Money Tips Network

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently conducted a study, presenting a financial literacy test to fifteen-year-olds around the world, and has now published the group’s findings. The sample included 29,000 teens from eighteen countries (or, in the case of Belgium and China, two communities, Flemish and Shanghai). The test is designed to determine financial literacy and capability, with questions pertaining to income, taxes, borrowing, and money management.

Several years ago, my father's best friend started bringing his own silverware to dinner at our house and requesting salad plates to eat off of. Despite the ribbing he endured from my father and their other friends, Arnold remained steadfast in the importance of his new habits.

That's because he had discovered an important secret in being a healthy eater: small utensils. Several studies have shown that our minds tend to misjudge the quantity of food set in front of us based upon the size of the plate we're using. The same amount of food looks scanty on a large plate and overly generous on a small one.

A few months ago, I read a great article by Bill Barnwell of Grantland.com entitled Bridging the Analytics Gap.

First, some background. Over the past fifteen years or so, there’s been a huge shift in how sports are analyzed. The amount of data collected on sporting events has grown exponentially and professional sports teams have found ways to put this to good use through statistical analysis. You’re probably familiar with this if you saw the great film Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, which is based on the book of the same name.

Barnwell’s point is that with all of these tools and statistics available for analyzing sports, the real challenge is communicating it and finding ways to translate it into meaningful action.

All action begins with thought. Even in our financial lives, how we think about money, the biases we hold about ourselves and money, and the money messages we receive from others influence our financial reality. (See also: 5 Stupid Things My Parents Taught Me About Money)

If you're working to build a brighter financial future, don't let these six common money beliefs sabotage your success.

Brand new research suggest even rats regret settling for second best.

And while I'd be the first to agree that perhaps those researchers have too much time on their hands, it does raise an interesting point.

Why do we continue to settle when we know we're going to regret it later?

After all, we're all familiar with that icky sensation we get when we resign ourselves to taking less. We know that "THIS" isn't what we really want — we wanted "THAT" — but some unseen force convinced us that settling would be the better option, and we'd be just as satisfied with Plan B.

Except that it isn't, and we aren't.

And truth be told, we knew it going in.

Sometimes, you really need a good travel credit card. One that's on your side. One that has your back. The Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® and Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® are both great credit cards for a number of reasons. Let's dig in and see if they're right for you and your family!

You can use your cell phone as usual when you travel abroad, but cellular providers charge outrageous fees for this service — and you can expect to find a huge phone bill in the mail when you get home. Instead, here aere are some economical ways for you to stay connected with your loved ones at home while traveling abroad. (See also: Fantastic Phone Services for People on the Go)

Know Your Roaming Fees

The simplest way to minimize your phone charges is to keep track of them. For a short trip, this is a great solution that doesn't require much time or effort.

Just last week, I shared my list of fifteen essential personal finance and career books (if you haven’t checked out that list, I highly recommend it). Each of those books has proven to be an inspiration to me in one way or another, but one book stands out because of how the ideas were presented.

William Bernstein’s great book The Four Principles of Investing outlines four extremely valuable (and easy to understand, if you take your time) principles for investing one’s money. Bernstein calls them “pillars,” because almost any investing action you take relies on those core principles.

This article is by staff writer Holly Johnson.

Your car breaks down on the side of the road … again. It’s rush hour and it won’t start. You have to have it towed and you’re not happy about it. At all.

So what do you do?

You head to the local dealership in a fury, ready to replace it with something far more reliable, but also affordable. But the dealership has a few tricks up their sleeve and, according to Paul (the salesman helping you), it must be your lucky day. Amazingly, your car died at the most opportune time in history.

“Amazing deals are on the table for today only, folks, and we are in the midst of a complete liquidation,” says Paul. “Prices are being slashed left and right, and you need to act fast.”

“This is the sale of the century!!!”