Financial Resources

Digital Maine Library: Finance and Investments Access to the Wall Street Journal and the Value Line financial newsletter, which monitors information important to analysts and investors on hundreds of stocks over dozens of industries.

Maine Department of Education: Financial Literacy The State of Maine provides many local and web-based resources for all ages to improve understanding of economic and financial matters.

Maine Department of Health and Human Services: Financial Assistance Information about Maine’s Food Supplement Program (SNAP), the Child Care Subsidy Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and General and Emergency Assistance for Maine Residents. 

National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) The National Endowment for Financial Education champions effective financial education. We are the independent, centralizing voice providing leadership, research and collaboration to advance financial well-being.

Better Business Bureau (BBB)  For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. Millions of people turn to BBB each year to view BBB Business Profiles and Charity Reports all available for free. See also the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT and Give.org

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them.

Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation The mission of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation is to protect the citizens of Maine through the regulation of State-chartered financial institutions, the insurance industry, grantors of consumer credit, the securities industry, and numerous professions and occupations providing services to the public. See a complete list of state agencies

USA.gov: Consumer Issues Learn how to be a safe consumer, what to do when a purchase or service goes wrong, and more. Helpful tips on specific consumer issues, like buying a car or home, filing a complaint, or preventing identity theft. The Consumer Action Website is maintained and updated by the Federal Citizen Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration.

Fueleconomy.gov  FuelEconomy.gov is a federal government website that helps consumers make informed fuel economy choices when purchasing a vehicle and helps them achieve the best fuel economy possible from the cars they own. FuelEconomy.gov is maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, with data provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The site helps fulfill DOE and EPA’s responsibility under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to provide accurate fuel economy information to consumers.

Kelley Blue Book: Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book has been one of the best-known names in the auto industry.  KBB.com extends the tradition, with trusted values and a reputation for innovation, including resources to help consumers research, price and shop for the right car.

NADA guides by J.D. Power  J.D. Power is a leader in providing vehicle data and information to both the consumer and commercial markets, and counts among its customers the nation’s leading banks, credit unions, fleet and lease organizations, auto dealers, insurance companies, and government agencies. The company delivers its accurate and reliable values and insights through a variety of products offered through online and mobile applications, and printed guidebooks.

Safercar.gov: Powered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Safercar.gov sets the standard for safety, helping consumers find safer cars for more than 30 years.  5-Star Safety Ratings measure the crashworthiness and rollover safety of vehicles, with Five stars is the highest rating, one is the lowest.

Charity Navigator: Your Guide to Intelligent Giving Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has become the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. In its quest to help donors, Charity Navigator professional analysts have examined tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents and used this knowledge to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 9,000 of America’s best-known and lesser known charities.

GuideStar by Candid For a combined 88 years, Foundation Center and GuideStar, now Candid, each helped change the world by giving people the information they needed to do good. Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. Candid finds out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, Candid connects nonprofits, foundations, and individuals to the resources they need to do good.