Thanks to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, mortgage lenders are prohibited from using factors such as age, race, color, sex, nation of origin, marital status or receipt of public assistance as cause for denial of a borrower's loan application. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about your age before applying for a mortgage.

With all of the technology involving banking and financial accounts, everyone is beginning to wonder, "Are banks becoming obsolete?" While there are many arguments on both sides, many of the current financial trends (and technology trends) indicate that we could be closer then we think to this scenario. What will it take for us to cross the line or reach the point when we no longer need banks at all?

While the economy has pretty much recovered from the economic scare of 2008, it doesn’t appear as if Americans have yet. In recent years, over 700,000 new jobs have entered the workforce, but have Americans begun spending that hard-earned money they are making? No, not yet, and it’s hard to tell when they will start.

Once you graduate from college, you are officially in charge of your own finances. If you are in your 20s and just starting out on your own, it can be scary to have to balance a checkbook or make sure that your student loan and rent payments are submitted on time. If you have graduated from college after taking time off to start a family or to establish yourself in your chosen field, your student loan debt could be a shock to your bank account. Regardless of where you are in your life now, how can you successfully manage your finances after graduation?

It is an interesting concept to consider. Who spends more money? Women or men? There are many gender stereotypes at play here that may influence your initial idea of which sex spends more money overall. Women are seen as "addicted to shopping." Many people assume that women love to spend a Sunday afternoon at the mall, picking out a new outfit or purse, while men couldn't think of anything they would despise more. Men, on the other hand, are seen as egotistical, needing to flaunt their wealth by purchasing outrageously expensive items, from fancy cars to gleaming watches.