Best Personal Financial Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week from Personal Finance Blogs

Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #92 – June 06, 2009

Welcome to the June 06, 2009 Edition #92 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

Big Cajun Man presents 50% Off Meat? posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Is 1/2 off meat a good thing?”

Pasadena Financial Advisor presents Financial Planning Reading List posted at Pasadena Financial Advisor, 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. This article provides a list of recommended reading from among the many hundreds of articles that I have authored in the past several years.”

Economics

Britannica Blog presents How an Inflation Threat Could Make the 1970s Look Like Happy Days posted at Britannica Blog, saying, “When the U.S. financial system seemed on the brink of collapse last fall, Washington undertook the largest monetary rescue in history. The $750 billion allocated to shore up failing banks and AIG was only the beginning. The Federal Reserve has made available hundreds of billions more in assorted “lending facilities.” Many details, including the exact cost, have been kept secret. Some educated guesses put the number at $2 trillion.”

Dorian Wales presents On Causality and Correlation in Economics posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “Causality is perhaps the most fundamental element of empirical evidence available to economists. However, it is also the source of many misconceptions due to its elusive nature.”

Money Saving Advice presents Credit crunch means talking about money and the lack of it posted at Money Saving Tips, Consumer Finance, Expert, Advice and Help | Talk Money Blog, saying, “It’s not difficult to get involved with the debate about the credit crunch and the current national and global recession. Gordon Brown the Prime Minister is the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer and he is well remembered for his continuous chanting of the word ‘prudent’ whenever he was delivering his budget speech. In fact some sad person would actually count how many times he said it while delivering his budget each year. He also regularly informed us he would steer Britain on a prudent course and would not allow ‘Boom and Bust’ on his watch. Well guess what we got a BIG BUST now!”

Finance Tips 101 presents He Said She Said Finances posted at Finance Tips 101.

Dorian Wales presents Stress Tests and Capital Adequacy Explained posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “The highly anticipated FED stress test results may very well serve as fuel for further gains or, more likely in my opinion, as a sought after excuse for turning the tide (in the short run).”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Avoid Foreclosure: Keep Your House In Troubled Times posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Roshawn Watson presents ls Recession-Induced Frugality Sustainable? posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Well, the reset button has been pushed on our economy, and the America about to emerge may be decidedly more frugal”

Estate Planning

Tushar Mathur presents Getting finances in order posted at Everything Finance, saying, “Keeping organized records is a gift to your family and to yourself. It helps ensure that your wishes are followed, that your assets are accounted for, and that your money is available to meet your family’s needs in a timely fashion.”

Financial Planning

Brian McKay presents Annuities 101: Some Basics about a Misunderstood Product posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “If you are tired of the rock and roll of the stock market, your IRA is maxed out, and safety and security have become your investment watchwords, then annuities may be the right financial product for you.”

MoneyNing presents Coupon Tip – Making Sure It’s Always Available posted at Money Ning, saying, “Sometimes, a simple tip can really save you tons of money.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best High Interest Savings Accounts In Online Banking posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

Woman Tribune presents How Newlyweds Can Minimize Financial Stress posted at Woman Tribune.

Tushar Mathur presents How to choose a financial planner posted at Everything Finance, saying, “There’s retirement to plan for and college tuition for the kids. Insurance. Estate planning. And, oh, don’t forget a wedding for your daughter. If all this sounds familiar, it may be time for you to start shopping around for a financial planner.”

KCLau presents Why Robert T. Kiyosaki is a best-selling author? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Robert T. Kiyosaki is the best personal finance author I follow. I started reading his books back in 1999. Although some reviews you found written by readers on Amazon say that he keeps repeating most of the points, I still find them interesting every time. It works as a revision whenever he repeats.”

Matt presents Emergency Fund Challenge 2009 posted at myfinancialrecovery.net.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Prevent Identity Theft: Some Credit Report Monitoring Services and Options posted at The Digerati Life

Financing a Home

nickel presents Beware the “No-Cost” Mortgage Refinance posted at fivecentnickel.com, saying, “Taking a closer look at no-cost mortgages. They can be great in some cases, but you need to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Dan Green presents Mortgage Rates Added 1/2 Percent In A Day For The Second Time In A Week posted at The Mortgage Reports, saying, “Mortgage market volatility is as high as it’s ever been — a stroke of bad luck for rate shoppers.”

