Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs
Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #121 - December 25, 2009
Welcome to the December 25, 2009 Edition #121 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
Joel Gray presents How To Save Money Using Gift Cards posted at Finance Tips 101.
Dorian Wales presents The Dangers of Excess Frugality – Budgeting and Balanced Living posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “A more balanced life and balanced goals will help achieve inner peace and acceptance that money is truly a means and not an end. This takes work and time. I suppose on cannot escape the slippery slope I’ve presented but understanding the need for balance early on will save considerable frustration and contribute to early happiness.”
Four Pillars presents Get Out Of Debt With YNAB – You Need A Budget Financial Software Review posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Indepth review of You Need a Budget software.”
Economics
Curt presents The Fed’s Recovery Plan Is Based on Fooling Everyone Holding Dollars posted at PennyJobs.com.
Estate Planning
Jeff Rose presents What is the Purpose of a Trust? posted at Jeff Rose.
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
RJ Weiss presents 73 Must Read Personal Finance Posts of 2009 posted at Genyweath.com, saying, “After an entire year of reading personal finance blogs, these were my favorites from 2009.”
The Shark Investor presents Playing Big posted at The Shark Investor, saying, “Too often people who want to start a startup or any kind of small business do a major mistake from the beginning. They try to play big hoping that this will make their business big.”
The Amateur Financier presents The Amateur Financier Millionaire To-Do List posted at The Amateur Financier, saying, “A guide to how I intend to build my net worth up to one million dollars over the course of time. It includes the methods by which I will add to my net worth building and investing my personal finances.”
FIRE Getters presents Americans Living Without Bank Accounts? posted at FIRE Finance, saying, “Last weekend we were wondering how many Americans live without bank accounts. Our first thought was not many. Curious to know the facts we started researching on the web. We were stunned to find that 17 million Americans have no bank accounts! And 18% of the rest of the population that do have bank accounts use non-traditional banking services like pawn shops and payday lenders.”
Smac20 presents Top 10 Questions to Ask your Investment Advisor posted at Investing in Canada - TSX Personal Finance, saying, “The Questions you need to ask your Investment Adviser to find out if they should be managing your money or if you should fire them.”
Roshawn Watson presents Thoughts on Escaping The Rat Race posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Do you yearn to be free…really free? What would you do if money was not a big limitation? Perhaps the primary reason for increasing your financial literacy is so you may indeed escape the rat race.”
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.”
Susan Saverton presents Portfolio Asset Allocation posted at Financial Planner Pasadena, saying, “Set your personal investment asset allocation according to your personal tolerance for investment risk. Allocated percentages to asset classes would tend to slowly change with the years, and thus it is key to decide correctly from the beginning.”
Super Saver presents Spending because of Stimulus Money? Not Us. posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Although we qualified for the Cash for Clunkers and the new Home Buyer’s Credit program, we passed on on participating, for one simple reason — if we needed it, we would have already bought it.”
Financing a Home
Roshawn Watson presents Is Bigger Better? Scaling Down The American Dream posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Today’s post-crash buyers are not willing (nor able in some cases) to extend themselves like before, and the impact on the housing market is substantial.”
Dan Green presents How To Pick A Closing Date That’ll Lower Your Mortgage Rate posted at The Mortgage Reports, saying, “But, sometimes, the easiest way to save money on your mortgage is to pick a better closing date. It’s all about Rate Lock Commitments.”
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
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
Patrick @ Military Money presents Open Enrollment Window Open for Some posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Open enrollment is the only time of the year that many people are able to make changes to their health insurance elections. Make sure you take advantage of this time to select the best health care option for your needs.”
Jeff Rose presents What’s the Best Health Savings Plan For You? posted at Jeff Rose.
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Open Enrollment Health Insurance Options posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “what you need to know about the common health insurance options available from most employers during the open enrollment season.”
Income
FMF presents Why a High Income Often Doesn’t Translate into a High Net Worth posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A high income often doesn’t translate into a high net worth. This is why.”
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 Great Thoughts on Thank You Notes posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “And easy way to advance your career and help you get the job you want.”
