Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #228

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Welcome to the March 16, 2012 Edition #228 of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

The Carnival of Financial Planning takes a long-term view of personal financial planning for individuals and families. We focus on efficient and sustainable personal financial planning practices that can lead to lifetime financial security.  This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor, Editor

Budgeting and Economics

KT presents How to Save on Living Expenses When You Live Alone posted at Personal Finance Journey, saying, “In the United States, 11 percent of people under the age of 30 live alone U.S. News. I lived alone for two years when I was in graduate school, and I loved the experience. However, living alone, especially in an urban area, can be expensive.

Kyle presents How to Get Paid to Be a Better Person posted at The Penny Hoarder, saying, “If you miss the days of getting rewarded for being a better person then Dailyfeats.com is definitely a site worth checking out.

Everything Finance presents Benefits to Using Cash over Credit Cards posted at Everything Finance, saying, “While proponents argue that it is possible to use credit responsibly and game the system by getting nice rewards for credit usage, for many people, there are several advantages to going back to a cash only system.

Justin presents Weathering a Job Layoff posted at Money Is the Root, saying, “It was in 2010 that I experienced the economic decline in my area. I had just made the biggest purchase of my life, a house, and not more than two months later I was laid off. I thought with an MBA and the way my career had been blossoming since graduation, there was no way I had to worry like so many others were. I couldnt have been more wrong. I will never make that mistake again, it was an experience I will never forget, and Id like to give you a few pointers in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

Janet presents
Living expense tracking methods posted at Independent Financial Planner , saying, “ Many people do not track their living expenses and do not understand the magnitude of their consumption. Failure to monitor your consumption expenditures means that they are flying blindly regarding their future finances. ”

Evan presents Business Survival in a Down Economy posted at Smart Wealth, saying, “One just needs to look around at any decent sized city to see the effect of the current economy. Homes being foreclosed all over, businesses that have had to shut their doors or are going out of business, but there are things your business can do to survive despite a down economy.

Financial Planning

Jeremy Waller presents Carpooling Etiquette: 10 Ground Rules To Keep Your Sanity posted at Personal Finance Whiz, saying, “Get carpooling off to a good start by establishing ground rules. Here are 10 carpooling tips to help you iron out all the details, including necessary vehicle insurance, carpool etiquette and logistics.

ETZ25 presents Megamind – A Lesson Of Personal Development posted at Entertainment Timez, saying, “Instead of good versus evil, the movie Megamind is really about personal development and becoming a beneficial member of society. Funny!

Jen presents The Ghosts of my Financial Past & Where I am Today posted at Master the Art of Saving, saying, “I’ve never hidden the fact that I used to completely suck with money, but I thought it might be helpful for myself as well as others to revisit the ghosts…

krantcents presents The 3 H’s of Success posted at KrantCents, saying, “The 3 H’s of Success is the eighth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal What are your goals? I know you thought about it! You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made! Before you can get to where you want to be, you need to know where you have been.

Frank presents Best Index Fund posted at Individual Investment Strategies, saying, “Short-term mutual fund trading is a zero sum game played against other very well informed mutual fund traders and other securities market traders. On average, higher mutual fund turnover is far more likely to result in lower investment fund performance — instead of superior risk-adjusted performance.”

Wayne presents What to Invest in? posted at Young Family Finance, saying, “Are you wondering what to invest in? Where to invest your money? Find out what you should not be doing.

YFS presents Want to go to Harvard for Free? posted at Your Finances Simplified, saying, “I was checking my email at my defined period of time shout out to 4 hour work week and came across the following email. Man, was I surprised. Below you will find 7 opportunities to turn your life around.

PFP presents  Financial planning reading list posted at  Independent Financial Planner , saying, “ When I work with clients to develop their customized lifetime financial and investment plans, they often ask what they should read to improve their financial literacy.”

Stephen Vanderpool presents The Easiest Way to Raise Your Credit Score posted at NerdWallet, saying, “Raising  our credit score requires diligence, but we have a neat credit-building trick that requires little time and no upkeep. While its important to make punctual payments and stay below your limit, establishing credit doesnt have to consume your life. Heres a cost-free, time-efficient technique for increasing your FICO score.”

