European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes Page 29 your Money dont let College expenses Drain Home fund dear Liz we sold our Home in 2003 and have rented Ever the interest weve earned on the Money we made from our House More than pays our weve been losing financially on All even with the recent housing prices have shot up in our area and Homes Cost 50 percent More in our neighbourhood than they did when we weve been penalized in col lege financial Aid As since our savings is counted against us in financial Aid formulas while Home equity  have been counted at our sons College fees total and we get no financial so weve been eating into our savings to help pay the our daughter will Start col lege soon and will probably go to an expensive private school like her since we want to fair to both that would mean an outlay of a were torn Over whether we should buy a Home Money in this Down Market or use up every Penny weve saved to pay for school education is obviously very important to everyone we talk to thinks were total idiots for holding on to the Cash rather than buying answer its unclear whether you were try ing to time the real estate Market when you but youve certainly illustrated the Dan Gers of such an Market timers try to predict peaks in the Stock or real estate markets and sell during a figuring  buy Back in when prices of prices dont always Market timing is particularly problematic when youre talking about a you need to live and values could Rise enough to Price you out of a Market once youve sometimes renting makes particularly if you dont expect to stay in an area Long or re ally want to avoid the hassles of Home but most of the Home ownership helps build wealth if you can resist the temptation to sell out or otherwise your talk you can try usin8 me expected family contribution calculator at i to see How much of an effect buy ing a Home would have on your College but you also need to set some realistic limits on How much youll con tribute to your Chil Drens Liz Pulliam Market i indexes Ltd High Low chg chg chg Dow Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a composite Russell 2000 do Wilshire 5000 i nose amex Nash a most Active or Active or More most Active name last last chg name Yokoo Blackston 1127324 1825547 push Sqq 1441329 forum 872489 Microsoft 712280 tycoon to 722163 376211 Intel 610157 Geneles 623334 n 225960 Levels 566440 Pfizer 535182 207403 sinus 528584 sch Marg 494668 Exxon by 364277 186147 Cisco 449419 Semi her 125125 Sun Micro 439405 pm cup 346873 109399 Starbucks 326177 by foam 340382 105780 Oracle 324919 i Tigre 322619 util 79144 arc dec 321347 key defense stocks key Mutual name div be last Nav Valliant techno system 19 invest Greco Armor holdings 25 Boeing 31 Fidelity invest Grolnic Fidelity spartan  computer sciences 30 funds a Erlna p general dynamics 17 Century inv Ultra general electric 19 invest Amorso Halliburton 15 invest Oversea Harris 16 Allied signal 22 l3 communications 22 Lockheed Martin 16 invest us i aim investments a const p Frnk a Sec Para aim investments a Char tap Northrop 17 Raythelon 20 advisor Rockwell 8 21 advisor Putnam funds a Globe qty Texas instruments 13 text Ron 24 advisor t Ovresat United technologies 19 funds a go Gap Weston spending every Penny of your savings on school fees is not a realistic option if you Ever plan to your kids can always get Loans nobody going to lend you Money to dear Liz i am 19 years old and trying to build a Good credit i had a savings account for a while recently opened a checking i also Exchange rates military rates euro costs june Dollar buys june British Pound june japanese yen june South korean won june commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for South Germany the Netherlands and the United for no local currency Exchange rates purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing rates Are inter Bank rates provided f9r reference when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in and the which is precious metals new York merc close Silver interest rates prime discount Federal funds Market rate 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America signed up for a department store charge now i would like to get a cred it card but i dont know which one to there Are so Many choices out there and in Over could you please help me answer at this Point in your financial its More important that you avoid bad credit cards than that you find the card with the maximum number of Bells and your first step should be to buy copies of your credit reports and credit scores from the Only web site that Sells the leading fico credit score from All three credit reporting by although youre entitled to one free credit report from each Bureau youre not entitled to free if youre going to pay for a score you might As Well buy which is what most lenders if your scores Are Low worse you dont have fico scores because you Haven had credit Long you May have to Settle for a secured credit secured cards require you to make a Cash Deposit with the Bank that issues you the if your scores Are you May be Able to qualify for an unsecured but it will probably have a Low at least at either you should avoid cards that require application fees or that have hefty annual fees is about the maximum you should also avoid cards that dont re port to the credit be cause those cards wont help you build your web Sites like and can help you narrow your when you get the remember not to charge More than 30 percent of its credit limit and to pay off your bal Ance in full every those two habits will go a Long Way to Ward building your Good Liz Pulliam Weston is the author of your credit score and Deal with your questions May be sent to 3940 Laurel Canyon studio Ca distributed by no More red hits and sensibility Money tip of the Day consider Index funds Market watch new York Ever wonder Why fund managers cant beat the 500 Michael Douglas asked in the 1987 movie Wall if you have your Money in a Mutual fund administered by an investment chances Are you have indeed the smartest Wall Street pros Are wrong now and and when they your nest egg takes a not everyone has the Mettle to withstand this kind of if you prefer the safer approach to you cant do much better than Index says president of Dinuzzo investment advisors in Index funds Arent in the Busi Ness of trying to beat the Stock they exploit the averages by following the mar Ket As closely As most Broa Market Index funds work by buying All of the stocks in a particular Index in amounts proportional to each company size and take the Standard poors for an 500 Index fund will invest a percentage of your Money in All 500 based on How each company shares Are by spreading your Money Index funds minimize the chances of it evaporating overnight if a particular Stock the other Nice thing about the majority of Index funds is that Money is dispersed based on a mathematical Algo so your Stock Doest have to be managed by a flesh and blood who charges a percentage on each the gains made by investing this Way Are less dramatic than More aggressive investment but they add up Over Dinuzzo recommends that beginners put 60 percent of their Money in a total Stock mar Ket Index and 40 percent in a total Bond Market you do this and let your Money weather the ups and Downs of the Market for 10 Dinuzzo says you can reasonably expect to make 8 percent to 10 per cent discover Why f so Many people Are 2004 Fri Corgi Fri or Wei a an few it