September 20 2007 Edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning

Carnival of Financial Planning — September 20, 2007 Edition

Welcome to the September 20, 2007 edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

The Carnival of Financial Planning takes a long-term view of personal financial planning for individuals and families. We focus on efficient and sustainable personal financial planning practices that can lead to lifetime financial security. This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor

Budgeting

Stirling Newberry presents The Last Wave of This Expansion posted at The Agonist, saying, “Cut spending, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. Start preparing to trade time for money, because you are about to have more time. The reverse is true for the people still in jobs, because inevitably the response of business will be to try and get people to do 1.5 jobs on 1.1 jobs worth of pay. The solution here is to simplify your life, so that you don’t pay to handle things that much longer hours will leave you to neglect.”

ted presents Random Acts of Self-Control posted at TradeLine Solutions.com, saying, “This post hypothosizes that giving with our money first each month will not only change the way we spend, but also the way we save. Looking to provide for the genuine needs of others puts our “needs” in perspective.”

ChristianPF presents The best money advice of all time posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “According to MONEY magazine, this is the best money advice from some of the wisest people who have lived.”

Estate Planning

KCLau presents Top 10 Money Lessons by Dissecting Billionaire Leona Hemsley’s Will posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “After dissecting Helmsley’s 14-page will filed in Surrogate’s Court, I am going to elaborate some personal finance money tips in this post. Some facts will amuse you while some lessons are to be learned to alert you of planning your estate more effectively. Here are the top lessons I learn from researching Leona’s will.”

Allan Wallace presents Planned Giving Donations, Bequests, and Legacy Gifts posted at - The BFU Journal - documenting the creation of a new type of college, saying, “Estate planning is more about passing on values than valuables.”

Eric Hudin presents My Estate Planning Career Blog » Blog Archive » Top 10 Reasons You Need A Trust posted at My Estate Planning Career Blog, saying, “I’m going to describe in a few simple words why you will benefit from a trust.”

Everything Finance presents Features that “DECREASE” the resale value of your Home posted at Everything Finance.

edithyeung presents The Money Series - You Are Not Going to Live Forever posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Financial Planning

Logan Flatt, CFA presents How to Get Ahead In America (1st of a 12-Part Series) posted at PowerWealth.com, saying, “I am a living example – among millions of such examples in America – that a multi-generation American can make a conscious choice to get ahead financially and then go out into America and make it happen within a reasonable timeframe…Based on my experience, I am confident that you can accelerate your potential to replicate or exceed my financial success if you are willing to adopt my “12 Refusals That Helped Me Pull Ahead in America.””

ISPF presents The A-to-Z List of Online Money Management Software posted at Grad Money Matters.

Priya Jestin presents 12 Easy Personal Fashion Rules to Increase Your Earning 12% posted at Bootstrapper.

KCLau presents Analyze Income & Expenses Flow in Your Life with Practical Advices posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Study your income and expenses trend. There are some unforeseen circumstances that need preparation. Sometimes your income may drop. Sometimes your expenses just shoot over the roof when least expected.”

Matthew Paulson presents Leasing Vehicles: Generally a Bad Idea posted at Getting Green.

Jimmy Atkinson presents 25 Most Influential Personal Finance Bloggers (By the Numbers) posted at Ask the Advisor.

Roshawn Watson presents 5 Steps to Protect Your Cash Flow Like the Rich posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Your financial ruin can occur in less than 24 hours; disturbingly, one accident can wipe you out financially. Throughout life, income fluctuations are very common and often unpredictable, making cash flow protection a critical component to any wealth-building plan. Learn these 5 methods to keep your cash flow growing into perpetuity, including the financial lesson I learned from Britney Spears. Shock”

Thomas Humes presents How To Be A Master In Money Making - Be The Leader Of The Pack posted at Wealth Building World, saying, “Money mastery does not only mean wealth generation but also total financial success including the way you invest, save and utilize your present income.”

Sam presents 8 Steps to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “How the thief steals your identity. How he misuses it. 8 steps to protect you from the nightmare of identity theft.”

