Dividend investing probably isn’t for those who want a fast growing, quick money type of stock, like the next Google or IBM, or Marvel or heck, Berkshire Hathaway, but they are for people who want a solid, respectable and usually fairly reliable source of steady income over the years they invest for their golden retirement, rather than the risk of losing it all. This doesn’t mean that all dividend stocks are safe, or even steady for that matter, but a lot of the bigger companies like GE and PG (Procter and Gamble) are good solid dividend payers that grow steadily over the years and usually render a nice little return after years of investment.

I for one have have burned on investing in what I thought was going to be the next best thing, and without dividends as an incentive to stay in the stock, I quickly bailed when I realized that the majority of my capital, if not all of it, would be compromised if I kept it in that particular stock.

Dividend paying stocks generally steer clear of a lot of this type of volatility and can often be purchased at bargain prices during recessions and other economic downturns, or heck, even when it’s going really well in the stock market, because this tends to be when people go for high tech stocks, banks and the next biggest thing in hopes of getting more bang for their buck.

It’s important to note that dividends are not always “guaranteed” though, and that dividends can disappear with little or no notice, so it may be important for you to gauge this by looking at the company’s dividend paying history to determine whether their history dictates that you are taking a good risk by buying it for the dividend’s sake.

This, paired with news that the GDP, the beacon by which recessions are gauged, has increased modestly as well, and that is counter to what we’ve been hearing about an already-here or pending recession, which is marked by a series of slowing GDP all the way around, which basically means that the whole economy has slowed for so many months in succession. Of course, this can never be accounted for until it’s actually over and all the numbers are reported, so recessions can rarely be absolutely earmarked until they are actually over, since no one can really say for certain one has happened until it’s after the fact.

Borrowing on various types of credit cards, including gas credit cards and low apr credit cards with fixed rates, went up almost a full three percent more annually than they do normally, so that’s good news, depending on how you look at credit card borrowing I guess (wink wink). Does this mean that consumers are still over extending themselves?

Well, that’s a matter of judgment so it really depends on who you ask, but for me, I’ve seen the struggling of my friends and coworkers, and the signs are there that people are having to tap credit sources they normally wouldn’t which many times comes in the form of a credit card, or revolving debt as we’re all aware. Those government issues rebate checks?

Hmm, well most people think that these are going to be spent on paying bills and putting the money away for savings, but that remains to be seen in about another month when we see if the first distribution of the stimulus checks helped with our GDP at all. Let’s be optimistic though, it does seem like there is some positive activity going on her, which is a good sign.

However, if it’s been a lesson to anyone, it’s been a lesson to major lenders that they need to tighten the noose on their lending practices, meaning they had to better screen candidates for mortgage loans so that they could keep both themselves out of hot water by avoiding bad loans, and the consumer, by not letting them get in “over their heads” so to speak, by taking on too big a mortgage for their salary and other forms of compensation to cover over the duration of the loan, typically 30 years.

A survey taken in April of major lending banks found that over 2/3 of the banks reported they had adopted tighter lending restrictions and new criteria and guidelines, including proof required of income, before they let a consumer sign on the dotted line and purchase a home with money borrowed from their institution.

Not only that, but banks are also severely tightening (compared to years ago), their restrictions on lending for credit cards and other common loans as well, extending their caution into other fields of concern, since consumers have generally overextended themselves in these areas, which many analysts say has also led to the current economic conditions and “credit crunch”, as it has been termed.

Banks have grown more concerned as well because with the erosion of current credit including mortgages, loans and credit card delinquencies, they are forecasting that even more loans are going to go bad in the near future, only further pulling back on their profits and putting them in the red, so to speak. There are of course some banks that have avoided this crisis as greatly as they can, but most are in some form of trouble because of one thing or another, and many think it will be years before they and consumers recover from this debacle.

Which is funny because now he actually has better credit than I do, perhaps because my name is on the larger mortgage and that symbolizes a higher debt to income ratio for me, especially since I am partially self employed, which is typically a harder income to prove than a regular “salary” job. However, I digress. We both receive plenty of credit offers in the mail, ranging from special loans to balance transfer credit cards, to mortgage lines of credit that can be transferred into fixed rate low interest loans, but he still receives the bulk of the credit card offers.

Like I said, I think that even though I have a higher income and pay my bills on time every month, it is looked at as higher risk to extend more credit to me because of my debt ratio, so he does still get the bulk of the credit card offers. However, when do you know if it’s worth it to transfer a lot of outstanding revolving debt to a card that may be just the same thing pretty much after your introductory period is over? Well, it’s important to read the fine print on these.

