Carnival of Financial Planning - May 31 2008 Edition

Welcome to the May 31, 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

Brice Hogan presents How to Create an Effective Spending Plan posted at Financialzip.com.

Casey Markee presents 3 Ways to Save Money While Losing Weight posted at CAPC Debt Management Blog, saying, “Losing weight is hard enough without having to worry about doing it within the confines of a tight budget. This blog post covers 3 ways to save money while losing weight at the same time. Great budgeting tips just in time for Summer!”

Hanna Kassis presents Budget Series: Be in control at all times. posted at College Finance 101.

NtJS presents What Is: A Budget posted at not the jet set, saying, “Sometimes it’s good to take a step back from the intricacies and minutia and look at the bigger concept. Maybe you have a system that works. That’s great. Maybe you continually have budget problems, large or small, and aren’t sure why. Maybe it’s your spending habits. Maybe it’s your income. Maybe you’re not really budgeting…”

Danogo presents Better Money Management Is the Only Way To Go posted at Danogo.com - Discover. Inspiring . Media, saying, “Sometimes managing your money, and not making more is the key to a better life”

David B. Bohl presents How To Become Wealthy byLiving Within Your Means posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, “It might surprise you, but not all rich people live like those you see on MTV’s Cribs.”

George L Smyth presents One Minute How-To - How To Get The Best Car For Your Money posted at George L Smyth, saying, “Matt Gaskins explains that the cost of a car is more than just its sticker price.”

Economics

presents Don’t Blame OPEC posted at HelpMyCashGrow.com.

Larry Russell presents The Financial Services Industry is Still the Largest S&P 500 Sector - Even after the Collapse of its Stock Values posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog.

Estate Planning

KCLau presents When should you rewrite your Will? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “On what you should look out for when considering rewriting your will”

Financial Planning

Financial Goal presents Financial Questions to Ask Before Getting Married posted at Goal of Financial Freedom, saying, “Some Questions you should ask before you say I Do”

Todd presents How Long Do You Expect To Live? posted at HarvestingDollars, saying, “This article provides several different ways to estimate your own lifespan. This is a key assumption in retirement planning, and should be given more than just a cursory glance.”

S. A. Williams aka RPM Millionaire presents What is Financial Freedom? posted at RPM_Millionaire, saying, “Lots of people don’t know where they should be focused in order to build wealth… this short article helps to clarify where one should focus at all times to achieve wealth.”

Barb A. Ryan presents Your Family Financial Planning posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Larry Russell presents Objective Personal Finance Answers Are Hard to Find posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog

Barb A. Ryan presents Your Personal Financial Planning Skills posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Financing a Home

Steve_Leung presents Creating a Better Standard of Living For Your Family posted at Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog, saying, “Financing a home is no small task so consumers need to clearly understand what they’re getting and what to look out for during their home purchase process. This article describes real-life situations that buyers go through as they try to create a better standard of living for their families.”

Financing Education

Ken Clark, CFP presents Financial Aid Calculator: Using Fafsa4Caster.com to Estimate Your Federal Aid posted at Saving for College - About.com, saying, “How to get a quick estimate of your Federal financial aid from the Dept. of Education.”

Christopher Johnson presents Surviving Student Loans posted at christopheraaronjohnson.net.

Mark Montgomery presents School’s Out! Top 10 Summertime Tips for College Admission posted at Great College Advice, saying, “Preparing for the college admissions process includes keeping both students and parents focused on the important stuff. These 10 tips will help increase your student’s chances of admission–and merit-based financial aid. Many parents don’t recognize that strong educational planning can actually save them money in the long run. Use these 10 tips to get started this summer.”

Income

Luke presents Preparing for a job loss and being able handle it financially posted at Money & Fitness Blog.

Investing

kozen presents Why you should go short in Oil - I do! posted at Market Thoughts for Profitable Investment.

Investing Angel presents Investment Mistakes To Avoid » Free Stock Market Investing Tips posted at Stock Tips, saying, “Some investment mistakes that you need to avoid to make a lot of money.”

Value Seeker presents Are Mutual Funds For You? posted at Stock Investing, saying, “Figure out if mutual funds are the right thing for you to invest in.”

The Dividend Guy presents Where to Get Investment Data to Analyze Dividend Stocks posted at The Dividend Guy Blog, saying, “I have a goal of building a large investment portfolio. This is how I get investment data for my dividend portfolio.”

Investing Angel presents Why I’m Shorting Microsoft (MSFT) posted at Stock Tips, saying, “I believe Microsoft has nowhere to go but down.”

The Stock Teacher presents Avoid Making This Key Investment Mistake posted at Stock Investment, saying, “Many people make bad investment decisions, because they let their emotions take control of them.”

