When to Start Investing for Retirement?

How Do I Start Investing?

Bank of America Charges Maintenance Fee for your Savings account in spite of having an automatic transfer of $25 every month. I should say I am a very satisfied customer of Bank of America, except for one, their persistence in charging me Maintenance Fee on my Saving Account even though I am eligible for a maintenance free Savings account.

How Does the Stock Market Work?

With food inflation up more than 8% for the year and gas close to $4 a gallon, some consumers are going to extreme measures to stay within their budgets.

Though some ideas might sound crazy -- car-engine fried eggs, anyone? -- others contain clever solutions to the everyday challenges of stretching a dollar. Here are eight of the best extreme-saving techniques, culled from some of the top minds on the Web:

1. Turn your car off -- while it's moving
Savings: You can shave a few dollars off your gas bill each month.

2. Reuse plastic sandwich bags

Falling home prices are the main culprit behind the big fat mess the American economy finds itself in now. The colossal $700 billion bailout plan Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are trying to push through this week is supposed to provide relief for the real estate market -- and ultimately stabilize prices.

Welcome to Investing Basics! If you've found your way here, chances are you've either got some money socked away or you're planning to do so. But first things first. Why is investing a smart idea?

I am always looking for a good deal, whether that means buying an extra box of Golden Grahams when they're on sale or pouncing on undervalued stocks. The idea that anybody would sell a stock for less than its worth may seem silly, but legendary value investor Ben Graham (no relation to the cereal) tells us, by way of allegory, how we can look out for these situations.

What's a mutual fund?

A mutual fund, also referred to as an open-end fund, is an investment company that spreads its money across a diversified portfolio of securities -- including stocks, bonds, or money market instruments.

Shareholders who invest in a fund each own a representative portion of those investments, less any expenses charged by the fund.

Lesson 1: Stock Market