Carnival of Personal Finance #361 – The Mothers Day Edition

Welcome to the 361′st edition of Carnival of Personal Finance. I am honored to be your host for the second time in 12 months of my blogging history. If you are a first time visitor, thanks for your time, do remember the blog name, very easy to remember – I guess and most importantly, keep on visiting.

Like every other blogger I talk rubbish sometimes, if you are a regular personal finance blogger or blog reader, you may have been already accustomed to read gibberish and non-sense stuff often anyway.

When neo-bloggers (in relative term) starts claiming a beautiful discovery that Dave Ramsey’s methods are mathematically wrong, I feel pity on their ignorance. Coming back to the point, yes I do talk non-sense sometimes, but most of the time my articles get editor’s choice distinctions at carnivals. So keep visiting. I may bore you sometimes, but not always.

I forgot that the theme is Mother’s day today. Here’s my tribute to my mother, published yesterday. Once you’re done with that, continue to next paragraph, if not, finish reading it first.

The biggest gift you can give to your mother, is your presence, I accept your apology for not being able to be with your mother this year. But, do not forget it next year. Perfumes, flowers, chocolates or cards are all fine, but they hardly create any memory. Going by my average readers’ age of 32, your moms are growing older. She loves to get your message, phone call or flowers, but what she badly wants is your presence.

Ignoring few exceptions, your mother mostly shaped you as human being when you were growing up. She was there when you needed most. You take good care of her now, I am sure your children would see and learn the same habit. It’s what I call Karma.

Lord Krishna and his Mother Yashoda - Hindu mythology

Let’s begin the carnival now, with my partial, narrow-minded and shortsighted selections for top posts.

Unqualified Editor’s Picks

After spending awful time reading the submissions, I am exhausted. Forgive me if your master-piece is not chosen. Better luck next time.

Kathryn @ Financial Highway from Financial Highway presents Common Interview Questions and Answers. I liked it because its extensive in nature. The amount of time devoted to this article was great. Although we never ask some questions he mentioned as ‘common’, it’s a treasure for job seekers.

Echo from Boomer & Echo presents Pitfalls Of Chasing The Highest Dividend Yield, and says, “Choosing a dividend stock involves a lot more than simply looking for the highest dividend yield”.  – Canada or United States or New Delhi, this simple formula of researching past dividend growth rate should provide better comfort for your dividend investment.

Peter from Bible Money Matters presents How to Setup a Custodial Account for a Minor to Help Them Save or Invest, and says, “There are times where you may want to setup an account for one of your minor children or a family member to help them start saving for the future, to teach them about how to manage money or to jump-start a college savings fund. Depending on what your goals are, there are different ways to go about doing this, but setting up a custodial account under the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) or the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) can be done at most banks, brokerages and mutual fund companies”. Peter said so much, I am not going to take any more space. 

Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured presents How to wash dishes: Beyond Frugality, and says, “Nicole and Maggie discuss the most efficient way to wash dishes using a double sink when you’re without a dishwasher. This is hardcore”. This is really hardcore. The steps and the comments are too engaging. This is very normal in my home country, India. But, abnormal here in US. Before you say good bye to your dish washing liquids, calculate time save vs. money save. For me, saving extra 10 hrs a month is more valuable then spending $20 extra on washing soap and electricity.

Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Start Small; Dream Big: Achieving Financial Security from Small Beginnings, and says, “What would you do, who could you be, what would you dream, if you knew you couldn’t fail? So dream big, comforted by the knowledge that it’s OK to start your financial journey small. Remember, everything big was once small at the beginning!” Very inspiring post. Starts small and dream big!

Rest of the submissions

Here’s some awesome posts that can add value to your life, categorized as per the subject of the article.

Career

Dan Meyers from Your Life, Their Life presents Are you a work athlete?, and says, “In football, most players have a one-position title… the few who can do it all are simply called “Athletes”. Are you a work athlete?”

Jefferson from See Debt Run presents You Should Quit Your Job! 5 Signs That It Is Time To Move On, and says, “Warning signs that you should quit your job. Not getting invited to meetings, not enough work, don’t get along with boss, don’t get along with teammates.”

Philip from PT Money Personal Finance presents From Unemployed to Entrepreneur, and says, “An insightful interview with a couple who decided to start their own pizza making business after they both lost their jobs.”

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Do You Care About Job Security?, and says, “How important is a stable job?”

