Financial Planning Articles this Week
Welcome to the June 1, 2012 Edition #239 of the Carnival of Financial Planning.
This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.Enjoy!
The Skilled Investor, Editor
Budgeting and Economics
Miss T. presents How Pinterest Can Save You Money posted at Prairie Eco Thrifter, saying, "If you’re anything like me, you’ve most likely found yourself sucked into the wonderful world of Pinterest at least once. With a few clicks of your mouse, it’s easy to build boards of inspiration for countless numbers of items, interests and passions. But did you know that Pinterest is also a fantastic resource for saving money?Matt presents Monthly Grocery Sale Cycle & When to Stockpile posted at Living in Financial Excellence, saying, "A savvy shopper waits until a product is on sale and then buys lots of it to get it at its lowest price! The idea is to create a stockpile that will last you 3-9 months or until the product goes back on sale and can be bought at its lowest price. Packaged foods are seasonal, just like produce. Check out the list below and find out when your favorite foods will more than likely be at their cheapest.
Amanda presents How to Splurge On A Budget posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, "How and when to splurge even on a tight budget!
PITR presents Ways to Retire Early posted at Passive Income To Retire, saying, "Find out what it takes to retire early. Do you have what it takes to quit your day job before everyone else?
Lance presents Christmas is Seven Months Away – Have You Started Saving? posted at Money Life & More, saying, "My monthly spending allowance is much less than what I plan to spend on gifts so how do I get the money to buy my gifts at the last minute in December? I’m going to save in advance!
Janet presents Expense budgeting posted at Fee Only Financial Planner , saying, " Many people do not track their living expenses and do not understand the magnitude of their consumption. Failure to monitor your consumption expenditures means that they are flying blindly regarding their future finances. "
Emily presents Joint and Separate Money Series: Odds and Ends posted at Evolving Personal Finance, saying, "I provide short summaries of three papers concerning couples' decisions to join or separate their money upon marriage or cohabitation."
Financial Planning
Wayne presents Cheap Hobbies to Save You Money posted at Young Family Finance, saying, "Find ways to save money with these cheap hobbies. You will save money and find enjoyment at the same time.MR presents Are Robert Kiyosaki's Books a Stepping Stone To Wealth? posted at Money Reasons, saying, "After re-reading the rich dad poor dad author Robert Kiyosaki's books, I now think that they serve a great purpose on the road to wealth... Believing!
Aloysa presents Why I Took Out a 401K Loan posted at My Broken Coin, saying, "Two years ago I took out a 401K loan to pay off my personal loan. Don't gasp. Don't shake your head. Don't judge, or be judged, remember? Most financial bloggers recommend to never borrow from your 401K. They are right: the risks of taking out a 401K loan outweigh the benefits by far.
Marie presents Dividing Your Estate Unequally Between Children posted at Family Money Values, saying, "Expert sources all agree that you have the right to do whatever they want to with your estate. If you want to leave unequal distributions, that is your business. However, they also agree that leaving unequal distributions can lead to more legal challenges to your estate’s distribution as well as to more anguish and conflict between your heirs. In this post, Marie explores suggestions to reduce the conflict and anguish.
Stephen presents Credit, Debit, or Prepaid? Choosing the Right Card posted at NerdWallet | Education, saying, "Managing your money starts in your wallet. This video discusses the various financial products and gives recommendations on which card(s) are best for your lifestyle.
Lazy Man presents When Should You Retire from the Military? posted at Lazy Man and Money, saying, "How long should you stay in the military? Obviously the longer you stay in the more your pension is, but the whole point of having a pension is to use it and enjoy it, right? There's no right or wrong answer for everyone here, but when I looked at the pay charts there were answers that seemed a lot more "right than others.
Daisy presents Are Bloggers Really Writers? posted at Add Vodka, saying, "I was in Kindergarten when I picked up my first novel Babysitters Little Sister holla! that a family friend had given me to save for when I was actually old enough to read it, and I never looked back.
