Welcome to the December 13, 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
Christine presents Being Frugal in France: Buying Cheap Theatre, Opera and Dance Tickets posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France, saying, “Enjoying France on the cheap! It’s not always necessary to spend a bundle. Sometimes we just need to know our options. Saving big on theatre, opera and dance tickets in France in an option!”
Jesse Moran presents The Frugal Way of Living Blog posted at CompGifts - The Frugal Way of Living.
Carrie Kirby presents Timeshare a Nanny posted at Parenting Squad, saying, “Childcare is one of the biggest expenses for young couples. Timesharing a nanny can cut such expenses in half and provide a great experience for your child.”
Ryan Russell presents Q & A: Does Your Budget Have Breathing Room? posted at My Money Thinks, saying, “Monitor your finances regularly during the budget period. Put whatever money you shave off your weekly spending toward the next financial goal on your list”
Jesse Moran presents Big List of Budgeting Software posted at CompGifts - The Frugal Way of Living.
Economics
Ian Welsh presents 10 high probability predictions for the market meltdown posted at The Agonist, saying, “All bubbles pop. This one is currently popping, in slow-mo, before our eyes. How bad will it get? Here are 10 predictions for high probability events, the most likely at the top and the lowest, but still likely, at the bottom.”
Sagar presents How to Save the Dollar: Thoughts From 10 Experts posted at Currency Trading.net.
Kurt Brouwer presents Falling Home Prices Trigger Banking Crisis posted at Fundmastery Blog.
Financial Planning
The Investor presents Taking stock: How to Set out Your Statement of Affairs posted at Monevator.com, saying, “To get control of your finances, you need to know exactly what money you’ve got coming in and what’s going out, as well as what you own and what you owe. This detailed post explains how to do so with your own Statement of Affairs spreadsheet.”
Matthew Paulson presents Start Early- Teach Your Children How to Manage Money Before it’s Too Late » American Consumer News posted at American Consumer News.
Tezza presents The Smartest And Dumbest Decisions I’ve Made With Money posted at 4 Eva Young, saying, “Since I’m in my late twenties I’ve hardly scratched the surface of smart and dumb financial decisions. My only hope is that as age creeps on my smarter financial decisions out weigh the dumb ones. But alas with youthful enthusiasm I’ve taken a few pot shots at trying to run my life into the financial ditch and I’ve managed to collect myself together to string along some good financial decisions in my later life. Hopefully, you have the time to learn from my mistakes and make wiser choices.”
changeyourtree presents Teach Your Children The Four Basics of Smart Money Management posted at Change Your Tree, saying, “When we teach our children how to be smart with money it helps protect their future. They are more likely to have a stable lifestyle, a stronger marriage, financial independence, and a comfortable retirement.”
David B. Bohl presents Financial Planning Gets a Makeover from Financial Consultant, the Coaching Industry posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, “In today’s uncertain world of changing careers, on-the-go lifestyles and shifting family roles, smart financial planning frequently takes a back seat to immediate demands.”
Ryan presents What to do with a Raise posted at Building Millionaire Money Habits, saying, “Pay increases have a strange way of not really changing people’s financial situation at all. If you are a saver, you will save a little more with your raise. If you allow your income to determine your budget, you will likely continue to waste money without tracking where it really all goes.”
Ron Robins presents Debt Americans search for fulfillment. posted at Enlightened Economics, saying, “For each of the past thirty years or so, total US debt (government, business, consumer, etc.) has grown much faster than either national income or Gross Domestic Product (GDP)… as savings rates are close to zero and continue trending down… consumers’ ability to take-on more debt is extremely limited. I believe there are two ways of understanding the furious pace of US debt growth. Firstly, I think it is a failure of individual consciousness, and secondly, a failure of collective consciousness as it relates to federal and international economic or financial structures.”
Financing a Home
Dorian Wales presents Personal Financier: Why Taking on a Mortgage Is Leveraging: Understanding the Potential Risks and Benefits posted at Personal Financier, saying, “Buying a property with a combination of equity and mortgage is actually leveraging your own equity. Leveraged transactions hold significant potential benefits and, more importantly, significant potential risks. It is important to understand why leverage is the source of these risks and benefits.”
Colin Robertson presents What Causes Mortgage Interest Rates to Move? posted at Mortgage Tips and Credit Help.
