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• How to cope with a lousy 401(k) plan

  Posted Aug 25 2008, 05:46 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: investing, retirement, saving, Get Rich Slowly
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  "The Mole" is a certified financial planner and public accountant who, in his spare time, provides a behind-the-scenes view of the financial-planning industry for Money magazine. In a recent column, the Mole explained how to deal with a bad 401(k) plan.

  "401(k) providers don't actually care how they make money," he writes, "just as long as they make a tidy profit." The providers can make money by:   Read More...

  Discuss ( 2 comments) 1,953 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Why it pays to ignore the financial news

  Posted Jun 23 2008, 05:44 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: investing, retirement, saving, Get Rich Slowly
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  Financial news can be dangerous to the health of your investment portfolio.

  I spent some time recently reading articles about the stock market. What I found was mostly hysterical hype ("Gasp! Dow Jones Industrials tumble 400 points!"). All the financial stories seemed to be written as if our investment horizons were days, not years. No wonder people panic when the stock market hits a rocky patch.

  But do daily market movements -- even 400-point drops -- really matter? How important is up-to-date financial news to the average investor?   Read More...

  Discuss ( 4 comments) 2,183 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• What if you didn't start saving early?

  Posted May 05 2008, 04:08 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: investing, retirement, saving, Get Rich Slowly
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  "Saving is the key to wealth," I wrote recently while trumpeting the extraordinary power of compound interest. "If you do not spend less than you earn, and if you do not save the difference, you cannot build the wealth you desire." The younger you are when you begin saving, the more time compounding has to work in your favor, and the wealthier you can become.

  "The next best thing to starting early," I wrote, "is starting now."

  Other options

  A few readers noted that while the mathematics of compounding makes sense, it's not motivational for those too old to take advantage of its full force. "This is pretty depressing for those of us who spent our 20s with practically no income thanks to universities," wrote one reader. Her sentiments were echoed by several others.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 6 comments) 2,449 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Spend a tax rebate? Not this blogger

  Posted Jan 23 2008, 07:08 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: investing, retirement, spending, Get Rich Slowly
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Since when is it patriotic to spend, wonders our partner blogger J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly. If J.D. gets a tax rebate as a result of the proposed economic-stimulus package, he doesn't plan to spend it. "Despite what some politicians and pundits say, I don't believe there's anything patriotic about spending. The notion baffles me," he writes. "The two concepts -- patriotism and spending -- seem completely unrelated."

  J.D. did his best to avoid writing about recent economic news. His blog is about personal finance and saving money, not politics or the economy. But his readers -- and his wife, Kris -- insisted. In a new post today, J.D. also tackles the stock market and the Federal Reserve's surprising interest rate cut.   Read More...

  Discuss (no comments) 844 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this