I ended up at the mall with my wife the day after Christmas. I assumed that it might be somewhat busy, but I was shocked at the crowds of people there. The combination of people making returns, spending their gift cards, and taking advantage of after Christmas sales created the perfect shopping storm. I found an empty seat in the food court, grabbed some Chinese and began to make a list of all of the financial issues that should be in consideration for our readers at Christian Money.com. Gift Cards Issuers of gift cards hauled in nearly $90 billion in... Read more →

As hard as this is to believe, there is an estimated 35 billion dollars in unclaimed funds in the United States. The source of these funds ranges from forgotten bank accounts to unclaimed lawsuit proceeds and everything in between. What this article will not do is to ask you to pay a fee to find your lost money. There is no reason to pay for this information, since you can get it for free. While preparing this article I ran across some very interesting news stories about the topic of lost money. San Diego County just pocketed more than a... Read more →

While most of us are preoccupied with the holiday season, but the tax year is coming quickly to an end. This is your last chance to maximize 2009 deductions and there are some very smart last minute moves that you still can make. Today, I will address what I consider to be the 7 most important end of year tax strategies that should be considered. 1. Defer Income Many companies provide a year end bonus which is paid out in December. If you don’t need this money, you should ask about deferring it until after January 1. This would be... Read more →

Most people face some degree of financial pressure as Christmas nears. Our society has made the birthday of our Savior the biggest commercial event of the year. While upstanding citizens may resort to tapping savings or taking on some credit card debt, criminals are on the prowl to steal your money to fill their Christmas stocking. This year online criminals are expected to have their biggest year ever (talk about a growth industry). Tips From The FBI Here are some tips you can use to avoid becoming a victim of cyber fraud: * Do not respond to unsolicited (spam) e-mail.... Read more →