Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs
Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #188 – June 10, 2011
Welcome to the June 10, 2011 Edition #188 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 and Economics
Craig Ford presents How a High School Graduate Can Save $20,000 (or more) Over the Next 10 Years posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “Most teens who graduated this year will go out and get stuff they can’t afford and borrow money to fund their impatience.”
Jeri Ford presents The Best Way to Get A Free Credit Score – Credit Sesame posted at Help Me Travel Cheap, saying, “In order to get a general gauge of your credit score, use Credit Sesame.”
Katie Sorene presents The Ultimate Hotel Booking Guide: 62 Tips That Will Save You Money posted at Travel Blog – Tripbase, saying, “62 budget travel tips guaranteed to save you money on your next vacation.”
Financial Planning
Jessica Bosari presents Bankruptcy: What You Need to Know | billeater.com posted at Billeater, saying, “If you are considering bankruptcy, read this first!”
Dr. Dean presents Wealth Building Secret Even You Can Use! posted at Dr. Dean’s TheMillionaireNurse.com Blog, saying, “Getting extra income to pay off debt.”
Frank Knight presents Portfolio Asset Allocation posted at Best Personal Financial Planning Software, saying, “When you are already there and invested in an asset class, you are following a passive asset allocation strategy. Tactical asset allocation strategy advocates suggest that you can anticipate the crowd, but flow-of-funds studies show that almost all tactical asset allocation fund flows are late money flows that chase performance after valuations have already moved.”
Jim Yih presents What would you do with extra cashflow? posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying, “Is it better to buy RRSPs or pay off debt? Should I put some in the TFSA or keep it in savings? Should I pay down the mortgage or other debts?”
Frank Vertin presents Top Index Funds posted at Index Mutual Funds, saying, “Top ten no load index funds that track the Standard and Poors 500 composite index in terms of lowest costs.”
FMF presents Reasons Not to Buy Stocks posted at Free Money Finance, saying: “An ‘expert’ gives four reasons you shouldn’t invest in stocks. Really?”
Financing a Home
Andy presents Forced to Sell a House Fast posted at Tight Fisted Miser, saying, “As much as we don’t like to think about it, millions of people must sell their homes for financial reasons such as debt, divorce, or the economy. The time constraints involved in a sell like that can make the experience a hundred times more stressful and difficult to handle. Here are a few ways to handle the special circumstances involved when having to sell a house for financial reasons.”
Financing Education
David Leeman presents Saving Money For College, College Saving Plan posted at Financial Freedom Blog to Change Your Life, saying, “Many families struggle with saving money for college. It can seem nearly impossible to know how to save for college, how to eliminate debt, and how to save for retirement all at the same time.”
Kyle Berks presents What Is a Reverse Mortgage? posted at Integrated Loans, saying, “Are you looking for money so that you can pay off your mortgage, finance a home improvement, pay for healthcare expenses, or supplement your retirement income?”
Health Care
Consumer Boomer presents Medicare Fee Schedule posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “Here’s some helpful information that can help you to understand the Medicare Fee Schedule.”
Consumer Boomer presents Start planning for Medicare enrollment early posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “If you’re a newcomer to Medicare in 2011 there is one piece of advice I recommend you take to heart. Read this article for a few tips concerning Medicare enrollment.”
Income
Maxim Kazawy presents 5 Best Dividend Paying Mutual Funds with High Income posted at Best Dividend Mutual Funds, saying, “you know dividends make a very important part of any investor’s portfolio. Dividends provide an instant cash flow return on your investment and also act as a downside protector in bear markets.”
Investing
Consumer Boomer presents Stock Market Index posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “With the struggling economy, everyone is concerned about their investments as well as their immediate financial status. Knowing your way around the stock market index can help you.”
misst presents Ethical Investing is Gaining Popularity posted at Prairie Eco-Thrifter, saying, “Here are a few ways that you can become a more ethical investor.”
My Personal Finance Journey – Personal Finance and Investing Tips presents Simplify Your Asset Allocation and Remove The Impossible From Your Investing Strategy With Betterment.com posted at My Money Blog – Personal Finance and Investing, saying, “This article provides a review of a new investing tool/service available to individuals investors called Betterment. Betterment serves as a “one-stop shop” solution for investors, as it enables you to achieve instant diversification and automatic rebalancing with a < 1% expense ratio.”
Tom presents IRA Withdrawal Rules and IRA Contribution Limits posted at StupidCents, saying, “There are a lot of rules with IRA accounts. The biggest questions are what are the IRA withdrawal rules and what are the IRA contribution limits.”
Alexander presents The Dividend Growth Model posted at Dividend Stocks, saying, “One of the ways that you can screen for a good dividend stock pick is to make use of the dividend growth model.”
Dan presents 10 Dow Stocks Yielding over 3% – But How’s the Performance of Dow Dogs? posted at ETF Base, saying, “With 10 Year Treasury Yields dropping below 3%, here’s a list of Dow Stocks yielding over 3%. Also, a review of how Dogs of the Dow have performed of late.”
