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Financial Planning and Personal Investment This Week

The Skilled Investor — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:09:31 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Financial Planning and Personal Investment This Week

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #96 - July 2, 2009

Welcome to the July 3, 2009 Edition #96 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

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.”

ChristianPF presents 7 free budgeting worksheets posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “These worksheets will help you keep your budget on track…”

Tom Drake presents Keep Track Of Your Money With Wesabe | The Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Wesabe is a free website that allows you to track your expenses and savings.”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Free Online Money Management Tools posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Here are the best free online money management tools, including Mint, Quicken Online, Yodlee, and others.”

Susan Saverton presents Living Expense Tracking Methods 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.”

Abigail Perry presents Spending: Frustration and irrational guilt posted at i pick up pennies, saying, “Even the strictest budgeter will generally allow for some small treat. But, especially in the middle of debt reduction, even the tiniest indulgence can trigger an overactive guilt complex. How do you cope?”

Barry presents Learn To Survive On A $100 Grocery Budget posted at Associate Money.

Economics

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.”

Finance Tips 101 presents Car Donations? Knowing The Facts posted at Finance Tips 101.

Zach Scheidt presents Healthcare “Discussion Draft” Raises More Questions than Answers posted at ZachStocks, saying, “A new proposed healthcare plan would provide medical coverage for 95% of Americans. However, details on how the government will pay for this coverage is unclear.”

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.”

Financial Planning

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.”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Do You Need Long Term Care Insurance? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Do you need long term care insurance? When should you but it and how much should you get?”

Jeff Rose presents Cash Your Social Security Check Now Not Later posted at Jeff Rose.

Susan Saverton presents Efficiency of 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.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents What’s The Best Savings Account? posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

MoneyNing presents Side Hustle, Self Employed, Entrepreneurship posted at Money Ning, saying, “There’s really not many overnight success. Work hard and take it one step at a time!”

Ray @ Financial Highway presents Honeymoon Planning Tips posted at Financial Highway, saying, “It’s wedding and honeymoon planning season, here are some tips to make honeymoon planning easier for you.”

Financing Education

Patrick @ Military Money presents Tax Advantages of 529 Plans posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Tax advantages for the 529 College Savings plan.”

Financing a Home

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.”

Health Care

Hal LaPray presents Geography Plays Role of Disparator in Approval Rates for Disability Benefits posted at Disability Information & Resources, saying, “Whether or not you’re approved for Social Security benefits may depend on where you live. A survey of more than 200 Social Security Attorneys nationwide revealed that one of the most important factors in determining whether or not a disabled person will be approved for Social Security benefits is Geography.”

Income

Praveen presents Easy Ways to Generate Cash posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Easy ways to generate extra cash”

FMF presents The Most Useful Thing Students Can Do to Prepare for the Job Market posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “The one things students should do to prepare themselves for the job market.”

Investing

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.”

Frank Vertin presents Just Buy Index Funds Directly 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.”.

Alex Fotopoulos presents Moved MON and SLB Options to July Expiration posted at My Trader’s Journal, saying, “Alex posted details of how his options finished this month’s options’ expiration on June 19th.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Use Candlestick Charts, Trading Signals To Evaluate The Stock Market posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

ABC presents Investment Time Horizons for Retirees posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Discussing investment asset allocations and time horizons for retirees.”

Marc Ryan presents IndependentInvestor.info - Morningstar’s verdict: Canada still last for mutual fund expense level posted at IndependentInvestor.info, saying, “mutual funds, morningstar, self investing, DIY investing, investor”

PuneetKapoor presents The Art of Selection - Part 2 posted at KuberKhana -Indian Stock Fundamental Analysis, saying, “A discussion on how to select stocks. It has universal appeal.”

nickel presents Index Mutual Funds vs. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) posted at fivecentnickel.com, saying, “Taking a closer look at low-cost index mutual funds vs. exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track the same indices.”

Zach Scheidt presents Three Investment Trends Benefiting From Cap and Trade posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Cap and Trade will likely be a negative for the economy as a whole, but there are three primary investment themes which could benefit from this legislation. Alternative Energy, Financial Exchanges, and Construction / Infrastructure.”

Darwin presents Structured Notes: Products Deliver Guaranteed Returns in any Market posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “How the alternative investment class of Structured Notes can deliver guaranteed returns while limiting downside - if you understand the risks.”

Manshu presents Silver ETF List posted at OneMint.

Larry Russell presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs 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.”

KCLau presents What is the best investment? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “The best investment comes in many forms. I was frequently asked this same question over and over again. Let’s see how some successful people answer the same question”

The Smarter Wallet presents Use Candlestick Charts, Trading Signals To Evaluate The Stock Market posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “We look into how to use candlestick charts to analyze the stock market.”

Zach Scheidt presents LogMeIn IPO Plans to Raise $67 million - Where Will the Money Go? posted at ZachStocks, saying, “The LogMeIn IPO will raise $67 million for the remote PC access firm. New stock offerings may boost investor confidence, but this offering could prove to be dangerous.”

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.”

FMF presents The Best Way to Maximize Your Investment Return posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Between rate of return, amount invested, and time invested, what is the one factor that most influences your total investment return? The answer and how much it determines your success will surprise you.”

ABC presents Should I Invest In Dividend Stocks (and what are they?) posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “An explanation of dividend stocks and why you might want to invest in them.”

Praveen presents Two Recommended Stocks: ATVI and WOOF posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Analysis of two growth stocks.”

Tom Escent presents Introduction to Nerds on Wall Street posted at Quantitative Finance, 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.”

The Skilled Investor presents Most Individual Investors Are Poor Personal Portfolio Managers | 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.”

Dividends4Life presents Four Stocks With Strong Dividend Growth Metrics posted at Dividends Value, saying, “When evaluating a company as a potential income investment you look at its calculated fair value, ability to generate cash, debt position and the net present value of its dividend stream compared alternative “safe” investments.”

Managing Debt

Tushar Mathur presents When It Pays To Use Cash For Purchases posted at Everything Finance, saying, “For years there have been many consumers who have charged through life (pun intended) putting any and all expenses on their trusty credit card. Roughly half of those consumers managed their accounts responsibly and benefited from the many perks associated with using their credit card and paying the balance in full each month. The other half….well many of those people are dealing with the fall out from the economy and struggling with high levels of debt.”

SpendOnLife.com presents Is Google the New Credit Bureau on the Block? posted at SpendOnLife, saying, “How Google estimates your credit score based on what websites you view.”

Four Pillars presents Balance Transfer Credit Cards - What Are They And Why You Might Want To Get One posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Some benefits and drawbacks of zero percent balance transfer credit cards.”

Miscellaneous

Britannica Blog presents Vigilante Justice: Elderly Gang Tortures Financial Planner Who Lost Them Millions posted at Britannica Blog, saying, “Speyer, Germany—A group of wealthy, elderly pensioners has been accused of kidnapping and torturing a financial adviser who lost some $4 million of their savings.”

kathryn presents Michael Jackson?s Financial Legacy posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “There’s no doubt Michael Jackson lived large. With fame hitting at such a young age, fortune was not far behind. Business Week reported that Jackson supposedly spent up to $30 million a year on clothes, travel and toys for the Neverland Ranch. With the artist’s passing, he not only leaves a legacy as the King of Pop, but also a financial legacy that includes millions in debt and two very valuable assets.”

Noload Bonds presents Bond Mutual Fund Fees 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.”

Retirement Planning

Jeff Rose presents What’s in a Number? Choosing a Withdrawal Rate for Your Retirement Assets posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “Learn how much you can withdraw from your investment portfolio in retirement safely.”

Dan at Everydayfinance presents 401K Cuts to Matching Contributions Coming - Time to Exit? posted at Everyday Finance, saying, “This article examines an alarming trend of companies cutting their 401K matching contributions and questions how you’d handle such a move by your company.”

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.”

Top 10 Index Funds presents Top 10 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.”

Risk Management and Insurance

Helen presents Is title insurance worth buying? posted at Affine Financial Services, saying, “Title insurance protects your most important asset — your home — but at what cost? A GAO report reveals a bad deal for consumers.”

Savings

MoneyNing presents How to Save Money Every Month posted at Money Ning, saying, “Recurring expenses really add up. Here are a whole bunch of ways to save money, month after month after month.”

Four Pillars presents Benefits Of An Online High Interest Savings Account posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Analyzing some of the benefits of getting a good rate for an online high interest savings account.”

Taxes

Super Saver presents How Taxes are Increasing for the Not-So-Rich posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Surprise, it seems that taxes are going up for those that are not-so-rich.

Patrick @ Military Money presents Disabled Veterans to Receive $250 Stimulus Checks posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Information about who receives the $250 economic recovery check (or stimulus check), including retirees, social security recipients, railroad retirees, and disabled veterans.”

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.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:41:47 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #93 - June 13, 2009

Welcome to the June 13, 2009 Edition #93 of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor, Editor

Budgeting

Peter cantelo presents Cash Flow in a Crisis - Top 4 Financial Steps In a Recession posted at vivavi.co.uk.

Pasadena Financial Advisor presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Financial Advisor, 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. This article provides a list of recommended reading from among the many hundreds of articles that I have authored in the past several years.”

Economics

Dorian Wales presents Stress Tests and Capital Adequacy Explained posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “The highly anticipated FED stress test results may very well serve as fuel for further gains or, more likely in my opinion, as a sought after excuse for turning the tide (in the short run).”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Avoid Foreclosure: Keep Your House In Troubled Times posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Britannica Blog presents NY Times: “Buy American” Is a Terrible Idea posted at Britannica Blog, saying, ““It’s not surprising that Democrats in Congress could not resist adding a “Buy American” provision to the fiscal stimulus bill earlier this year. It might seem sensible (or at least politically useful) to ensure that taxpayer dollars would be used exclusively to support American jobs.”

Estate Planning

Tushar Mathur presents Getting finances in order posted at Everything Finance, saying, “Keeping organized records is a gift to your family and to yourself. It helps ensure that your wishes are followed, that your assets are accounted for, and that your money is available to meet your family’s needs in a timely fashion.”

Financial Planning

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best High Interest Savings Accounts In Online Banking posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Tushar Mathur presents How to choose a financial planner posted at Everything Finance, saying, “There’s retirement to plan for and college tuition for the kids. Insurance. Estate planning. And, oh, don’t forget a wedding for your daughter. If all this sounds familiar, it may be time for you to start shopping around for a financial planner.”