PPlan presents Should You Pray for Good Fortune? to Win the Lottery? posted at Provident Plan, saying, "Do you find yourself wanting more money? Maybe you want to win the lottery. Find out how prayer comes into play and whether it can help you win the lottery.
Frank presents Passively Managed Funds posted at Individual Investor Strategies, saying, "Short-term mutual fund trading is a zero sum game played against other very well informed mutual fund traders and other securities market traders. On average, higher mutual fund turnover is far more likely to result in lower investment fund performance — instead of superior risk-adjusted performance."
Eddie presents 5 Full Proof Ways To Beat Rising Gas Prices posted at Finance Fox, saying, "Prices of gas at the pump are just going up, and its our due diligence to keep fighting back by saving money every time we fill our car.
KT presents How to Make Money While Traveling Around the World posted at Personal Finance Journey, saying, "I've read hundreds of stories about people who have made money while seeing all that the world has to offer while still making enough money to pay their bills.
Jeremy presents Putting Your Health Before Your Finances posted at Modest Money, saying, "One area that I was particularly naive was how I viewed health. I thought that while I was young with no obvious problems that I just didn’t need to worry about it. As a result I was irresponsible and abused my body. This may not seem like a financial mistake, but I’m really learning it all comes full circle.
Martin presents Why You Shouldn’t Invest a Dollar Into Your Business posted at Studenomics, saying, "When to NOT invest money into a business.
Suba presents You Better Not Die Without These Three Documents! posted at Broke Professionals, saying, "You Better Not Die Without These Three Documents! is a post from: Broke Professionals if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Feed. Death is something that no one wants to think about, but is inevitable. Like the saying goes, no one comes out of this life alive.
Dave presents Active Alpha Returns posted at Wall Street Nerds , saying, " The Old Testament of indexing is Burton Malkiel’s classic A Random Walk Down Wall Street, first published in 1973 by W.W. Norton and now in its ninth edition. For typical individual investors, without special access to information, it offers what is likely the best financial advice they will ever get: It is hard to consistently beat the market, especially after fees. A passive strategy will do better in the long run. "
ETZ25 presents Is BP a Dividend Stock For Entertainment Money? posted at Entertainment Timez, saying, "Would BP make a good stock because of it's dividend as a cashflow for entertainment timez?
Daniel presents IKEA's As-Is Department: How We Saved 40 Percent on a China Cabinet posted at Sweating the Big Stuff, saying, "This article is about how we saved 40 percent on a China Cabinent by buying it thru IKEA's AS-IS Department! Read about our great deal!
PFP presents Investment Tax Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner , saying, " As you move your cash, bond, and stock financial assets into lower cost, more broadly diversified investment mutual funds and/or ETFs, you should also consider how to “locate” your investment asset allocation with respect to more optimal taxation."
SFB presents The Rise of Electronic Money posted at Simple Finance Blog, saying, "What is electronic money or e-money? What are its advantages and disadvantages.
Maria presents About the importance of spotting opportunities and acting on them posted at The Money Principle, saying, "Looking at my plan and what I have really achieved it struck me that my main achievements didn't have much to do with my plan and a lot to do with serendipity. Also, although my talents, skills and knowledge were absolutely necessary for some of these to come off, they are by far not sufficient. These achievements needed opportunities, my ability to recognise these and the courage to ride with them.
Income
Corey presents How to Turn Artistic Creativity Into Supplemental Income posted at Steadfast Finances, saying, "Find out how you can turn your creativity into a side income and perhaps even replace your day job income.MMD presents Can You Afford to Work? posted at MyMoneyDesign, saying, "Does your daycare cost more than you make? Would it make sense for you to simply quit your job and stay at home with the kids? There are many reasons on both side of the argument. Let’s explore a few of them.
