As the government decides on a $700 billion bank bailout, many are left wondering how it will affect the general public and what they can do during this tough economic time.  The solutions are as complex as the individual cases, but there are some resources out there to better assist those looking for financial freedom.

Feed The Pig

Whether you’re in the working world or caring for aging parents, Feed the Pig offers tips for every stage of life. See Web site.

Feed the Pig is a national service campaign of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Advertising Council.

“The goal of the campaign is to encourage the 40 million Americans age 25 to 34 to take control of their personal finances.”

Feed the Pig’s spokespig even has a Myspace page. See Benjamin Bankes page.  

The Web site has several beneficial tools including credit payoff, emergency savings and lunch savings calculators.  For example, instead of eating out every weekday for a month at a cost of $6.50, you can spend just $3 on a bag lunch.  The savings over a month is $70. If you put that into an account with an expected rate of return of 6 percent…after 4 years you could have $3,793. 

You can also sign up for free weekly e-mail savings tip.

Feed the Pig also comes with a printable monthly calendar filled with financial reminders, a personal cash flow worksheet.

Save For Your Future

Whether you’re in the market for a car, college loan, etc, Save for Your Future offers several calculators to help you budget.  See Web site.

It also has saving tips for how you can save on your utilities, the winter holiday season and how to stay disciplined with your savings.

Project For Financial Independence

Project for Financial Independence provides “personal financial guidance to members of the public who cannot afford a financial advisor, or who are facing an immediate or unusual financial need. See Web site.

See if you qualify. 

My Money

“MyMoney.gov is the U.S. government's Web site dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education.

The site offers information from 20 federal agencies government wide.

Wi$e Up

“Wi$eUp is a program designed for Generation X & Y women. Its goals are to promote financial security through online education and to encourage responsible saving habits for future retirement.” See Web site.

America Saves

“America Saves is a nationwide campaign in which a broad coalition of nonprofit, corporate, and government groups helps individuals and families save and build wealth.”

The site offers tips on how to save on food, prescription and over the counter drugs, banking, insurance, transportation etc. See Web site.

America saves allows you to calculate your current net worth, but also your future net worth based on interest rates, rate of return etc.

Investor Protection Trust

“The Investor Protection Trust provides independent, objective information to help consumers make informed investment decisions.”  See Web site.

The site has an entire section dedicated to helping you protect your investments.  It also has a section dedicated to learning about investing, maximizing your retirement and the basics for investing in stocks. 

Financial Advisor Richard Panchookian's Suggested Sites

Securities Investor Protection Corporation   http://www.sipc.org/

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation        http://www.fdic.gov/

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority          http://www.finra.org/

U.S. Department of Treasury                          http://treasury.gov/