David B. Bohl presents Do You Have a Strategic Lifestyle Plan? : Slow Down Fast Today! posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, “Every business has, or should have, a strategic plan. It endows the business with the fundamentals from which to exist and grow. In its simplest form, a strategic plan means realizing an organization’s ultimate goals. Shouldn’t you have a strategic plan for yourself?”

Financing a Home

nickel presents Q&A: Using IRA Funds to Purchase a Home Outside the U.S. posted at fivecentnickel.com.

Steve_Leung presents Preparing Your Finances For Buying a Home posted at 1SiliconValley.com, saying, “Nothing hurts more than finding the home of your dreams and having the money to get it, but losing it because your money wasn’t in the right place at the right time. This article illustrates where your money needs to be throughout the process.”

Eric Stanley presents Making Your Mortgage Payments On Time? Doesn?t Mean Your Safe From Foreclosure posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles, saying, “How many foreclosures may have been averted had borrowers been aware their mortgage was sold to another servicing company or their payments were not applied accurately.”

Michael Chu presents My Thoughts and Experience with Mortgage Loans posted at Make Money Online with Knighty Night’s Talk, saying, “Pretty good place to pay off your mortgage”

Colin Robertson presents Biweekly Mortgage Payments posted at Mortgage Tips and Credit Help.

John Crenshaw presents Is That The President’s Hand In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me? posted at John Crenshaw dot Net.

Financing Education

Pinyo Bhulipongsanon presents What if I became an emergency medicine doctor? posted at Moolanomy, saying, “This is a scenario that I went through a few years ago. I did some “what if” calculations to show the cost of education and the other costs that people may not considered.”

Health Care

Shaheen Lakhan presents SICKO - Reality and Rhetoric posted at GNIF Brain Blogger.

Income

Ted Reimers presents How to make Money in College posted at CampusGrotto.

FMF presents How You Can Earn Over 2.6% Cash Back by Using a Combination of the American Express Blue Cash and Chase Freedom Cash Visa Credit Cards posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A great way to make some extra income.”

Investing

teaspoon presents Your Personal Stock Market Army - The Stop Loss! posted at www.TeaspoonFinance.com - Financial wisdom, one teaspoon at a time…, saying, “Teaspoon proposes that you should never own shares of stock without having a stop loss placed on them. Quite simply, it is human nature to keep accepting a lowering stock price without selling. You begin to rationalize at every new red flag in the lowering stock price. It is also human nature to remain emotionally attached to a high flying stock that becomes a laggard, and thus turn a profit into a loss.”

Andy Hagans presents The Real Estate Marketing Toolkit - 37 Places to List a Home posted at International Listings Blog, saying, “Thanks for your consideration!”

Jimmy Atkinson presents 25 Most Influential Investing Blogs (By the Numbers) posted at Ask the Advisor.

Shadox presents Battle of the Stock Indexes posted at Money and Such, saying, “This article compares the historical appreciation of five major stock indexes, over their entire existence. Which one is the best investment?”

Blain Reinkensmeyer presents 60 Stock Tips For Investment Success posted at Stock Trading To Go.

Allen Taylor presents Personal Investing Advice » Basic Money Management For Your Trading Portfolio posted at Investing World Today, saying, “A key part of becoming a successful trader is the knowledge of money management. Without a proper understanding of Money Management is and is not, you can have the best trading systems and still blow your account out of the water.”

Larry Russell presents The Biggest Personal Finance Story of the Past 30 Years (Part 2) posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “The biggest personal finance story of the past 30 years has been the dramatic growth of the market capitalization of financial services firms within the U.S. equity markets. The reason that this is so important to your personal finances is pretty straightforward. Simply put, most individuals pay far too much for financial products and services. Their continuing over payments show up in the increasing value of financial services company stocks. People have paid far too much for years, and the industry’s excessive charges have been increasing for years.”

Managing Debt

karyn presents What is a Credit Score? posted at Finance 123, saying, “This article covers the basic about credit scores. What are they? Why are they important? How do I find my credit score?”