Investing
Marc Ryan presents Dividend investing: everything you wanted to know about it (or almost) - IndependentInvestor.info posted at IndependentInvestor.info, saying, “Do you, consciously or by happenstance, invest solely or mostly in dividend-paying stocks? Maybe you have been thinking about it. Many investors follow a policy of dividend investing. Our readers have asked how it compares to index investing. Being fans of the latter approach we expected dividend investing to compare rather unfavorably, but the reality turned out to be more ambiguous. So we decided to devote several commentaries to dividend investing. We first look at its background and history. In subsequent commentaries we will look at its advantages, its disadvantages, and finally the different ways of putting it into practice (e.g. directly, through dividend reinvestment plans or through mutual or exchange-traded funds).”
ABC presents Foreign Exchange Trading posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A short explanation of foreign exchange trading.”
Alex Fotopoulos presents Gold Chart (GLD) ? More Room to Fall posted at Chart Analysis, saying, “Alex posted a chart of the Gold ETF, GLD, this week and shows how much farther it could fall before finding support.”
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.”
Super Saver presents Choosing Certainty or Additional Returns posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Here’s how we choose between certainty and additional returns.”
Praveen presents Just Bought Hyatt Hotels (H) posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “About Hyatt’s recent IPO and why its a good stock.”
ABC presents What Is Private Equity Investment? posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “An explanation of private equity investing.”
jim presents Introduction to FOREX Investing posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, saying, “An in-depth article on how investing in foreign currencies work.”
The Dough Roller presents Why Some Online Credit Card Applications Say ‘Hurry Up And Wait’ posted at The Dough Roller.
FMF presents Free Money Finance: 17 Common Investing Pitfalls and Their Remedies posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Investing mistakes to avoid.”
Silicon Valley Blogger presents HSBC Direct Online Savings Account Review: With Free ATM Bank Card posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “On saving with a popular bank.”
Writers Coin presents Is Option Trading Really That Complicated? posted at The Writer’s Coin, saying, “Trading options sounds scary, doesn’t it? Did you know it’s less risky that trading stocks? Find out more about the world of options and see if it’s right for you.”
Larry Russell presents Top 10 No Load Funds posted at Best No Load Mutual Funds, saying, “Don’t bother to frantically move your assets from one mutual fund to another or from one ETF to another. Investment research has repeatedly showing academic studies that performance chasing is a bad strategy the most ofter will yield inferior returns.”
Dividends4Life presents 8 Dividend Stocks Delivering Tangible Value posted at Dividends Value, saying, “Sometimes when companies are tight on cash, they will declare and pay a stock dividend in lieu of a cash dividend. Most shareholders feel like they are getting something. But are they really? In short, a stock dividend is nothing more than a glorified stock split.”
The Skilled Investor presents Best Investment Strategies posted at Personal Financial Investments, saying, “Investment costs which are clearly measured, like fees deducted on your monthly investment statement. Most investors are no aware of opportunity costs that arise from sub-optimal investing practices. Opportunity costs like these are much greater than more costs and investment fees that show up on their statements.”
Tomas Escent presents Investment Portfolio Trading posted at Nerds on Wall Street, saying, “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wired Markets. In this funny financial book, there are no robots parking your car millions of times, however, right now in milliseconds robots trade millions of shares.”
The Financial Blogger presents Note to Myself: Key Points to Investing During a Bear Market Part1: Remember High Yield Bonds posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “This is what I am doing with the recent market crunch of 2008. Some people generated amazing returns by taking little risk. Here’s how they did it.”
Jonathan Lai presents Financial Planning DIY: Investment: Do Your Very Own Investment Plan posted at Financial Planning DIY, saying, “This is the fact. Nobody knows better than youself on what you actually need. Therefore, there will be no one, except yourself, able to design an investment plan that really meet your needs.”
KCLau presents Case Study: Consolidating Personal Loan, Mortgage and Credit Card Debt posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Important lessons on investment”
Dividends4Life presents 5 Stocks Giving The Gift of Dividend Growth posted at Dividends Value, saying, “Christmas is a time of giving. Families and loved-ones give gifts to each other. Many people give money to the needy and charities. It seems that everyone is involved in giving this time of year, even corporations. Dividend growth stocks give a gift that keeps on giving – ever increasing dividends!”