Mike from Do Not Wait presents Should You Work For a Startup Company?, and says, “We look at the benefits of a small startup.”

Jason from One Money Design presents Do Higher Status Occupations and Higher Income Lead to More Stress?, and says, “Moving up the corporate latter and earning more pay and responsibility may be impacting the stress in your life. Is it worth it?”

Debt

Robert from The College Investor presents Student Loan Interest Rates Doubling: A Bad Thing?, and says, “I don’t think that higher student loan interest rates are bad – in fact, I think they are a good thing. I’ve discussed student loans many times, but I continue to be a firm believer in avoiding them as much as possible, and making sure that you calculate the Return on Investment in your education, and how student loan debt plays into it.”

Victoria Lindsay from Lend Not Borrow presents The Cost to Learn- Student Loan Debt!, and says, “Taking a close look at student loan debt and asking the question, “are we educating students enough on student debt management?”. ”

Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc presents Student Loan Debt Destroying Quality of Life, and says, “Perhaps no debt is so reverenced as the ubiquitous student loan. Recently, I came across data that only strengthened my belief: even student loan debt can decrease quality of life.”

Janet from Credit, Eh presents 3 Cool Ways to Reduce Your Debt Faster, and says, “When it comes to debt reduction, you want to be at the top of your game. There are many different ideas when it comes to debt reduction, but the best thing to do is think cool.”

Investing

D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents 7 Higher-Yielding Consumer Stocks To Build Your Yield, and says, “An investment strategy based on Dividend Growth Stocks focuses on companies that produce predictable results and thus are able to consistently raise their dividends. Demand for household and personal care products is generally stable and not affected by changes in the economy or other factors. If you lose your job, you probably won’t stop bathing, washing your clothes, brushing your teeth or stop buying toilet paper. That’s why companies in the Consumer Defensive sector are sought after as desirable dividend growth investments.”

Darrow Kirkpatrick from Can I Retire Yet? presents Diversification: Why Seeing Red Can be a Good Thing…, and says, “This article takes a simple metaphor (the stoplight colors), plus my personal experience, to illustrate the essence of investment diversification. A wise investor knows that a mix of daily investing results is best, because that represents the heartbeat of a well-diversified portfolio at work.”

PK from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents Is It Possible to Beat The Stock Market?, and says, “1,158 days of my trading history audited and bared for the world to see – and yes, over those 38 months I did beat the market. A fluke? Perhaps, and we’ll see if I regress to mean.

However, it’s possible evidence that a value approach to investing might outperform other styles of stock investing.”

FMF from Free Money Finance presents 80-20 Your Investments, and says, “While many people seem intimidated by investing and don’t know where to begin or what to do, being a successful investor is not that complicated. In the end it comes down to three basic (but important) steps.”

Barbara Friedberg from Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents MBA Series; Tax free or Taxable Bonds; Which Would You Choose?, and says, “Basic investing primer on how to decide whether to invest in taxable or tax free bonds. You’ll never wonder again.”

FamilyMoneyValues from Family Money Values presents Land for Sale, and says, “Ways to make money from raw land investments”.

Connie Prater from Taking Charge presents I want a piece of the Facebook IPO, but I’m just small potatoes, and says, “Everyone is talking about Facebook’s impending initial public offering (IPO) and whether the social media giant is truly valued at a realistic level. I’m not a Wall Streeter, but the prospect of potentially being able to get in on an IPO has me excited. Small-time investors rarely have this opportunity. Granted, I’ve got only a glimmer of hope of actually buying the stock from eTrade’s allotment. They may laugh at my paltry bid. Friends have said it will be a blessing if eTrade turns me down because then I can buy the stock at a much lower level when it is traded on the market and takes a nosedive, as many analysts are predicting. Call me crazy, but I still want in on the Facebook IPO.”

Drew from My Dollar Plan presents Roth IRAs: An Opposing View, and says, “The Roth IRA is one of the most touted personal finance investing vehicles around but here’s a bit of a different take on the subject!”

J.P. from Novel Investor presents Remember Your Investment Horizon, and says, “Fears in Europe, slowing economy, unemployment concerns, and a few hundred other data sets all contribute to the daily swings of the market. When the markets start acting crazy, remembering your investment horizon will bring everything back into perspective.”