MoneyNing presents Coupon Tip - Making Sure It’s Always Available posted at Money Ning, saying, “Sometimes, a simple tip can really save you tons of money.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Prevent Identity Theft: Some Credit Report Monitoring Services and Options posted at The Digerati Life

Manish Chauhan presents Early Investor , Smart Investor posted at Smart Investor.

Jeff Rose presents Cash Your Social Security Check Now Not Later posted at Jeff Rose.

Financing a Home

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.”

Financing Education

SpendOnLife.com presents Vanishing Financial Aid Leaves Students in the Lurch posted at SpendOnLife, saying, “SpendOnLife examines the current landscape of financing higher education. With applications for financial aid up and availability down many students are forced into making tough choices that will affect the rest of their lives.”

Health Care

Carl Stevens presents Three Ways to Find Affordable Health Insurance posted at Three Ways to Lower Your Health Insurance Premium, saying, “We address how you can lower the cost of your health insurance premium (i.e. the monthly payment) without changing your type of health insurance (e.g. HMO or PPO) or level of coverage.”

Income

Craig Ford presents Turning a Hobby into a Source of Income posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “Offers eight practical ways to turn a hobby into a source of income. The post address issues from deciding what to sell to how to price the items. This is not about starting a new business, but earning a few extra dollars by doing something you love.”

DebtLite presents 64 Thought Provoking Quotes on the Meaning of Money posted at School Loans.

KCLau presents The Most Common Habit of Rich People posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “About the common habits of the rich”

Praveen presents Easy Ways to Generate Cash posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Easy ways to generate extra cash”

Investing

Tushar Mathur presents Long Term Investing posted at Everything Finance, saying, “Investing has its own language and understanding it can make it easier to be a confident investor. Two common terms you hear when people talk about investing are “bid” and “ask.” Here’s an explanation of what they mean.”

Praveen presents Three Stock Picking Ideas From Forbes Magazine posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Three Stock Picking Ideas”

Frank Vertin presents Just Buy Index Funds Directly posted at No Load 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.”.

ABC presents Investment Time Horizons for Retirees posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Discussing investment asset allocations and time horizons for retirees.”

Craig Ford presents Why I Fired My Financial Advisor posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “Explores the factors that led me to self-directed investing.”

Four Pillars presents Asset Allocation - Include Future Contributions? posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Can a small investor ignore asset allocation?”

Alex Fotopoulos presents SPY Chart - Premarket posted at Chart Analysis, saying, “Chart of the large S&P 500 ETF, SPY. Alex analyzes the SPY chart using trend lines, moving averages and the Williams %R indicator.”

Praveen presents Successful Trading is About More than Generating A Buy Signal.. posted at Stock Trading Riches, saying, “When buying stocks, your initial purchase is the least important part of successful investing. Your return is determined by how well you manage the trade - i.e. knowing when to add to your position and when to take profits.”

Zach Scheidt presents LDK Rides Solar Wave - Up 21% Wednesday posted at ZachStocks, saying, “LDK Solar was up 21% on Wednesday after announcing progress on its polysilicon production plant. Solar stocks are sharply higher due to government stimulus plans and rising oil an natural gas prices.”

Wally Fouse presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at Best Index Funds, saying, “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.”

Four Pillars presents Transfer In Kind posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “An explanation of transfering your investments “in kind”.”

Richard M. Rothschild presents Low Cost Taxable Bond Mutual Funds posted at Best Bond Index Funds, saying, “The top 14 low cost taxable US fixed income funds with a $10,000 or lower initial deposit. Low investment management fees are very important with fixed income funds. Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. When you pay more in bond mutual fund fees, you are just wasting your money.”

Zach Scheidt presents Bankruptcies, M&A, and Playing Defense posted at ZachStocks, saying, “A discussion on current economic reports and their effect on the markets, Bank stress tests as a catalyst for selling, and defensive strategies to protect your portfolio from losses.”

ABC presents Stock Prices Do Not Represent Stock Value (or Company Value) posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A lower priced stock isn’t “cheap”.”

JJ presents Practicing Frugality with Finesse posted at Investing and your Future, saying, “Frugality is the blending together of quality without wastefulness to make the most delicious combination of consumption.”

Dividends4Life presents Equity Returns Are Driven By Reinvested Dividends posted at Dividends Value, saying, “It is well-documented that a significant portion of the historical equity returns are a result of reinvested dividends. Performance in any given year was driven by capital appreciation, but long-term returns were largely the result of reinvested dividends.”

Praveen presents Options Basics posted at Stock Trading Riches, saying, “A blog reader asked me this question: Can any one explain about options trading in a simple manner?”

ABC presents Investment Time Horizons for Retirees posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A short and concise analysis of retirement asset allocation possibilities.”

Praveen presents Sometimes You Bend Your Trading Rules… posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Taking an early profit to ease your comfort during a volatile market.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Stock Market Index Analysis: Predicting An S & P Reversal posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thoughts on the stock market. Will this prediction come true?”

Curt presents The Last Shoes To Drop, The Bond Market Begins Its Long Evaded Crash posted at PennyJobs.com.

Managing Debt

Super Saver presents We’ve Achieved Zero Debt posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “We paid off our mortgage and became 100% debt free.”

KCLau presents Do You Have a Wedding Debt? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Most couples want to begin their married life auspiciously and free from the problems. However, it is not uncommon to hear about married couples who go into debt just to get married. Article explores the reasons.”

Jim DeSantis presents Don’t Be A Sucker! Avoid These Debt Consolidation Scams! posted at Emotions and Credit at On Line Tribune, saying, “The web communications revolution has provided many unprecedented opportunities for commerce and, unfortunately, quite a few opportunities for swindlers to prey on the gullible. This is just as true for debt consolidation and scams to fix your credit score as for anything else. Here are some debt consolidation scams to stay away from.”

Four Pillars presents Is Dave Ramsey A “Financial Expert” posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “A discussion of Dave Ramsey and his methods.”

Miscellaneous

Money Saving Advice presents Payment Premium Insurance (PPI) to be axed by the big banks posted at Money Saving Tips, Consumer Finance, Expert, Advice and Help | Talk Money Blog, saying, “The Financial services Authority (FSA) has fined banks and lenders for the mis-selling of Payment Premium Insurance (PPI) and for failing to treat their customers fairly. Payment Premium Insurance cover (PPI) is sold to borrowers to cover them against the risk that they may not be able to pay their monthly payment on a credit card balance, mortgage or personal loan; due top ill health, accident or redundancy.”

Retirement Planning

ABC presents Safe withdrawal rate for retirement funds - 4% rule posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “How much can you withdraw from your portfolio in retirement? The 4% safe withdrawal rule explained.”

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 Company Is Going Bankrupt. What About My Pension? posted at Jeff Rose.

Risk Management and Insurance

Home Life Weekly presents Best Auto Insurance Companies in the United States Top 10 posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, “As we all know auto insurance is something that we really all need, however the cheapest quote is not always the best auto insurance quote in the long term. Especially when you have to make a claim. Only when you have paid you insurance do these problems come to light. So here is a top 10 auto insurance companies which perform best overall”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Lower Your Car Insurance Rates! How To Cut Insurance Premiums In Half posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “I offer some suggestions and tips for lowering your car insurance and keeping your car related costs (and budget) to a minimum.”

KCLau presents Bad Experience of Car Insurance Claim posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “a story of bad experience with vehicle insurance claim”

MoneyNing presents 20 Different Areas to Think About for a Cheaper Auto Insurance Policy posted at Money Ning, saying, “Insurance is something we usually forget, yet we pay quite a bit for it regularly. If you can spend a few minutes and save big, why not?”

Jeff Rose presents Tips To Prepare For Your Next Medical Exam posted at Jeff Rose.

Jim DeSantis presents Blog Carnival posted at Free Family Budgeting eBook from On Line Tribune, saying, “Have you thought about providing financial security for your children in case they are seriously injured in an accident of any kind? The possibility of an accident putting your child in a wheelchair for life, is not one that anyone likes to think about. But, not thinking about the possibility does not take that chance away.”

Savings

MoneyNing presents How to Save Money on Your Wedding posted at Money Ning, saying, “We go through the big day at least once but many people think it’s one of the most expensive days of our lives. Here are some tips that will help reduce the expenses of this important day.”

KCLau presents Easy Pawn Shops - Do you need to Pawn? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Pros and cons of pawning”

Four Pillars presents 397 Ways To Save Money - Squawkfox Book Review posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “397 Ways To Save Money - Book review on Squawkfox.com’s new release!”

Four Pillars presents Save Money With Zero Percent Balance Transfers posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Zero percent balance credit cards can save you interest and money.”

Taxes

rajeev presents Hassle Free Health Insurance Claim posted at Investment and Personal Finance, saying, “It is a post highlighting the ills of investing in Unit Linked Insurance Plans just for the sake of tax saving.”

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Independent Financial Planner, saying As you move your cash, bond, and stock financial assets into lower cost, more broadly diversified investment mutual funds and/or ETFs, you should also consider how to locate your investment asset allocation with respect to more optimal taxation. This article will discusses some ideas about where and how to hold your cash assets and how to make emergency cash available.”

MoneyNing presents Let Businesses Deal with Sales Tax - Government Improvement Series posted at Money Ning, saying, “Government really needs to improve on somethings and I say to let businesses deal with sales taxes!”

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

How many stocks are needed for a well-diversified portfolio?

The Skilled Investor — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:30:36 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

How many stocks are needed for a well-diversified portfolio?

Industry rules-of-thumb often state that 15 to 30 stocks are enough for a well-diversified portfolio. This can be very misleading.

Recent studies point out that industry rules-of-thumb on the number of stocks needed for a well-diversified portfolio are simply not adequate. These rules-of-thumb most often state that 15 to 30 stocks are enough. “The Truth About Diversification by the Numbers” by Ronald J. Surz and Mitchell Price of Roxbury Capital Management is an insightful study on the “how many stocks” question.¹ (See: Can a limited number of equities provide complete portfolio diversification?) To determine the number of stocks required to achieve a desired level of portfolio diversification, Surz and Price computed all possible combinations of NYSE and NASD traded stock portfolios of various sizes for the 1986 to 1999 period. They argued that a diversification rule-of-thumb commonly used in investment management – that 30 randomly chosen stocks will achieve 95% of diversification – is inadequate. Using tests of statistical significance and market tracking error, Surz and Price found that the number of stocks required to achieve diversification is much higher than commonly thought. Surz and Price found that the average randomly chosen 30-stock portfolio achieved only about 85% of possible diversification. A 60-stock portfolio achieved about 88% of possible diversification. Using computer optimization techniques and favoring large capitalization stocks both helped to improve portfolio diversification, when compared with randomly selected portfolios.

