Obviously, the last thing you want to do is base your decision on who has the best TV commercial. So in order to find the broker that will best meet your wants and needs, you’re going to have to do some research.

Below are links to reviews, ratings, and comparisons of online brokers to help get you started. Don’t just check out one link. Visit them all and see how brokers you’re interested in fair from site-to-site. That will help you spot the real winners and the ones that are more icing than cake.

J. D. Power 2007 Online Investor Satisfaction Study
Table comparing 10 of the top online brokers’ ratings in 5 categories

Barron’s: Tools Of The Trade
Details from the 12th annual survey of the Best Online Brokers

Kiplinger’s Best Online Brokers for Fund Investors
Comparison of online mutual fund brokers and what to look for

USA TODAY Broker Services Comparison
Table comparing offerings of 14 different brokers and a look at what they’re charging

BusinessWeek: The Best E-Broker For You
What to look for in an online broker beyond the cost of trades

The Motley Fool Broker Comparison
Table showing how 4 brokers stack up against each other in 5 categories

Epinions: Brokers
Broker reviews straight from the consumers

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#1- Take as many classes online as possible.
No drive means no gas money! Online classes means no time spent commuting and time is money. No commute also means less gas spent driving to and from school. Plus online classes can allow you to attend a better quality college than you might have within driving distance.

#2- Check Amazon before buying texts from the school bookstore.
Yes, Amazon sells college textbooks (new and used). Go to Amazon and try to find every book on your class book list. Make a list of the prices. Then take that list to the university bookstore and compare prices. Amazon may not have all the books but I’ll wager they have some and at a lower price than the school is selling it for.

#3- Check Amazon before selling texts back to the school bookstore.
Yes, you can sell your college textbooks through Amazon. Make a list of what your texts are selling for used on Amazon and compare it to what the school buyback program is offering. Odds are you can make more buy selling them via Amazon. The only downside is that the school will give you some money for some of your books on the spot (if you’re lucky). With Amazon, it might take a while for you to sell your text. If you really need cash now, then sell what you can to the school and put the rejects up for sale on Amazon. That’ll most likely net you more money than the old flyer on the bulletin bgoard method of selling texts. That also makes more sense than just throwing the unwanted texts in the trash or abandoning them at the thrift store. Some people actually make extra income by trolling thrift stores near universities for texts they can buy for a buck or two and then re-sell them on Amazon for 40x as much.

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Here’s some tips for keeping the costs down:

Or you could just move to Alaska…

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The Online Brokerage Wars: E*Trade Offers Compelling Risk/Reward
at Seeking Alpha

5 Ways to Maximize the Return on your 401k
at MoneyNing

Price Drops Are Good for Young Investors in the Stock Market
at Generation X Finance

13 Quick Consumer Tips to be a Rockstar Consumer
at Stop Buying Crap

Top 10 Do’s For Fundamental Investors
at Investment Ideas!

Procrastinate your way to spending less
at Blunt Money

Somebody Slap Me - The Savings Rate is Going Up!
at Everybody Loves Your Money

I don’t want to be obsessed with money or being frugal
at Sense to Save

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The foundation developed a Return on Investment Model (ROI) to show employers how much they can benefit from improving the financial lteracy of their employees. Some of the benefits they include are:

$ Less stress and personal finance/work conflict
$ Greater Participation in Employer’s Benefits
$ Increasesinjobengagementandproductivity
$ Improved Employee Work Performance

If you’re an employer who is looking to cash in on these benefits that come with a more financially literate workforce, ValueYour Money.org has plenty of free resources to help you get started including Articles for Employee Newsletters/Intranets, Table Tents for Break Rooms, Flyers for Bulletin Boards, and Paycheck Inserts.

Just download it, print, it, and distribute it. The only thing you have to lose is some ink and paper but you stand to gain a happier and more stable workforce.

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I wonder if anyone has studied the effectiveness of these types of PSA’s?

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So are prices really rising? How far up will they go? Is there any relief in site? What’s being done to help?

Let’s see what Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has to say…

Hmm, I was hoping for something a little more optimistic…

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