Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs
Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #111 - October 16, 2009
Welcome to the October 16, 2009 Edition #111 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, Editor
Budgeting
Susan Savering presents Personal Budgeting posted at Family Financial Planners, saying, “When you don’t understand how much you spend and how much you save and invest, you do not have a financial plan. This dramatically increases your family’s long-term financial risk.”
The Smarter Wallet presents Internet Banking: Compare Online Banks For Your Savings Needs posted at The Smarter Wallet
Economics
Zach Scheidt presents Mortgage Crisis, Part Deux posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Commercial Mortgages continue to clog bank balance sheets and losses do not appear to have been recognized. Watch for weakness in regional banks with heavy exposure to commercial real estate loans.”
Roshawn Watson presents The Rich Get Poorer posted at Watson Inc, saying, “The implications of this recent recession have been far-reaching enough to put a big dent in American and world wealth. Both the magnitude of wealth and the number of millionaires decreased profoundly in 2008.”
Estate Planning
Ray @ Financial Highway presents Probate- Why and How to Avoid Probate Fees posted at Financial Highway, saying, “Probate fees can take up a large chunk of your estate, find out how to legally avoid probate fees.”
The Financial Blogger presents Estate Planning: 5 Reasons Why You Should Have A Professional Among Your Liquidators posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “managing an estate is more complicated than simply writing a few checks! Fortunately, for those who can afford it, you can name a professional among your liquidators.”
Financial Planning
The Amateur Financier presents Is Your Child An Investment? posted at The Amateur Financier, saying, “A look at the costs and benefits of raising a child, coached in investment terms.”
Patrick @ Military Money presents How Much Life Insurance Do Military Members Need? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Military members may have different life insurance needs than civilians. Here is information regarding how much life insurance military members should buy, and some resources for finding the best life insurance deals.”
Susan Savering presents Personal Finance Strategy posted at Family Financial Planner, saying, “When pursuing optimal financial planning and investing strategies and controlling your costs and capital gains taxes, you also need to establish a time-efficient system to monitor, adjust, and adhere to your financial plan.”
Manshu presents Prepaid debit cards to control spending posted at OneMint, saying, “Few reasons why people prefer to use a prepaid debit card.”
MoneyNing presents Lifestyle Inflation Is About More Than You posted at Money Ning, saying, “Lifestyle inflation is real and scary. Be careful or it is more than you who will pay the price.”
Dividend Tree presents Building Core Competency for Long Term Survival posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “whether it is running a business or individuals’ investment portfolio, it is important to build a core competency for long term sustainability. In my case, I focus on good quality companies that consistently pay or have potential to pay growing dividends over time.”
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Financing a Home
Alex Fotopoulos presents When to Refinance a Mortgage? posted at My Trader’s Journal, saying, “Some key points to consider when refinancing your home.”
Financing Education
Mike Piper presents College Savings: Roth IRA, 529 Plan, or Coverdell? posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “A comparison of three of the most popular ways to save for college.”
Praveen presents Will Education Follow the Housing Bust? posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Tips for students to avoid excessive loans and debt”
Health Care
KCLau presents Withdraw EPF Fund to Pay Insurance Premium? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Vincent Lee from Penang generously shares an idea to use your EPF”
Susan Tiner presents Smart Shopping for Health Care with HSA Funds posted at Brain Dead Simple! Financial Organizing, saying, “Saving money on health care with high-deductible, HSA-compatible health insurance, including analysis of a real-life example: colorectal cancer screening.”
Income
FMF presents Results, Results, Results posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “The one thing you must do to drive your career and thus your income.”
Dividend Tree presents Three Companies with Sustainable Dividends posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “Even in soft economic environment, there are companies out there that are continuing to increase dividends for their shareholders. While dividend increase is good, it is more critical to make sure we understand that companies can sustain their dividends.”
FMF presents Why Annuities Are a Bad Idea posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A case against annuities.”
Investing
FMF presents The Whip Cracks Both Ways posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Volatility in the stock market and how to deal with it.”
ABC presents Stock Purchase – Bid/Ask Prices posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Bid and Ask prices - Information if you are buying or selling a stock.”
Dan at Everydayfinance presents Swine Flu Stocks - Where are they Now? posted at Everyday Finance, saying, “With all the hype surrounding the “swine flu stocks” over the past few months, it’s worthwhile reviewing how they’ve actually performed recently.”
Darwin presents Gold Hype? You’re Being Taken for a Ride posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “The Gold Rush is On! Well, don’t fall for the hype - this article puts the gold hype into perspective and provides alternatives to capitalize on the underlying cause: a weak US Dollar”
Jules Wells presents Best Investment Strategy posted at Best Financial Planning Software, saying, “Personal investing seems incredibly complex, but the best investment strategy also tends to be a more simple investment strategy.”