Price volatility at the individual common stock level has increased substantially in recent years.

This factor and the fact that the correlation of price volatility between individual stocks has also declined, means that significantly increased numbers of stocks are required to achieve diversification. The number of stocks required is very large, and this makes index mutual fund and exchange-traded fund investment alternatives increasingly appealing. (See: Why is diversification valuable to individual investors?) Properly selecting and managing a personal stock portfolio is not a casual affair. The individual investor who intends to self-assemble a well-diversified portfolio with a relatively large number of equities has a huge challenge. Personal time commitments, financial analysis skill/experience, relative costs versus mutual funds, and the availability, quality, and cost of financial information remain significant issues for the do-it-yourselfer. For those who rely on full-service brokers for advice, very important additional considerations are additional broker fees and whether the broker even believes that maintaining a well-diversified portfolio is important just as long as you keep trading and generating commissions.

The advisability of portfolio self-management should always be considered in the light of the index mutual fund and index ETF alternatives.

To keep purchasing individual securities, when the alternative of investing in passively managed (or even actively managed) mutual funds is available, requires some rational personal economic advantage to portfolio self-assembly. Frankly, The Skilled Investor has not yet found any good reason for individual investors to own individual stock or bond securities versus holding mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. Certain reasons are sometimes advocated as a rationale for individuals to hold individual securities versus funds. None seems to be valid in the light of the scientific investment literature. Some investors believe that they can pick winners and beat-the-market, but the evidence is overwhelming that this is a flawed strategy for individuals. (See: What is the cost to individual investors of sub-optimal portfolio diversification?)

It is sometimes suggested that individual investors can better control capital gains tax realization through individual securities.

However, financial studies show that most individual investors do not manage taxes well. Self-managed individual investors recognize capital gains without recognizing capital losses. They tend to sell winning stock too soon and hold their losers far too long. On the contrary, a passive index mutual fund or exchange traded fund strategy tends to be far more tax efficient.

Not only does investment portfolio self-management require skill, it takes significant time. The vast majority of individual investors will not beat a passive index return despite all the time they spend.

Self-directed investor can spend large amounts of personal time very ineffectively. When the opportunity cost of the time they spend is taken into consideration, then their personal economic losses widen. Just as the average actively-managed professional mutual fund manager does not return even half of his added fees and costs through sufficiently improved investment performance, neither does the average individual investor. (See: The value and opportunity cost of your time)

By focusing on the number of stocks or bonds in a self-managed investment portfolio, an individual investor really is paying attention to the wrong thing.

The bottom line is that individuals should fire themselves as portfolio managers to achieve better risk-adjusted returns. In addition, instead of hiring expensive professionals to attempt active strategies that tend not to work, they should instead hire only very low-cost index fund managers and very low cost ETF managers who focus on tracking market benchmarks and keeping costs and taxes to the bare minimum. ________________________________________ These related articles may also be useful to you:

1) Ronald J. Surz and Mitchell Price. “The Truth About Diversification by the Numbers.” Journal of Investing, Winter 2000: 1-3

___________

The principal of diversification applies globally. Invest in your domestic stock market and spread investment funds around the world. Stock market analysis really takes a lot of time, and it requires gathering lots of investment information that is already being looked at by so many others. Buy globally diversified investment funds and reduce positions in individual stocks. There are huge diversification opportunities around the world from food, industrial and retail in Europe to infrastructure investments in infrastructure projects around the world including developed and developing markets such as India, South American, and China. Low cost, passive investment mutual funds and ETFs are the best investment vehicles.

Personal Investment and Personal Finance Blog Articles this Week

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:14:21 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Personal Investment and Personal Finance Blog Articles this Week

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #90 - May 23, 2009

Welcome to the May 23, 2009 Edition #90 of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor, Editor

Budgeting

Roshawn Watson presents Good Old Middle Class or Wealthy, You Decide posted at Watson Inc, saying, “My wife and I make $400,000 annually and I’m “barely getting by” bemoans James Duran, an owner of a human resource company Silicon Valley.”

Dave presents Control Your Mind, Control Your Money posted at Cheapo Groovo.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents The Dave Ramsey Budget: Budgeting Tips For Successful Savers posted at The Digerati Life

Economics

Michael Haltman presents Does CNBC Know What A Bid and Ask Are? posted at The Political and Financial Markets Commentator, saying, “This hopefully makes some sense, but the point is that investors need to understand what is happening and the way that markets work, because in many instances the “experts” on television do not and are not.”

Bank Savings Review presents More Restrictions to Repaying the TARP posted at Bank Savings Review, saying, “The government have spoken. No one will be able to repay TARP until we say so!”

Estate Planning

Financial Planning

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Prevent Identity Theft: Some Credit Report Monitoring Services and Options posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Tom Drake presents Fee-Only Financial Planners posted at The Canadian Finance Blog.

Lazy Man and Money presents Free $25 for Signing up for a 529 College Savings Plan posted at Lazy Man and Money, saying, “Two years ago, I decided I wanted to give my newly-born nephew a little extra cash for schooling when he gets older. My research lead me to the 529 plan, a tax-advantaged investment to help with future higher education (typically college). Unfortunately California isn’t a state where I get a tax break for putting money in. I had to look at the plans in the rest of the country and find the one with the lowest fees and expenses, but with good investment options.”

jim presents How Secured Credit Cards Work posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Financing a Home

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.”

BrandonLaughridge presents New Credit Card Law Likely to Hurt Markets posted at Mortgage Loan Place Blog, saying, “An interesting take on the next meltdown. Credit card companies appear to be the culprit.”

Chris presents 7 things you can do to help the agent sell your house, part 1 posted at Home I Own, saying, “This post is about how to sell your house at the best possible price - by helping your real estate agents in 7 easy things.”

Financing Education

Chris McClelland presents Recent College Graduates, Prepare to Starve posted at Lucrative Investing.

Chris McClelland presents Some job markets for new grads posted at Lucrative Investing.

Income

Donald Latumahina presents How to Make More Money posted at Life Optimizer, saying, “The amount of money you earn is proportional to the amount of value you contribute to the society. What you need to do to make more money is simple: contribute more value to the society.”

KCLau presents The Most Common Habit of Rich People posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “About the common habits of the rich”

Investing

Ricky Dee presents Mutual Fund Investing posted at Stock Market College - Investment Advice & Stock Tips.

ABC presents Commodities posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A brief explanation of commodities.”

Rick presents Retirement Investing posted at Stock Market College - Investment Advice & Stock Tips.

Ryan Suenaga presents Why to Not Give Up on Stocks posted at Uncommon Cents.

Four Pillars presents Asset Allocation - Include Future Contributions? posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Can a small investor ignore asset allocation?”

Craig Ford presents Your First Step in Developing A ‘Personalized’ Investing Plan posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “Those starting out in the world of investing need to be sure they have personalized goals. Knowing your personal investing plan if your first step (and most important) in developing an investing plan.”

Zach Scheidt presents DigitalGlobe Launches Successful IPO posted at ZachStocks, saying, “DigitalGlobe, Inc. (DGI) launched a successful IPO. The satellite imagery company should offer opportunities to traders and indicates strong liquidity in the current market.”

Four Pillars presents Transfer In Kind posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “An explanation of transfering your investments “in kind”.”

Zach Scheidt presents ZachStocks Podcast 11: Chrysler, Market Pullback, Retail Weakness and Economist Projections posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Chrysler bankruptcy, market rally pulls back, retail sales figures disappoint, WSJ survey of economists sheds light on recession and eventual rebound.”

Darwin presents Start an Investment Club: How To, Rules and Reality Checks posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “A comprehensive ‘how-to’ and reality check on both the benefits and the downsides of an investment club.”

ABC presents Warning - Not All Index Funds and ETFs Are Low Cost posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Some index funds and etfs are too expensive.”

Dan at Everydayfinance presents Sucker’s Rally: For 34% since March, Call Me a Sucker! posted at Everyday Finance, saying, “With esteemed economists referring to current investors as ’suckers’ in a Sucker’s Rally the question is - for 34% since March, are you willing to be called sucker?”

Investing School presents Morningstar Review - Free vs Premium Membership posted at Investing School, saying, “Morningstar is a well known name but not many people know of its free service. Is it worth the money? Find out.”

Vahid Chaychi presents How to Use MACD or Moving Average Convergence / Divergence in Forex and Stock Trading posted at SirForex.com, saying, “MACD is one of the most important and reliable indicators in forex and stock trading. MACD helps the traders to take a position on time and to stay with the trend and maximize their profit. It also prevents them from going against the trend.”

Praveen presents Options Basics posted at Stock Trading Riches, saying, “A blog reader asked me this question: Can any one explain about options trading in a simple manner?”

Dividends4Life presents Dividend Investing in a Bear Market posted at Dividends Value, saying, “So far in 2009, the Dividend Aristocrats have under-performed the S&P 500. However there are several dividend stocks that have done quite well and beat the S&P 500 index, and some of those companies just might surprise you!”

MoneyNing presents TradeKing Review posted at Money Ning, saying, “TradeKing is quickly becoming one of the best stock brokers out there. Find out why.”

One Family presents eBay (EBAY) – Stock Analysis posted at One Family’s Blog.

ABC presents Investment Time Horizons for Retirees posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A short and concise analysis of retirement asset allocation possibilities.”

Managing Debt

David presents CNN Money Names Top 5 Credit Card Offers posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “CNN Money 100 has named the top credit cards in five categories, including cash back, travel and balance transfer.”

Raj Patel presents Snowball method worthless? posted at DebtGoal, saying, “An evaluation of the debate on the snowball metho compared to the other payment strategies for reducing debt.”

FinancialHealthGuy presents The Problem With Credit: Don’t Rent Your Money posted at Financial Health Guy, saying, “Debt interest and penalties, when combined with taxation of the fees you must pay, can be extremely damaging to financial health. This article takes a look at avoiding interest on debt by not ‘renting’ money.”

Raag Vamdatt presents How to use a credit card the financially prudent way :: RaagVamdatt.com :: Financial Planning demystified posted at RaagVamdatt.com, saying, “Do you know how a credit card should be used? This post explains how you can avail of the credit facility, while incurring absolutely no interest expense.”

