Complete Finance Blog

The investing hordes are going in for hoarding, a concept that has appealed to military strategists, legendary value investor Benjamin Graham and squirrels.

But as fund companies create more products that stockpile raw materials, emerging challenges suggest the idea may come up short as an investment strategy.

Since 2004, investors have socked billions into U.S. exchange-traded funds backed by raw materials rather than by the usual futures contracts or other paper proxies for physical commodities. As investors buy shares in the funds, the funds typically acquire more material. The value of the shares rises and falls with the actual commodity.

Thus far, these “physically backed” funds have focused largely on precious metals—the largest holds gold, but others hold silver, platinum and palladium—and have appealed to investors who have a “greater degree of comfort” with hard assets than stocks, bonds, futures or the like, says Graham Tuckwell, head of ETF Securities, which runs physically backed funds.

As of the end of last year, nine physically backed U.S.-based ETFs together had amassed $77.6 billion of assets, according to fund-tracking firm IndexUniverse.com, compared with $24 billion for futures-backed commodity ETFs.

Physically backed funds are attractive to some because they avoid a problem with futures-based commodities investing that has hurt returns—the expense of selling expiring monthly contracts and then buying new ones. The i Read more…

The following resources both inspired me to get out of consumer-debt and keep me motivated as I strive to pay off my mortgage.  Check out-

Financial Calculators -

A random search of the Internet lead me these debt calculators from over at Dinkytown.  Once I plugged in my own credit card debt and automobile debt, and ran the calculations for various payment methods, I was off and running.

Radio Program -

If you have spent any time at all researching debt reduction, you have no doubt heard of the awesome Dave Ramsey radio program.  Listening to Dave always motivates me.

Blogs -

I love reading Blogging Away Debt, Debt Free Adventure,  The Happy Rock, Man vs Debt, and dozens of other personal finance blogs.  It never fails – When I am tempted to slack up a bit, all I have to do is fire up the old browser, visit a couple of sites written by fellow bloggers, and I’m instantly re-motivated.

Blog Carnival -

Speaking of blogs, each week the Carnival of Debt Reduction, a selection of blog posts from throughout the web is published.  (If you are a blogger and you write about debt reduction, be sure to submit your stuff to the CoDR!)

Bible Verse -

Romans 13:8: Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.  That’s my ultimate goal – to owe nothing to anyone, and yet to love everyone.

Family -

I have an awesome wife and three awesome kids.  Back before I began to organize my finances, I was constantly worried about their futures.  Realizing that I wanted to do a better job of providing for them, I got serious about reducing debt and fixing my finances.

One of the most important things people think about when planning for a vacation is car rentals services. This is because it is cheaper and easy to find, especially if one is going on a prolonged vacation.

Many people across the world prefer hiring vehicles when this option is highly affordable. Many love it for the expediency and flexibility it offers. It serves just right where roads are in a good state and it is ideal for tourists.

Before hiring a vehicle, it is important for one to evaluate and weigh all the options available to them. One of the things that one has to look out for is the state of the cars being rented. One should never make the mistake of going for a company that has faulty cars. Above all, variety is important in making a final decision.

When it comes to hiring vehicles, customers will always have different needs. This is why it is important for people to be clear about what they want in a hire company. It is advisable to look for a company that will have other options to chose from and meet the different consumer needs.

It is good for renters to look for hire firms that are affordable. Different firms provide their customers with different hire alternatives.

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We highlight the five best flexible savings accounts currently on the market.

Get your hands on a great savings account!

I’m self-employed, so I pay my tax via self-assessment. I squirrel away a percentage of all my earnings in an easy access savings account, ready to hand over to HMRC at the end of the year.

An easy access account suits me well, because I never know exactly how much I’m going to be putting into it, and when.

However, the top rates for easy access accounts usually last for no more than 12 months. And so every year, I have to track down a new one offering a decent return on my investment.

Here, I’m going to highlight the top five easy access accounts currently available – and what you need to know about each of them.

The leaders of the pack

Here are my top picks, ordered by the interest rates they offer. All rates are variable unless otherwise stated.

I’ve chosen to ignore accounts that require a notice period before you can withdraw your cash. That do

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