Owner: Saving to Invest URL:www.savingtoinvest.com Join Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:44:05 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Ideas and Thoughts on the Journey towards Financial Freedom by Saving Effectively and Investing Wisely Site statistics:Click here
Debit Cards linked to your 401(k)! Danger ahead. 2008-07-18 10:23:58 Reserve Management Corp (RMC) is offering a service to employees that allows debit cards to be linked
to 401(k) plans, for easy withdrawal of funds. Their Chairman, Bruce R. Bent, justified this offering by saying that they encourage employees to sign up for retirement accounts and that they reduce the dollar amount of loans taken out against them". Mr. Bent also said in an interview that " the ca Read more:ahead
, Cards
, Danger
, Debit
Shopping Effectively 2008-07-17 10:28:40 Over the weekend I went shopping to a large outlet mall with some friends visiting from interstate. During the shopping trip, which lasted about 2hrs, they spent close to $1000 on clothing and other merchandise. I was a bit flabbergasted that they could spend so much so fast, with little apprehension. I asked my friend, whom I knew was not particularly rich and quite frugal, how they afforded this Read more:Effectively
, Shopping
US dollar update, outlook and opinions 2008-07-16 07:55:35 "Dollar declines to new low". This statement could be applied against any number of currencies as the US dollar or Greenback keeps trending lower. The dollar declined to $1.6038 per euro, the lowest since the Euro's inception in 1999. It fell to 104.97 yen, from 106.14 yen yesterday. The U.S. dollar also declined to a 25-year low against the resource driven and higher yielding Australian and Cana
Say NO to annual credit card fees 2008-07-12 09:20:00 I just cancelled my United Chase credit
card and saved $60 in annual fees. Not bad for about 20 minutes work, which involved calling the credit company and moving some automatic payments to my AMEX Blue Cash card which has no annual fee. I had had the United chase card for about 3 years, primarily for the United mileage plus points which were useful as I travelled a lot. However as my travel requi
Investing lessons for the young 2008-07-11 08:34:17 How many times have you looked back on life and wished that you had started investing earlier? Teaching your children, or grandchildren, a few simple lessons about saving and investing can start them off in the right direction toward a secure financial future.Step 1: The value of savingsTeaching your children about saving money for a specific purpose is key to instilling good investment habits for Read more:Investing
, young
How to deal with higher taxes 2008-08-25 11:09:18 With our growing national debt and continued increase in government (bailout) spending, taxes are going up sooner or later. Despite the presidential candidate's political mutterings, the only way to finance our high national debt and afford to pay for long term public obligations (such as medicare and social security) will be to increase taxes or remove existing tax breaks. Forbes recently ran a d
Characteristics required for successful blogging 2008-08-24 07:28:56 Here is part of a guest post I wrote a while back at Free Money Finance, covering how I successfully made money from my maths tutoring (part-time) job.This got me to thinking on how my approach to tutoring paralleled my current success in personal finance blogging. Following the guest post excerpt, I provide some of the common success characteristics required to do well in (part-time) blogging!It'
US Citizenship and Immigration - Saving Money and tips on the Application process 2008-08-22 09:37:33 I finally got around to submitting my US Citizenship papers a few weeks ago! It is a big step for me as I adopt this country as my permanent home, but something I feel very proud to do. It has taken about 7 years since I started the immigration process to finally becoming eligible and submitting for citizenship. The biggest hassle (and cost) was all the paperwork around the process which included Read more:Application
, Money
, Saving
A look at the Pros and Cons of Reverse Mortgages 2008-08-20 17:14:49 This is an edited guest post from Cliff Auerswald of All Reverse
Mortgage Company. He initially connected with me regarding content on this blog and given he works in the mortgage industry, I thought I would ask him to provide the pros and cons of reverse mortgages from an insider's perspective. Reverse mortgages are becoming an increasingly popular financing offering with our aging baby boomer po
The A to Z of good personal finance (Part 2: L to Z) 2008-08-18 10:27:43 My last post on the A-Z of good personal finance
finished off on the letter L. Here now is the rest of my personal finance saving and investing philosophy "letters". I have also embedded links back to posts that relate or provide more detail on the letter's topic.L - Long term investing. You need to have this view if you want to really build your net worth. Short term investing or trading rarely
Here we go again - Financial Crisis, chapter 13 2008-08-18 09:45:15 The financial media are again harbingers of more doom and gloom today, citing a Barron's article and host of so called "experts" predicting that the financial crisis is not only far from over but could actually get much worse, bringing more big shocks to the US economy and stock markets. Among the predictions: the failure of some of the country's biggest financial institutions, the collapse of 1,0 Read more:Crisis
, Financial
A new and more useful Social Security benefits calculator 2008-08-16 11:23:06 A colleague recently sent me a WSJ article covering a new calculator on the Social
Security's administration's web site that gives a much-improved picture of what social security benefits could look like in retirement. This calculator is all part of a major upgrade of the Social Security
Administration's systems and website to provide a faster and easier way to file for Social Security benefits on
Too expensive to file for bankruptcy 2008-08-15 10:35:28 The online WSJ recently ran a piece on the rising costs of bankruptcy
: Individuals who have filed for bankruptcy protection since Congress overhauled U.S. bankruptcy laws in 2005 have faced a more expensive process as attorneys' fees have risen by roughly half, according to a government report. In a report issued Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said attorneys' fees for individual
Investment ideas from Barron's/Value Line fund manager survey 2008-08-13 20:59:46 Here are some excerpts from the latest Barron
's/Value
Line survey which provides insight into where the top-ranked mutual-fund manager
s are investing and their outlook for the year ahead. The survey aims to identify investment professionals who consistently beat peers with similar investment objectives over a period of at least three years, without undue volatility in returns. The fund managers in Read more:ideas
Working and Living in Dubai - Is all that glitters gold 2008-08-13 10:49:03 Dubai