Jim DeSantis presents 3 Keys To Self-Control and Saving Money posted at On Line Tribune | Family Life, saying, “Lack of self-control when it comes to money is a common pitfall for most people. Often, when people come into an extra amount of money, they have this tendency to rush out and instantly satisfy the irresistible urge to splurge on anything they lay their eyes on. This is a very costly mistake from a number of aspects. Sometimes people fail to recognize the idea that the future has to be considered, too, whenever spending and saving enter the picture.”

ChristianPF presents How to manage your debt in a recession posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “These are a few tips for managing your debt in the midst of a recession…”

Miscellaneous

PFCreditCards presents Credit Card Companies are Screwed with the New Bill posted at PF Credit Cards, saying, “Credit card companies have had enough fun. They are going to lose tons of money on this new bill.”

Retirement Planning

Super Saver presents On Surviving Early Retirement during the Financial Crisis posted at My Wealth Builder.

Jeff Rose presents Hitting Your Peak: Investing Guidelines for Your 40s and 50s posted at Jeff Rose.

FMF presents Roth Segregation Accounts posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Good thoughts from a guest poster on Roth IRAs.”

Jeff Rose presents IRA Consolidation: The “Super IRA” Strategy posted at Jeff Rose.

Risk Management and Insurance

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Reasons to Buy Whole Life Insurance posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Here are a few times when you should consider whole life insurance over term life insurance.”

nickel presents How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? posted at fivecentnickel.com, saying, “How much life insurance do you need? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. In this article, I take a look at the key factors to consider.”

KCLau presents Bad Experience of Car Insurance Claim posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “a story of bad experience with vehicle insurance claim”

Savings

MoneyNing presents How to Deal with Frugal Advice posted at Money Ning, saying, “Don’t just skip the article if you think it doesn’t apply to you as it might be useful later on in life.”

MoneyNing presents What Drives You to Be Frugal posted at Money Ning, saying, “The reason why I’m frugal is not strictly about necessity. What is the real reason for you?”

Taxes

Jeff Rose presents 2009 Required Minimum Distribution (RMDs) Suspended posted at Jeff Rose.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:28:29 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - May 2, 2009 Edition

Welcome to the May 2, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor, Editor

Budgeting

Raj Patel presents Thrifty is the New Frugal posted at DebtGoal, saying, “An article challenging the idea that personal financial management is “not about price. It’s about the whole value proposition.”"

Tristan presents Frugal Living Tips posted at Find Financial Freedom, saying, “A few easy tips to save on your monthly expenses without compromising on your monthly fun quota!”

Writers Coin presents Time Is Money: Budget Them Both Out posted at Wise Bread, saying, “Time is money, so shouldn’t we budget our time just as carefully as we budget our money?”

Barry presents How To Have A Baby Amid A Recession? posted at Associate Money.

kathryn presents Stretch the Budget for a Family Vacation posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “Expenses are tight and most people are looking at cutting the family vacation to help make ends meet. Vacations can be very expensive, but with a little planning, a lot of research and some creativity the family vacation can also be very affordable.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents The Dave Ramsey Budget: Budgeting Tips For Successful Savers posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Pasadena Financial Adviser presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Investment Adviser, 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. This article provides a list of recommended reading from among the many hundreds of articles that I have authored in the past several years.”

Economics

Estate Planning

Jeff Rose presents How To Stretch Out an IRA For Your Beneficiaries posted at Jeff Rose.

Financial Planning

The Smarter Wallet presents Prevent Identity Theft: Some Credit Report Monitoring Services and Options posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Should you monitor your credit? The pros and cons of doing it yourself for free or of subscribing to a service that does it for you.”

Patrick @ Military Money presents Financial Planning For Military Families posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Financial planning tips to help families prepare for emergencies and other life events.”

Rags presents Sales: Are They Really the Bargain They Seem to Be? posted at From Rags 2 Riches, saying, “This post takes a closer look at the money that is spent on sales to see if we are actually saving money or if we’re being tricked into giving away our hard earned riches. It covers some of the general cases that we as a consumer may encounter and provides an example of what an impulse buy may look like.”

Mike Pastore presents You Need an Umbrella Policy to Become a Millionaire | www.mikesmillions.com posted at Mikes Millions.com.

jim presents How To Get An Experian Credit Score posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Financing a Home

C Richey presents Hope for Distressed Homeowers posted at News - Las Vegas Real Estate by Jacqulyn Richey, saying, “Information on the Obama administration’s plan to save homeowners from foreclosure.”

Luke presents How Much House Can I Afford? posted at Frugal Real Estate, saying, “One of the biggest mistakes you can make in the world of real estate is biting off more than you can chew. That is, buying too much house for your budget. While determining how much house you can afford is not an exact science, there are some guidelines to keep in mind when house shopping”

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.”

Financing Education

Finance Tips 101 presents What You Need to Know about Academic Scholarships posted at Finance Tips 101.

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Upromise Review posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Earn free money for college savings with rebates from UPromise. The money can be used for college savings, current college expenses, or repaying student loans.”

Investing

nickel presents What is a 529 Plan? posted at fivecentnickel.com, saying, “In general terms, 529 plans com in two flavors: pre-paid tuition plans, and college savings plans. In this article, I’ve put together a thumbnail sketch of each type.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Technical Trading Indicators Predict That The Stock Market Rally Won’t Last posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thank you”

Manshu presents Gold ETF: iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU) posted at OneMint, saying, “iShares Comex Gold Trust ETF is a ETF that holds physical gold and is a good proxy for investing in gold directly.”

Brandon Rowe presents Positive Earnings News for Citigroup posted at Bromoney Internet Banks

Frank Vertin presents Just Buy Index Funds Directly posted at NoLoad Index Fund, 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.”.

Dividend Tree presents Asset Allocation and Diversification | Dividend Tree posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “investor’s need to realize that investing is a long term process. The two or three years is a very small time period and does not reflect the true benefits of the asset allocation and diversification.”

Dividends4Life presents Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Increases Dividend For 47th Consecutive Year posted at Dividends Value, saying, “Thursday, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) declared a 6.5% increase in its quarterly dividend rate. JNJ is engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sale of a range of products in the healthcare field.”

Investing School presents Investor Mistakes - Constant Refresh posted at Investing School, saying, “Most of us love the real time information provided by our stock brokers but it really doesn’t help us much to look at it every day (or worst yet, several times a day). This article explains why.”

Zach Scheidt presents Synaptics Staying Ahead of Expectations posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Synaptics Incorporated (SYNA) manufactures touchscreen and touch pad technology used on iPhones and laptop mouse applications. The company is beating estimates and the stock should offer an exceptional opportunity.”

Verna Morris presents The Ultimate Guide to Leveraged ETFs: Their Uses, Their Risks, and More posted at ETFdb.

Dave presents Where Should I Put My Money? posted at Cheapo Groovo.

Zach Scheidt presents A Wild Trade on Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) has had an extremely profitable run. ZachStocks offers a hedge fund type trade to profit from excessive optimism surrounding the stock.”

Alex Fotopoulos presents DIA 3 Month Chart - April 29, 2009 posted at Chart Analysis, saying, “Alex charted the Dow Jones tracking ETF, DIA, this week and highlights where near term resistance could surface.”

ChristianPF presents The basics of investing | Video posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “This video is essentially the dummies guide to investing…”

Richard M. Rothschild presents Low Cost Taxable Bond Mutual Funds posted at Bond Index Funds, saying, “The top 14 low cost taxable US fixed income funds with a $10,000 or lower initial deposit. Low investment management fees are very important with fixed income funds. Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. When you pay more in bond mutual fund fees, you are just wasting your money.”

Walter Fouse presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at Best Index Funds, saying, “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.”

Larry Russell presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at No Load 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.”

Managing Debt

Big Cajun Man presents Best Financial Advice Ever posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Great advice I got from my Dad.”

Miscellaneous

Jeff - StretchyDollar presents Don’t Envy Debt posted at StretchyDollar, saying, “I used to envy the possessions of the people around me. I felt like I was missing out on some big money making secrets. Then, I realized that most people were going into debt to make these purchases, and they had to deal with that. I didn’t have the debt, and I didn’t need what they had - I was happy!”

Super Saver presents A Career Fair Disappointment posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “As the economy has worsened, so has the quality of career fairs. I plan to be much more selective in choosing which career fairs to attend in the future.”

Rob presents Learn a lesson with the Power Hog posted at Energy Saving Gadgets, saying, “Teach your kids a valuable lesson about the cost of energy.”

Retirement Planning

Brian Reilly presents 2009 Is A Horrible Time To Sell My Business-You Could Be Horribly Wrong posted at Merger and Acquisiton Advice, saying, “Is 2009 a great time to sell your business?”

Michael Gvirtzman presents Retirement Planning and Net Worth Calculation Tool posted at Mind Listings, saying, “Start your retirement planning as soon as your career matures. The article suggests an Excel tool for retirement and estate planning.”

Jeff Rose presents Good News on Required Minimum Distributions For 2009 posted at Consumer Boomer.

Jacob presents Interview with Modern Gal posted at Early Retirement Extreme, saying, “An interview with Modern Gal whose retirement story is similar to my own.”

FMF presents Is the 401k to Blame? posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “It isn’t the 401ks fault.”

Risk Management and Insurance

KCLau presents Bad Experience of Car Insurance Claim posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “a story of bad experience with vehicle insurance claim”

Savings

sherin presents Be a money saving expert by improving your skills posted at THE MONEY MANIAC, saying, “Major areas to have knowledge to save money easily”

PFP presents Financial Planning Tools posted at Independent Financial Planner, saying “Your personal savings rate is the single most important personal financial planning lever that you control directly through your lifetime efforts to earn income and to manage personal expenditures and your family budget.”

MoneyNing presents What Drives You to Be Frugal posted at Money Ning, saying, “The reason why I’m frugal is not strictly about necessity. What is the real reason for you?”

The Skilled Investor presents Most Individual Investors Are Poor Personal Portfolio Managers | Personal Investment Management posted at Personal Investment Management, 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.”

Taxes

Jeff Rose presents Surviving an IRS Audit — Tips for Small Businesses posted at Jeff Rose.

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Fee Only Financial Planner, saying As you move your cash, bond, and stock financial assets into lower cost, more broadly diversified investment mutual funds and/or ETFs, you should also consider how to locate your investment asset allocation with respect to more optimal taxation. This article will discusses some ideas about where and how to hold your cash assets and how to make emergency cash available.”

Madison presents Solar Energy Tax Credit: Will You Install Solar Panels? posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, “An investment in solar panels could pay for itself based on the new tax credit.”

