Money Management

Are Bad Habits Hurting Your Finances?

by Jonathan Dyer
One of the keystones of personal finance is discipline. This means having the ability to curb your spending and resist impulses that will waste your funds. However, we all have bad habits that can not only affect our health and well-being but also take a toll on our finances. Frugal Rules recently took at look at seven common bad habits that cost you money. Some of these are no surprise...
FinTech

Lending Club CEO Named to Bloomberg Most Influential List

by Jonathan Dyer 1
Bloomberg has just released their list of the 50 Most Influential figures for the fifth year in a row and Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche was named #28. Other big names on the list include Janet Yellen (#1), Elon Musk (#25), Jeff Bezos (#15), and even President Barack Obama (#6). The list itself is broken into six categories — Corporate Power Builders, Policy Shapers, Money Managers, Bankers, Tech Builders, and Thinkers...
Investing

The Pros and Cons of the Strong Dollar

by Jonathan Dyer
If you’re an investor or just a regular watcher of business television you may have heard a lot about the current strength of U.S. currency, although not with the positive inflection one might expect. It almost seems strange to question whether a "strong dollar" could be a good or bad thing for the United States and yet it isn't as clear-cut as the name would imply. Recently many American companies...
FinTech

Peer to Peer Lending Review: What is It and How Do You Make It Work for You

by Jonathan Dyer 4
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about crowdfunding and sites like Kickstarter that have been used to fund independent films, tech gadgets, and even the return of Reading Rainbow. These sites collect donations towards a monetary goal in exchange for various incentives chosen by the project’s host. Similarly peer to peer lending matches up people seeking loans with people willing to give them. However instead of offering movie tickets...
Money Management

Home Improvement Loans: The Freedom Peer to Peer Lending Offers

by Jonathan Dyer 3
Looking to make renovations, repairs, or additions to your home? It used to be that in order to secure funds to improve your home you needed to visit a bank to refinance your mortgage. But why should you need to take out a second mortgage just to add value to you home? Peer to peer (P2P) lenders like Lending Club offer personal loans fulfilled by investors who, in turn, take...
Money Management

Finance in Hindsight: Money in Your 20s

by Jonathan Dyer 4
It's a thought we've all had at some time in our lives (and The Faces famously sang about): I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger. Time Magazine recently ran a piece on this very topic where successful individuals shared knowledge they wish they had decades earlier. The article gives a range of insights like TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie suggesting younger readers follow their passions, author and host Suze...
Investing

Bernanke Boasts Monetary Policy in WSJ Piece

by Jonathan Dyer 3
How's the economy doing? According to Ben Bernanke, pretty well... and it's because of him. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, the Federal Reserve Chairman explains ever-so-humbly how "the Fed saved the economy." In the piece (which comes on the heels of his book release), Bernanke points to the decreasing unemployment rate and a moderate inflation rate as signs that our economy is reasonably healthy again. On unemployment, Bernanke says...
Small Business News

Small Business Lending: The Good and Bad News

by Jonathan Dyer
Small businesses have long been called “The Backbone of the Economy.” In order to grow many small businesses rely on loans to buy inventory, repair equipment, and market themselves in order to bring in customers. Unfortunately following the 2008 financial crisis it has been extremely difficult for small businesses to get loans from traditional banks. Following the near-collapse of the banking industry, those left standing cut back severely on their...