Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs
Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #102 - August 14, 2009
Welcome to the August 14, 2009 Edition #102 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
Ben Dinsmore presents How to Avoid Buying Crap You Don’t Need posted at Trees Full of Money, saying, “We’ve all faced a little buyers remorse at some point in our financial lives. We ask ourselves, did I really need that boat, stereo, or seude skirt? Here is a tactic my wife and I have developed to help us determine if a purchase is really worth our money.”
Susan Saverton presents Living Expense Tracking posted at Family Financial Planner, saying, “If you do not understand how much you spend and how much you are saving and investing, you simply do not have a financial plan. This situation dramatically increases your family’s long-term financial risk.”
Dorian Wales presents The Personal Financier: Personal Finance Management: Budget vs. Net Worth posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “While it may be recommended to manage both a budget and net-worth sometimes focus leads to better results.”
Economics
Super Saver presents Expecting Another Bubble posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Low interest rates are bound to create another bubble. Hopefully, by expecting one, I can protect our savings better that during the housing and financial crash.”
Roshawn Watson presents The Rich Get Poorer posted at Watson Inc, saying, “The implications of this recent recession have been far-reaching enough to put a big dent in American and world wealth. Both the magnitude of wealth and the number of millionaires decreased profoundly in 2008.”
Finance Tips 101 presents 5 Simple Tips To Help You Save Money posted at Finance Tips 101.
Dorian Wales presents On Causality and Correlation in Economics posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “Causality is perhaps the most fundamental element of empirical evidence available to economists. However, it is also the source of many misconceptions due to its elusive nature.”
Estate Planning
Jeff Rose presents Taking Care of an Elderly Parent posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “Find of what you need to do when you have to become the parent of your parents.”
Financial Planning
TIP Guy presents How to Execute Asset Allocation – Yale Fund Example posted at TIPBlog.in, saying, “The message I am trying to convey is, blindly allocating your assets and hoping it safe guards against risk, is a folly. A true asset allocation is based on any asset’s expected return and understanding its volatility/risk.”
The Smarter Wallet presents How To Build Good Credit and Clean Up Bad Credit posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Here’s how to work on cleaning up your bad credit.”
Jeff Rose presents Changing Careers? How To Become a Certified Financial Planner posted at Jeff Rose.
Patrick @ Military Money presents How Much Life Insurance Do Military Members Need? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Military members may have different life insurance needs than civilians. Here is information regarding how much life insurance military members should buy, and some resources for finding the best life insurance deals.”
Four Pillars presents Make Home Affordable Refinance Program Changes Eligibility Requirements For Easier Refinancing posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Making Home Affordable refinance program eases requirements.”
KCLau presents I achieved financial freedom at 38 posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “This post is contributed by WaiYin, a reader whom I admire very much because she achieved financial freedom at age 38! Here, she shares how she did it.”
nissim ziv presents Retirement: Careers after Retirement ? Planning Advice posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “The retirement ages all over the world are decreasing. While previously people used to retire at the age of sixty or even seventy, today the people are retiring from professional lives even at the age of fifty or even forty. This article provides retirement career planning advice i.e. - financial ideas and points to consider for careers after retirement.”
Big Cajun Man presents Mid-Year Personal Finance Check Up posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Mid year is a good time to go over your plan for the year to see how well you are doing, so do it now!”
KCLau presents Why Robert T. Kiyosaki is a best-selling author? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Robert T. Kiyosaki is the best personal finance author I follow. I started reading his books back in 1999. Although some reviews you found written by readers on Amazon say that he keeps repeating most of the points, I still find them interesting every time. It works as a revision whenever he repeats.”
Jae Jun presents Portfolio Management and Asset Allocation | Old School Value posted at Old School Value, saying, “Concentrate or diversify? A discussion on how to manage your investment portfolio and decide how to allocate assets.”