Always go for something that says “fixed rate”, otherwise they “reserve the right” to change your APR terms on you any time, which can end up being the opposite of getting you out of debt, but instead steeping your further into it by increasing the interest you owe on your existing debt. Always have your calculator ready.

We’ve sat down and actually calculated, when the term is over, and how much you are paying for monthly payments, you are actually saving in the end on interest when taking on these deals, and sometimes you are better off just sticking with several balances on lower APR fixed rate cards rather than transferring it all to one card. Sure, it’s easier to make one payment a month as opposed to 2-5 payments to separate cards, but who cares when in the end you are paying more money for the luxury to do so?

My boyfriend and I live together. We do not share bank accounts as I personally do not believe that to be with someone, even married, that you have to share checking accounts, or even credit accounts. We do have our home we bought last year in both of our names, but even that is slightly split in that he is on one of the loans (we got two mortgage loans, it was the best way for us to go at the time), and not on the other because we had varying credit.

Which is funny because now he actually has better credit than I do, perhaps because my name is on the larger mortgage and that symbolizes a higher debt to income ratio for me, especially since I am partially self employed, which is typically a harder income to prove than a regular “salary” job. However, I digress. We both receive plenty of credit offers in the mail, ranging from special loans to balance transfer credit cards, to mortgage lines of credit that can be transferred into fixed rate low interest loans, but he still receives the bulk of the credit card offers.

Like I said, I think that even though I have a higher income and pay my bills on time every month, it is looked at as higher risk to extend more credit to me because of my debt ratio, so he does still get the bulk of the credit card offers. However, when do you know if it’s worth it to transfer a lot of outstanding revolving debt to a card that may be just the same thing pretty much after your introductory period is over? Well, it’s important to read the fine print on these.

Always go for something that says “fixed rate”, otherwise they “reserve the right” to change your APR terms on you any time, which can end up being the opposite of getting you out of debt, but instead steeping your further into it by increasing the interest you owe on your existing debt. Always have your calculator ready.

We’ve sat down and actually calculated, when the term is over, and how much you are paying for monthly payments, you are actually saving in the end on interest when taking on these deals, and sometimes you are better off just sticking with several balances on lower APR fixed rate cards rather than transferring it all to one card. Sure, it’s easier to make one payment a month as opposed to 2-5 payments to separate cards, but who cares when in the end you are paying more money for the luxury to do so?

It’s really crazy times we’re living in these days when our citizens in the US can’t even make ends meet and have to pinch pennies just to live, and not even to live on any extravagant means, just to make it by, to buy groceries and other necessities and yeah, maybe to splurge on a little something here and there because after all isn’t that what living is all about?

The government stimulus checks were issued earlier than originally planned, thanks to urges by the president and congress to get them out quicker to help the struggling economy and get it back on its feet faster. Next question is, when is someone going to step in and force these oil companies to stop gouging the gas prices for no good given reason?

The stimulus checks supposedly go by the last few digits of your social security number, and there were numerous places online for the schedule of mailing to be found according to this individual information. I think last I looked married couples could get up to $1200 and people who filed as single or are married filing as single can get back up to $600, all depending on how much money the individual or the married couple makes.

The next question on these stimulus tax return checks is, where are we really getting this money from? Is it hidden somewhere or are we in effect really borrowing social security money from our future generations? These are hard economic times, but the good news is that hard economic times and times of recession, which we are in right now according to most financial analysts, are usually followed by economic booms. So it’ll be a good time to position yourself and your investments for when things pick back up hopefully!

But we all know that’s something that needs to happen anyways, so I personally take those excuses with a grain of proverbial salt. I’ve seen the recent ATM fees go up as high as five bucks, which if it were me, unless I were in dire need of that money, I probably would not pay based on the sheer principal alone that it’s a rip off to pay five bucks, which equates to a perfectly good meal at a fast food restaurant, just to withdraw my money.

Then there are the fees that you have to pay to use an ATM that isn’t actually owned by your bank. For example, my sister is in town from California right now, and just for her to withdraw money from an ATM that was within her network, but owned by my bank and not hers, which is a small town bank from where she lives, she was charged a 3.50 fee for withdrawing her money.

This one is particularly baffling because I’m not really sure why they put that extra fee on when it’s “outside your network” or from another bank. Sometimes your bank may actually charge two separate fees, one from them for using the ATM, and another one if that particular ATM is out of their “network”.

It’s really highway robbery if you think about it, considering banking fees are also going up just for your monthly maintenance fees as well. Heck, I pay six dollars on one account every month, and ten on another, just for them to keep my account going. I think these fees are really getting out of hand, but they can get away with it because you “need” them, and you need checking accounts and savings accounts often times to establish credit. Bummer.

