading. Downloadable software. - SpeedTrader
$15 to $20 per trade. - Stockwalk.com
Trade bonds and cds, too. - SuccessTrade
All Trades Only $9.95 a trade-includes market and limit
orders. - Sunlogic
$16/trade. -
SureTrade
$8/trade for market orders, $10 for limit orders, listed and OTC, up to 5000 shares. Same price for Canadian stocks. - SwifTrade
- Tradefast
3 cents per share, $20 minimum. - Trade.com
- Trade4Less
- TradeScape.com
Geared toward active traders. $1.50 per 100 shares, free
Level II quotes, Direct ECN connections. Educational
products. - TradeSecurities.com
After-hours trading. $25,000 minimum account balance.
Commissions of 6 cents per share, minimum $100. -
TradeStar
From Savoy Stocks. $14/trade for market orders, $19/trade for limit orders. Real-time quotes. - TradeWallStreet.com
Full service broker providing direct access trading from
$9.95/trade. - TradeWell
- Trading
Direct
From York Securities. Commissions start at $10/trade.
Also options and mutual funds. No minimum account balance. - Trend
Trader
Day trading. Starts at $15/trade. - T.
Rowe Price
$25/trade up to 1000 shares. - TruTrade
$11/trade for OTC or less than 2000 shares of listed
stocks. No-fee IRA, free checkwriting, mutual funds, and low
margin rates. - USRica.com
Trades executed for only $4.95 per trade, plus $2.50
service charge. Free Unlimited realtime quotes, online
account balance. - Vision
Trade
$15 per stock trade. Also options and mutual funds. - Wachovia
- WR
Hambrecht
Online broker offering $20 internet and $25
broker-assisted trades - Wall
Street Access
They focus on the active trader. Commissions start at
$25/trade. 100 free real-time quotes with each trade. Also
Treasuries and options trading. - Wall
Street Discount
Starts at $20/trade. - Wall
Street Electronica
From Winston Rodgers & Otalvaro, a full-service
firm. Commissions start at $15/trade. Also bonds and
options. $10,000 minimum account balance. - Wang
Commissions start at $5/trade. Text is in Chinese or
English. - Waterhouse
webBroker
$12/trade up to 5,000 shares. Free real-time quotes,
charts, news, S&P reports, and Zacks earnings estimates.
Also mutual funds. 24-hour access to a live broker. - Web
Street Securities
$15/trade. Nasdaq trades of 1000 or more shares are
commission-free. Ten second executions and one minute email
confirmations. Streaming real-time portfolio management.
Java-based interface. - WellsTrade
From Wells Fargo. $30/trade. - White
Discount Securities Online - Wit
Capital
Stocks, mutual funds, and options. - Wyse
Starts at $8/trade. - Your
Discount Broker
Day traders can pay $30 to trade in and out of any stock
for a full day. - Ziegler
Thrift Trading
$20/trade for up to 2000 shares, $0.01/share thereafter. - Small Business Loans
First Funds Capital provides small business loans up to $1,000,000 in as little as 72 hours.
Online Bank Directory
Please let
us know about any outdated links listed below. Thanks!
- 1st
Choice Bank - 1st
Source Bank - Amarillo
National Bank - Ambassador
Bank of the Commonwealth - American
Trust and Savings - Apollo
Trust - Arkansas
National Bank - Bank
of America
Pay bills and transfer funds, check your account balances
and transaction information. You can also apply for credit
cards and loans. For personal and business users. - Bank
of Bellvue - Bank
of Bentonville - Bank
of Boston
For personal and business banking. - Bank
of Botetourt - Bank
of Cleveland - Bank
of Edwardsville - Bank
of Hawaii - Bank
of Holly Springs - Bank
of Lenawee - Bank
of Montgomery - Bank
of Southside Virginia - Bank
of Versailles - Bank
of the West Odessa - Bank
One - Bergen
Commercial Bank - Bowling
Green - Britton
& Koontz
Transfer funds, check balances, and stop payment orders. - Busey
Bank
Transfer funds, check balances, review transactions, and
pay bills. - Business
Bank - Cabarrus
Bank - California
Federal Bank - Central
Progressive Bank - Chase
Manhattan
Transfer funds, pay bills, and monitor account activity using
Microsoft Money or Intuit’s Quicken. - Citizens
Bank of Farmington - Citizens
Bank of Philadelphia - Citizens
Bank of USA - Citizens
Deposit Bank - Citizens
National Bank - City
National Bank - City
National Bank of Taylor - Commerce
Bancorp
Pay bills, check balances, transfer funds. - Commercial
National Bank - Credit
Suisse
Switzerland’s second-largest bank has launched retail banking
services on the web. Customers anywhere in the world can pay