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

The Optimal Investment Strategy for Individual Investors

The Skilled Investor — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:31:04 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

The Optimal Investment Strategy for Individual Investors

The Solution - ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient

A previous article, “The Problem - Straight answers about personal financial and investment planning are difficult to find,” summarized important reasons why individuals may experience difficulties, even if they are intent upon doing better with their personal financial planning. This article summarizes some general decision rules to address those problems. This article also introduces a series of additional articles, which will discuss these decision rules and related financial practices in more detail.

In general, individuals will benefit greatly and get more enjoyment out of their financial affairs, if they decide ONLY to follow financial and investment strategies that are: a) scientifically grounded, b) completely passive, c) thoroughly diversified, d) savings focused, e) risk adjusted, f) cost effective, and g) tax efficient. While this might seem very challenging to do, in reality all these factors are interrelated. In fact, when you choose financial strategies with these characteristics, your financial life tends to become less complicated. When the complications of personal finance diminish, you can get on with living. You can plan to live and not live to plan.

First, you should always demand that your financial strategies be scientifically valid. Far too many financial and investment strategies have no objective basis and are in fact contrary to what has been established in the financial science literature. Second, the more passive your strategies are, the better they are. Motion without real purpose in finance wastes both your money and your precious time. Motion in finance is futile, because asset price setting is generally very efficient, and the costs of making changes push you backward.

Third, thoroughly diversified strategies eliminate unnecessary risk. In addition, fully diversified strategies usually are completely passive, and they tend to have lower investment risk. Fourth, by earning more and spending less, most people will have much more impact on their future financial well-being than they ever could by trying to be more clever investors. Investment cleverness tends to be counter-productive for individual investors. In contrast, another dollar saved is another dollar to invest. (See: What is the cost to individual investors of sub-optimal portfolio diversification?)

Fifth, investing is about risk-adjusted asset returns. Securities markets tend to pay a premium for risk taking, but only for market-oriented risk taking. Securities markets tend not to compensate for the risks associated with holding the securities of individual companies. Individuals need to understand this. There is no risk free money in investing.

Sixth, your financial and investment practices need to be cost effective. Cost reduction is the single most important factor that will improve investment returns for most people. In addition, when you cut out investment costs, you also cut out the incentive for someone to sell something to you. When you stop listening to financial sales people and start looking proactively for low cost, passive, risk adjusted, and fully diversified investments, you simplify your choices. You will still have plenty of investments options. Furthermore, the scientific evidence indicates that these choices will be the most favorable to your interests. Finally, greater tax efficiency simply tends to be a by-product of following the other decision rules listed above. More risky, poorly diversified, active strategies tend to incur higher taxes.

To cover these decision rules and some related subjects in more detail, The Skilled Investor intends to publish sequentially, the eighteen “viewpoint” articles listed below. These financial planning and investing articles will give you a better understanding of why you should ONLY follow financial and investment strategies that are: a) scientifically grounded, b) completely passive, c) thoroughly diversified, d) savings focused, e) risk adjusted, f) cost effective, and g) tax efficient.

As these articles are published, we will add links to the list below. If you do not yet find a link below and you wish to be informed when these articles are published, you can stay tuned by selecting our RSS feed from the side column.

Forthcoming financial decision rule articles from The Skilled Investor:

1) Your financial and investment strategies should have a scientific basis.

2) Your personal earnings, expenditures, and savings are the most important determinants of your family’s long-term financial wealth.

3) There is no such thing as risk-free money from investing for individual investors.

4) You need to allocate your financial assets in a manner that reflects your relative tolerance for investment risk. You need to stay in the securities markets to earn market risk premiums.

5) Build asset buffers to protect yourself from market volatility.

6) You should always completely diversify your portfolio.

7) Own investment funds and not individual securities.

8} Spending your valuable time on the wrong financial activities is just plain bad for you.

9) Passive, index-oriented investment strategies tend to be superior, because they narrow the range of outcomes, and thus, they reduce the total investment risk associated with your portfolio.

10) Unfortunately, you cannot reliably identify beforehand professional investment managers who will deliver superior performance in the future, and you cannot hire them at a price that is lower than their potential value-added.

11) Never invest solely because of superior past performance.

12) Tax-advantaged investing is very good for most people at most times.

13) Excessive visible and hidden investment costs can reduce the potential value of your portfolio unnecessarily and dramatically.

14) Direct and indirect advisory costs and the expected value of the strategies that you are encouraged to use will determine your total return from advisory services.

15) If financial behavior control is difficult for you, then carefully hire a good advisor.

16) Do not ignore other risks that could destroy your best-laid financial plans.

17) Your portfolio assets are simply your evolving estate. You need to prepare appropriately for the day, when your assets become your estate.

18) Nobody and no tool can predict the future.

Personal Finance Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:11:57 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Personal Finance Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - April 11, 2009 Edition

Welcome to the April 11, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor

Budgeting

The Smarter Wallet presents Budget Your Money and Control Your Spending Using This Simple System posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Pasadena Financial Planner presents Living Expense Tracking Methods posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Larry Russell presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Economics

Insurance Toolbox presents How to Take Advantage of Falling Mortgage Interest Rates posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.

Michael Haltman presents Mark To Market Eased: Making A Silk Purse From A Sow’s Ear? Example Included posted at The Political and Financial Markets Commentator, saying, “These are complicated products that even the banks themselves, save for a few of the quants that created them, could either explain or describe. Products created with and about most every type of esoteric financial product available. Products with bid/ask spreads wide enough to drive a truck through. Products so illiquid that they may never trade and therefore can’t be priced yet that allow the firms selling them to make huge money on them. You get the gist.”

Diego Cervantes presents Top 50 Economics Blogs posted at Bankling.

Financial Planning

John Howshall presents What To Do With Your 2009 Tax Refund posted at John’s Investing Tips, saying, “Ah, tax seasonâ€¦ For some this time of year is a dreaded part of life, while for others itâ€™s something to look forward to. Getting that tax refund in the mail, knowing that you have some extra money on hand to do whatever you want withâ€“ itâ€™s so exciting! But before you get your refund it would be a good idea to have a plan for what youâ€™re going to do with that money. Whether you want to invest it, save it, use it to pay down debt or spend it and buy a new big screen TV, itâ€™s wise to know what you want to do with it before it comes.”

Ralph Jean-Paul presents Building Self-Discipline posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, “The most disciplined business people are usually the most organized, efficient and successful. They are also the people that make the most money. Learn to build self-discipline in your personal and professional life and see the difference it will make.”

Tushar Mathur presents Health Savings Accounts explained posted at Everything Finance, saying, “One thing is certain with healthcare: premiums continue to climb higher. As a result, more employees may find that health-savings accounts (HSA) have been added to their benefits packets this year, in some cases replacing HMO and PPO offerings.”

Jack Schmidt presents Check Your Impulse Spending At the Door posted at SectorMatic Money Journal, saying, “Personal Finance - Everything for the Big Spender on a Budget! Now you can live like a fat cat, even if you’re on a money diet. Laugh all the way to the bank with Jack Schmidt and SectorMatic Money Journal!”

Financing a Home

Raj Patel presents The Rise of Mortgage Scams posted at DebtGoal, saying, “Mortgage scams are on the rise. Here’s what a family should keep in mind and how they impact one’s financial health.”

Brian McKay presents Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “Mortgage rates and home equity line of credit rates are so low now we just found another great deal.”

Tallahassee Real Estate presents How To Make An Offer In Todayâ€™s Real Estate Market posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “Regardless of who is receiving the offer, there is a definite plan one should follow if attaining the property at the best price is the primary goal. Too often, I see buyers and agents alike making amateurish mistakes that end up costing them the home that they wanted to buy.”

kathryn presents Top Ways to Waste Money on Your Home posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “Most people are being money conscious these days. It may surprise you to discover that you are doing a few things through out your home that is about the same as burning that money that you may be working so hard to save.”

Handy Saputra presents How Does A Home Mortgage Loan Work? posted at Home Loan and Mortgage Info, saying, “A mortgage is commonly obtained by a home owner who has an outstanding debt or is getting a loan out from a bank or other government operate establishment. The mortgage transfers the interest of the property as a form of collateral to the lender. The home owner will then have a set stop of time in which they must pay back the overall of the borrowed money. If they fail to pay back the money they will end trailing their mortgaged property and assets!”

Financing Education

Khan presents The Economics of Education posted at Higher Education and Career Blog, saying, “A breakdown of non-traditional education options for businesses.”

DebtLite presents Why Consolidate School Loans? posted at School Loans.

Nate Desmond presents Why Rent Textbooks? posted at Debt-free Scholar.

Investing

Darwin presents How to Profit from Employee Stock Options Regardless of Share Performance posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “This article highlights how employees can capture income on their employee stock options regardless of how the shares perform in a down market.”

ifvat presents Investing in the Stock Market posted at ifvat, saying, “If you want to start investing in the stock market, first spend quite a bit of time learning about investing and learning about the stock market. Donâ€™t invest a dime if you donâ€™t know what youâ€™re doing. You could lose it all. Are you interested in learning more about investing your cash in the stock market? You should first be asking how does the stock market work to earn extra money and then keep working.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best Online Stock Brokers For Cheap Stock Trades posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thank you!”

Frank Vertin presents Just Buy Index Funds Directly posted at NO LOAD INDEX FUND, 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.”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Leave Your Money in Your Retirement Accounts! posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Withdrawing your money in a down market virtually guarantees you will not meet your retirement needs.”

etrades presents Day Trading Tips From The Pros - Time To Cash In! posted at eTrades, saying, “Becoming a day trader is becoming an increasingly hot means for the average person to earn money. You will find individuals who treat it as a full time occupation while others treat it as a means to earn some extra cash. With its outstanding earnings potential and the charge it gives you, itâ€™s no surprise more people are diving into day trading opportunities.”

Silver Investor presents The Obama Budget, Inflation, And Gold posted at Gold Investing Info, saying, “The Obama budget will give rise to record deficits and the corresponding debt may result in a fierce inflation.”

Walter W. Fouse presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at Best No Load Funds, saying, “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.”

Richard M. Rothschild presents The Top 14 Low Cost Taxable United States Bond Mutual Funds (Low Minimum Deposit) posted at Bond Market Index Funds, saying, “The top 14 low cost taxable US fixed income funds with a $10,000 or lower initial deposit. Low investment management fees are very important with fixed income funds. Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. When you pay more in bond mutual fund fees, you are just wasting your money.”

