How can I lookup the business associated with a FEIN?
I think much of that info is hidden behind pay-walls.  Here is one site I've found. http://www.feinsearch.com/ Another that is for non-profits only is guidestar. http://www.guidestar.org/rxg/products/nonprofit-data-solutions/product-information/guidestar-premium/advanced-nonprofit-search.aspx "In most cases you cannot do ""reverse lookup"" on tax id in the US. You can verify, but for that you need to have more than just the FEIN/SSN. You should also have a name, and some times address. Non-profits, specifically, have to publish their EIN to donors, so it may be easier than others to identify those. Other businesses may not be as easy to find just by EIN." If the organization is a non-profit. You can search by EIN on Charity Navigator's website FOR FREE. https://www.charitynavigator.org/ If it is Texas company, you can try doing a taxable entity search on the Texas Comptroller website.
"One way to look at insurance is that it replaces an unpredictable expenses with a predictable fees. That is, you pay a set monthly amount (""premium"") instead of the sudden costs associated with a collision or other covered event. Insurance works as a business, which means they intend to make a substantial profit for providing that service. They put a lot of effort in to measuring probabilities, and carefully set the premiums to get make a steady profit*. The odds are in their favor. You have to ask yourself: if X happened tomorrow, how would I feel about the financial impact? Also, how much will it cost me to buy insurance to cover X? If you have a lot of savings, plenty of available credit, a bright financial future, and you take the bus to work anyway, then totaling your car may not be a big deal, money wise. Skip the insurance. If you have no savings, plenty of debt, little prospects for that improving, and you depend on your car to get to work just so you can pay what you already owe, then totaling your car would probably be a big problem for you. Stick with insurance. There is a middle ground. You can adjust your deductible. Raise it as high as you can comfortably handle. You cover the small stuff out of pocket, and save the insurance for the big ticket items. *Insurance companies also invest the money they take as premiums, until they pay out a claim. That's not relevant to this discussion, though." "Thanks for the info, things are starting to make more sense now. For some reason I've always neglected learning about investments, now that Im in a position to invest (and am still fairly young) I'm motivated to start learning.   As for help with TD Ameritrade, I was looking into Index Funds (as another commenter mentioned that I should) on their site and am a little overwhelmed with the options. First, I'm looking at Mutual Funds, going to symbol lookup and using type = ""indeces"". I'm assuming that's the same thing as an ""Index Fund"" but since the language is slightly different I'm not 100% sure. However, at that point I need some kind of search for a symbol in order to see any results (makes sense, but I dont know where to start looking for ""good"" index funds).    So my first question is: If I FIND a good mutual fund, is it correct to simply go to ""Buy Mutual Funds"" and find it from there? and if so, my second question is: How do I find a good mutual fund?   My goal is to have my money in something that will likely grow faster than a savings account. I don't mind a little volatility, I can afford to lose my investment, I'd plan on leaving my money in the fund for a several years at least.   My last question is: When investing in these types of funds (or please point me in another direction if you think Index Funds aren't the place for me to start) should I be reinvesting in the funds, or having them pay out dividends? I would assume that reinvesting is the smart choice, but I can imagine situations that might change that in order to mitigate risk...and as I've said a few times in this thread including the title, I'm a complete amateur so my assumptions aren't necessarily worth that much.   Thanks for the help, I really appreciate all the info so far." a MUST READ for consumers planning to apply for unsecured credit cards! it offers excellent tips on how you can avoid and properly deal with the drawbacks associated with these card programs. hope you can help us promote it to all your friends! You can easily build a Google Sheet spreadsheet to track what you want as Sheet has a 'googlefinance()' function to look-up the same prices and data you can enter and track in a Google Finance portfolio, except you can use it in ways you want. For example, you can track your purchase price at a fixed exchange rate, track the current market value as the product of the stock's price times the floating exchange rate, and then record your realized profit and loss using another fixed exchange rate.  You don't have to record the rates either, as googlefinance() func is able to lookup prices as of a particular date. You can access Google Sheet through a web browser or Android app. Do u mean like a company cafeteria/dining area within the building that runs its own numbers? Or a recent acquisition that still functions as its own entity? I think Google is a great example in general as it owns a lot of smaller companies. Just some ideas, hope it helps! If you would like to find data on a specific industry/market sector, a good option is IBISworld reports. You can find their site here. You can find reports on almost any major US sector. The reports include historical data as well as financial ratios. In college projects, they were very useful for getting benchmark data to compare an individual business against an industry as a whole. 5 STAR BUSINESS CREDIT BUILDER http://www.5starbusinesscreditbuilder.com/ Robert Wade info@5starbusinesscreditbuilder.com +17029034068 Las Vegas, Nevada 89133 You know how frustrating getting business credit and financing can be when you are trying everything and getting nowhere? I solve this. I help you get business credit for your company EIN that’s not linked to you personally, or your personal credit. Secure HIGH-limit vendor, store, fleet, and cash credit in your business name without a personal guarantee or personal credit check. No collateral or cash flow is required for approval. I also help you secure business loans and credit lines with great terms, even if you’ve been told “no” at your bank. Access low interest credit lines and long term loans, and get funding in 72 hours or less. I help you get approved even if you are a startup, have credit issues, or have no collateral. Contact me now for your no-cost business credit and financing consultation to learn more about the credit and financing you can qualify for now. ??? http://www.5starbusinesscreditbuilder.com/ MattMcA definitely gave you excellent advice and said a lot of what I would say to you. Most databases that are going to give you the most comprehensive information, but in a well formatted way, are going to require subscriptions or a fee. You should try to visit a library, especially one at a university, because they may likely have free access for you. At my alma mater the preferred database among students was LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations. http://www.corporateaffiliations.com/  With this company directory, you get public and private company profiles. You can use Corporate Affiliation’s MergerTrak™ and get full coverage on current and past mergers and acquisitions.  I definitely think this is a business database you should look into. You have nothing to lose seeing as they have a free trial.  Just to add, there’s always a business news feed on the homepage. As I just checked now, this one caught my interest: For Marvel Comics, A Renewed Digital Mission.