Susan Saverton presents Personal Investing Strategies posted at Family Financial Planning, saying, “When pursuing optimal financial planning and investing strategies and controlling your costs and capital gains taxes, you also need to establish a time-efficient system to monitor, adjust, and adhere to your financial plan. You need to control and limit the time that you spend on your financial planning, and you need to focus your planning efforts on the most effective activities.”
Financing a Home
FMF presents Now’s the Time to Buy a House posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Has the housing market hit bottom? If so, now’s the best time to buy a new home.”
Dan Green presents FHA Q&A: Addressing The Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker Shutdown posted at The Mortgage Reports, saying, “Taylor Bean’s shutdown has spawned a lot of questions from affected FHA borrowers. Here’s 20 of the more common ones.”
Alex Fotopoulos presents When is it Smart to Refinance a Mortgage? posted at My Trader’s Journal, saying, “Some key points to consider when refinancing your home.”
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents What Do You Do When You Face Possible Foreclosure? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “What are your options when you face foreclosure?”
Financing Education
Kate Hopkins presents 100 Free Tools to Create Your Own Personal MBA Program posted at Online Colleges.
Praveen presents Students Beware! Colleges, Tuition, Loans, and Debt - Will Education Follow the Housing Bust? posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Tips for students to avoid excessive loans and debt”
Income
FMF presents My Jobs, I Get My Dream Job posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “This post details the twists and turns associated with me getting my dream job and lists several key career-building principles I learned in the process.”
Praveen presents Easy Ways to Generate Cash posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Easy ways to generate extra cash”
Investing
Vahid Chaychi presents Money Management Is the Critical Part of Forex Trading posted at Forex Signals | Forex Market Analysis | Online Currency Trading Education, saying, “Money management is the most important part of forex trading. Without following the money management rules, forex trading will be nothing but loss.”
Dividend Tree presents Which High Do You Prefer? posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “High profitability or high income, or high EPS growth rate as a standalone does not provide a true picture. We can get a true picture by looking for consistency. Two simple statistical measures of average and standard deviation can help us measure consistency.”
The Smarter Wallet presents Online Stock Brokers With Cheap Brokerage Fees posted at The Smarter Wallet
Darwin presents How do Stock Options Work? Trade Calls and Puts – Part 1 posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “Everything you need to know about how stock options work - from generating income to pure speculation, with examples and resources included.”
Investing Toolkit presents Dollar Cost Averaging Basics posted at Investing Toolkit, saying, “All about dollar cost averaging.”
Dorian Wales presents The Personal Financier: Diversification is Dead. Long live Diversification posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “Don’t give up on diversification through asset allocation just yet”
Zach Scheidt presents Verso Paper Breaking Out From the Brink of Death posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Verso Paper Corp (VRS) has been under intense pressure relating to excessive debt and a lack of paper orders. A slight improvement could touch off a sharp reversal in fortunes, however, as many competitors are now gone. Debts have been re-negotiated and are no longer so serious.”
The Smarter Wallet presents Stock Mutual Funds: Building Your First Investment Portfolio posted at The Smarter Wallet
Dividend Tree presents Apple - Great Products But Is It a Great Investment? | Dividend Tree posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “I am one of those millions of aficionados who love Apple products. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same when it comes to investing. Questions like these make me wary of investing in Apple.”
The Skilled Investor presents Personal Investment Management posted at Personal Investment Manager, saying, “Investors more easily understand investment costs that are directly measurable, such as fees deducted on investment statements. However, many investors ignore or are unaware of the opportunity costs of their sub-optimal investment behaviors. Opportunity costs are usually much more difficult to measure directly, but these investment costs can be even higher than more visible investment fees.”
Marc Ryan presents IndependentInvestor.info - What’s new on the web: buy and hold investing derailed posted at IndependentInvestor.info, saying, “We look at the case of a self investor which received a lot of media attention a few months ago. The investor, Derek Foster, at the worst of the financial crisis, liquidated his entire buy and hold portfolio. What lessons can we learn six months later?”