Zach Scheidt presents Blackstone Sees Improving Trends posted at ZachStocks, saying, “The Blackstone Group, LP (BX) reported earnings and the stock is trading sharply higher. The environment is improving for the private equity company as liquidity and risk premiums increase.”
Frank Vertin presents Index Stock Fund posted at Best Index Funds, saying, “When you buy an S & P 500 index mutual fund through a broker or investment advisor you can increase substantially your purchasing costs, while you drive up your recurring annual expenses through asset management and other fees. Financial advisors most often will not recommend to buy index mutual funds with very low fees.No load, low cost index mutual funds don’t pay financial brokers and advisors nearly as well as front loaded, high fee, active mutual funds.”
MoneyNing presents How to Get Your Wife to Invest posted at Money Ning, saying, “Talk and discuss. Learn how to get your significant other to invest!”
Jules Wells presents Simple Investing posted at Personal Financial Planning Software, saying, “Investing often seems almost unfathomly complex, however your best investment strategy will tend to be a simple and straightforward investing strategy.”
jim presents How to Determine Your Asset Allocation posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Zach Scheidt presents Netsuite Investors Begin to Doubt Growth posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Netsuite Inc. (N) has seen revenue growth trend significantly lower. The cloud computing technology firm is trading at an excessive price given its growth prospects and the aversion to risk we are seeing in the market.”
Ben presents Joining an Investment Club posted at Money Smart Life.
Managing Debt
David presents List of Credit Cards that Pay Cash Back for Gas posted at Credit Card Offers IQ.
Joe Plemon presents How to Work Out Settlements With Debt Collectors posted at Personal Finance By The Book, saying, “My son and daughter-in-law were wondering if they should try to settle some old debts. This post is the story of what they tried and how it worked.”
The Smarter Wallet presents FreeCreditReport.com Review: Not a Free Credit Report posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “I discuss how certain sites advertised as offering free credit reports actually don’t tell you the whole story.”
Matt Jabs presents Credit Card Debt Reduction How To Handbook posted at Debt Free Adventure!, saying, “Right or wrong, at the end of the day there are a lot of people in credit card debt who want out… and they want out NOW. This post is written for those people! Consider this article your “How To Handbook” for credit card debt reduction…”
Miscellaneous
Lazy Man and Money presents Top 10 Sneakiest Business Tricks posted at Lazy Man and Mone
Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents 10 Ways To Reduce Your Cable Or Satellite TV Bill posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “With the majority of households looking for ways to cut their expenses, television might be the first non-essential bill you’ll want to look at. Fortunately there are a few ways to save money on your television bill.”
Susan Saverton presents Personal Finance Plan posted at Family Financial Planning, saying, “You need a system that is efficient with respect to your time and your costs, when to develop, implement, and track a personal investment plan.”
Frank Knight presents Stop Identity Theft posted at Best Financial Planning Software, saying, “You need to be proactive and take easy steps to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft. Identity theft is increasing dramatically and it takes a huge amount of time to clean up the mess once you get hit with identity theft.”
Lloyd presents Best Bond Fund posted at Bond Index Funds, saying, “There is not good reason to invest in bond mutual funds and ETFs with higher fees. Pick the lowest cost broadly diversified index mutual funds and get better results and more sleep.”
nissim ziv presents Job Performance Appraisal Methods: Job Performance Evaluation Tips posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “If you are in the position of evaluating the performance of employees, you don’t often have a choice of which method to use. Most companies have a standard evaluation process that must be followed. Yet, you want to make sure that these performance appraisal methods work to help you accomplish company goals through your employees.”
Big Cajun Man presents Men’s Health posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “The little blue pill factor in Male Health…”
Retirement Planning
Jeff Rose presents Warning! The 80% Rule May Not be Enough to Retire posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “The basis for the 80% spending rule is that your living expenses are expected to decline once you retire thus your spending should decrease without forcing you to lower your lifestyle.”
Arohan presents The 3 Most Neglected Aspects of Preparing for Retirement | Personal Dividends posted at Personal Dividends, saying, “Planning for retirement is one of the key American dreams but many of us fail to do an adequate job of it. Here are the 3 most neglected aspects of retirement planning according to Craig Israelsen, an academic and author”
Super Saver presents Why I Consider Myself Retired posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Since I retired while still in my forties. I know that some people questioned whether it was really a retirement or whether it was just simply a job resignation, followed by unemployment.”