Praveen presents India Fund (IFN) Trade Example posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “An example of how having a trading system gives you an edge, and let’s you take advantage of market moves outside of your control.”
Tomas Escent presents Quant Investment Management posted at Nerds on Wall Street, saying, “Think of this book as sort of a Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wired Markets. There are no robots parking cars for six million years, but there are robots trading millions of shares in six milliseconds, so maybe that’s close enough.”
The Dough Roller presents List of No Penalty CD (Certificates of Deposit) Rates posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “I can still remember earning double-digit returns on CDs in the early 1980s. I had saved a little money and was locking it away in 6-month CDs earning 12% or more.”
The Financial Blogger presents ETFs VS Index Mutual Funds: The Ultimate Battle! posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “Let’s look at why you probably think ETFs are the best investment in the world: The very first argument is the one that doesn’t lie: yield graph over the past 5 years comparing the TSX 60, the XIU (TSX 60 ETF) and the Altamira Canadian Index Fund (NBC814)”
Retirement Savior presents Stocks Versus Bonds - Defining your Long Run posted at Retirement Savior, saying, “During your career you are not guaranteed investment returns. You need to maximize your savings and use a balanced portfolio to ensure a secure retirement.”
The Skilled Investor presents Personal Investment Strategy posted at Personal Investment Manager, saying, “Investors more easily understand investment costs that are directly measurable, such as fees deducted on investment statements. However, many investors ignore or are unaware of the opportunity costs of their sub-optimal investment behaviors. Opportunity costs are usually much more difficult to measure directly, but these investment costs can be even higher than more visible investment fees.”
The Smarter Wallet presents Lending Club Review: Lending Money For Profit posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Alternative investing using a lending platform.”
Frank Vertin presents Best Index Fund posted at Best Index Fund, saying, “Buying an S&P 500 index fund through an investment counselor can substantially increase your initial purchasing costs and and drive up your annual management expense fees. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individual investors buy mutual funds and ETFs through brokers and investment advisers. Rarely do financial advisors recommend that you buy index funds with low fees. This is because low cost, no load mutual funds do not pay them as well as loaded, high fee mutual funds.”
Dividends4Life presents 3 Big Names, 3 Big Dividend Increases posted at Dividends Value, saying, “Much has been written in the media about the “record numbers” of companies cutting or failing to raise their dividends. Even with a large number of companies not increasing their dividends this year, there is still an abundance of companies that have.”
20smoney presents The Scientific Method To Investing In Biotech posted at 20s Money, saying, “A scientific approach to investing in the exciting sector of biotech.”
Fred Elkins presents Bond Fund Primer: Part One ? Evaluating a Bond Fund posted at Finance Banter, saying, “Part one of a multi part piece on fixed income investing”
Steve Alexander presents 5 Problems with a Long-term Stock Holding Period - MagicDiligence posted at MagicDiligence - Optimizing Joel Greenblatts Value Stock Strategy, saying, “Most investors have been taught to follow a “buy and hold” investing strategy, but there are downsides to this advice as well. 5 things to consider before committing to a long-term (5 years or more) investment.”
Tushar Mathur presents Can’t Control the Markets? Try controlling the Costs posted at Everything Finance, saying, “As 2008 proved, the financial markets are prone to unpredictable periods of turbulence. That can make investing feel a bit like a roller-coaster ride. The disappointing results that many mutual funds posted in 2008 and at the outset of 2009 may have left you feeling concerned over your financial future. You’re not alone.”
Mike Piper presents The Best (Lowest-Cost) Index Funds posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “A comparison of the most popular index fund providers–analyzing cost, selection of funds, and minimum investments.”
Rugbygirl Crosby presents The Definitive Guide To Natural Gas ETFs: Natural Gas ETF Investing 101 posted at ETFdb.
Larry Russell presents Top NoLoad Mutual Funds posted at Best No Load Mutual Funds, saying, “Taken as a whole, the vast body of investment research studies show that there really are better approaches to buying and owning mutual funds and ETFs. You do not need to frantically chase fund performance. Performance chasing simply does not work.”
ABC presents More Exciting Facts About Stock Indexes posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Some interesting facts about stock indexes.”
Zach Scheidt presents E-House China to Launch New IPO posted at ZachStocks, saying, “E-House (China) is spinning off China Real Estate Information Corp (CRIC). The IPO is in partnership with Sina Corp (SINA) and should take advantage of a hot China real estate market.”
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents $50 TradeKing Promo Code posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “TradeKing is offering a $50 bonus for opening a new account during the month of October. This offer only comes along once a year, so take advantage now!”
Managing Debt
CreditCardAssist presents Is It the End of the Credit Card Era? posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “The downward trend of credit card use resulting from high unemployment and plummeting home values.”