Manshu presents Green ETF List posted at OneMint, saying, “List of green ETFs, that tell you which funds invest in green energy.”
Steve Alexander presents The Penalty for Ignoring Goodwill - MagicDiligence posted at MagicDiligence - Optimizing Joel Greenblatts Value Stock Strategy, saying, “Joel Greenblatt’s Magic Formula strategy subtracts out goodwill accounting when calculating a return on capital figure. What are the ramifications, both positive and negative, of doing this and how can we apply it to MFI stock analysis?”
Jimmy Atkinson presents Sugar ETF Surges On Supply Concerns posted at ETF Database.
Zach Scheidt presents Chesapeake Cuts Deal With PXP - “Lump Sum Please…” posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Chesapeake Energy (CHK) Amended a joint venture agreement with Plains Exploration (PXP) and will receive $1.1 billion in cash at the end of September. The liquidity will help repair the balance sheet as CHK continues to grow reserves.”
Larry Russell presents Best Noload Mutual Funds posted at NoLoad Mutual Funds, saying, “Taken as a whole, the vast body of investment research studies show that there really are better approaches to buying and owning mutual funds and ETFs. You do not need to frantically chase fund performance. Performance chasing simply does not work.”
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.”
ABC presents Different Types of Stock Market Indexes posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “How different types of stock market indexes work.”
Dividend Tree presents BRIC Acronym? Does it Have Any Relevance? posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “This BRIC label does not have any fundamental basis other than emerging markets. There are thousands of companies in all four economies, and clubbing all together to preparing a representative fund of few tens, or few hundreds does not make sense to me. Also, the idea that one can capture and hedge by investing in BRIC based funds is something that I cannot understand.”
Tom Escent presents Quantitative Finance posted at Nerds on Wall Street, saying, “Think of this book as sort of a Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wired Markets. There are no robots parking cars for six million years, but there are robots trading millions of shares in six milliseconds, so maybe that’s close enough.”
ABC presents Some Index Funds and ETFs Are Not Diversified posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Some ETFs and index funds are too specific and risky for a passive investor.”
Frank Vertin presents Best Index Funds posted at Best Index Funds, saying, “Buying an S&P 500 index fund through an investment counselor can substantially increase your initial purchasing costs and and drive up your annual management expense fees. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individual investors buy mutual funds and ETFs through brokers and investment advisers. Rarely do financial advisors recommend that you buy index funds with low fees. This is because low cost, no load mutual funds do not pay them as well as loaded, high fee mutual funds.”.
Zach Scheidt presents Neutral Tandem Offers Attractive Entry posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Neutral Tandem (TNDM) is trading lower after releasing earnings last week. The company continues to grow exponentially, but investors were “buying the rumor, selling the news.” Look for the stock to rebound in coming weeks.”
Martha Jackson presents ETF Hall Of Shame: Nine Exchange-Traded Debacles posted at ETFdb.
Managing Debt
Raj Patel presents Consumer Bankruptcy Peak… Debt and Employment Related posted at DebtGoal, saying, “Debt management and career strategies are interrelated. Here’s how.”
MoneyNing presents AnnualCreditReport.com For Free Credit Reports posted at Money Ning, saying, “AnnualCreditReport.com should be the only way to get a free credit report.”
BrandonLaughridge presents Credit Scores: How Important Are They? posted at Mortgage Loan Place Blog, saying, “Learn how to improve your credit score and why it matters.”
Credit Shout presents What are score cards and how do they affect my credit score? posted at CreditShout, saying, “A hidden aspect of credit scores exists and it relies on a comparison of your credit report to your peers. Many credit scoring models will compare you and your history to other consumers that have similar profiles instead of lumping everyone together.