Ted Stearns presents 3 Reasons Why I Cannot Cry For Countrywide posted at TradeLine Solutions.com, saying, “Despite their financial woes, we find it hard to sympathize with Countrywide Financial. Having led more consumers into foreclosure than any other lender, we believe this is just the beginning of their troubles.”
John Crenshaw presents Full Doc, Stated Doc, and All The Other Mortgage Doc Types posted at Truthful Lending dot Com, saying, “If you have a mortgage or have ever tried to qualify for one, you’re probably familiar with the term “Full Doc,” short for Full Documentation. That term refers to the level of income and asset documentation provided to the lender for a loan qualification. In this article you’ll learn the difference between Full Doc and Stated Loans as well as the other loan doc types.”
Alex M presents Buy a House you Can be Proud of posted at Real estate: where? how much?.
James Wong presents Buy or sell your home first? posted at Online-ebiz.
Maria Fernandez presents Have an enemy? Buy him a timeshare! posted at Learn a foreign language - blog, saying, “To avoid chronic headaches, never buy a timeshare. A case study.”
Financing Education
James D. Brausch presents Internet Business 101 » There Is Tons Of Money Available posted at jamesbrausch.com.
Income
The Career Counselor presents Six Time Management Tips for the Self-Employed During the Holidays posted at ask the CareerCounselor, saying, “Home workers and small business owners typically encounter a tricky balancing act during the holidays. You work from home, at least in part, in order to spend more time with your family, but during the holiday season self-employed folks just can’t drop everything to make way for family events and school plays. And, particularly for one-income households, holiday shopping may actually demand an increase in earnings amid all the distractions. Obviously, organization and planning are critical to making sure you meet deadlines and still have a merry holiday spirit at home. Read below for tips and ideas to help small business owners make the most, personally and professionally, out of the holidays.”
Kingsley Tagbo presents How To Improve Your Skills And Get A Lucrative Job posted at HOW TO LEARN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING FAST OR GET A JOB EASILY.
Investing
The Dividend Guy presents Weekly Dividend Investing Roundup - 2008 Financial Resolution Edition posted at The Dividend Guy Blog.
B.H. presents How to Make Money Off Interest Free Credit Card Offers posted at Bentley Humphreys, saying, “There are obviously a countless number of ways to invest money these days, however one is so fascinating we decided to test it out here at boozwatt.com. It’s called credit card arbitrage. It involves utilizing funds garnered from no interest credit card offers, and investing the money in various traditional avenues. Here’s how it works….”
Ryan presents Determine Your Investment Risk Tolerance posted at Building Millionaire Money Habits, saying, “Determining and understanding your risk tolerance for investments is a fundamental part to planning your investment strategy. Without knowing the level of financial risk you are willing and able to sustain, it would be difficult to identify your investment strategy and build an appropriate portfolio.”
Jose DeJesus MD presents Your Money - Secrets of Interpreting Morningstar Ratings Profitably posted at Physician Entrepreneur.
Bonnie Krueger presents Tips On How You Can Invest Into Real Estate To Make Money posted at Student Loan Consolidation.
Kurt Brouwer presents How Much Should You Invest In Stocks? posted at Fundmastery Blog, saying, “Should you invest 100% in stock funds? What about risk?”
Larry Russell presents The Fund Authority Score - A Better Mutual Fund and ETF Rating System posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “With the Fund Authority Score system, individual investors can make concise and objective mutual fund and ETF comparisons. Fund Authority Scores are based on cost, performance, and other measures, which are correlated with better long term buy-and-hold investment results.”
Dirk Masuch Oesterreich presents NEWS: Recent developments at Mexivada Mining Corp. (MNV.V) posted at Nevada Gold Investor, saying, “Mexivada Mining is a promising explorer with properties in Nevada and Mexico. This post looks at recent press releases from a geological perspective.”
Edith presents 2008 Apartment Market Trends (U.S.) posted at Stewart Hsu.
Value Seeker presents Why Most Investors Underperform The Market - Stock Investing Resource posted at Stock Investing, saying, “Reasons why the average investor significantly underperforms market funds.”
Babak presents Stock Timing Newsletters Abandon Market posted at Trader’s Narrative, saying, “Stock investing newsletter, as a group, quickly fled the market in November as prices tumbled. According to contrarian analysis, this means that the market has bottomed and will in fact, go up.”
