How to judge quality of web sites

Radio Transcript, 60 seconds, for use during week of May 5.

This is an Invest Wisely minute brought to you by Iowa State University Extension.

The Internet has dramatically increased the amount of financial information available to consumers. But it can be a challenge to decide which sites are trustworthy.

One way is to check out the URL, the web address.  This tells you who has created the site.  URLs that end in (dot)e-d-u are educational.  (dot)o-r-g for organizations.  (dot)g-o-v are government sites.  (dot)c-o-m are commercial sites. 

Non-commercial sites are probably your best bet for reliable information from sources that aren’t trying to sell you a product or service.

So watch for sites that end in (dot)e-d-u, (dot)o-r-g, or (dot)gov.

Invest Wisely comes from Iowa State University Extension through a grant from the Investor Protection Trust providing investor education on the web at investorprotection.org.