James Fowlkes presents 5 Steps to Becoming a Better Investor posted at JamesFowlkes.com, saying, “Diversify - Diversification is a powerful investment tool that helps you reduce the risk of holding aggressive investments. Diversifying simply means that you should hold a variety of investments that do not move in tandem in various market environments(for instance bull and bear markets).”

Stock Trading Brokers presents SEC Considers Proposal for Uptick Rule posted at Stock Trading Brokers, saying, “Bring back the uptick rule. There was actually no harm done when it was there. When it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Now that people have shed light on it, of course there are criticisms.”

Dividends4Life presents Will ETFs Be The End Of Traditional Mutual Funds? posted at Dividends Value, saying, “A relative new comer to the investment world is the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). You can think of it as a cross between individual stocks and mutual funds, with a mixture of advantages and disadvantages of each.”

Ricky presents Stock Trading Terminology posted at Stock Tips, saying, “Thanks!”

Frank B. presents Beginners Guide to Investing posted at Investment Basics.

cody butler presents How Do Mutual Funds work? posted at Investment-For-Beginners Blog, saying, “A basic overview of the way in which mutal funds work and who they are for.”

Pius Ephenus presents The Best Time to Invest in Mutual Funds posted at Retirement Planning Information | Investing For Retirement | Investing For Retirements.Com, saying, “The best time to invest in mutual funds is NOW. These investment packages do not go in and out of favor like stocks or gold or other investments do. They have been the investment of choice for everyday investors for a good 40 years, because they offer investors a wide array of opportunities”

Larry Russell presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at Best No Load 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.”

Pius Ephenus presents Profitable ETF Trading Strategies - 3 Tips For Developing a Market Classification Scheme posted at Retirement Planning Information | Investing For Retirement | Investing For Retirements.Com, saying, “In previous articles I have described why a market classification scheme is a high payoff strategy for improving your trading results. I now want to describe a few things for you to consider as you look to take advantage of your edge in market classification.”

Managing Debt

Joe Mueller presents I Am Debt Free posted at Debt Freedom, saying, “Becoming debt free is an important step toward becoming financially independent. Once you have achieved that status you can focus more of your efforts and money on building your own wealth rather than that of another.”

The Dough Roller presents 10 Tips to Declutter Your Finances posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “In his new book, Leo Babauta, describes â€œthe fine art of limiting yourself to the essential . . . in business and in life.â€”

Colin presents The Secret to Transforming Debt Into Wealth posted at Financial Advice For Beginners, saying, “What I am going to show you is a way to use debt to generate more income for you. Once you start generating more income, you can then use that money to pay down your existing debts, fire your boss, take a dream trip, or whatever else you would like. There really is no limit to the potential wealth you could generate for yourself.”

Miscellaneous

Bank Savings Review presents Four Banks Give Back TARP Already posted at Bank Savings Review, saying, “We’ve got to hand it to the banks that’s already been able to hand back the TARP. Hopefully, only responsible banks will survive after this crisis so we promote responsibility.”

Peak Personal Finance presents 3 Smart Personal Finance Tasks You Are Probably Putting Off posted at Peak Personal Finance.

Retirement Planning

Peter Jones presents Tax Free Retirement: Planning for the Future in Today’s Economic Times posted at Great New Books that Are a Must Read.

FMF presents Social Security 5: File and Suspend for Soon-to-Be Widowed Homemakers posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Knowing how to make the most of Social Security is a key part of retirement planning.”

Jeff Rose presents Do Baby Boomers Need a Roth IRA? posted at Consumer Boomer.

Risk Management and Insurance

Aaron R presents An Immodest Proposal posted at Aaron Rogier, saying, “A suggestion for new considerations in risk management focusing on epistemic value of inputs in risk models.”

John Russell presents 14 Auto Insurance Secrets - They Don posted at The Low Cost Auto Insurance Guru, saying, “Your Credit Score and Risk Is Important. Out of the 22 auto insurance companies we spoke with, 20 now consider your credit history as extremely important in determining your auto insurance rate. This number is up from 12 when we last spoke to the same auto insurance companies in May-2006. Although many factors influence your auto insurance rates, most of the auto insurance companies now consider it one of the most important factors they look at.”

Savings

KCLau presents 5 Ways To Take Charge Of Our Finances posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Are we doing the right things when it comes to managing our finances? Ask yourself five questions to know if youâ€™re on the right track.”

Larry Russell presents Most Individual Investors Are Poor Personal Portfolio Managers | Personal Investment Management posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, 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.”

MoneyNing presents Everbank Review posted at Money Ning, saying, “EverBank is one of the best banks and it offers a very high rate with its money market account and even checking account. You should check it out.”

Taxes

Patrick @ Military Money presents Stimulus Plan Helps Military Members Who Lost Money Due to PCS posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “The new economic stimulus plan offers military members certain tax breaks if they were affected my the mortgage meltdown.”

Jeff Rose presents Last Minute Tax Deductions and Credits 2008 posted at Jeff Rose.

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:41:32 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - April 4, 2009 Edition

Welcome to the April 4, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor

Budgeting

Livingalmostlarge presents Categorizing a Budget posted at LivingAlmostLarge.

Nora Dunn presents Can You Afford to Have a Baby? posted at Wise Bread, saying, “Don’t “kid” yourself - having children is expensive and can financially cripple those who aren’t prepared for the expenses - obvious and otherwise. This article outlines the expenses to budget for, from taking time off work, to making sure your own retirement savings don’t suffer, to insurance, higher education, and even dealing with pregnancy-related illness. Financial planning points for each category are well-defined and explained.”

Insurance Toolbox presents Personal Finance Tips from the Bible posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.

SpiKe presents How To Control Lifestyle Inflation And Survive The Recession - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD posted at Organize IT

Wedding Budget Planner and Calculator Spread Sheet posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, “Are you planning a wedding on a budget? Then this printable wedding budget spread sheet will help you keep a close eye on the costs of your wedding. This wedding budget spreadsheet will help you calculate the costs involved. It is itemized to make sure you don’t forget anything”.

Pasadena Financial Planner presents Living Expense Tracking Methods posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Larry Russell presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Economics

Gavin R. Putland presents Employment tax credits: the ‘marginal’ approach to full employment posted at On Line Opinion, saying, “If you want to restore asset values, you have to restore the source of income on which those values depend: employment!”

Ishan B presents Does it really makes sense to buy a Hybrid Car? posted at Save Few Bucks, saying, “This article has an interesting analysis to drive home the point that Hybrids do not provide bang for the buck (economically)”

Financial Planning

Ben Dinsmore presents My Simple Excel Based Check Book Registry Spreadsheet posted at Trees Full of Money, saying, “If you just want a basic spreadsheet to keep track of your checking, savings, and credit card accounts (like I did), you might be interested in the simple checking account registry spreadsheet I created with Mircosoft Excel.”

Abigail Perry presents Are we too optimistic? posted at i pick up pennies, saying, “A study has proven people’s inherent financial optimism. But when we rely on the future being better, our plans become out of whack with reality.”

dave presents 10 Easy Ways To Organize Your Business Finances posted at fanfrickntastic.

Tiffany Colter presents Attitude posted at Hidden Leaks, saying, “What is your attitude towards money? Get tips to make positive changes and improve your financial future.”

Financing a Home

Brian McKay presents Housing Rebound posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “The recent positive news on new and existing home sales in February points to a housing market that might have seen the worst days behind it.”

Credit Card Addict presents Reduced Credit Card Limits Hurting Credit Scores posted at CreditAddict, saying, “Keep an eye on that credit score. Recent changes by issuers may make it harder to qualify for a mortgage to buy your dream home.”

Financing Education

Jeff Rose presents 10 Questions About College Savings Plans posted at Jeff Rose.

Finance Tips 101 presents Tips On How To Apply For A Scholarship posted at Finance Tips 101.

Income

Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice) presents 5 Surefire Ways to Recession Proof Your Job posted at Homemaker Barbi, saying, “5 Surefire Ways to Recession Proof Your Job: Guest poster and accountant Shellie shares several simple steps that can help you avoid being laid off.”

Investing

etrades presents Why Buy Silver Bullion? posted at eTrades, saying, “Buying Silver Bullion is becoming hugely popular. At present, silver is relatively cheap if you compare it to the cost of gold. With it’s lower price, the vast majority of people can afford to buy greater quantities of it. If you compare it to gold, your average person may be able to afford 1 ounce whereas the same person purchasing silver could buy many more times that amount.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Trading The Market: What Market Trends Are Stock Traders Riding On Recently? posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Sun presents A Few Options to Invest in Gold posted at The Sun’s Financial Diary.

nickel presents The Worst 401(k) Plans posted at fivecentnickel.com.

Dividend Tree presents Portfolio Management Process - Goldratt’s Way posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “A portfolio management process that follows widely used (and quite successfully) manufacturing management practice.”

Dave presents The Shop Market Versus The Stock Market - Vox posted at Cheapo Groovo.

ifvat presents The Beginner’s Guide to Stock Market Investing Risk Tolerance posted at ifvat, saying, “Knowing your risk tolerance will help you establish an investment style and help you feel confident when you and your broker make investment decisions. Even though there are multiple investment types, there are really only three specific investment styles - and those styles are directly related to your personal risk tolerance. Those styles are commonly known as moderate, conservative and aggressive.”

etrades presents Basic Guidelines On Investing In Penny Stock That Matters posted at eTrades, saying, “Penny stock tips - Learn, learn, and learn. Your assumption must also include the risk of investment loss whether in part or in whole. Research and analyze the trends. Know the best stocks available. Knowing all these things may still not be enough. The stock market is a very fast paced business environment. You must be extremely alert if possible if you decide on investing in penny stock trading. Discover how successful people go about penny stock investing. Study more basic guidelines on investing in penny stocks!”

Dana presents What is Technical Analysis, and Why You (May) Need to Know It posted at Investoralist, saying, “Technical analysis can be added to your arsenal of investment tools to mitigate the blind spots of fundamental analysis.”

Investing School presents Beginning with Options Trading posted at Investing School, saying, “Options can be an amazingly easy way to protect yourself and reduce risk. However, it can also be very dangerous if misused.”

Dividends4Life presents Champion Dividend Stocks posted at Dividends Value, saying, “Some dividend stocks can be classified as champions. A bad economy, tight credit markets and a dark cloud of uncertainty are enough send some dividend companies running for the exit. However, these are the times that champions stand firm.”

Astrid Lee presents Time Management: Tools, Tips & Techniques posted at World Healing, saying, “This article is about your most important investment: TIME! Being organized creates harmony in body/mind and leads to success. All being busy in the year of the Ox, here is a supremely useful time management tool to help you focus & succeed!”