Many people who are not so convinced of our economy’s resilience are bailing out big time on US stocks, and delving their money into money market accounts which are a much safer option, but are an incredibly (odds have it) lower rate of return over the long haul on your money. Remember, you should almost always invest in stocks with the long term - at least 3-5 years in mind, if not more, or you could be in for a lot of losses as well as getting taxed out the wazoo for short term gains.

It makes me kind of sad that the paranoia about the state of the US is forcing people to panic and put their money in places that really don’t even keep pace with inflation - which by the way, in broaching a 5% mark this year, especially for food and other goods, rather than putting their money in places that have a much higher rate of return over the long haul. Think about it, the wealthiest people are the ones who still buy when everyone else is running away, just look at Warren Buffett as a prime example of this philosophy.

He has a well known theory that you should be greedy (buy stocks you think are good) when everyone else is scared, and be scared when everyone else is greedy. Hence he is one of the world’s richest men, actually I believe he tops that list now. As long as you are a person who can research good stocks and buy it at a good price (aka, when most others are scared to invest in the stock market), you could definitely make out like a bandit around retirement time!

What are the higher food prices attributed to? Well, it is supposedly a combination of factors, a few being the weather in major food, wheat and corn producing areas of the world, high gas prices which increases the cost of transporting food to places that sell it and use it in their food products, and a higher global demand for food stuffs.

The average annual food cost increase is usually at about a 2.5 percent increase, while last year (2007), it rose around 4 percent, setting the path for higher and higher prices according to many analysts and consumer watchdog groups. This year, they are saying that the rise in food prices could be even worse than last year, and additional half a percentage point again, rounding it out to about 4.5 percent increase.

It doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you consider this is an incremental increase that happens every year, and we are talking on a global scale here, it certainly does add up. These increasing percentages are bound to strap several working classes, but will especially strap the poor financially, making food donation programs and subsizdizations a virtual necessity just to feed our own population. Or the poor class will be forced to give something else up in order to eat properly.

I’ve noticed higher prices on fruits and veggies so far, but the squeeze hasn’t hit me nearly as hard as I know it could hit others who are having a tough time paying their bills and keeping up as it is. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, has actually just proposed a gas tax holiday, which would take away gas taxes, which make up a significant portion of what you pay at the pump, for the coming Memorial day weekend, hopefully easing some of the financial burden on families and businesses. I’d say much more drastic measures are called for, but this would at least be a start. Heck, it would make McCain a pretty popular guy too!

According to recent polls done in samplings of populations around the US of people expecting rebates showed that most people don’t plan to make any wild purchases with their rebate checks, but rather either save, invest, or pay bills off with it. Very smart, but if this is the case, it may not help to stimulate the economy by giving money back to businesses and getting consumers to do what they do best - spend, as anticipated.

The economic stimulus package was created in hopes the people would go out and spend it in retail and services so that we could get the GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, going back up again, and get the spending mentality going in America again, which has helped us become a dominant economy and marketplace, and a great place for entrepreneurs - it’s the “land of opportunity” for exactly that reason, but the land of opportunity has recently suffered some setbacks which the government is trying to bail us out of.

At least that’s what the media would lead us to believe, so please keep an open mind that some of these forecasted happenings may not happen at all and may in fact be overblown by “newsmakers”.

Well, they are now saying that food prices for simple staples like cooking oil, bread, wheat and rice and things of that nature, but I’m also thinking a lot of the more expensive perishables like fruits and veggies may also continue to make their way up the pricing scale due to higher gas prices and more demand for the foods, especially in the developing countries, where this type of food is scarce to begin with.

Corn, wheat and other grains have doubled or more so since this time last year. I actually just got back from the grocery store and did notice a few higher than usual prices on items, but it’s a good thing I have my Giant Eagle Advantage card, because at least all of my food purchases are making their way to something useful, like fuel points which allow me to purchase gas at a discount (I think this is the best advantage of having a card, this is my favorite card for gas, since you just are buying things you already need and can get a generous discount per gallon on your gas just for making food purchases, whoever thought of this is a genius.)

What about those of us who are just scraping by to begin with though? I do wonder how they are making it when me, someone who has a steady income from their job as well as side incomes from other various projects, is noticing a bit of a painful increase in the overall cost of living. Things definitely need to be getting better. Heck, GE, the energy giant, just announced that their earnings for this quarter were lower than expected, and also warned that forecasts for the 2008 year may be lower, so everyone’s suffering.