Search results for mutual funds
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Posted
May 26 2009, 04:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
I thought it would be fun to share an interview with my real millionaire next door, a man we'll call John. He used the basic tenets of money management to build wealth and to retire early. Here's how I described John when I first wrote about him last year:
John is a 71-year-old retired shop teacher who lives in a modest ranch house on half an acre, the same house he's had for over 40 years. He has an old barn filled with salvaged lumber, outdated appliances, and who knows what else. When he's around, he drives a junkie 25-year-old station wagon. But most of the time, he's not around.
He spends his winters in New Zealand helping friends on a dairy farm. His summers are spent fishing in Alaska. For a couple of months each year, he's home, puttering in the yard. Year-round, he rents his house to boarders. He leads a very active retirement.
John's story was popular with Get Rich Slowly readers, and many of you asked me to interview him. I had to wait for him to return from New Zealand, but recently the opportunity finally presented itself. John agreed to sit down for a chat.
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Posted
Mar 27 2009, 06:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Picking your first mutual fund is kind of like a first date -- scary at first, but later you wonder what all the fuss was about. And with the recent market volatility, investing in the stock market can be downright horrifying.
A couple years ago, a close relative spent some time with my family and me. We'll call her Susie (not her real name). Susie was 31, had one daughter (cute as can be), and had no retirement savings (not so cute). Her employer not only offered a 401(k), but also matched 100% of all contributions up to 6% of Susie's pay.
We got to talking about why she'd never starting saving for retirement, and her answer was illuminating -- she was intimidated.
Sure, there were times when money was tight, but one of the biggest hurdles for her was not knowing what to invest in. We spent about 30 minutes looking over her investment options, and I'm happy to report that she enrolled in her company's Fidelity 401(k) plan and began contributing 7% of her gross pay.
If you or somebody you know is in a situation similar to Susie's, this article is for you.
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Posted
Jan 16 2009, 08:22 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's something you don't see every day: a personal-finance post by an ex-con. "Prison taught me everything I need to know about personal finance" was written by Roger, a 34-year-old former client of "MGL" and posted at MGL's site, MoneyGrubbingLawyer. (Thanks to Financial Reflections for the link.)
It's an unusual perspective on PF topics. For instance, while we all know that debt causes stress, most of us don't have to worry that "your creditor will settle things with a shiv."
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Posted
Dec 02 2008, 06:30 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Filed under: banking, credit, Bargaineering, online banking, financial planning, credit cards, credit reports, homeowners insurance, mutual funds, estate planning, wills, executor, emergency fund, income tax, tax software
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Popular Mechanics created a list called "100 skills every man should know," which naturally gravitated toward DIY/physical skills like jump-starting a car and splitting firewood. The Frisky listed "30 skills every woman should have before turning 30," which actually touched on more than physical skills (though No. 12 is physical), with a handful of financial skills (Nos. 17-20). The following isn't a checklist of things you necessarily need to do in your life. It's a list of things you should know how to do in case the need arises.
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Posted
Sep 19 2008, 11:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
With the stock market's crazy ups and downs, we decided to see what some clever personal-finance bloggers are doing with their retirement and nonretirement accounts. Does the phrase "stay the course" ring a bell? For instance, after some heavy-duty thinking, Nickel at Five Cent Nickel and Mr. ToughMoneyLove are changing nothing about their investment strategies.
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Posted
Sep 15 2008, 05:52 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
With the confluence of news about Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG, the stock market today had its worst drop since 9/11. It's no wonder that former Fed chief Alan Greenspan on Sunday referred to the ongoing turmoil as a "once-in-a-century type of financial crisis." Other than the beating your retirement and investment accounts took today, what do these events mean for you? The best advice is: Don't panic.
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Posted
Sep 09 2008, 09:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. Successfully managing your money comes down to one thing -- control. For all the things we talk about here at The Dough Roller -- from retirement to investing and taxes to credit cards -- financial freedom and sound money management come down to whether you control your money, or whether it controls you. The good news is that sound, wealth-building money management is simple. The reality check, however, is that managing your money, while simple, is not always so easy.
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Posted
Aug 27 2008, 05:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
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
Jun 23 2008, 05:44 AM
by
Karen Datko
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?
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Posted
Apr 08 2008, 07:40 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. I'm a fan of casinos. I don't know whether it's the pumped-in oxygen, the bright lights, the sounds of excitement and joy, or the free drinks flowing throughout, but I love going to casinos. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I almost always have a good time putting my hard-earned money on a felt table and seeing if it'll grow and multiply. When I go to casinos, I usually take a set amount I'm willing to lose -- say a few hundred bucks -- and then I enjoy myself. I understand that when I go to a casino, I'm there to have a good time. I'm not there to make money. Sadly, the stock market is nothing like that. It involves pressing a few keys on a keyboard or clicking a few buttons with a mouse. The transactions happen with no fanfare, and there is often little anticipation. Yet, if you try to time the market or day trade, you're essentially gambling. Why would anyone gamble if you can't at least get some free drinks out of it?
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