Jason presents Money Won’t Make You Happy…But It Will Buy You Stuff! posted at Work Save Live, saying, “Money won’t make you happy …but everybody wants to find out for themselves. – Zig Ziglar Some people say that money is the  root of all evil. The problem is that we all need money to live. There are bills to pay and food to put on the table.

Dave presents  Passive Investing – Active Investing – Alpha Returns posted at  Wall Street Nerds , saying, “ The Old Testament of indexing is Burton Malkiel’s classic A Random Walk Down Wall Street, first published in 1973 by W.W. norton and now in its ninth edition. For typical individual investors, without special access to information, it offers what is likely the best financial advice they will ever get: It is hard to consistently beat the market, especially after fees. A passive strategy will do better in the long run.”

Luke presents Are High Yield Bonds Over or Under Valued?..It Depends posted at Learn Bonds, saying, “high yield spreads over treasuries are still very attractive, and no where near historical lows.

Jeffrey presents Can a Personal MBA be just as good as the real thing? posted at Money Spruce, saying, “MBAs are expensive, but a cheaper and more effective alternative may be the Personal MBA that you can get nearly for free.

TSI presents  Where’s Waldo? – The illusion of superior professional mutual fund manager performance. posted at Skilled Investor Blog , saying, “If investment mutual fund managers were truly skilled at beating the market, then you would expect mutual fund manager performance prowess to persist over time. Unfortunately, the evidence indicates that superior past professional performance among mutual fund managers tends not to persist. Past superior mutual fund performance is simply not a predictor of future superior mutual fund performance. ”

Aloysa presents Some Jobs Pay More Than You Think posted at My Broken Coin, saying, “The other day I overheard a conversation in the park while waiting for my pug to sniff a dry bush on the curb. Two girls were power walking, passing  by me, discussing something animatedly.

John presents College and Future Earnings: What’s the Connection? posted at Wallet Blog, saying, “School for school’s sake, not necessarily the best way to plan for your financial future. Look at the overall picture first, then pick the path to success that is right for you!

Jason presents 5 Ways to Get More Work-Life Balance posted at One Money Design, saying, “While Im by far no expert at getting enough work-life balance I still thought I would share a few tips Ive found useful and try to follow in my own life.

Walter presents Best Bond Funds posted at Fixed Income Investing, saying, “The bond investment fund market is no place for an individual investor to try to beat the market and get higher returns through attempts at clever fixed income investing. Even professional bond market money managers do not beat the bond market.”

Income

PITR presents What Location Independence Would Mean for Me posted at Passive Income To Retire, saying, “Have you ever wondered what location independence or the ability to work from anywhere would offer you? Find out what it means for me.

Eddie presents Rich Are Never Rich Enough posted at Finance Fox, saying, “Earning $196K per year is a nice chunk of change and definitely puts you in the so-called One Per Centthe top one per cent of income earners in Canada according to the latest Statistics Canada numbers. To break down the $196,000 annual income further, it works out to roughly $10,400 a month, after taxes.

Insurance and Risk

Miranda Marquit presents Is Any Investment 100% Safe? posted at Personal Dividends, saying, “Is any investment 100% safe Many investors are looking for opportunities that are risk free. If you want investment risk, you have to be prepared to put up with smaller returns.”

Larry presents ID theft protection posted at Personal Financial Planner, saying, “As a threat to your financial security, you should take the potential for identity theft very seriously. Identity theft sometimes entails a loss of your money, but whether or not you lose money, it can take a very large amount of your time to rectify.”

Investing

Kanwal presents Are These 3 Investing Statements True or False? posted at Simply Investing, saying, “hat are the 3 common investing myths? Do you succumb to these myths or chart your own investing path? Don’t let these investing myths prevent you from investing successfully. 1. Investing on your own is very risky. False! Investing on your own is only risky if you don’t know what your are doing. Investing is only risky if you are speculating.