Roshawn Watson presents Debt By Design? posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Debt by design is a look at how current students have the deck stacked against them financially. Allow your perspective of this generation to be challenged by this insightful article. Also, get some master keys on how to avoid/limit student debt.”

Steve Faber presents - Some Reasons NOT To Get Debt Consolidation Loan posted at DebtBlog, saying, “Now, I’m not saying there aren’t advantages to getting a debt consolidation loan for high interest debt, mainly of the credit card variety. In fact, it can be a solid financial choice for some. However, it’s also a choice that could send you straight to financial hell if you aren’t careful.”

Jason Elder presents Effects of Bankruptcy posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Blog, saying, “Once you have been declared bankrupt, under the bankruptcy law all assets that belonged to you, including your home come under the control of a Trustee.”

Aaron Wakling presents Using the Damaged Credit Card Market to Rebuild Your Credit Score posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog, saying, “If you have experienced credit damage but are now on the road to restoring your credit score one of the quickest ways to assure positive current information making its way on to your credit reports is to establish new credit. Sounds kind of crazy, doesnt it? But obtaining new credit cards is a way to build a new foundation in your credit history.”

Tim Ramsey presents Reduce My Debt - 5 Secrets for Success posted at My Debt Relief Blog, saying, “Here are 5 easy-to-implement secrets for succeeding in getting out of debt and getting back your peace of mind.”

Beno Varghese presents Good Credit Card? Bad Credit Card? posted at Beno Varghese dot-com.

Retirement Planning

Dax Desai presents The Power of Self-Directed IRA’s posted at Dax Desai, saying, “Explains the power of Self-directed IRA’s and how to set them up.”

Robert D Flach presents ASK THE TAX PRO – MEDICARE PREMIUMS posted at THE WANDERING TAX PRO.

Super Saver presents Business Week - Retiring Early Strategies: The Twenties posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “If you plan to retire early, starting working on it early. Here are some excellent tips from Business Week’s Annual Retirement Issue.”

The Investor presents How one relative’s pension plight taught me to save the hard way posted at Monevator.com, saying, “How the desire to be in control of your finances can motivate your retirement strategy.”

Risk Management

Everything Finance presents Save Money on Homeowner’s Insurance posted at Everything Finance.

Savings

FIRE Getters presents Online Checking Accounts: Part 5: eOne From Salem Five Direct - Top Personal Finance Blog for Early Retirement,Investing,Banking,Brokerages et al posted at FIRE Finance.

Melissa presents The Non-Emergency “Emergency” Fund posted at A Penny Closer, saying, “We view our emergency fund as a resource only available to us in the most desperate situations. When non-emergency expenses cause us to go over budget, we use the “overage” fund to avoid going into debt or tapping our sacred emergency fund.”

Bryan C. Fleming presents Million Dollar Savings Club Turns 1 Year Old: One Man’s Journey posted at Bryan C. Fleming, saying, “Look back on my 1 year journey of saving $1 per day. The amazing part is I don’t have just $365. I’ve got well over $1,000!”

Everything Finance presents How to save money on lighting in your home! posted at Everything Finance.

Taxes

The Skilled Investor presents Summary Table of Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Tax Rules, posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “For your convenience, the table provided summarizes 2007 rules for traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. The table has a left-hand column of questions and 12 columns of information. Read the first four questions in the first four rows to determine which of the twelve columns would apply to you. Once you have done this, you should have found one “traditional IRA” column and one “Roth IRA” column that apply to you. Read the remaining questions further down the table to compare the various traditional IRA and Roth IRA rules that affect you. Be careful to distinguish between the rules about whether you can make a contribution and whether an allowable contribution is tax deductible.”

Miscellaneous

Roshawn Watson presents Why I Left my Six Figure Job posted at Watson Inc, saying, “This posts explores why I left a six-figure income. Learn how this life-altering decision is affecting me today, including my finances. Lastly, get some uncommonly insightful career advice.”

Dax Desai presents Google Spreadsheets - Part Deux posted at Dax Desai, saying, “Gives real world account of the Powerful Collaboration Features of Google Spreadsheets.”

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.