Virginia Zart presents 17 Commodity ETFs to Help Hedge Your Portfolio posted at ETF Trends, saying, “You’ve probably noticed that everything is more expensive these days, from gas to milk to your airplane ticket. Someone’s getting rich here, and it’s probably not you. But as exchange traded fund (ETF) investors, why shouldn’t you have the same opportunity?”

S. A. Williams aka RPM Millionaire presents The Quickest Way to Wealth posted at RPM_Millionaire, saying, “If you’re running out of time before you get to retirement, I think this tip is the fastest and surest way to get there in style.”

Babak presents Weak Financial Stocks May Not Hold Support Again posted at Trader’s Narrative, saying, “Financial stocks are headed for a tumble, making the condition of the general stock market tenuous.”

Lauren Rose presents Complete Guide to Online Forex Trading Systems - Part 1 posted at Stock Markets Investment, saying, “A Complete 5 part Guide to Online Forex Trading Systems also referred to as the Spot or Cash market.”

Walter W. Fouse presents Vanguard Index Mutual Funds Versus Vanguard Managed Funds posted at Best No Load Funds.

Dividends4Life presents This Sword Has Two Edges! posted at Dividends 4 Life, saying, “If you want to beat the averages, you have to do something different than the rest. Present here is a MSN Stock Screen that helped me identify some exceptional stocks, and got me into some trouble.”

Jim presents Resources to Learn About Stock Market Investing posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Jed Norwood presents Base and Cross Currency Pairs | Forex Market Tips posted at Forex Strategy, saying, “This article discusses the concept of base and cross currency pairs in the Forex market.”

retirehappy presents Rebalance Your Portfolio For Greater Gains posted at My Retirement Blog.

FMF presents How Fees Eat Your Lunch - It Still Adds Up To Dollars posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Costs can REALLY impact your investment return.”

Investments

Richard M. Rothschild presents Bond Market Index Funds posted at Bond Market Index Funds.

Frank Vertin presents Top 10 S and P 500 Index Funds posted at NO LOAD INDEX FUND.

Walter W. Fouse presents Avoid Large Actively Managed Mutual Funds posted at Best No Load Funds.

Richard M. Rothschild presents The Best Mutual Funds Have NO Sales Loads and NO 12b-1 Fees posted at Best No Load Funds.

Frank Vertin presents Buy an S&P 500 Index Fund with Low Costs posted at NO LOAD INDEX FUND.

Larry Russell presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at Best No Load Funds.

Managing Debt

Hanna Kassis presents Take interest in interest - it can make you or break you. posted at College Finance 101.

Joshua Seth presents What To Do With Your Tax Rebate Check posted at Joshua Seth Blog.

Bret Frohlich presents Four-Step Debt Evaluation Plan posted at Bret Frohlich.com, saying, “This simple Four-Step Plan will help you evaluate your debt condition and provide recommendations for eliminating your debt.”

imarketing4s presents Is Debt Settlement Superior To Debt Consolidation? posted at Loans and Finance, saying, “It has always been a matter of competition for both the debt consolidators and debt settlement companies to prove themselves over each other. But somehow debt settlement has managed to stay ahead in this race of oligopolies.”

Retirement Planning

FIRE Getters presents Vanguard’s Managed Payout Mutual Funds - A Primer posted at FIRE Finance.

Risk Management and Insurance

Vera Lang presents Car Maintenance - Prevention Is Still The Best Measure posted at Be Safe Insure .com, saying, “Like everything else that is worth keeping in perfect working condition, you should take preventive measures when it comes to car maintenance. More often than not, people take their cars to the mechanic only when there is something horribly wrong with it Rather than only responding to the extreme, it pays to instead, listen to early warnings & simple cues can lead to lot of headache for you.”

Kacper Wrzesniewski presents Stop Loss Order posted at KacperWrzesniewski.com, saying, “We all know how important is risk management and cutting loses on the stock market. One of the best tools, that can help us are stop loss orders.”

Savings

Kevin Heath presents Gas Saving Tips posted at More4kids, saying, “Families everywhere are really getting severly pinched or hurt with the price of gas these days, and there is no end in sight. Here are a few tips that can help…”

Fred presents Series I Savings Bonds posted at High Interest Savings Accounts, saying, “Learn how to make sure that your savings keeps up with inflation by investing in Series I Savings Bonds.”

Master Your Card presents Sneaky Ways to Save Money posted at Master Your Card.

Larry Russell presents The Top 25 Low Cost Best US Money Market Funds posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog.

Taxes

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Barb A. Ryan presents Independent Investment Counselors and Financial Advisors posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Miscellaneous

John Crickett presents Ask For A Discount posted at Find Financial Freedom, saying, “One of the easiest ways to improve your personal finances is to spend less. However that doesn’t always mean you have to forgo a purchase. Instead ask for a discount.”

Bill D presents Is Your “Money Story” Keeping You Broke? posted at The Wealth Hunter.

Sagar presents Twitter for Librarians: The Ultimate Guide posted at College@Home.

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.

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