Web Resources Related to Consumer & Family Economics

When using the internet to search for information, whether it be for Consumer Related Issues, research or for general knowledge, it is necessary to to be judgmental and to be aware of "junk" sites. Learn to look for unbiased sites!

The Consumer session on use of the Internet focused on three basic areas- University of Illinois Extension sites, non-extension sites, and commercial sites. Those sites with a brief explanation are included here followed by a listing of web sites related to financial planning.

University of Illinois Extension Home- http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/welcome.html

Almost all land grant universities like the U of I have a great deal of useful information on their sites. These are always a good place for unbiased information, especially since they are not selling anything! It is important to note that the U of I does not collect any information from their web sites.

Greene Co. Extension Office- http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/~ve/Greene.html

Featured Nutrition, Family & Consumer Sites- http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/...

Answers to the most common questions on Food and Nutrition, Home and Consumer, Horticulture are found here. There is good information for every day problems. http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~robsond/solutions/solutions.html

Rural information, especially for farms and farm families in crisis- http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/ruralroute/index.html

Included in this Rural Route section are fact sheets to help farm families. For instance, a section on getting through tough times is located here- http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/ruralroute/toughtimes.html

News you can use on a variety of topics such as tax breaks for higher education, a working woman's guide to financial security, winter storm resource center, thrifty living, and more. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/home/index.html

This interactive site will help to analyze risk management. Included are work sheets for family finances, a personal risk management plan, and information about insurance. (This program uses cookies, but they are erased when you are done). http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/risk/index.html

State of Illinois- Department of Insurance- http://www.state.il.us/INS/default.htm
Illinois Consumer Information- http://www.state.il.us/ins/consumerinfo.htm
Auto Insurance premium comparison guide that is updated on regular basis. Information on Illinois companies that sell auto insurance- http://www.state.il.us/ins/auto.htm

Illinois Department of Insurance
Senior Health Insurance Plan (SHIP)- listing of Volunteers in Your Area who will help seniors with their insurance plan. Look up your community and find local assistance. http://www.state.il.us/ins/shipvols.htm

Medicare Supplement Insurance Premium Comparison http://www.state.il.us/ins/medsup.htm

Internal Revenue Service- home site http://www.irs.ustreas.gov http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/forms_pubs/index.html site with IRS forms and publications.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/ind_info/index.html useful tax information.

http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/ind_info/ruf.html Lots of information to help consumers including a worksheet to help you determine whether you need to file!

Security and Privacy Policy for the IRS is posted on their site- http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/news/efoia/priv-pol.html

Credit Card Web site is financed by credit card companies. Information on payment cards, credit cards, debit cards and a list of other cards used today. Included are lists of all cards ranked by low rates, no fee, secured, reward, credit card and so on. The site even includes a game! http://www.ramresearch.com/

Fidelity is a large investment site selling stocks bonds, mutual funds, etc. All kinds of information- http://www.fidelity.com

Take some time to look at Fidelity's Retirement Calculator- this is one of better commercial sites and will take about 20 minutes to complete. With accurate answers to the questions, you will get a pretty good idea of what you'll need.

http://personal300.fidelity.com/retirement/buildassets/content/retinvest/ - choose Retirement Planning Calculator in left hand column.

For a good example of an online company, look at Lands End. When thinking about buying online, always check the companies security policy online!! For instance, Land's End tells a lot about their security policy. They stand behind their product and their security. Always read the online security policy! If you want to know about a good online security- see this Land's End site and select their online policy section! http://www.landsend.com/cd/frontdoor/

When you find something that you may want to purchase online, stop and check out the Better Business Bureau Online for a complete listing of good, reliable online businesses-
http://www.bbbonline.com/

Perform a search for BBB online participants here- http://www.bbbonline.com/database/search/psearch.htm

Truste is another site to use to check out the reliability and legitimacy of online businesses- http://www.truste.org/