Carnival of Financial Planning - March 8 2008 Edition

Welcome to the March 8, 2008 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

Ana presents What a Debt Free Budget Looks Like posted at DebtFREE-Revolution, saying, “Now that the debt is gone, this is what our budget looks like: very short and very sweet!”

Steve Faber presents - How to Make a Budget – Your Ultimate Plan for Financial Success posted at DebtBlog, saying, “Budgeting is the most elementary step in personal finance. Here’s how to take it.”

Christine presents Barcelona on the Cheap posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Save Money presents Why you SHOULD Keep Separate Accounts Even If You Are Married posted at How I Save Money.net.

Seb presents Why I am in no hurry to pay off my student loans posted at Pinching Copper, saying, “Inflation is nearly 4.5% and rising. Because the rate of inflation is above the rate of our loans, the difference between the two is essentially extra money in our pockets. Every month that inflation stays above 2.75% (the highest rate we’re paying on our loans) inflation is outpacing the accruing interest on our balance.”

Amy S Quinn presents 33 Tools to Get the Cheapest Gas Available posted at EcoTrekker.

Neelakantha presents Wide Open Wallet: 50 Awesome Open Source Financial Tools posted at Free Geekery.

Jeremy Zongker presents 11 Reasons Why You’ll Want to Live on a Budget posted at Destroy Debt.

Estate Planning

Robert Phillips presents 5 Magic Questions Every Real Estate Investor Should Ask posted at REAL ESTATE INVESTING.

Financial Planning

Raymond presents 0% Balance Transfer No Fee Credit Card Offers posted at Money Blue Book.

Aussie Investor presents What Is Personal Finance? posted at Money Management Personal Finance Blog, saying, “This article is an introduction to personal finance. What is it and why is it important?”

Rick MacGuidwin presents Income Allocation 101: Retirement Savings posted at Increase Revenue, Decrease Cost, saying, “Retirement savings is simply a function of many different variables and inputs. Given our current inputs, we may have to allocate more of our income to the retirement savings category.”

David B. Bohl presents Career Growing Pains? 5 Signs You May Be in the Wrong Profession posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, “Here are some clues that you might be due for a change - and how to kick-start the process of career transition.”

Financing Education

Christine presents Wants vs Needs: A Look at Personal Consumption posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Ted Reimers presents Where to Buy, Sell and Trade Textbooks posted at CampusGrotto, saying, “Here are places other than the overpriced college book store, to buy or sell your college textbooks online.”

Investing

Praveen presents American Century Ultra Fund: The Folly of Not Following Your Trading Plan posted at My Simple Trading System.

Michael Bass presents The Economics of Gold Investments posted at Debt Prison, saying, “The real question is can a discretionary paper currency managed by Central Bankers perform as well a gold standard?”

David Hunkar presents British Bank ADRs !!! posted at ADR Universe, saying, “UK is home to some of the big banks in this world such as Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Bank, etc.They have high dividend yields and are stable long-term investments.While these banks have gone down a lot in recent months due to the sub-prime mess in the US, they may pick up steam and perform well in the future.”

mmhabits presents 10 Mistakes Investors Make and How to Avoid Them posted at Building Millionaire Money Habits, saying, “Everyone makes investing mistakes from time to time, but the ability to reduce those blunders is what separates good investors from the greats. Here are the investing mistakes everyone makes, and how you can avoid them.”

Aussie Investor presents Great Stock Market Investing Minds - Benjamin Graham posted at Stock Market Investing For Beginners, saying, “Benjamin Graham was one of the stock market’s greatest minds. His writings are unparalleled in the field of investing. “The Dean Of Wall Street” is considered to be the father of modern value investing. No financial education is complete without learning about Benjamin Graham.”

Dividends4Life presents Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index posted at Dividends4Life, saying, “The Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index captures the performance of the 100 highest yielding stocks that have a consistent record of dividend payment and have the ability to sustain their dividend payments.”

LIVING OFF DIVIDENDS presents Is Gold A Bargain At $950/Oz? posted at LIVING OFF DIVIDENDS, saying, “With Gold ready to break $1000/Oz is it too late to get in? Well the experts think it might hit $5000 in the cycle!”

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.”

Managing Debt

Raymond presents Examining 0% Purchase Credit Card Offers posted at Money Blue Book, saying, “Bridge financial gaps with 0% offers”

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Loan Poem posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Brent Diggs presents What The Promised Recession Means To You As An American posted at The Ominous Comma, saying, “Economic Humor — have fun with it!”

Lisa Spinelli presents Getting a Break on Your Student Loans posted at Greener Pastures, saying, “Find out how to ease some of your college loan debt in Lisa Spinelli’s post “Getting a Break on Your Student Loans”"

Jeremy Zongker presents Skip the “Skip-payment” Act of Kindness from Your Credit Card Lenders posted at Creditor Web.

Retirement Planning

Abdulrasool Sumar presents A Close Look at 401k Retirement Plan - How It Works, Contributions, Withdrawals, Advantages/Disadvantages posted at 401k, saying, “401k plan is a tax-deferred retirement savings plan that most large corporations and organizations have set up for their employees to help them save for their retirement. 401k plans originate from a family of defined contribution plans where both the employer and the employee pay a percentage of their pay to a savings plan. For example, if the employee saves 10% of his monthly gross income to a 401k savings plan, the employer might match this with a 5% contribution. Since both of these are “defined and fixed”, they are known as “defined contribution plans.” 401k derives its name from the Internal Revenue Code - section 401, paragraph (K).”

Risk Management and Insurance

Mark Runta presents Gut or Discipline posted at Smart Investing & Money Management, saying, “Follow your gut but within the constraints of your risk profile!”

Savings

KCLau presents Knowing your enemy - Inflation! posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Article on what inflation is, what causes inflation and how we as consumers can outstrip inflation.”

Adfecto presents What is an Emergency? posted at Adfecto Abundantia - Aspire 2 Wealth, saying, “We are all told to save an Emergency Fund. The next part, that never seems to get talked about, is when you should tap that reserve. What types of events are truly emergencies and when should you keep your hand out of the cookie jar?”

Taxes

Abby Freedman presents Get your taxes done for free posted at Smart Spending, saying, “It’s hard to believe how many people don’t realize that they qualify for free tax preparation and/or free e-filing. People assume that if they are middle-class, they aren’t eligible; but that simply isn’t true.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Your Tax Questions Answered: Interview with an IRS Agent posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thank you!”

Miscellaneous

Patrick A. Sizemore presents 10 Guilt-Free Splurges for Students posted at College Information for Smart Students, saying, “You can’t always be responsible and frugal, so make the most of your bad behavior.”

Christine presents The Exchange Rate and Travel in Barcelona posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.
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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