Stefan presents Investors cash flow posted at Investing: Strategy, Risk, Tools, and more..., saying, "Without a positive cash flow, a individual cannot make the ends meet. And just like companies, individuals can have multiple flows of cash. Employees receive money from their employers. Company owners receive money from their property. And investors receive money from their investments
Insurance and Risk
Jeff Rose presents Can You Get Approved for High Risk Life Insurance? posted at Life Insurance By Jeff, saying, "Perhaps a more common reason for a high risk life insurance policy is some type of health problem that places you in a high risk group.Jocelin presents How to Be Prepared for an Insurance Claim posted at One Money Design, saying, "Follow these tips to help you be prepared in case you need to file a claim with your home or auto insurance.
Larry presents Identity theft protection posted at Objective Financial Planner, saying, "As a threat to your financial security, you should take the potential for identity theft very seriously. Identity theft sometimes entails a loss of your money, but whether or not you lose money, it can take a very large amount of your time to rectify."
Matt Black presents How to Save Up To $600 a Year on Auto Insurance posted at First Car Insurance Quotes, saying, "Owning a car is something that we often take for granted. The convenience of driving to and from work, collecting kids from school and a trip to the mall is a part of everyday life and we tend to forget about car insurance. That is until the time comes for it to be renewed."
Investing
Mike presents May Net Worth Update +0.03% posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, "A look at where I stand financially.Ryan presents Investing Lessons from the FaceBook IPO posted at Cash Money Life, saying, "The FaceBook IPO was full of important investing lessons, especially for independent investors.
TSI presents Mutual funds and Morningstar Ratings posted at The Skilled Investor , saying, " Individual investors and their advisors appear to make investment decisions that are heavily influenced by the Morningstar Rating system. Because the stars are very widely used and often misunderstood, these are articles to help investors make more rational decisions about the stars."
J.P. presents The Complete Shareholder Proxy Vote Guide posted at Novel Investor, saying, "As a shareholder, understanding your rights, the proxy voting process and knowing the SEC proxy rules is the best way to stay involved. How you vote could have a direct impact on the company and your money going forward.
DJL presents Distressed Global Financial Markets posted at Nerds on Wall Street , saying, " Stock markets are almost perfectly transparent, with full information available to all, and the best electronic clearing and settlement in history. These technologies were omitted in building the skyscraper of cards (“house of cards” seems too mild) out of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), credit default swaps (CDSs), synthetic collateralized debt obligations (SCDOs), and the rest."
SB presents How to Control Stock Trading Impulses posted at One Cent at a Time, saying, "People with investible money often gets attracted to stocks after reading an article or two. It is important to not buy out of impulse. Take time, do research and set some guidelines to control your impulses
Roger the Amateur Financier presents How to Create Buckets and Buckets of Money posted at The Amateur Financier, saying, "A short guide to the 'bucket' method of investing, putting your retirement money into different investments that can be drawn upon, with the riskier investments being used to refill the money in the safer investments.
Glen Craig presents Good High Yield Dividend Stocks Are Better Alternatives to Bonds Today posted at Free From Broke , saying, "In today's economy bonds may not be a great investment. See why a good high yield dividend stock may be a better investing alternative.
William presents Superior Mutual Fund Performance posted at No Load Funds , saying, " Screen out inferior mutual fund performance — but only after using other ETF and mutual fund selection criteria. Superior or even average mutual fund performance in the past simply does not predict similar fund performance in the future."
Dividend Growth Investor presents How to generate $1000/month in dividends posted at Dividend Growth Investor, saying, "The goal of every dividend growth investor is to create a portfolio which throws off a sufficient stream of income that pays their expenses. As soon as the amount of dividends exceeds the monthly expenses, the investor has reached financial independence.Now that we have the end goal in mind, we have to determine when exactly we need to be able to achieve the target monthly dividend income.
Managing Debt
Sustainable PF presents HELOC For Consumption vs Investment posted at Sustainable Personal Finance, saying, "The Smith Manoeuvre might not be for everyone, but basic math shows that it isnt insane. In fact, for many people, it makes a lot of sense.Jester presents Watch out for These Scams When Opening up a High Risk Merchant Account posted at The Ultimate Juggle, saying, "Merchant account scams have become more common as more businesses have become able to accept their customers' credit cards. High risk merchant accounts can be especially vulnerable to these types of scams.