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents What is a Spousal IRA and How Does It Work?, and says, “It makes sense thinking that you have to work in order to contribute to an IRA, right? Well, if your spouse works and you don’t then you can take advantage of a spousal IRA.

Roger Wohlner from Chicago Financial Planner presents Is Betterment Really a Better Idea?, and says, “What troubles me though is that Betterment went ahead and published a post that was so full of inaccuracies. Was this a cheap attempt to bash advisors in order to drive business their way? Did they truly not understand why their post was inaccurate? Were they unaware of the flaws in the NBER study?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions it raises doubts in my mind as to the business maturity of the Betterment management team. Maybe their model is wonderful and they are a “better mousetrap.” At the end of the day, however, this episode will forever make them suspect in my mind.”

Pierre from Intelligent Speculator presents Facebook is Not All About Revenues, and says, “We take a deeper look at Facebook.”

Money Management

Bret from Hope to Prosper presents How Much Money is Eough?, and says, “With all of the Facebook IPO fever, it seems like everyone wants to become the next billionaire. For me, that is probably my worst nightmare.”

Ricky from Qwoter presents Planning for Retirement, and says, “Do you really have enough funds to be able to live comfortable when it comes time for you to retire? Make sure you aren’t making some common retirement planning mistakes to keep you on the right path for retirement.”

Earth and Money from Earth and Money presents How NOT to Make a Financial Decision, and says, “When it comes to making financial decisions, it is imperative that you have a clear and focused mind. Given how hard we work for our money, a poorly made financial decision can come back to haunt us many times over.”

Justin from The Family Finances presents Keep The “Personal” In Personal Finance, and says, “Personal finance is about so much more than numbers and math.”

Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents Mistakes We All Make After College, and says, “Are you making these mistakes?”

Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents If You Had $10,000 Today, What Would You Do With It?, and says, “We look at dealing with this amount of money.”

Squirrelers from Squirrelers presents Different Ways to Plan Ahead for Retirement, and says, “Planning for retirement is a simple concept, yet it can involve many considerations. This post discusses steps to consider when planning for a successful financial future.”

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents 8 Warning Signs You Need to Fire Your Financial Advisor, and says, “If you have a suspect financial advisor, here are warning signs that you need use the words of Donald Trump and tell them “You’re Fired” and move on.”

Grace from GRACEful Retirement presents I Can’t Explain it. I just have to spend it., and says, “There’s what we should do financially, and there’s what we really do, which may or may not make any monetary sense.”

Finance

Jessia Thompson from Structured Settlement & Annuity Blog presents Jessica Thompson, and says, “Due to the care we put into each post, our blog in under six months already has most of its pages indexed and ranking on Google. ”

Russ Thornton from Wealthcare For Women presents Is Happiness A Result Or An Ingredient?, and says, “It’s been interesting for me to see how different women define success and how they’re personal happiness relates to their vision of success, now or in the future.

Many women seem to believe that once they reach their goals and achieve their personal version of success, happiness will be a natural byproduct. A result of their success.

Others seem to consider happiness a key ingredient in their journey to live a successful life. For these women, happiness is a key ingredient. Or maybe a prerequisite to success.”

Adam Hagerman from Walking To Wealth presents What Is Financial Freedom?, and says, “”. Actually says nothing!

Michael Kitces from Nerd’s Eye View presents LearnVest – A Glimpse Of Financial Planning’s Future Serving The Masses In The Digital Age?, and says, “Although financial planning seeks to improve the lives of all who need help making better financial decisions, in practice its scope has mostly been limited to those with a relatively high level of affluence, at least compared to the “average” American. Where financial planning firms have failed, though, a technology company is finding success, as “start-up” firm LearnVest leaps forward. Will a technology firm employing financial planners set the model that solves the challenge the financial planning profession couldn’t?”

Adam Baker from Man Vs. Debt presents Danger in Comparing Yourself to Others, and says, “You have to make financial decisions based on your own situation, and not as a result of comparing yourself to others.”

Jeff Rose from Life Insurance By Jeff presents How Does Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance Work?, and says, “For those who cannot get approved for a basic term life policy, guaranteed acceptance life insurance is the solution to their problem.

Finance

Squeezer from Personal Finance Success presents When should you check your credit report?, and says, “Checking your credit report is an important step in improving your credit and protecting yourself from identity theft.”

Martin from Studenomics presents The Only Post on Student Loans You Need to Read, and says, “What you need to know about student loans.”