Srinath presents Best index funds posted at The University of Money, saying, “For beginners and for long term investors the best way to invest is via the index funds. In fact it is the way to go given the returns that they have given over the actively managed funds.

Miss T. presents Financial Advisor or Discount Broker? posted at Prairie Eco Thrifter, saying, “Should you hire a financial adviser or financial planner? Or maybe you know enough about stocks to pick your own and you are considering just going it alone and buy stocks with a discount broker instead? Lets take a look at some of the pros and cons of each decision.

Frank Pinter presents No Load Bond Funds posted at Lowest Cost Bond Funds, saying, “Investment research overwhelmingly shows that lower cost fixed income funds tend to yield higher bond investing returns.”

Investor Junkie presents Best 2012 IRA Promotions posted at Investor Junkie, saying, “Now is the time for investors to add money to an IRA account. If you currently dont have one, now is the time to open an account. I’ve done the research, and gathered up the best IRA investment promotions for you. Whether you are doing a rollover IRA, or creating a new IRA account, now is the time to do it.

Mich presents Investing in Offshore Drilling Companies posted at BeatingTheIndex, saying, “While presenting the industry with its biggest challenges, deep water exploration and development yields the greatest potential rewards and healthy profit margins to the oil service companies involved.

TSI presents  Investment astrology – should you pick investments according to the Morningstars? posted at  The Skilled Investor , saying, “Individual investors and their advisors appear to make investment decisions that are eavily influenced by the Morningstar Rating system. Because the stars are very widely used and often misunderstood, these are articles to help investors make more rational decisions about the stars.”

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey presents The Permanent Portfolio by Harry Browne – Component Returns  correlation Analysis and My Future Plans posted at My Personal Finance Journey, saying, “This post describes Harry Browne’s Permanent Portfolio asset allocation strategy as a way to obtain market-beating returns, which aims to provide safety and stability to the money you deem that you cannot afford to lose. This post also presents a correlation
coefficient matrix analysis of the returns of the various components of the Permanent Portfolio, as well as Jacob @ MPFJs future plans for using the Permanent Portfolio in his asset allocation strategy.

Glen Craig presents How to Invest In The Facebook IPO posted at Free From Broke , saying, “The impending Facebook IPO has been generating a ton of buzz. But should you invest in Facebook? If you will, how will you invest in
Facebook. See some ways to get in on the action.

Managing Debt

Mike presents How To Earn Travel Rewards Faster posted at Rewards Cards USA, saying, “One of the reasons that many people sign up for rewards credit cards is the opportunity to earn travel rewards that can be used to save money on airfare, hotel rooms, and other travel costs.

Echo presents Top Cash Back Credit Cards in Canada posted at Boomer & Echo, saying, “I looked into the top cash back credit cards in Canada, including annual fee cards and no fee cards. Here are the three best cards on the market:

Dana presents Understanding How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft posted at Not Made of Money, saying, “Identity theft has become a huge problem today. Your personal and financial information can be stolen and used by another person, ruining your credit for years.

Steve presents How to Quickly Pay Off Your Credit Cards posted at Money Infant, saying, “Do you want a simple formula for paying off your credit cards as quickly as possible? This is what I did to get rid of $60k worth of debt in just 33 months.

Real Estate

Hank presents The Unintended Costs Of Becoming A Landlord posted at Money Q&A, saying, “Now that we are becoming a landlord I have found a few expenses that have cropped up. These unintended expenses for the most part could have been trouble if we didn’t have an emergency fund set aside.

LaTisha presents How Much will My New House Cost? posted at Financial Success for Young Adults, saying, “What are the factors that affect the price of my home? How can I use a mortgage calculator to determine my payments and if I need private mortgage insurance?

Shaun presents When Should You Rent and Not Buy? posted at Smart Family Finance, saying, “Renting can save you money if you follow the rules and understand when you should rent instead of buy.

