Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #238 – May 25, 2012
Welcome to the May 25, 2012 Edition #238 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
Odysseas presents Are Austria & Luxembourg Hurting American Taxpayers? posted at Wallet Blog, saying, “As evidenced by the recession, personal finance and global finance have become increasingly inseparable. The policies of one country ultimately affect the economies of others, and therefore affect the personal finances of the individual citizens of those countries. So why would anyone approve of a policy that supports tax evasion, promotes criminal activity and adds to economic strain.
Janet presents Expense budgeting posted at Fee Only Financial Planner , saying, ” Many people do not track their living expenses and do not understand the magnitude of their consumption. Failure to monitor your consumption expenditures means that they are flying blindly regarding their future finances. ”
Sean presents How is my Credit Line Determined? posted at One Smart Dollar, saying, “Understanding how your credit line is determined can be a great way to start understanding your financess.
Financial Planning
Wayne presents Summer Temptations posted at Young Family Finance, saying, “Find out how I resist the many temptations that the summer months bring. Are vacations and ice-cream worth throwing out yoru budget?
Hank presents Why I Bought Shares Of Facebook On Its IPO Opening Day posted at Money Q&A, saying, “I bought shares of Facebook yesterday on its opening day on the market after its initial public offering IPO. Should you buy shares of Facebook IPO? Here are some reasons.
Crystal presents Hilarious Hypocrisy posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, saying, “Do you even think the wine lady understands how hilarious her life decisions are? How many of us are completely overlooking our own giant blind spots?
Maria presents A need or a want: this is the problem! posted at The Money Principle, saying, “Our lives change most when there has been a seriously interruptive event in them – although we can change our lives because we want to do, we do this most efficiently and quickly when we need to.
PPlan presents How to Handle Medical Bills like a Pro posted at Provident Plan, saying, “Ah, medical bills. We all hate them but they have been part of our life since birth. As the old, wise saying goes, there is no such thing as free lunch.
John presents Finance and investing education posted at Personal Financial Planning , saying, ” I have reached the conclusion that 99+% of the financial information that is easily available through the media and the Internet is: self-interested and biased, superficial and non-implementable, historical in nature or just current “noise” reporting without any actionable utility, and/or poorly researched, just plain wrong or unmitigated rubbish.”
Jeremy presents Are Finance Bloggers Perfect Identity Theft Targets posted at Modest Money, saying, “One of the threats of the online world that we often forget about is identity theft. It’s easy to forget about those kinds of dangers as we are going about our business online. It’s one of those kinds of things that you don’t truly appreciate until it actually happens to you.
PITR presents How to Generate Interest in a New Business posted at Passive Income To Retire, saying, “Find out how you can use a promotional offer to generate interest in your new business.
PFP presents Financial planning reading list posted at Best Financial Planner , saying, ” When I work with clients to develop their customized lifetime financial and investment plans, they often ask what they should read to improve their financial literacy. ”
Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey presents The Best Financial Calculators Government and Academia Provide posted at My Personal Finance Journey, saying, “This post describes while they won’t replace the expert advice of a financial advisor, the six calculators presented are available through various federal agencies and public universities are free to the web-connected public and above all, according to the author, are trustworthy.
Tushar presents What Should You Do When an Investment Dives in Value? posted at Start Investing Money, saying, “What Should You Do When an Investment Dives in Value? on Start Investing Money
Aloysa presents The Financial Dangers of Being a Mail-Order Bride posted at My Broken Coin, saying, “In this article I talk about the dangers of being a mail-order bride!
krantcents presents The 3 P’s of Success posted at KrantCents, saying, “The 3 P’s of Success is the sixteenth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal.
Frank presents Passively Managed Funds posted at Individual Investor Strategies, saying, “Short-term mutual fund trading is a zero sum game played against other very well informed mutual fund traders and other securities market traders. On average, higher mutual fund turnover is far more likely to result in lower investment fund performance — instead of superior risk-adjusted performance.”
Corey presents When It’s Difficult to Save Money posted at 20s Finances, saying, “Do you have a difficult time saving money? Saving money should be a priority for all young adults, but we all know that it’s not that easy – is it? While I already gave you easy ways to save money, it doesn’t mean that life doesn’t get in the way. In the past few weeks, I have been reminded of how difficult it is to save money in certain times of lives.
Luke presents Revenue Bonds posted at Learn Bonds, saying, “Revenue Bonds definition and comparison of Revenue Bonds to General Obligation Municipal Bonds.
