Finance & Money Infographics

Black gold – Texas tea. Whatever you call it, crude oil is a sought-after resource that drives the world economy. In this infographic from Fuel Freedom, discover how oil prices affect the U.S. economy and who’s hurting the most.

There is currently a lot of conflicting data emerging about the 2012 real estate market. ActiveRain surveyed 1,835 real estate agents and real estate brokers in the US and Canada to understand if the real estate market and economy are poised for recovery in 2012, both nationwide and in local markets. Their findings are compiled in the following infographic.

The start of a new year is the quintessential time to roll out a fresh financial plan. One of the more overlooked necessities of financial planning is the rainy day fund. Experts recommend you have at least six months of easily-accessible savings set aside in the case of an emergency. In this infographic, learn how Americans are doing in this department, as well as how to go about setting money aside for this important fund.

This infographic from Trustable Gold visualizes above-ground stock of gold, sources of gold broken down to continents and countries and uses of gold. Also learn about the different forms of gold investments – ranging from physical gold in the form of bullion gold to securities not backed by gold.

In the 1950s pawnbrokers were America’s number one source of credit. Since then, the prestige of the neighborhood pawnbroker has plummeted. However, this year with the reality television series “Pawn Stars” as well as Groupon-backed Pawngo.com, pawn shops are back and bigger than ever. This infographic looks at pawn shops in America.

Google’s revenue for the year 2011 was $37.9 billion. With most of their products being offered for free, have you ever wondered where all of that money comes from? According to this new infographic from WordStream, 96% of it came from advertising. The infographic also breaks down the top 10 industries that spent the most on Google ads in 2011.

Do you use your credit cards like a Smart Spender or an Over Spender? Credit card debt can easily get out of control unless you’re smart about how you make purchases with your credit cards. This infographic provides tips on how to avoid debt and how to set up a budget plan for 2012.

Bill Gates has accumulated a tremendous amount of wealth in his lifetime. He has also given alot of it away, for the good. His philanthropic work has helped to eradicate polio internationally as well as improve the U.S. education system, saving 5 million lives and counting. This infographic proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bill Gates is a better super hero than Batman.

Fisher Investments presents a visual depiction of the current state of the United States debt including who owns it, and answers the questions in many investors minds – can we afford it and is there too much of it?