Dividends4Life presents 8 Dividend Stocks Yielding Over 3%, With Tiny Payout Ratios posted at Dividend Growth Stocks, saying, “Looking for a stock that will grow its dividend in the future and pay you handsomely now? The yield is not the only thing you need to focus on. You will also need to check the stock’s Free Cash Flow Payout. This tells you how much cash the stock has left over after paying the normal operating expenses. This is the cash used to pay for acquisitions, debt obligations and dividends!”
FMF presents Do You Have a Market Evacuation Strategy? posted at Free Money Finance, saying: “Can you predict market upswings and drops and get in and out at the right times? US News thinks so, but I disagree.”
Pasadena Financial Planner presents Vanguard Funds posted at Top Mutual Funds, saying, “Compares Vanguard’s actively managed mutual funds and Vanguard’s passively managed index mutual funds. Vanguard investors should read and understand this study.”
Managing Credit and Debt
Consumer Boomer presents Credit Reporting Rules posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “There are rules regarding our credit reports that you need to know.”
Andrew Boyd presents Building Reward Points Quickly: How to Get More Rewards Quickly posted at The Credit Letter, saying, “Rewards credit cards are increasingly popular, but without proper management you probably aren’t getting the most out of them”
Tim Chen presents The Walmart MoneyCard: Just Another Prepaid Debit Card to Avoid posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch, saying, “The Walmart MoneyCard is just one aspect of the superstore’s expansion into the financial arena: it also offers check cashing, bill payments, money orders and tax prep, among others.”
Miscellaneous
retirebyforty presents Groupon VS Google Offers posted at retireby40.org, saying, “Groupon is about to face it’s biggest challenge yet – the 800-lb gorilla named Google Offers.”
Ken presents Home Business Start-Up: Obtaining Business License and Permits posted at Spruce Up Your Finances, saying, “Starting a business is not as easy as just thinking of a business concept and opening your doors to the customers immediately. Before you can start conducting your business, there are a few things that you have to do such as obtaining the required business license and permits.”
The Skilled Investor presents Market Timing posted at Personal Investment Management, saying, “Always stay invested to earn risk premiums. You must have your money invested and at risk to get risk premium returns. Jumping out and in or “timing the markets” doesn’t work.”
Courtney Sperlazza presents When expensive is frugal: a stroller story posted at Well Wise Happy, saying, “As expected though,the little frugality angel on my shoulder isn’t going to sit quietly through this one. But is she telling me to go cheap? Not this time. As we just experienced,cheap strollers break. And when things break,you have to buy them again. And when you’re working hard to be frugal,buying a non-consumable over and over again is a little demoralizing.”
Retirement Planning
Jim Wilkerson presents No Load Mutual Funds posted at Best No Load Funds, saying, “Very young stock and bond mutual funds are more likely to put you into the position of being an experimental guinea pig of mutual fund companies and the ETF industry.”
PHP presents Financial Fundamentals ? The Ups and Downs of a 401(k) posted at PHP: Saving America Through Free Enterprise, saying, “The Ups and Downs of a 401(k)”
Risk Management and Insurance
Susan Howe presents 6 Worst Places To Get Into a Car Accident posted at Welcome to the Insure.com Insurance Blog: Life Insurance, Health Insurance and Car Insurance news and opinions, saying, “Here are the six worst roads to get into an accident.”
Jessica Bosari presents Six Life Insurance Policy Riders posted at Term Life Insurance | Cheap Life Insurance Quotes, saying, “These six riders can help personalize your life insurance policy to better meet your needs.”
Consumer Boomer presents How to Find the Best Fixed Annuity Rates posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “There are several things to think about when beginning to compare the best rates on a fixed annuity. Here’s a look at a few of those things.”
Pinyo presents How to Review and Update Your Homeowners Insurance posted at Moolanomy, saying, “Many people neglect to update their homeowners insurance policies as time goes on. Here are two insurance factors you must review periodically to avoid being underinsured when disaster strikes.”
Consumer Boomer presents Life Insurance for Seniors posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “Knowing the right plan to buy can be a difficult matter and takes diligent research to insure that you are choosing the right policy.”
Savings
Kevin presents Three Reasons Why I Squirrel Away My Money posted at Invest It Wisely, saying, “Embracing a philosophy of savings doesn’t mean we need to be miserly. We can be frugal and have fun at the same time. Here are the three main reasons why I squirrel away my money”
Walter W. Fouse presents Large Cap Funds posted at Best Mutual Fund, saying, “This table of low cost top 10 S&P 500 mutual funds has been organized with the lowest cost index fund first. Nevertheless, each of these S & P 500 index funds is among the least costly on the market.”
Taxes
Financial Freedom presents IRA Contributions, posted at Retirement Worksheet , saying, “The Roth tax optimization puzzle for asset conversions, as well as for annual Roth contributions during working years, is one of the most complex decisions that the ridiculously complex US taxation and retirement planning system forces upon individuals.”
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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Tags: personal capital gains taxes
Great collection here. We believe that America can only stay strong if people are financially literate. This website helps educate the public and that is so important. Thanks for including our blog on the Ups and Downs of the 401(k).
Patrick Bet-David
Founder
People Helping People