Income
Sandy presents Stay At Home Dads on The Rise posted at Yes, I am Cheap, saying, ” I’ve discovered a new term, the “Mancession” – a reflection of how badly the recession affect employment for men
Squeezer presents What to watch out for when redeeming credit card points posted at Personal Finance Success, saying, “Credit card rewards are when you receive points for making purchases with your credit card. However, there are several areas to watch out for when redeeming credit card rewards points.
Martin presents Why You Need to Stop Wasting Your Time Chasing Passive Income posted at Studenomics, saying, “You need to make real money first. Worry about passive income later.
Insurance and Risk
Jon the Saver presents Don’t Forget About Life Insurance! posted at Free Money Wisdom, saying, “Forgetting to purchase life insurance can be one of the worst mistakes you could make in your life. Don;t forget about life insurance.
Sarah presents Investment risk and returns posted at Do-It-Yourself Financial Planning , saying, ” When making personal finance and retirement planning decisions, individuals must confront the dilemma that, historically, more conservative portfolio investments have yielded substantially lower investment returns than the returns that riskier investments have delivered. With either lower or higher risk-adjusted market return strategies, you simply cannot have your financial cake and you eat it too.”
Jeff Rose presents Buying Life Insurance Online Has Never Been Easier posted at Life Insurancey By Jeff, saying, “If you want to buy life insurance online, you no longer have to worry about safety and security, and you’ll find that more options, knowledge, and services are available for online customers.
Investing
FMF presents The Shiller Ten-Year P/E Ratio posted at Free Money FInance, saying, “The Shiller P/E ratio is computed by taking the current price and dividing by the average inflation-adjusted earnings from the previous 10 years. This measurement is also known as the cyclically adjusted PE ratio (CAPE ratio), or P/E 10. In his book “Irrational Exuberance, Shiller shows that P/E 10 is correlated to the subsequent 20-year annualized return after inflation. A low P/E bodes well for the next 20 years of investing, whereas a higher P/E 10 suggests a lower expected return.
Jack Parker presents NoLoad Index Funds posted at Preferred Investment Funds, saying, “Some mutual funds and ETFs must be better than others, but which ones are they? How can you tell before the fact?”
Investor Junkie presents Tax Efficient Investing – Do You Need Everything in a Tax-Advantaged Account? posted at Investor Junkie, saying, “When it comes to investing, it’s a good idea to consider the tax consequences of your decisions. Without a plan in place, you could end up paying more tax than you really need to. While I don’t advocate avoiding taxes, I do think that legally increasing your tax efficiency is smart. As you prepare to invest, consider tax efficiency, and make a plan to properly place your investments. You might be surprised to learn that not every asset performs efficiently in a tax-advantaged retirement account.
TSI presents Mutual funds and Morningstar Ratings posted at The Skilled Investor , saying, ” Individual investors and their advisors appear to make investment decisions that are heavily influenced by the Morningstar Rating system. Because the stars are very widely used and often misunderstood, these are articles to help investors make more rational decisions about the stars.”
A Blinkin presents Stop Saying You’re Too Young…Or Too Old posted at Funancials, saying, “I used to spend all of my free time reading books about personal finance and investing boy, was that boring. About 2 months ago I started focusing more on topics such as finding your purpose and chasing your dreams. I stumbled upon a book titled The Dream Manager, which I recommend to everybody.
DJL presents Distressed Global Financial Markets posted at Nerds on Wall Street , saying, ” Stock markets are almost perfectly transparent, with full information available to all, and the best electronic clearing and settlement in history. These technologies were omitted in building the skyscraper of cards (“house of cards” seems too mild) out of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), credit default swaps (CDSs), synthetic collateralized debt obligations (SCDOs), and the rest.”
Managing Debt
Theresa Torres presents Citi Forward Review: 5 Points for Restaurants posted at CreditDonkey Review, saying, “Here’s a card that encourages good credit habits, has a fantastic cash back program and gives extra rewards, interest discounts and bonuses to responsible cardholders. Check it out!”
Penny Thots presents Who Is on Your Winning Team? posted at Penny Thots, saying, “So you have decided to take your “Finance Stuff” head on – you are excited, buzzing about your Debt Free / Mortgage Free date and brim full of various schemes for trimming pennies and snowballing your way to a brighter financial future. But maybe – just maybe, you are missing one important trick here – something that will accelerate you towards your dreams and ditch a lot of the frustration in the process — getting your “Nearest and Dearest” on board to create an unstoppable Winning Team.