bills, transfer money, manage accounts, and buy and sell
securities. - Crestar
- Dollar
Bank
View your entire bank relationship, make transfers, pay
bills, even buy U.S. savings bonds in a secure environment. - E*Trade
Bank
Branchless banking from the people at E*Trade. - First
American National Bank - Firstar
Bank - First
Bank of Texas - First
Central Bank - First
Community Bank - First
Federal Savings Bank of LaGrange - First
Internet Bank of Indiana - First
National Banker - First
National Bank of Anson - First
National Bank of Ashford - First
National Bank of the Internet - First
National Bank of Pipestone - First
National Bank of Rochelle - First
National Bank of Rogers - First
Tennessee Bank - First
Virginia - Fleet
- GE
Financial Online Banking - G&L
Internet Bank - Great
Falls Bank - Harris
Bank - Heartland
Bank and Trust - Hometown
Bancorp - Humboldt
Bank - Huntington
National Bank
Open accounts, access account information, pay bills, get
customer service. Six months free, then $6/month. - IndyMac
Bank
If you want a bank that pays you top rates for your
savings, check out IndyMac Bank. In addition to consistently
paying some of the highest rates in the country on CDs and
Money Market Savings accounts, IndyMac Bank offers interest
checking with free online bill pay. All with the convenience
of 24-hour service. - Intrust
Bank - Juniper
Offers online transfer and bill-paying from multiple
accounts (not just those with Juniper), as well as
round-the-clock customer support. - Kansas
State Bank - KAS-Netbank
- Kermit
State Bank - Landmark
Bank - Longview
Bank and Trust - Mainland
Bank - Mid
Valley Bank - Michigan
National Bank - J.P.
Morgan, Inc
Informational site from the global financial services
firm. - National
Commerce Bancorp - National
Interbank
Offers High-Interest Checking, Savings and CD’s as well as
free Bill Payment, Credit Cards, Low-Rate loan products and
realtime access. - National
Internet Bank - Nbank
- NetBank
– Complete Internet banking and financial services. - New
Farmer’s National Bank - Norwest
- Ohio
Savings - Owensboro
National - PayMyBills.com
– Online bill paying. - PC
Banker - People’s
Bank - Peoples
State Bank of Westhope - PNC
Bank - Premier
Bank - Presidential
Bank - Principal
Bank - RCB
Bank - Redlands
Centennial Bank - Republic
Bank - Riggs
Bank
Pay bills, check balances, and review transactions. - River
City Bank - Rocky
Mountain Bank - Salem
Five Cents - Sandy
Spring Bank - Schwertner
State Bank - Security
First National Bank - Security
First Network Bank
From Royal Bank of Canada. FDIC-insured and SSL secure.
Internet-only. Free checking accounts. Set up checking and
money market accounts, pay bills, contact customer service,
establish a line of credit, buy CDs, and apply for a loan.
They also post current interest rates. - Security
State Bank - Southern
Deposit Bank - Springdale
Bank and Trust - State
Bank of Hildreth - State
Central Bank - Sun
Trust - Summit
Bank - Texas
State Bank - Two
Rivers State Bank - Union
Bank of California
Offers PC and Internet banking services. - USAccess
Bank
A full service internet bank. - U.S.
Bancorp
Check account balances, transfer funds, review
transactions and credit card payments, and pay bills. - Wachovia
- Wells
Fargo
Check your account balances and transaction history,
transfer funds between accounts, pay credit card bills, order
foreign currency and traveler’s checks, and find the nearest
Wells Fargo ATM. Account information can be downloaded into
Intuit Quicken or Microsoft Money format. Most features are
free, but bill paying is $5/month. - West
Coast Bank - West
Pointe Bank and Trust - Wilson
Bank - WingspanBank.com
- VolState
Bank
Community Bank in Middle Tennessee serving Robertson and
Sumner Counties. - Cameron
State Bank - Citibank
Citibank’s Direct Access program combines banking and
brokerage into a single account, letting customers pay bills,
transfer funds between accounts, get quotes, and buy and sell
stocks, mutual funds and bonds. - First
Union
Apply for credit cards and loans online, open and check
the status of IRA accounts. - Irwin
Union National Bank - KeyBank
- Lincoln
Bank - NationsBank
- Northern
Trust - Santa
Barbara Bank - Scripps
Bank - Star
Bank - State
Bank and Trust - State
National Bank
Transfer funds, pay bills, check balances, and review
transactions. - Texas
National Bank - Wallis
State Bank - Wilber
National Bank
Transfer funds, check balances, review transactions, and
pay bills.