Jeff Rose presents 401k Rollover to IRA: How To Consolidate Your Retirement Accounts posted at Jeff Rose.
Writers Coin presents IRA to Roth IRA: The New Conversion Rules posted at The Writer’s Coin, saying, “The rules for converting an IRA to a Roth IRA have changed. Find out you should consider this option in your own portfolio.”
Jeff Rose presents What are Deferred Compensation Plans? posted at Jeff Rose.
Super Saver presents Maximizing our Social Security Benefits posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “A strategy know as the 62/70 solution appears to be most promising, allowing us to have the proverbial cake and eat it too.”
Frank Knight presents Roth Retirement Accounts posted at Financial Planner Software, saying, “One of the most complex personal financial decisions is whether to invest in a Roth IRA or Roth 401k versus their traditional retirement account alternatives. For most people, Roth accounts do not make sense financially. For a minority, they are a good deal, but you need sophisticated financial planner software to do the analysis for yourself.”
Top Stock Mutual Funds presents Stock Mutual Funds posted at Top Index Funds, saying, “This article discusses the 10 ten very low cost stock index mutual funds that track the Standard and Poors 500 large capitalization stock index.”
Risk Management and Insurance
Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Do You Have Enough Insurance On Your Home? posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “When you first bought your house, you most likely got insurance to cover against disasters like fires and storms. Since that time, has the value of your home stayed the same?”
My Life ROI presents 6 Tips to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs posted at My Life ROI, Getting the Best Return On Life, saying, “Often times people keep their homeowners insurance the same year after year. However, by analyzing your interests and making sure they align with your coverage, you could wind up saving a ton of money!”
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.”
jim presents Finding Affordable Self Employed Health Insurance posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, saying, “As a self-employed person, finding affordable and reputable medical insurance can be a big challenge.”
FMF presents Life Insurance Reality Check – Do you have enough? posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “How to know if you have enough life insurance.”
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Save Money on Auto Insurance Rates posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Tips on how to save money on your auto insurance rates, including multi car discounts, multi-line policies, defensive driving courses, and more.”
Savings
Billeater presents Food Storage Tips That Save Money posted at Billeater.
KCLau presents Are You Rich in Internal Assets? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “pay attention to the internal assets”
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.”
FMF presents How to Get Consumer Reports Online Access for Free posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A simple yet effective way to save on a great online resource.”
MoneyNing presents 10 Reasons to Have a Library Card posted at Money Ning, saying, “Library is still one the best way to spent your time. Here are 10 reasons why you want a library card.”
KCLau presents Caring for the Elderly posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Problems faced by the elderly”
Taxes
Darwin presents FICA Tax Rates 2009, 2010 – How They Work and Why They Matter posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “FICA Tax Rates 2009, 2010 – How They Work and Why They Matter. Plus, a strategy to get a “tax bonus” this year if you time your income right.”
Jeff Rose presents Tax Planning Demystified posted at Jeff Rose.
Super Saver presents Accelerating Tax Deductions to 2009 posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “We’ve decided to accelerate appropriate 2010 tax deductions to 2009 to maximize our Schedule A itemized deductions, and take the standard deduction for married filing joint in 2010.”
David de Souza presents Tax Rebate when Leaving the Country - Tips and Advice posted at UK Tax Blog, saying, “Many people leave the country to get away from the cold weather in the Winter. With the snow this past week many more are going. If you leave the country be sure to check if you are due a tax reate.”
Wenchypoo presents Something NOT to Do: Turn Your Tax Refund into a Savings Bond posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “This is how Obama intends on getting our tax refunds from us…for future congressional spending. Haven’t we seen enough of how these idiots spend our money? Why give them more?”
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Tax Tips for Children and Newborns posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Many people are aware of the child tax credit, but here are some other tax credits and deductions that you maybe eligible for if you have children.”
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 Arohan
1 December 26, o'clock |
Thank you for including the Personal Dividends article in the carnival. This is a veritable list of the best articles on financial planning. Thanks for putting this together.
Arohan
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