Darwin presents 40 Year Mortgages – And 50 & 60 Year Mortgages While We’re at it posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “This article highlights little-known 40 year mortgage loans, pros, cons and covers how even 50 and 60 year loans exist now.”

jim presents How to Compare Mortgage Refinance Offers posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Alex Fotopoulos presents When is it Smart to Refinance a Mortgage? posted at My Trader’s Journal, saying, “Some key points to consider when refinancing your home.”

Financing Education

Jeff Rose presents 529 College Savings Plan Options For Illinois posted at Jeff Rose.

Income

FMF presents Growing Your Career by Inside Networking posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Many professionals think of networking only in terms of developing outside connections. But expanding your reach within your own firm is just as critical. Strive to establish strong relationships with colleagues throughout your workplace.”

Praveen presents Easy Ways to Generate Cash posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Easy ways to generate extra cash”

KCLau presents The Most Common Habit of Rich People posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “About the common habits of the rich”

Sam presents NEW !! Start a New Small Business. Best New Business Start Up Ideas, Planning, Opportunities. posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “Thanks for including my article. Here’s an excerpt. What will be the next million-dollar idea for a new small business start up? Where will the next big thing come from? Here we take a look at fresh, sizzling ideas for new business start ups.The search for new business ideas is intense, but when a stellar concept takes off, it makes for a great ride. Yes, there are good new business ideas everywhere you look. The secret of a successful business start-up is to solve a consumer problem, to solve it with finesse and skill, and to develop the tools and knowledge that makes you an authority for the consumer. It helps if the product or service cannot be copied easily, so that there are barriers to future competition. So here we brainstorm new business ideas, planning and opportunities for you.”

Investing

Nesher presents TradeRadar Freeware Stock Trading Advisor posted at Internet Stock Trading for Beginners.

Dividend Tree presents When to Initiate a New Position ? posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “The message is, ignore the market chatter, identify a process for yourself, and stick to it. There is no investing process which is based on zero risk methodology. Accept the fact that we will incur short term losses. In a well defined investing process, these short term differentials (loss or profit) will not have any noticeable impact in your longer term objectives.”

Zach Scheidt presents Risk and Reward – What the Last 18 Months Have Taught Us posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Balancing returns with proper risk controls will allow investors to realize superior gains over time and cut back on volatility and risk of loss”

Praveen presents Three Stock Picking Ideas From Forbes Magazine posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Three Stock Picking Ideas”

Frank Vertin presents Just Buy Index Funds Directly posted at No Load Index Funds, saying, “Buying an S&P 500 index fund through an investment counselor can substantially increase your initial purchasing costs and and drive up your annual management expense fees. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individual investors buy mutual funds and ETFs through brokers and investment advisers. Rarely do financial advisors recommend that you buy index funds with low fees. This is because low cost, no load mutual funds do not pay them as well as loaded, high fee mutual funds.”.

ABC presents Investment Time Horizons for Retirees posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Discussing investment asset allocations and time horizons for retirees.”

Alex Fotopoulos presents Foster Wheeler (FWLT) Chart – May 29, 2009 posted at Chart Analysis, saying, “New chart of Foster Wheeler that shows a trading channel worth watching as FWLT tips above the top trend line of higher highs..”

Patrick @ Military Money presents CD Ladders Are a Good Choice for Short Term Investments posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “If you need the money within the next few years, you don’t want to take much investment risk. CD ladders and savings accounts are a great choice.”

Larry Russell presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at NoLoad Mutual Funds, saying, “Taken as a whole, the vast body of investment research studies show that there really are better approaches to buying and owning mutual funds and ETFs. You do not need to frantically chase fund performance. Performance chasing simply does not work.” 

Four Pillars presents Asset Allocation – Include Future Contributions? posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Can a small investor ignore asset allocation?”

Alex Fotopoulos presents SPY Chart - Premarket posted at Chart Analysis, saying, “Chart of the large S&P 500 ETF, SPY. Alex analyzes the SPY chart using trend lines, moving averages and the Williams %R indicator.”