David presents Frequent Flyer Miles Credit Cards posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “If you are searching for a travel rewards card that earns you airline miles, hotel stays, or other travel rewards, there are a few things you should know that might help you narrow your search.”
Raj Patel presents Balance transfer option off of the table? posted at DebtGoal, saying, “What to do if in debt and can no longer count on a balance transfers as part of your personal financial strategy.”
Mike @ GLBL presents CreditCardsFinder.ca » Blog Archive » Bad Credit Credit Card – What is a Secured Canadian Credit Card? posted at CreditCardsFinder, saying, “The first step once you have solved your credit problem is to start rebuilding your credit history. The fastest way to rebuild from a bad credit is to apply for a credit card. The problem is that most credit card company will decline your application based on your bad credit experience. Therefore, you are in the middle of a catch 22. A secured Credit Card can help rebuilding your credit history.”
Miscellaneous
nissim ziv presents Sales Interview Questions and Answers, Sales Interview Tips posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Applying for sales positions can be challenging and complicated – preparation is key. Many organizations look for certain aspects beyond your resume when filling sales positions.”
Roshawn Watson presents Should You Buy A House Outright? posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Suppose you find yourself in the somewhat unique predicament of having the resources to purchase your house outright without a mortgage. Is it then financially-wise to make the purchase?”
Tyler Tervooren presents Quit Worrying About 80% of Your Life posted at Frugally Green, saying, “When it comes to managing my goals, I am a classic over analyzer. I want complete control over every detail, right down to the finest minutia. But, what I didn’t realize until just recently is that I was wasting all kinds of time and energy worrying about things that didn’t make much of a difference whether they went right or wrong.”
No Load Bond Funds presents Bond Index Funds posted at Bond Index Fund, saying, “Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. The best bond fund buying strategy is to pick only very low-cost no load bond funds.”
Retirement Planning
Madison presents Solo 401k Retirement Plan for the Self-Employed posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, “Basics of using a solo 401k for self employed.”
Super Saver presents Early Retirement Forum posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “This forum was a good opportunity read about other people in early retirement, since there are only a few bloggers who have retired early. In addition, I learned about how other people were thinking about achieving their own early retirement.”
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Should You Rollover a 401k into an IRA? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “When you leave your company you have to decide what to do with your 401k. One option is to roll it over into an IRA.”
Travis presents A Different Kind of Debit posted at Christian Money Mountain, saying, “401(k) debit cards, how do they work?”
Jeff Rose presents What Are Your Options for a 401k Rollover to IRA? posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “When you leave your job, either voluntary or not, you have to make an important decision regarding your 401(k).”
Top Stock Index Mutual Funds presents Top Stock Index Mutual Funds posted at Top 10 Index Fund, saying, “To build your retirement portfolio, buy some of these top 10 very low cost no load S&P 500 index mutual funds directly. You do not have to pay the heavy added expenses of buying through a stock broker, financial adviser, investment adviser, or investment counselor.”
Risk Management and Insurance
Jeff Rose presents Term Life Insurance Vs. Cash Value Life Insurance: What Is the Difference? posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “Depending on what your needs are will decide if term life insurance vs. cash value is better in your situation.”
Patrick @ Military Money presents COBRA Benefits 2009 Economic Stimulus Recovery Act posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “The 2009 Economic Stimulus Plan includes additional COBRA and unemployment benefits.”
Tom Drake presents Insurance You Can Do Without – Auto Glass Insurance | The Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Auto glass insurance is a policy that covers the repair or replacement of your auto glass, but may not be worth the cost.”
Jeff Rose presents Should You Buy (ROP) Return on Premium Term Life Insurance? posted at Jeff Rose.
Savings
MoneyNing presents Why Do High Yield Savings Account Rates Change posted at Money Ning, saying, “Here’s a way to figure out which online bank is best for your money going forward.”
Billeater presents How to Get More Out of Your Bank Instead of Them Taking More From You posted at Billeater.
Four Pillars presents $8,000 Credit For First-Time Homebuyers Extended 6 Months – Not Increased To $15k posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Home buyers credit extended 6 months.”
KCLau presents How much money you spend in a lifetime? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “How much do u spend in a lifetime”
Four Pillars presents Back To School Cell Phone Deals posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Comparison of the best cell phone deals for students heading back to school.”
Taxes
Peak Personal Finance presents Finding the Right Tax Balance posted at Peak Personal Finance.
Super Saver presents End of Year Tax Planning - Deductions posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “For me, October is a good time to review my 2009 financial status for tax return filing purposes. It gives me a few months to make any changes that can lower my taxes.”
Jeff Rose presents 2010 Traditional IRA to Roth IRA Conversion Tax Rules posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “Tax implications of converting from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Don’t forget the after-tax contributions.”
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.
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Comment by Patrick
1 October 16, o'clock |
Thanks for hosting!