Nesher presents Long-term Profits on Bear Stock Market posted at Internet Stock Trading for Beginners.

etrades presents Option Trading Gives You Better Returns posted at eTrades, saying, “In option trading you pay a premium to give you the right to buy or sell some shares in the future. You can then buy or sell those shares within the time specified at the price decided. You are obliged to make the purchase or sale within the specified time or risk the forfeiture of the premium paid.”

Aussie Investor presents Asset Allocation - Investing By The Numbers posted at Australian Investing, saying, “What is Asset Allocation and how could it make you a better investor? The purpose of this post is to look at an investment strategy which may be useful for longer term investors. It provides a framework within which to make your investment decisions. And once you have your asset allocation strategy in place, it can help you to remove some of the emotion of buying and selling which takes place in your portfolio.”

ifvat presents How To Pick Stocks And Mutual Funds posted at ifvat, saying, “Anytime you buy stocks what you want to consider first is whether the underlying value is worth the price. Ignoring this one important piece, may very well cause your portfolio to spiral downward.”

Managing Debt

Joe Mueller presents Are Debt Consolidation Loans Good For The Long Term? posted at Debt Consolidation For Beginners, saying, “The answer to whether or not consolidating your debt into one loan is a good idea depends entirely on your own set of unique circumstances. That is why getting educated on how loans work is so important when considering this option.”

Mike presents This Great Depression Will Be Known As The Great Stagflation posted at Great Depression Version 2: Bear Market and Economic Depression, saying, “The current economic crisis is just beginning. It will wind up being known as the Great Stagflation.”

The Dough Roller presents Debt Cures by Kevin Trudeau–Do his “secrets” really work? posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “So does the book live up to his sales pitch? No, and it’s not even close.”

cody butler presents What Is A Traditional IRA posted at Investment-For-Beginners Blog, saying, “What is a traditional IRA and who is it for?”

PFCreditCards presents Credit Cards are Evil Just as Knives are Sharp posted at PF Credit Cards, saying, “If you are going to complain that credit cards are sharp, you might as well complain that knives are sharp as well”

Tom Tessin presents The Best Debt Management Software posted at FSC Blog, saying, “Do you want to manage debt yourself but don’t really know where to start? Find out what software packages I recommend.”

Miscellaneous

Mark Foo presents How To Keep Track Of Your Money posted at The Big Dreamer, saying, “A very practical way to keep track of the inflow and outflow of your money.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents Change Your Environment, Change Yourself posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, “Trading expert Brett Steenbarger’s Lesson #4: “When you act as your own trading coach, your challenge is to stay fully conscious, alert to risk and opportunity. One of your greatest threats will be the autopilot mode in which you act without thinking, without full awareness of your situation. If you shift your trading environment, you push yourself to adapt to new situations: you break routines.”"

Heidi presents Calling 911 For McNuggets? How far is too far? posted at Little People Wealth, saying, “If somebody steals $5 from you would you call 911? What about $100 or $1000. How far is too far? This woman called 911 because $5 was stolen from her and she was arrested for misuse.”

Retirement Planning

Super Saver presents A Roth Conversion Strategy For a Declining Market posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “This strategy is a great way to avoid paying taxes on converted funds which have declined and still keeping a Roth conversion for the tax year.”

Risk Management and Insurance

FMF presents How to Weather an Inflationary Storm posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “What to do when inflation rages.”

John Russell presents 14 Auto Insurance Secrets - They Don posted at The Low Cost Auto Insurance Guru, saying, “If your car is totaled after an accident, do you know how your insurance company determines your car’s present value? The answer car may surprise you. ”

Savings

Money Tipper presents Monitor Bank Safety Online posted at Money Tipper, saying, “Did you know that you can monitor your bank’s safety from the comfort of your own keyboard? Well, you can. And you should.”

jim presents » Top 5 Online Banks: Savings or Checking Accounts on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Taxes

Nate Desmond presents Giveaway: Free TurboTax Online Premier Tax E-Filing posted at Debt-free Scholar.

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

Personal Finance Blog Articles this Week

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:21:26 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Personal Finance Blog Articles this Week

Personal Finance Articles this Week in Personal Financial Blog Articles

Carnival of Financial Planning - March 28 2009 Edition

Welcome to the March 28, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor

Budgeting

FitBuff presents 3 Easy Healthy Dinner Recipes posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, “Every one is trying to cut back, but an enjoyable dinner can still be part of the “poor man’s” day, if you try one of these easy, healthy and inexpensive dinner recipes…”

Pasadena Financial Planner presents Living Expense Tracking Methods posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Larry Russell presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Economics

Patrick @ Military Money presents 2009 Economic Stimulus - What it Means to You posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “What you need to know about the new stimulus plan passed by the Obama Administration, including unemployment benefits, increased education grants, and money for school.”

Brian McKay presents Federal Reserve Leaves Rates Low posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “The Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave the Fed Funds rate at historic lows of 0% to .25% because the ecomony continues to contract.”

Ian Welsh presents How to Understand the March 23 Market Rally posted at Ian Welsh, saying, “On March 23, the Dow went up almost 500 points in response to news that Treasure Secretary Geithner was promising private investors almost $1 trillion to gamble with. But instead of signaling economic recovery, the Dow rally points to the Japanification of the US economy, and that’s very bad news.”

Michael Haltman presents Pop The Economic Pimple While The Cancer Runs Wild posted at The Political and Financial Markets Commentator, saying, “I find the bonuses paid to the AIG executives and financial “geniuses” that created and sold the products that has helped to bring the economy of the United States and the world to its knees to be abhorrent and bordering on the immoral. If there is a way to abrogate them within the boundaries of contract law, then it must be done! But that is not the point of this post. That said, let’s move on.”

Financial Planning

Fitz Villafuerte presents Things To Know Before You Open A Checking Account posted at Ready To Be Rich, saying, “Are you opening a checking account? Then read this short post to give you tips on what questions you should ask the bank before you open a checking account.”

Manshu presents Greater Fool Theory and Keynes Beauty Contest | OneMint posted at OneMint.

Relax presents The art of taking risk posted at The Wise Curve, saying, “mastering the art of taking risk will bring you one step closer to success in your career, study, relationship, investment, and many more areas in your life.”

JC presents INGCompareMe - How are you doing financially compared to your peers? posted at 6Bubbles - Grad School, Money, Life.

Financing a Home

Chris presents Your First Home posted at Home I Own, saying, “Good tips from a first home buyer for first home buyers”

The Dough Roller presents ALERT: Refinance Your Mortgage Now! posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “If you are considering refinancing your mortgage, rates may be going to their lowest point now. Here’s why and how to refi!”

Financing Education

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents College Savings Plans: 529 vs. Coverdell ESA posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Comparing the two most popular college savings plans in the US.”

Ted Reimers presents How to Pay for Grad School posted at CampusGrotto, saying, “Pell grants are not available to graduate students, so how can you pay for grad school without racking up a ton of student loans?”

Mark Montgomery presents New Student Loans Require Payments While in School posted at Great College Advice.

Nate Desmond presents 7 Ways to Save Money on College Transportation posted at Clever Dude.

Margaret Garcia presents The FAFSA Made Easy: 100 Tips, Tools, And Guides posted at Online University Reviews.

Investing

The Financial Blogger presents What is a Stock Market? posted at TradeInHowTo.com, saying, “A stock market, also called stock exchange is the place where buyers and sellers of stocks will do transactions.”

Rob presents How to Respond to Late-Paying or No-Paying Tenants posted at Two Wise Acres, saying, “How to deal with tenants who pay late or not at all.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Investing In Stocks and Bonds: Some Investment Basics posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Curt presents Peter Schiff Explains Why No One Should Have Been Surprised By The Financial Meltdown posted at PennyJobs.com.

Investing School presents Realized and Unrealized Gains and Losses posted at Investing School, saying, “It’s a simple subject but it’s often confused. Unrealized and realized gains explained.”

Dividends4Life presents Oracle (ORCL): The Birth Of A New Dividend Stock posted at Dividends Value, saying, “It is a powerful statement when others are hoarding cash that a company has the confidence to declare its first dividend to eliminate excess cash. Oracle (ORCL) did just that on Wednesday when it reported third-quarter results and declared its first ever dividend.”

The Investor presents How stop loss investing can save you money posted at Monevator.com, saying, “A stop loss order is an instruction to sell your holding in a stock or other security if it falls to a particular price”

Mike presents How Do Interest Rate Changes Affect Bond Prices? posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A brief description of how interest rate changes affect bond prices”

Tony presents Investing In Certificate Of Deposits posted at Understanding Certificate of Deposits, saying, “An investment in a CD is very safe since it has a set return.”

Managing Debt

Mr Credit Card presents Some Good Advice On Credit Cards posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.

Lisa presents Saving Money with Credit Cards posted at The Budgeting Blog.

Jim DeSantis presents Free eBook - Credit Rescue! posted at Emotions and Credit at On Line Tribune, saying, “How emotions impact credit is a subject that few people think about but more and more therapists are talking about. As a Pastoral Counselor I have long known that there is a powerful link between our emotions and our money. We may think that money is all about our rational selves but, in fact, our emotions very much determine our financial decisions.”

ishanbansal presents Get Out of Debt: 5 Simple Steps posted at Save Few Bucks, saying, “This article explains 5 simple steps to Get out of Debt. Thanks for taking out time to review this.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best Cash Back Credit Cards: Your Rewards For Spending posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Miscellaneous

BankMan presents How the FDIC Takes Over Banks posted at High Yield Savings Accounts, saying, “Watch as the FDIC takes over a bank. Thankfully that means your money is safe!”

Retirement Planning

Jeff Rose presents 7 Things To Know About a SEP IRA posted at Jeff Rose.

FIRE Getters presents Early Retirement Case Study - Sandy Aldridge and Dale Lugenbehl posted at FIRE Finance.

Super Saver presents Bloggers Who Have Retired Early posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Retiring in one’s forties (or earlier) seems to be one holy grail of personal finance. By my criteria, I’ve only found three bloggers that have done it.”

FMF presents Free Money Finance: Social Security 2: File Early If You Plan to Die Young posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Tips on the ins and outs of Social Security.”

Risk Management and Insurance

nickel presents How to Save Money on Health Insurance posted at fivecentnickel.com, saying, “Tips for saving money on health insurance and healthcare.”