, the shining light of the Middle East, is going gangbusters. It has enjoyed two decades of rapid growth, going from a small desert city to a western society representation of the riches the Arab world has to offer. The economic growth has fueled strong demand for foreign workers and they have been coming in troves to this Desert oasis in the pursuit of (tax free) wealth and a pampered lifes Read more:Living
Launch of The Finance Blog Network 2008-08-11 22:12:28 I would like to announce the launch of The Finance Blog Network. The network launches with three initial core members: Curt from Penny Jobs, Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator, and I. While we chose to start small, we will be looking to expand and take on like minded bloggers in the coming weeks/months. If you would like to join, please check out the guidelines and contact us via the provided conta Read more:Launch
House Prices decline around the world 2008-09-17 09:51:10 It's confirmed. The United States of America has suffered the largest home price decline in the western world over the last two years. The Economist provided a house price index which compared America's 15% house price drops (based on the S&P/Case-Shiller national index) to a number of other developed countries. This goes a long way to explaining the recent financial collapse and government ta Read more:House
, House Prices
, Prices
Another Inevitable Government (AIG) Billion Dollar Bailout 2008-09-17 09:00:13 Well, the next big company on the chopping block this week was insurance company AIG. Unlike Merrill and Lehman, it was able to secure government assistance through a $85 billion emergency cash injection. The government and fed officials justified the loan by saying AIG was another “too big too fail” institution that had to be saved in order to prevent further financial and economic turmoil. " Read more:Billion Dollar
, Dollar
, Government
, Inevitable
Employee Impacts from the Financial Meltdown 2008-09-15 23:01:01 A number of employees in the financial services industry have even more reason to be concerned about their jobs after the collapse of storied financial institutions Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Merrill Lynch (MER). This follows on the heels of the Treasury Department's seizure last week of the nation's two mortgage giants, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which are under organizational review. While a num Read more:Employee
, Financial
, Meltdown
Freeze Foreclosures! What's next - Freeze credit card debt? 2008-09-14 08:48:00 Bloomberg reports that US banking committee senators have asked regulatory bodies (FHFA) now controlling mortgage giants Freddie and Fannie to freeze foreclosures for 90 days in order to "provide immediate relief to many homeowners'' and let the companies "turn these non-performing loans into performing assets to minimize losses". Lawmakers and bank regulators, including Federal Reserve Chairman B Read more:credit
, Foreclosures
, Freeze
Musings and Wrap-up 2008-09-13 15:49:27 Is it me or do others find the new Microsoft ads, featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, a bit strange and off topic in terms of trying to promote Microsoft and thwart the Apple Mac/PC campaign? I can only assume it is some kind of new marketing approach/plan to build up to something amazing, otherwise a lot of money and brand credibility has been wasted. You can see the ads in this series here Read more:Musings
High Yield Saving Account Rates Compared Globally 2008-09-12 08:18:48 In America we can get Annual Percentage Yield
s (APY) or savings rates between 3% and 3.5% for money kept in high yield on-line saving accounts. One might feel quite good about earning 3.5% by putting our cash into one of the many available on-line saving accounts, especially when compared to the large negative returns from stock markets over the last year. However, having lived overseas and still Read more:Account
, Rates
, Saving
Five Positive Economic Signs to Cheer 2008-09-11 06:15:01 With all the doom and gloom headlines splashed across the financial media it is no wonder that everyone thinks we are headed for the next great depression with little hope of a recovery. Yet there are definitely some positive economic signs out there amid all the negative press - you just need to look past all the bad press! Now I am not saying things aren't bad or that we are not in an economic s Read more:Cheer
, Economic
, Positive
Ten Car Buying Tips to Getting a Great Deal 2008-09-09 09:17:13 After driving the same family car for the last 7 years, my wife and I decided it was time to get a new car that provided better fuel efficiency and some of the nice to have modern features. Not having bought a car for quite some time meant that I had to extensively research the market for the car we wanted, figure out price ranges and to sharpen my negotiation skills for getting the best deal I co Read more:Buying
, Great
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac takeover and conservatorship - Impacts and Outcomes 2008-09-07 11:00:56 The treasury along with the Federal Reserve and Federal Housing regulator (FHFA) announced a take over via conservatorship of the government sponsored entities of Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae. Current actions will definitely provide a cushion, but long term structural reform is needed to ensure this does not happen again and tax payer bailout losses are minimized. They (the government) have protecte Read more:Outcomes
Jobs and Housing - The one two punch. Start growing your emergency funds now 2008-09-05 12:12:04 The Labor Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate in August jumped to a near five-year high of 6.1%, versus the market expectation of 5.7%. Nonfarm payrolls shrank by 84,000 in August, more than the 75,000 decline expected by economists. Today's figures indicate the labor market is deteriorating faster than U.S. central bankers expected, with none of the Fed governors and district Read more:Housing
, Start
Real Tax deductions that may surprise you 2008-09-05 09:21:01 This is a guest post from a new and promising blogger in the personal finance and taxation space. Bruce, who is a professional tax preparer and adviser, runs the Tax Guy blog. He has some great tax related articles at his site and given he is qualified to talk taxes, it is worth heeding some of his tips and advice. Even though I think I have a reasonable handle on taxes, I definetly learnt somethi
The Beige Book and the State of the Economy 2008-09-04 16:02:32 If you pay attention to the financial news, one report or reference that keeps popping up every other month in relation to the Federal Reserve is the Beige
book. This is not some top secret or highly complex book, but rather contains the Fed's latest snapshot of business and economic conditions looking at factors such as housing, manufacturing, credit, prices, wages and financial market conditions Read more:State
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