Budgeting

Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents Making Travel a Reality, and says, “In November, I spent 2 weeks in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. In January, I was in Costa Rica. In March, I made it to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a weekend. On Monday, I came home from New Orleans for three days before I drive to Omaha for a long weekend. Next weekend I am back in Arkansas, and by the end of the summer I will have been to Minneapolis and hopefully Spain.

This might be incredibly overwhelming, but you can really do it too. I promise.”

TTMK from Tie the Money Knot presents Be a Bridesmaid and Go Broke?, and says, “When people agree to be a part of someone’s wedding, it can be an honor. It’s also very expensive in many cases, particularly for bridesmaids. This post examines the topic of how outrageous this can be.”

Frugality

Bob from Christian Personal Finance presents How to buy gift cards at a discount, and says, “Who knew that you can buy gift cards at a nice discount from the retail price? Here are a few options for those looking to do it…” Read and be helped immediately. Save some money

Donna Freedman from Frugal Cool presents Thrift stores for DIYers, and says, “”Building materials reuse” companies like Habitat for Humanity ReStores sell lumber, plumbing, paint, housewares, appliances and other items at amazing discounts. It’s like shopping at a thrift store: You never know what you’re going to get. But you do know that it’ll be cheap”

Taxes

Sean from One Smart Dollar presents Small Business Tax Deductions You Should be Claiming, and says, “As a small business owner you are given the right to take tax deduction on certain business expenses. Here are a few of the most popular ones.”

Real Estate

Tim from Brilliant Finances: Personal Finance How To presents The Perfect Storm Brewing for Real Estate Investors According to Census Bureau Report, and says, “Mainstream media seems to be missing some key information that can help their readers. This article is aimed to help my readers capitalize on a significant event in history.”

Nathan Richardson from ComplexSearch.com presents 10 Reasons The Housing Market Won’t Recover Anytime Soon, and says, “Everybody is hoping for the recovery soon, but here are some sound reasons why the housing market could take some time to recover.”

John from Wallet Blog presents Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows, and says, “To buy or not to buy…Wow, what a question! With mortgage rates at record lows, now may well be the right time either purchase or refinance a home. Take a look at the how and why of low interest rates and decide for yourself”.

Money Walks from Money Walks presents 5 Things to Do When Renting a Place, and says, “”. Didn’t say anything about the post!

Sandy from Yes, I am Cheap presents Why I’m Buying Rental Property While Still In Debt, and says, “If you listen to the news, it would make you run in the opposite direction of buying property at a time when you probably should be running directly to real estate. The housing affordability index is at its best, because of low housing prices and record low mortgage interest rates”

Credit

Liana from Card Hub presents Review: Bank of America’s New Travel Rewards Credit Cards, and says, “Bank of America just made travel a whole lot sweeter for their customers. With three new travel rewards cards on the market, it looks like they are taking on their competition. But how do these new offers really stack up?”

Mike from Rewards Cards Canada presents Why Cash Back Beats Travel Rewards, and says, “A free vacation keeps many Canadians loyal to their travel rewards program, but for me, cash back is king. Here’s why cash back beats travel rewards:”

Mike from Rewards Cards USA presents Best Airline Miles Credit Cards, and says, “One of the reasons that many people sign up for rewards programs is to save money on travel. Here are some of the best airline miles credit cards:”

Jim from Bargaineering presents Pros and Cons of Credit Cards.

SB from Finance Product Reviews presents Best Credit Cards for Balance Transfer in 2012.

Saving

Everything Finance from Everything Finance Blog presents 5 Great Ways to Stay Away from Your Savings Account, and says, “Stretching our money is something most of us would like to be able to do on a daily basis. Although the unfortunate reality of unexpected costs in life often makes this a difficult achievement, there are some concrete ways to work toward greater financial freedom and continued savings. Hopefully these five ideas and concepts will help you achieve these goals, and get you on the path to beneficial spending and smart financial choices in the future.”

Money Thinker from Money Thinking presents Retirement – Harder for Mom than Dad?, and says, “”. Too lazy to think about the article!

Other

Drew from Objective Wealth presents The Million Dollar Question, and says, “Drew gets his chalk out and takes us back to school in order to work out how three seemingly unrelated money and wealth case studies are inescapably connected by a certain philosophical view, but which one is it? Heavy!”