Joseph presents Investing 101 - Hourly Updated News On Investing 101 posted at Your Investing Guide, saying, “The ground rule is that if you want to be a successful investor in financial markets, you must educate yourself about investing. Even if you put your faith in a licensed investment advisor, not all are competent.”
Steve Faber presents - Top Stock Picks – 3 Unconventional Ways You Can Make Them posted at DebtBlog, saying, “There are many ways to find top stock picks. Sometimes, however you have to step outside the typical stock analysis tools you’re used to using and use additional methods to ferret out the stocks that will shine in the future. Here are some more, uh, unconventional methods you can employ.”
Jose DeJesus MD presents Portfolio diversification and picking the right asset mix posted at Physician Entrepreneur.
Larry Russell presents Where’s Waldo? - The illusion of superior professional mutual fund manager performance. posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “The effort to find those few supposedly superior money managers willing to sell their services sufficiently cheaply is a costly, time consuming, and futile, “Where’s Waldo?,” searching exercise for the individual investor. Many money managers will claim to be superior and few or none actually will be. If such superior money managers did exist, then there should be dozens or hundreds of them who prove their superiority year after year after year. Unfortunately, the scientific finance literature indicates that this is not the case. This year’s star money manager tends to be next year’s average or laggard money manager.”
Managing Debt
Roshawn Watson presents Four Ways to Stay Encouraged While Paying Debt posted at Watson Inc, saying, “For most, paying off debt is relatively simply but incredibly difficult and not fun, especially when the loans are large. One reason it is so difficult is because somehow we feel like since we made up our minds to pay off our loans, they should disappear immediately. Here are four ways to stay encouraged while paying off debt.”
James presents Payment Strategies for Getting Out of Debt posted at Payday Loan Cheapskate, saying, “Simple steps you can take ASAP to help get out of debt.”
Bonnie Krueger presents What Are Good Steps For Debt Repayment Plans? posted at Student Loan Consolidation.
Rahmi presents What to do when you’re in foreclosure posted at I love writing blogs…, saying, “About what foreclosure and what homeowners can do when in one.”
Raymond presents What’s the Point of Signing Your Credit Card Receipt Anymore? posted at Money Blue Book.
Tezza presents How To Dig Your Financial Grave Faster posted at 4 Eva Young, saying, “There is a litany of financial advice out there in the blogosphere, web and book stores to help you get out of debt, invest and manage your financial future. Yet it seems with mounting consumer debt, growing number of families experiencing financial stress and bankruptcy that most people don’t want answers, they just want more ammunition to justify their wayward and consuming ways. If you are a financial train wreck waiting to happen then here are some handy suggestions to quit your stalling and get it over with.”
Kristine McKinley presents New! Free ‘Get Out of Debt’ Teleclass!! posted at Financial Tips for WAHMs, saying, “Do your debts keep you up at night, wondering how you’ll ever dig your way out? Announcing the Free Teleseminar: Your Top ‘How to Get Out of Debt’ Questions Answered!”
Retirement Planning
Alvaro Fernandez presents Cognitive Health, Aging and Baby Boomers posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, “How baby boomers will revolutionize more aspects of retirement that we typically think of.”
Savings
Ryan Russell presents YES, it is possible to save money on utility bills! posted at My Money Thinks, saying, “Monitor your utility bills and meter readings closely. Install energy efficient appliances, windows and doors when it is time to replace Investigate possibilities for payment assistance”
Taxes
Everything Finance presents Mortgage Escrow: To Do Or Not To Do posted at Everything Finance.
Miscellaneous
changeyourtree presents 10 Must Read Tips For Smart Holiday Shopping posted at Change Your Tree.
FMF presents Money Rules of Thumb posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “General rules of thumb and my take on them.”
Todd Goldfarb presents 7 Essential Habits To Acquire Greater Wealth posted at We The Change, saying, “Hi there– here is a great article regarding the philosophy of making money, and 7 timeless habits of the wealthy minded. I hope you choose to include these unique pieces of advise!”
Christopher Michael presents Seeing the Sites posted at -noambit -Travel Europe- where to go, what to see, and how to get there, saying, “A list of tried and true sites that can save you money and time when planning a trip to Europe.”
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Me Gamble? No Dice! posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog, saying, “Gambling Humor”
Ryan Russell presents Go “Outside The Box” for Great Holiday Gifts posted at My Money Thinks, saying, “For these people (and anyone else), a little creativity and imagination will go a long way when shopping for holiday gifts”
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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