Smart Stops on the Web

Spend Time to Save Money
financialplan.about.com
Financial planners, CPAs and their clients will want to visit this Web site for money-saving tips on, for example, college, divorce, real estate and retirement. Visitors also can access financial advice for people in their 50s and 60s and read articles such as the “Best Investments for Retirement Funds” and “Financial Planning Throughout Your Life.”

It Brings Good Things to “Light”
www.financiallearning.com
General Electric developed this Web site to “promote financial literacy.” With online calculators, a dictionary and research studies, the GE Center for Financial Learning offers a variety of information for personal-financial-
planning specialists and CPAs.

A Federal HR Agency
www.opm.gov
Accountants and other finance professionals in government service will find retirement planning information at the Office of Personnel Management Web stop, including federal benefits data and retirement calculators. Retirees and their families can find information on employee group-life-insurance programs and links to government-sponsored retirement programs.

For Businesses on the Grow
www.morebusiness.com
CPAs and business consultants can find resources here to aid their small-business-owner clientele, such as financial planning and health insurance checklists, and templates for contracts and business and marketing plans. Users also can download free legal forms, read articles including “Disaster Recovery Planning” and register for Morebusiness.com’s e-mail newsletter.

Big Ideas for Small Businesses
www.sbsc.org
The Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) Web site offers business advisers analysis of current issues and legislative action affecting small businesses in the areas of the economy, health care and tax laws, to name a few. This Smart Stop also allows visitors free access to congressional testimony and the SBSC’s fact-of-the-week section.

Know the Score
www.score.org
Want to know eight easy things to do before forming a company? Or need to find out how to launch a successful e-mail promotion? Find how-to articles on these topics at the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) Web site and read features such as “How Automation Accounting Can Help Your Business.” SCORE also offers free advice from business professionals in its e-mail-counseling-services section and a free newsletter subscription.

Free for All
www.allbookkeepingresource.com
Unlike other employment Web sites that allow employees to post resumes for free while employers pay to advertise, this one lets everyone find what they need—a job or an employee—gratis. Although this Web stop calls itself All Bookkeeping Resource, its focus also encompasses basic accounting, accounts payable and financial planning. Users can read accounting and business articles such as “What Payment Terms Should You Use Internationally” and “Like It or Not, E-Billing’s Coming.”

The Star System
www.bauerfinancial.com
This Coral Gables, Florida, research company Web stop states: “We analyze banks…very carefully.” Its star-based system—five stars rate an organization “superior” and one brands an entity as “troubled”—includes categories such as top consumer and institutional certificate-of-deposit rates. Other site offerings include a frequently asked questions section and links to federal regulator home pages, such as the FDIC’s and the Federal Reserve Board’s.

To Market, to Market, to Buy a Bond
www.investinginbonds.com
This Bond Market Association e-stop gives users corporate and municipal bond prices and features article titles such as “Planning for Retirement” and “How to Read Bond Prices in the Daily Newspapers.” Visitors also can find a bond glossary, investor guides and links to related financial Web sites.

On the Lighter Side
www.m-w.com
Professionals as interested in words as numbers can click around Merriam-Webster Online and find brainteasers in the word-game-of-the-day section. Users also can peruse the section Words From the Lighter Side, which examines the 20th century’s most popular slang terms.

Get Hired, Not Taken
www.sohojobs.com
If you’re looking for small office/home office (SOHO) work but are wary of ads attached to utility poles, buses or trains, check out this Web site’s Scram Scams section. It provides descriptions of con artists’ modus operandi and a free list—via e-mail—of known schemes. This Smart Stop also offers users reviews of other work-at-home Web sites and links to free SOHO magazines and newsletters.