finance posts

Today, Arianna Huffington announced the launch of HuffPost Money, a section dedicated to looking at the big financial stories of our time, with an eye on answering the question: how do the day's headlines affect you and your finances?

HuffPost Money is founded on the understanding that many of the biggest stories of our time -- from foreclosures and the decline in American economic mobility to the payroll tax extension and the growing student loan debt -- have a direct influence on the way we live, spend, and save.

HuffPost Money is edited by Emily Cohn, who will report to Emily Peck, managing editor of HuffPost Business. To learn more about the launch read Arianna's blog post here.

AOL UK announced an enhanced version of its personal finance site, AOL Money, with a fully integrated price comparison hub in partnership with lovemoney.com and an investing platform powered by The Motley Fool.

As content continues to be the key driver of our strategy, we are enhancing AOL Money through these partnerships, providing users with tools to deliver a first in class web experience as well as giving brands the opportunity to interact with an even more engaged audience. With a focus on consumer advice, news-led features and the latest financial products, AOL Money now includes expanded editorial content and improved design and usability.

Learn more about this announcement here.

It Makes Good Cents: @HuffPostMoney Launches, @MoneyAOL UK Gets Redesign aol.it/xPTKL9

- AOL PR (@AOLPR) March 1, 2012

Personal finance expert, Suze Orman, stopped by the AOL Studios in New York yesterday to sit down for an interview with Arianna Huffington. Sharing stories from her childhood, including her struggles with a speech impediment, Orman also unveiled a new pre-paid debit card that she hopes will turn the credit-scoring system upside down.

Laura Rowley covered the interview for HuffPost 50:

"My job is to educate American and give them the tools they need so they finally have a highway out of poverty," Orman said.

"Middle-class Americans...don't want a credit card in their wallet because don't want ability to get themselves into trouble again," she said. "The problem with that is if you spend money on debit or cash, it doesn't report to the credit bureaus so it doesn't give you a FICO score."

"I wanted to create (a scenario) where people who pay with debit and cash are rewarded," Orman said.

To learn more about Orman's new pre-paid debit card, click here and read the full article.

Finance expert @SuzeOrmanShow stops by the @AOL studios aol.it/wsOKFL

- AOLPR (@AOLPR) January 10, 2012

We're continuing to wrap up 2011 by taking a look at the big trends that affected marketers and advertisers this year. The AOL Advertising Blog explores what was big in 2011 for consumers and advertisers in different industries.


2011 was certainly an eventful year for the Finance industry. There was fee frenzy, record volatility on Wall Street and a movement to 'Occupy' anything and everything. Before we turn the page to 2012, here's a quick look at the most important sub-category trends that we saw in Finance this year including brokers, banks, insurance, credit cards and taxes. To learn more about these trends click here.

In 2011, shoppers got social, used multiple channels, and sought out a good deal. Brands listened to shoppers and responded with some innovative marketing efforts! Find out why online coupon usage was up and view the other stats supporting these trends.

In 2011 we also saw the Auto industry back on the road to recovery with most expecting the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) to be between 12.5M-12.8M units, well above the low of 9.32M in February 2009. Production issues due to Japan's earthquake and continued economic uncertainty have no doubt impacted the industry, making this year's projections even more remarkable. Find out why consumers looked to mobile, video and social solutions when choosing a car here.

In 2011, consumers embraced wireless as never before. According to the CTIA, there are now more wireless subscriber connections than there are people in the United States. At the same time, more and more consumers are migrating to smartphones – with Nielsen reporting that smartphones now represent 44% of the market. Learn more about the wireless revolution here.