Roshawn Watson presents Outrageous Law Transfers Parents’ Debt To YOU posted at Watson Inc, saying, “With few exceptions, such as a divorce decree, you are not legally liable for debts you have not personally signed for or agreed to pay. There is an inherent sense of fairness to this principle: your finances cannot be obligated to pay for something without your consent (except perhaps to the taxman or to your dependents). However, an archaic law in Pennsylvania is being enforced to make adult children to pay for their parents’ debts.”
Miscellaneous
Investing School presents What is Net Working Capital? posted at Investing School, saying, “Net working capital is one of the most important asset to have.”
Four Pillars presents 2009 Cash For Clunkers Program - Trade In Your Old Junker For Money posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “A comprehensive look at the new Cash for Clunkers trade-in program.”
Noload Bonds presents Bond Index Funds posted at Bond Index Funds, saying, “Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. The best bond fund buying strategy is to pick only very low-cost no load bond funds.”
ChristianPF presents Got errors on your credit report? posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog.
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Is Your Car Eligible for the Cash For Clunkers Program? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “There is a lot of confusion regarding which vehicles are eligible for the $3,500 to $4,500 voucher for the Cash for Clunkers program.”
Silicon Valley Blogger presents Cheap Web Hosting Services For Those On A Budget posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “This post is on how to start an online business using the resources I provide. I talk about how I started blogging and how I decided to invest in the right kind of services to ensure the success of my business.”
Jeff Rose presents What Is Your Quizzle Score? posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “Your Quizzle score is an easy way to keep track of your credit score.”
Tyler Tervooren presents Improve Your Water Heater Efficiency And Save $125 A Year posted at Frugally Green, saying, “Don’t let your electricity bill get you down. If you spend the next weekend implementing a few really simple changes to your water heater, you could improve its performance by 25% or more. That’s cash in your pocket, bank account, or investment portfolio, not to mention less carbon in the atmosphere.”
Barbara Williams presents 100 Productive Ways to Spend Your Summer Vacation posted at Online Courses.org.
Retirement Planning
Tom Drake presents What Is The Canada Pension Plan (CPP)? | The Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is part of Canada’s retirement income system.”
Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Tips for Managing Your 401k Plan posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Tips for managing your 401k plan and other retirement contributions.”
MoneyNing presents 401k, Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Savings Not The Same posted at Money Ning, saying, “When you plan for retirement, do you really look into the tax situation and how it will affect your account balances?”
Patrick @ Military Money presents Is REDUX Retirement Worth it? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “REDUX is a military retirement option that offers military members a $30,000 Career Service bonus in return for a lower monthly pension. But is it worth it?”
Super Saver presents Planning to Retire Later also has Risks posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “The option to continue working is no longer easily controlled by the employee.”
Jeff Rose presents 5 Year Rule for Roth IRA Qualified Distributions posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “How to get your money out of a Roth IRA tax and penalty free all depends on the five year rule.”
Top 10 Index Funds presents S&P 500 Index Funds posted at Top 10 Index Funds, saying, “Buy these top 10 very low cost no load S&P 500 index mutual funds directly. You do not have to pay the heavy added expenses of buying through a stock broker, financial adviser, investment adviser, or investment counselor.”
Super Saver presents A Gift of Retirement Funds posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “A relatively small lump sum investment of $10,000 can lead to a significant sized nest egg at retirement.”
Savings
Patrick @ Money Saving Deals presents Chase Bank $150 Coupon Code for New Chase Checking Account posted at Cash Money Life Deals, saying, “Get a $150 sign up bonus with Chase Bank Checking Account.”
Curt presents Cash For Clunkers Program Will Cost The Poor Their Cars posted at PennyJobs.com.
Taxes
jim presents How to Enjoy a Tax Free Vacation posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Jeff Rose presents Cash for Clunkers Tax Rules posted at Jeff Rose.
Steve Patterson presents ARRA Provides Tax Benefits to Businesses | 2009 Taxes posted at 2009 Taxes, saying, “Tax benefits for business in the ARRA tax act should be taken a look at including the new Renewable Energy Incentives.”
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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