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Posted
Sep 02 2008, 05:11 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Raiding your retirement is the second deadly sin of personal finance (the first deadly sin is failing to have an emergency fund) and one that some of our friends have been thinking about committing. We're all in our late 20s and buying our first homes. Despite what the experts say, home prices are still very high in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas, barely within reach for many people our age. So, our friends are looking for places they can tap to help with a down payment.
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Posted
Aug 27 2008, 05:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. You've decided to invest in your future. You've picked the perfect mutual fund. You're ready to go. Now what? How do you actually go about buying shares of a mutual fund? The good news is that buying shares is quick and easy. If you've never invested in a mutual fund outside of your employer's 401(k), the process can seem overwhelming. But the truth is that for DIY investors there are only two options to consider, and both options are inexpensive. I'll cover them both in this article.
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Posted
Aug 25 2008, 05:46 AM
by
Karen Datko
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:
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 05:44 AM
by
Karen Datko
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?
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Posted
May 06 2008, 07:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Having grown up on Long Island, I didn't have many opportunities to watch NASCAR on television, so I never truly understood the intricacies of the sport. Since college, I've come to appreciate the difficulty of NASCAR and the skill it requires. Last weekend I was watching a few laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and I finally understood why NASCAR fans love the sport.
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Posted
May 05 2008, 04:08 AM
by
Karen Datko
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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.
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Posted
Apr 25 2008, 08:04 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. My big, overarching dream is to achieve true financial independence. By that, I mean that I have enough money saved and invested that I can live off the interest and investment income -- a point that I've discussed before as the crossover point. This is a huge goal, one that I won't achieve for many years no matter what path I choose. I dream about achieving this goal about the time my final child graduates from high school -- roughly 25 years from now.
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Posted
Apr 10 2008, 12:25 PM
by
Karen Datko
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We sometimes have this discussion with our younger friends: You're not saving for retirement because ...? But young folks aren't the only ones thinking they won't live long enough or can't save enough, or otherwise are resigned to living out their days on meager Social Security payments. Michael B. Rubin at Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck excoriates just about every silly excuse people have for not saving for the future. (To read his post, click here.) No. 1 is "my house is my retirement savings." Michael says, "Oh c'mon! Open a freakin' newspaper."
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Posted
Mar 24 2008, 11:29 AM
by
Karen Datko
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Grace's post at GRACEful Retirement will sound familiar to many aging boomers watching the effect of Wall Street gyrations on their retirement accounts. Grace is 58 and playing catch-up after getting a late start on socking away money for her hopefully golden years. "I started this blog last July with $176,000 in retirement savings. Now I'm down to $146,000, notwithstanding the money I keep putting in," writes Grace, who plans to retire in 10 years. That drop, "when I allow myself to think about it, scares me to death." Yet she continues to invest $1,025 a month in index and growth funds. She tells herself she's right to keep buying when the market is down because it inevitably will come back up. She asks, "When do I find out if I passed the test?"
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Posted
Mar 19 2008, 07:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This guest post comes from Madison DuPaix at My Dollar Plan. Once you establish an investment plan, you can contribute regularly and watch your portfolio grow. What if there were a way to give it an additional boost without much extra effort? That's where investment snowflaking comes in. It's similar to the popular debt-snowflaking strategy, but focuses on building assets rather than eliminating debt. How it works Each time you receive extra money -- a sale on eBay, a bonus check, or repayment from a friend who borrowed $20 -- direct it toward your investments. These dollars do not replace your regular contributions, but are above and beyond them. Click here for a list of 20 places to find snowflakes to get you started.
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