Squeezer presents What is a credit card balance transfer? posted at Personal Finance Success, saying, “A balance transfer is when a credit card allows you to allocate some or all of the credit card’s credit limit to paying off debt.
Sustainable PF presents Why ‘No More Lattes’ Rarely Works posted at Sustainable Personal Finance, saying, “Who wouldve known that all this time we have been pouring caffeine-laced devils brew down our throats every morning?! If youre not aware that
SFB presents How to Be a Debt Collector’s Worst Nightmare posted at Simple Finance Blog, saying, “What are you rights when debt collectors call? How to navigate the unethical collection practices of debt collection agencies?
Real Estate
Kyle presents Woman Finds Meteorite Worth $20,000 While Walking the Dog posted at The Penny Hoarder, saying, “This is one of those stories that makes me want to get off my butt and take the dog for a walk! So get this…
Green Panda presents Where Will You Live After College? posted at Green Panda Treehouse, saying, “Should you buy a home after college?
Retirement
Tim presents Gen X in Trouble for Retirement by Social Security posted at BrilliantFinances.com, saying, “The facts show that Gen Xer’s need to plan for retirement savings to cover until at least age 85. Social security benefits will not be enough. Gen Xer’s are not saving enough. I hope this article will encourage generation X to save more toward retirement.”
YFS presents Roth vs. Traditional IRA In Depth Review posted at Your Finances Simplified, saying, “Since the conception of the Individual Retirement Arrangement IRA in 1974 from the Employment Retirement Income Security Act ERISA, it has helped thousands of individuals to save money for a comfortable retirement. Over the years, the types of IRAs …
Brock presents Retirement Spreadsheet Software posted at IRA Account Investment, saying, “Whether or not to make investments into “traditional” tax-advantaged employer accounts and IRAs versus investing in “Roth” tax-advantaged employer accounts and personal IRAs is never a straightforward nor simple financial planning decision.”
Squeezer presents Why Social Security should not be your sole source of retirement income posted at Personal Finance Success, saying, “What happens if one depends on Social Security for retirement? I explain the risk and other options that are available.
Whitney presents Retirement Planning Worksheets posted at Retirement Saving Plans, saying, “While personal wealth should measure current financial investments and other salable assets, it should also measure your ability to sustain your household budget, build up your investment portfolio, and weather potential financial risk and misfortune across your lifetime.”
FMF presents Five Expenses You Won’t Have in Retirement posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “You’ve probably heard it said that during retirement you’ll need roughly 80% of your pre-retirement income. This line of thinking has two inherent assumptions: 1. What you make while you work is fairly close to what you need/spend. 2. There will be certain expenses you have now that will go away during retirement.
Savings
Sicorra presents Let’s Talk Money – The Series – With Erika at From Shopping to Saving posted at Tackling Our Debt, saying, “Please check out this week’s Let’s Talk Money interview with Erika from the very popular blog known as From Shopping to Saving.”
MR presents Beyond Frugal – Fixing My Son’s Broken Bike posted at Money Reasons, saying, ” Satisfaction from fixing my son’s broken brake levers and a video to demonstate how to do frugally it.
Jeremy Waller presents Oh Noes! The Facebook IPO! posted at Personal Finance Whiz, saying, “Today is the big day. The day that Facebook goes public and makes Mark Zukerberg the 29th richest person in the world. Its unreal how much hype is surrounding this IPO. I dont know if its because its one of the biggest IPOs in history or if its simply because its Facebook.
Financial Freedom presents Personal Savings Rates posted at My Financial Freedom Plan , saying, ” Understand how your current savings rate and retirement withdrawal rate would affect all of your lifetime personal financial planning goals ”
Daniel presents Our Decision To Join Our Finances posted at Sweating the Big Stuff, saying, “When Lauren and I got engaged last year, we had an important decision to make: did we want to combine finances or keep them separate?
Eddie presents Car Buying Guide – Part 1 – I Bought a New Used Car posted at Finance Fox, saying, “My goal with this car buying guide is to offer you something to take out from my car buying experience. Buying a used car is NOT the only way to go. There are other options.
Taxes
Jen presents How to Start Saving Money Even if you’re always broke posted at Master the Art of Saving, saying, “Yep, that’s right…broke people can save money too.
Monroe presents Roth IRA Conversions posted at Do-It-Yourself Financial Planning , saying, ” This article could help you to make a more informed decision about your family’s Roth investment strategy. Key to you making a better decision about your lifetime Roth account contribution and asset conversion strategy is the need for a sophisticated financial planning software tool.”
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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Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs originally appeared on Planting Money Seeds on May 25, 2012.