Patrick Smith presents Understanding Job Benefits posted at Real World Advice, saying, “If you are fortunate enough to get a job offer, do not discount the benefits involved, such as health insurance.”

Savings

ishanbansal presents Does it really makes sense to buy a Hybrid Car? posted at Save Few Bucks, saying, “This article has an interesting analysis to drive home the point that Hybrids do not provide bang for the buck (economically)”

Ben presents Emergency Funds for Losing Your Job posted at Money Smart Life.

Taxes

Steve Patterson presents Use your Home Office as a Tax Deduction in 2009 posted at 2008 Taxes, saying, “The office in the home tax deduction is one of the best deductions you can take for your home based business.”

Jeff Rose presents 5 Tests To Claim a Dependent On Your Tax Return posted at Jeff Rose.

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

Personal Finance Advice This Week

The Skilled Investor — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:56:36 +0000

This financial article comes to you compliments of: The Skilled Investor's PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG. Find the original article here:

Personal Finance Advice This Week

Financial Blog Articles about Personal Finance this Week

Carnival of Financial Planning - March 21 2009 Edition

Welcome to the March 21, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor

Budgeting

Livingalmostlarge presents Categorizing a Budget posted at LivingAlmostLarge.

Pasadena Financial Planner presents Living Expense Tracking Methods posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Larry Russell presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Economics

Abigail Perry presents Should our economy fail? posted at i pick up pennies, saying, “Is this recession just the flip side to the prosperity of the sub-prime loan period? And should we shoot for an economy that doesn’t only “boom” when we’re spending outside our means?”

David presents The Effects of Inflation on Your Money posted at Personal Finance Ology, saying, “Inflation hawks are on the look out. Learn why and what you need to do to protect your money!”

Super Saver presents Expect Recessions to Occur posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “Recessions are a fact of life and it’s hard to go over 10 years without experiencing one.”

Financial Planning

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Visa Debit Card Facts: Visa Answers Your Questions posted at The Digerati Life.

Relax presents Book Review: Your Money or Your Life posted at The Wise Curve, saying, “I suggest you to invest some money in this five star book. The knowledge in it will help you to build a solid foundation for your wealth.”

Financing Education

Todd presents The Best Time To Save For College Is Before Kids! posted at HarvestingDollars, saying, “I hope you like this post and will include it in the carnival. Thank you for your consideration. -Todd.”

Buck Weber presents Search for Scholarships posted at THE BUCK LIST, saying, “It’s that time of the year again for high school seniors. Testing for the ACT & SAT, filling out the FAFSA, gathering and sending transcripts, college applications and letters of recommendation are all part of the annual hectic last few months of the high school experience…”

Nate Desmond presents 20 Free Online Courses from Traditional Colleges and Universities posted at Debt-free Scholar.

Health Care

marjorie presents Long-Term Care Insurance: An Introduction posted at Wealth Junkies, saying, “Long-term care insurance is meant to cover extended illnesses or disabilities, providing all the assistance you need at home, in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home. While illnesses may be less of a concern if you’re young, what happens if you’re in an accident and need care beyond a short hospital stay? According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 40 percent of people receiving long-term care services in the U.S. are between the ages of 18 and 64. The costs can vary significantly for long-term care insurance — but the younger you are, the better the deal you can get.”

ishanbansal presents How to Save Money on Prescription Drugs posted at Save Few Bucks, saying, “In this tight economy, it is very difficult to take out money for expensive Prescription Drugs. But there are a few simple ways in which you can Save Few Bucks on Prescription Drugs.”

Ian Mackie presents 5 Factors That Determine The Cost of Long Term Care Insurance | Long Term Care Insurance Blog posted at Long Term Care Insurance Blog, saying, “Hope this article helps your readers make wiser financial decisions regarding long term care insurance. Chose Health Care as the category, although it could theoretically fit under Retirement Planning or Financial Planning”

Income

The Smarter Wallet presents Job Hunting Tips: How To Deal With Losing Your Job posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Investing

Brian McKay presents Term Asset Backed Securities Loan Facility posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “The Federal Reserve Board has come up with another program to plan to restore stability to our financial system by jump starting the credit markets and the economy.”

GreenBridge Advisors presents Read This Before You Trade Any More Stocks posted at Let’s Blog Money, saying, “For many people, investing is about taking the advice of people around them and the so-called “experts”. Incorporating the practice of journalizing your thoughts when trading is a good way of not only removing some of the emotion from your decisions, but is also a a way of gaining insight into the type of investor you are and can help you change your methods and practices.”

Marc Ryan presents IndependentInvestor.info - How to invest the fixed income portion of your portfolio: the case for bond funds posted at IndependentInvestor.info, saying, “Do-it-yourself investors have several investment options available for the fixed income (i.e. bond) portion of their portfolios. These run the gamut from certificates of deposit, the direct purchase of bonds (traditional or stripped), bond mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF’s). In this, the first of a two part series on bond funds, we look at the advantages and disadvantages of bond mutual funds. In the second commentary, we will look at bond ETFs.”

sri2701 presents Value investing and The Small Investor posted at Mind Meditations.

Aussie Investor presents Buying US Shares posted at Australian Investing, saying, “Although this post is written from the viewpoint of an Australian investor, the principles are the same whenever you buy international shares. Currency risk and local research are just a couple of the factors you’ll need to consider when buying stocks in foreign companies.”

Dividends4Life presents The Few, The Proud, The Dividend Raisers! posted at Dividends Value, saying, “It is great when companies follow through and pay their regular dividends at the appointed time. But it is even more important for companies to follow through and raise their dividend at the appropriate time. Unfortunately, fewer companies are increasing their dividends. This week there were a few:”

Ravi Nagarajan presents Berkshire Analysis - 2008 | The Rational Walk posted at The Rational Walk, saying, “Article on Berkshire Hathaway’s 2008 results.”

Mesquite Pete presents Don’t Take Too Much Risk | Sound Stock Investment posted at Sound Stock Investment, saying, “If there is one thing we all could learn from the recent crisis, it is the danger of taking too much risk.”

Adam Pedley presents Real Estate Buy, Rent, Invest Services | Property Domain posted at The Property Domain.

Managing Debt

The Dough Roller presents 10 Lies that Got You (and Keep You) in Credit Card Debt posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “Here are 10 ways we convince ourselves that credit card debt is ok.”

Joe Mueller presents Debt Consolidation Loans For Beginners posted at Debt Consolidation For Beginners, saying, “Debt consolidation loans can really help those struggling with cash flow issues get on the right track with their financial lives. While they are not the only solution to life crippling debt, when used in conjunction with other debt destroying tactics a consolidation loan will aid an individual in their cash flow crisis and prevent them from acquiring new debts to meet the demand of their daily life.”

Miscellaneous

Michael Miles presents Double your income doing what you love - book review posted at Effortless Abundance.

Sam presents New !! Find the Best Lawyer. Get the Job Done Right posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “To find the best lawyer takes some thought and time. If your lawsuit will involve complex issues or large sums of money, carry out the research diligently to improve your prospects for success. * 1. Qualifications of the Best Lawyer * 2. The Best Lawyer in History * 3. The Best Lawyer Is Often a Specialist * 4. How to Find the Best Lawyer * 5. Working With the Best Lawyer”

Retirement Planning

Jeff Rose presents Rollover IRAs Offer a Wide Range of Benefits posted at Jeff Rose.

Jeff Rose presents Your Second Wind — Starting Up a New Business in Retirement posted at Consumer Boomer.

Savings

freefrombroke presents Is 8 To 12 The New 3 To 6? posted at Free From Broke, saying, “Do we need more than the usual 3-6 months expenses saved up in today’s economy?”

ishanbansal presents 10 Tips to Reduce Car Expenses posted at Save Few Bucks, saying, “Expenses on your car are one of the biggest drain on your wallet. We sometimes do not realize the complete impact of these. However, if you try to add up the all the expenses that we have to do on our car every year (including insurance, gas, any repairs, state inspection etc.), you will be really amazed with the amount. So, I decided to write this article about some Money Saving Tips to reduce Car Expenses.”

Dave presents The Shop Market Versus The Stock Market - Vox posted at Cheapo Groovo.

KCLau presents Save money the stupid way posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Simple ways to save money”

Mr. Banker presents Savings Rates May Stop Dropping? posted at Best Interest Rate Banks.

MoneyNing presents The Latte Factor and Becoming a Millionaire posted at Money Ning, saying, “Stick to thinking about how much you can save, not necessarily how much you are spending.”

Taxes

Erika Collin presents The Free Online Tax Filing Toolbox: 25 Sites for Tools, Printable Forms, Software and More posted at Bankling.

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.

Personal Investment Management and Financial Planning Blog Directory

Financial Planning and Personal Investment This Week

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #96 - July 2, 2009

Budgeting

Economics

Financial Planning

Financing Education

Financing a Home

Health Care

Income

Investing

Managing Debt

Miscellaneous

Retirement Planning

Risk Management and Insurance

Savings

Taxes

Related Personal Finance Reading:

Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #93 - June 13, 2009

Budgeting

Economics

Estate Planning

Financial Planning

Financing a Home

Financing Education

Health Care

Income

Investing

Managing Debt

Miscellaneous

Retirement Planning

Risk Management and Insurance

Savings

Taxes

Related Personal Finance Reading:

How many stocks are needed for a well-diversified portfolio?

Industry rules-of-thumb often state that 15 to 30 stocks are enough for a well-diversified portfolio. This can be very misleading.

Price volatility at the individual common stock level has increased substantially in recent years.

The advisability of portfolio self-management should always be considered in the light of the index mutual fund and index ETF alternatives.

It is sometimes suggested that individual investors can better control capital gains tax realization through individual securities.

Not only does investment portfolio self-management require skill, it takes significant time. The vast majority of individual investors will not beat a passive index return despite all the time they spend.

By focusing on the number of stocks or bonds in a self-managed investment portfolio, an individual investor really is paying attention to the wrong thing.

Related Personal Finance Reading:

Personal Investment and Personal Finance Blog Articles this Week

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #90 - May 23, 2009

Budgeting

Economics

Estate Planning

Financial Planning

Financing a Home

Financing Education

Income

Investing

Managing Debt

Miscellaneous

Retirement Planning

Risk Management and Insurance

Savings

Taxes

Related Personal Finance Reading:

Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles

Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning - May 2, 2009 Edition

Budgeting

Economics

Estate Planning

Financial Planning

Financing a Home

Financing Education

Investing

Managing Debt

Miscellaneous

Retirement Planning

Risk Management and Insurance

Savings

Taxes