SFB presents 10 Costly Mistakes First Time Home Buyers Make posted at Simple Finance Blog, saying, “Below are 10 of the most common and costly mistakes first time home buyers can make and how to avoid them.

Retirement

Dividend Ninja presents Building My Portfolio for Retirement, with Dividends and Bonds posted at The Dividend Ninja, saying, “In my mid to late 40′s, my focus of late has been more on planning for retirement and how I will generate a consistent monthly income to fund my retirement. I find myself in between the need to increase my portfolio through capital appreciation, but also for the need to generate monthly income in retirement.

Corey presents Roth vs. Traditional IRA: Pros and Cons posted at Steadfast Finances, saying, “Find out the pros and cons of a roth ira and a traditional ira. Which ira is right for you?

Frank Knowles presents S&P 500 Funds posted at Best Large Cap Funds, saying, “The no load index fund strategy of the Schwab S & P 500 Index Fund tracks the S and P 500 stock index. This no load index fund was listed as one of the top 25 lowest cost index mutual funds in a research study.”

Tom Drake presents Are These Costs Keeping You From Retirement? posted at Stupid Cents, saying, “Before you retire, you need to consider how you can reduce costs as much as possible. Here are obligations that might be keeping
you from retirement.

FIRE Finance presents Retirement – All Is Well If Our HEART Is Well posted at FIRE Finance, saying, “One afternoon we were musing about the nature of our financial lives. We were wondering how we could visualize the entire financial game symbolically? A symbol is easy to remember and often leads to clarity in understanding. After some quiet moments

Franklin presents  Traditional IRA and 401k Versus Roth IRA and Roth 401k Contributions  posted at  Retirement Planning , saying, “Many taxpayers puzzle over whether to contribute to traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged retirement plans. For most people, contributions to traditional tax-advantaged plans will probably provide a higher net present value over their lifetimes. ”

Savings

Crystal presents We May be House Hunting Soon posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, saying, “Yep, hell has frozen over and pigs are flying, Mr. BFS and I are thinking about house hunting soon for a larger home. The prices are just so low!

John presents Frugal Living: Easy Ways to Save Money posted at Married with Debt, saying, “Frugal living is about strength in numbers. While you should focus on big money-savers when making a budget, there are little ways to save money that can add up.

Financial Freedom presents  Savings and Withdrawal Rates posted at  My Financial Freedom Plan , saying, “ Understand how your current savings rate and retirement withdrawal rate would affect all of your lifetime personal financial planning goals ”

Steve presents The Intolerable Cruelty of Spoons posted at Brip Blap, saying, “I look with some real regret at some of the specialty cooking items Ive bought over the years. If you are talking about a place in your house to review for frugality, most American kitchens would be a good place to start. Some useless items I own (or now owned) and some
alternatives:

Taxes

Jon the Saver presents Sole Proprietorship Tax Deductions You Need to Know About posted at Free Money  Wisdom, saying, “You won’t want to miss these sole proprietorship tax deductions if you file as a sole proprietorship for your business. Tax deductions are key.

Suba presents I Hate Tax Prep Time posted at Broke Professionals, saying, “I Hate Tax Prep Time is a post from: Broke Professionals if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Feed. Now that the first round of tax documents are out notwithstanding the corrected tax forms, it is time to get ready for that lovely spring time task - income taxes.

Steve presents E-File Tax Returns May Be Slower This Year posted at 2012 Taxes, saying, “If you opted to e-file this year, hoping for a quick return, it might take a little longer. The IRS is taking longer to process returns in 2012.

Paul Tabbet presents Retirement Software posted at Tax Planning Worksheets, saying, “Retirement planning software should automate the development of lifetime projections that incorporate tax laws and rules associated with tax-advantaged retirement investment incentive programs such as traditional IRA, Roth, 401k, 403b, SEP, Keogh, and other retirement plans.”

MR presents A Small Startup Business Should Pay No Taxes For Two Years! posted at Money Reasons, saying, “With the odds against small business startups, doesn’t it make sense to help them as much as possible by delaying the taxes collected on them for two years?

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Financial Planning using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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