Ashley presents We Paid off $37,000 in 58 weeks! posted at Money Talks Coaching, saying, "My friends Vicki and Alan became debt free this week!! I asked if they would do a little interview for this site and they graciously agreed.
John presents PMI: The Shadow Debt posted at Married with Debt, saying, "PMI is annoying, but is it a debt? Private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is a cost of ownership, but it behaves like a shadow debt.
Beating Broke presents I'm Fine, Thanks posted at Beating Broke, saying, "I’m Fine, Thanks, the documentary that Adam Baker has been traveling the country recording over the last several months is almost complete.
Real Estate
Sandy presents I Bought A Rental Home With My 401K posted at Yes, I am Cheap, saying, "Less than two weeks ago that I told you that I had been thinking about buying a second investment property, and now here I am telling you that I’ve gone ahead and done so. Do you still think that I made a bad decision? Would you have done the same?Retirement
Jeff Rose presents Should You Rollover Your Pension into an IRA? posted at Good Financial Cents, saying, "e you considering rolling over your pension over to an IRA? Before you do, make sure you’ve explored all your options.Theresa Torres presents Paying Off Student Debt vs. Saving for Retirement posted at Retirement Calculator, saying, "Here are several things to consider before deciding to focus on paying off student debt first or saving for retirement. You can also choose the option to balance both goals. In the end, it's all about finding out what would work best for you."
Frank Knowles presents S and P 500 Funds posted at Large Cap Funds, saying, "The no load index fund strategy of the Schwab S & P 500 Index Fund tracks the S and P 500 stock index. This no load index fund was listed as one of the top 25 lowest cost index mutual funds in a research study."
Mike presents Would You Retire From a Job You Love? posted at Do Not Wait, saying, "Would you retire from a dream job?
Franklin presents Traditional IRA Versus Roth IRA posted at Better Retirement Planning , saying, " Many taxpayers puzzle over whether to contribute to traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged retirement plans. For most people, contributions to traditional tax-advantaged plans will probably provide a higher net present value over their lifetimes."
Savings
Mike presents Summer Vacation: Boost Your Travel Rewards posted at Rewards Cards USA, saying, "School’s almost out, and summer vacation season is right around the corner. If you are looking to boost the frugality of your summer vacation, and earn more rewards at the same time, look no further than your travel rewards card.Financial Freedom presents Personal Savings Rates posted at My Financial Freedom Plan , saying, " Understand how your current savings rate and retirement withdrawal rate would affect all of your lifetime personal financial planning goals "
Laura presents Wells Fargo Puts Free Checking on the Chopping Block…Again posted at NerdWallet, saying, " Check out NerdWallet’s recommendations for local credit unions in the states affected by the Wells Fargo fee hike. These free accounts have no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements, and many of them earn competitive interest too.
Taxes
Dr. Dean presents Innovative Ideas posted at Dr. Dean's TheMillionaireNurse.com Blog, saying, "Are you looking for new ideas? Do you want to learn how to look for ideas in a new way? This is an innovative way to expand your search for creativity."Paul Tabbet presents Retirement Planning Worksheet Software posted at Tax Planning Software, saying, "Retirement planning software should automate the development of lifetime projections that incorporate tax laws and rules associated with tax-advantaged retirement investment incentive programs such as traditional IRA, Roth, 401k, 403b, SEP, Keogh, and other retirement plans."
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Financial Planning using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.
Side note from blog author/editor: At the time of the publication of this post, this is not exactly an active blog anymore. I have moved and now focus more of my time and efforts over at my new blog - DumbPassiveIncome. I did, however, agree to host this blog carnival a while ago.. so here it is. I hope you enjoyed all of these awesome links. -Matt
