101 Most Useful Sites
Finance

Beat the Street: IPOs
Don't you wish you could have got in early on those soaring tech stocks-back when the prices were still in the single digits? The key is to find out about the initial public offerings (IPOs) of these securities before they're announced. Alert-IPO! can give you a head start. Look here to read IPO filings months before the companies in question actually "go public." These filings typically include the offering's share price, the number of shares being offered, and the names of the various underwriters. It's also where you'll learn about withdrawn and postponed IPOs. Get free weekly summaries, or pay for a daily report.

Answer Financial Queries: Financenter.com ClickCalcs
Along with standard tools, like aids for calculating mortgages, you'll find slick exchange rate gadgets for evaluating your foreign stocks. Mais, oui!

Track Stocks in Real Time: Thomson Real Time Quotes
Tired of that "delayed 20 minutes" disclaimer on your favorite stock ticker site? Sign up here, and end the wait.

Find Free SEC Filings-Fast: Database Filings
Don't you wish you could have got in early on those soaring tech stocks-back when the prices were still in the single digits? The key is to find out about the initial public offerings (IPOs) of these securities before they're announced. Alert-IPO! can give you a head start. Look here to read IPO filings months before the companies in question actually "go public." These filings typically include the offering's share price, the number of shares being offered, and the names of the various underwriters. It's also where you'll learn about withdrawn and postponed IPOs. Get free weekly summaries, or pay for a daily report.

Invest Wisely: Stock Search
The Stock Search feature at Quicken.com picks up where other Y-Life-recommended sites, such as ClearStation, leave off. Here, you can define criteria for a desired investment-its industry, valuation, growth rate, and financial strength, for example. Click on Show Results and you'll get a listing of matching stocks. By narrowing the results to 30 or fewer, you can get further suggestions on which investments are strongest from the site's Stock Evaluator. What's more, the EasyStep Search walks you through the most important criteria, one by one.

Adjust Your Dollars for Inflation CJR Dollar Conversion Calculator
Which grossed more money on opening week-Jurassic Park or Gone With The Wind? You can't find out until you adjust the dollars for inflation over time, and that's where the CJR Dollar Conversion Calculator comes in. Enter a dollar value from a year in the past and you'll get it's current value; or just convert between any two given years. Is your parent's house from 1960 a good investment in today's dollars? Find out here.

Allocate Your Investments One/Asset: The SmartMoney One Asset Allocation System
Americans are now placing more of their money into the stock market than into savings accounts. But are they putting it in the right places? One/Asset: The SmartMoney One Asset Allocation System tackles this thorny question, based on such factors as age, portfolio amount, savings rate, and risk tolerance. Its easy-to-grasp pie chart will show you how you can allocate your investments among large-cap, small-cap, and foreign stocks, as well as cash and fixed income.

Plan for Retirement Retirement Calculator
How can you save and invest money today to make your retirement a time of feast instead of famine? The U.S. News Retirement Calculator can help. Unlike other, quick-and-dirty online financial calculators, this one lets you enter in-depth information about yourself, your current income, and your saving habits. In the end, you'll find out if your current savings are going to add up to your retirement needs, and you'll also be more aware of the factors that determine how much your money's worth.

Research Bank Rates: Bankrate.com
Sign up for the free e-mail alert and track rate changes for mortgages, credit ards, and home and auto loans -- while you're out spending the green.

Calculate Exchange Rates: The "Full" Universal Currency Converter
Translate between 180 different versions of the root of all evil, including the new euro, or just deal with the 80 or so most-traded currencies.

Secure the Right Insurance Insurance Company Ratings
Will your insurance really be there when you need it? Find out at Insure.com's Insurance Company Ratings. You'll get free ratings from both Standard & Poor's and Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Company, so you can find out how strong a company is before you purchase insurance from it. The site lets you compare ratings for health, life, property, and casualty insurance. Search by the individual insurer's name or by the insurance type and rating if you want to find, say, all of the AAA-rated life insurance companies in the United States.

Find Cheaper Insurance: InsWeb
Confirm or dispel your fear of paying too much for insurance at InsWeb, and comparison shop for auto, life, home owner's, renter's, and health insurance.