As part of a major company expansion, LendingTree, the nation’s leading online lender exchange and personal finance resource, today launched a new feature-rich website, including a suite of easy-to-use, comprehensive financial services, making it the premier solution for all personal financial needs.
LendingTree has already helped over 28 million customers search for the right loans, and now the company is leveraging its experience and knowledge to help consumers with other aspects of their financial lives. The redesigned site now offers products and services in all financial categories – from mortgages and insurance to credit cards and money management.
“Consumers are facing a new economic reality in which they've been challenged to rethink the way they manage their finances and whom they can really trust,” said LendingTree founder and CEO Doug Lebda. “And just like we have done in mortgages, the new services at LendingTree provide consumers with the tools to make intelligent financial decisions and take charge of all their personal financial decisions.”
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
With the drammatic decline in housing prices in the past year is now a good time to explore investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts?
Let's start with a definition of REITs provided by REIT.com. A real estate investment trust, or REIT, is a company that owns, and in most cases, operates income-producing real estate. Some REITs also engage in financing real estate. The shares of many REITs are traded on major stock exchanges.
To qualify as a REIT, a company must have most of its assets and income tied to real estate investment and must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends. A company that qualifies as a REIT is permitted to deduct dividends paid to its shareholders from its corporate taxable income. As a result, most REITs historically remit at least 100 percent of their taxable income to their shareholders and therefore owe no corporate tax. Taxes are pad by shareholders on the dividends received and any capital gains. Most states honor this federal treatment and also do not require REITs to pay state income tax. Like other businesses, but unlike partnerships, a REIT cannot pass any tax losses through to its investors.
Morningstar's "Investing Classroom" provides in-depth information on the various types of REITs, their advantages and disadvantages
Let's start with a definition of REITs provided by REIT.com. A real estate investment trust, or REIT, is a company that owns, and in most cases, operates income-producing real estate. Some REITs also engage in financing real estate. The shares of many REITs are traded on major stock exchanges.
To qualify as a REIT, a company must have most of its assets and income tied to real estate investment and must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends. A company that qualifies as a REIT is permitted to deduct dividends paid to its shareholders from its corporate taxable income. As a result, most REITs historically remit at least 100 percent of their taxable income to their shareholders and therefore owe no corporate tax. Taxes are pad by shareholders on the dividends received and any capital gains. Most states honor this federal treatment and also do not require REITs to pay state income tax. Like other businesses, but unlike partnerships, a REIT cannot pass any tax losses through to its investors.
Morningstar's "Investing Classroom" provides in-depth information on the various types of REITs, their advantages and disadvantages
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