Looking for Financial Advice? Check out this FREE eBook!

There are tons of resources out there on how to become a savvier investor.  The folks at the Morningstar Investment Research Center are helping by providing their latest publication for free as an eBook.

Investing For the Long Run: Strategies and Solutions to Help You Shape Up Your Personal Finances is a tremendously useful guide.  This PDF document provides chapters on preparing emergency funds, getting started in investing, maintaining investments, home ownership, preparing for retirement, and more.

Don't forget that the library offers terrific personal finance materials, too!  The Value Line Investment Survey, S&P Stock Reports, and Kiplinger's Retirement Newsletter are just a few of the great resources available at our business table.  You can also check out such great titles as The Handy Personal Finance Answer Book, Personal Finance for Dummies, and The Investment Answer.

Access Statistical Data Online

Looking for comprehensive statistics on everything from the latest U.S. Census to Economic Indicators to Internet Use and everything in between?  Fear not!  Much of this data is available online for free!  Check out this website entitled Statistics Resources and Big Data on the Internet 2013.

Here are just a few of the sites you may find useful:

2012 Statistical Abstract- This amazing resource includes statistics on a little bit of everything.  Income, law enforcement, voter turnout, and federal government finances are just a few of the categories covered.

Bureau of Labor Statistics- This site includes statistics on unemployment, pay and benefits, inflation, productivity, and more.

City-Data.com-  Simply enter a city, county, or zip code and you will be taken to a detailed portrait of that area.  The homepage also includes a map of the United States where you can quickly compare states by average income, commute time to work, average family size, population density, and more.

Name Statistics- This fun resource shows the most common first and last name.  You can search for a name to see its popularity.

National Center for Health Statistics- Provided by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, this database includes statistics as well as health information on a number of diseases.

United States Census Bureau- The Census Bureau database includes tons of information on people, business, and the economy.