Praveen presents Successful Trading is About More than Generating A Buy Signal.. posted at Stock Trading Riches, saying, “When buying stocks, your initial purchase is the least important part of successful investing. Your return is determined by how well you manage the trade – i.e. knowing when to add to your position and when to take profits.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Fibonacci Retracement: A Technical Stock Tool To Predict Market Direction posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Let’s go over some investing concepts…. I discuss some aspects of technical analysis as applied by stock investors.”

Manshu presents List of Gold ETFs posted at OneMint, saying, “There is a lot of interest in Gold ETFs these days and since I have already created an exhaustive list of gold mutual funds with their expense ratios, I thought I’d create a list of gold ETFs too.”

Golbguru presents Stock Market Technical Analysis – Loads Of Bull Crap And Bear Crap posted at Money, Matter, and More Musings, saying, “My growing disbelief in stock market technical analysis. Decision based on a flip of coin may have better odds of making money than some of recommendations of some of the “chartists”.”

Wally Fouse presents 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs posted at Best Index Funds, saying, “The vast body of investment research studies show that there really are better approaches to buying and owning mutual funds and ETFs. You do not need to frantically chase fund performance. Performance chasing simply does not work.”

Four Pillars presents Transfer In Kind posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “An explanation of transfering your investments “in kind”.”

Richard M. Rothschild presents Low Cost Taxable Bond Mutual Funds posted at Best Bond Index Funds, saying, “The top 14 low cost taxable US fixed income funds with a $10,000 or lower initial deposit. Low investment management fees are very important with fixed income funds. Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. When you pay more in bond mutual fund fees, you are just wasting your money.”

ABC presents Warning – Not All Index Funds and ETFs Are Low Cost posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Some index funds and etfs are too expensive.”

Barry presents Is This Stock Market Rally For Real? | Jeflin’s Investment Blog posted at Jeflin’s Investment Blog.

James Fowlkes presents Saving Is a Prerequisite to Investing posted at JamesFowlkes.com, saying, “Thou shalt have an emergency fund before investing!”

Zach Scheidt presents Bankruptcies, M&A, and Playing Defense posted at ZachStocks, saying, “A discussion on current economic reports and their effect on the markets, Bank stress tests as a catalyst for selling, and defensive strategies to protect your portfolio from losses.”

ABC presents Stock Prices Do Not Represent Stock Value (or Company Value) posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A lower priced stock isn’t “cheap”.”

Big Cajun Man presents Drip, drip, drip… posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Dividend ReInvesting Plans are a good tool for investors.”

Praveen presents Options Basics posted at Stock Trading Riches, saying, “A blog reader asked me this question: Can any one explain about options trading in a simple manner?”

ABC presents Investment Time Horizons for Retirees posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A short and concise analysis of retirement asset allocation possibilities.”

Dividends4Life presents All Investing Involves Risk posted at Dividends Value, saying, “If your goal is to accumulate wealth for a comfortable retirement, then there is no risk-free path. Throughout time every angle has been tried and failed. However, some approaches carry less risk than others. Let’s consider some of the popular paths.”

Zach Scheidt presents Three Essential Issues for IPO Investing posted at ZachStocks, saying, “The IPO market has been dormant for nearly a year, but activity is finally picking up. Here are three issues you need to understand in order to profit from these dynamic opportunities.”

Praveen presents Sometimes You Bend Your Trading Rules… posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Taking an early profit to ease your comfort during a volatile market.”

Managing Debt

Raj Patel presents UNBROKE: What You Need to Know about Money posted at DebtGoal, saying, “Reviewing the television special “UNBROKE” from the standpoint of someone with personal debt.”

KCLau presents Do You Have a Wedding Debt? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Most couples want to begin their married life auspiciously and free from the problems. However, it is not uncommon to hear about married couples who go into debt just to get married. Article explores the reasons.”

Nash Dadameah presents Credit card payment: Why you should never pay the minimum amount posted at nil2million.com, saying, “A post that discusses about why we shouldn’t pay the minimum amount for credit card. Also includes simulation and table for analysis.”

Four Pillars presents Is Dave Ramsey A “Financial Expert” posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “A discussion of Dave Ramsey and his methods.”

Miscellaneous

Zach Scheidt presents Regulatory Capital Arbitrage for Beginners posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Banks must hold minimum capital levels in order to ensure safety of assets and guarantee that they will be able to meet their liabilities. Regulating these institutions can certainly prove difficult.”

Jeff Rose presents How To Be Listed on Dow Jones Industrial Average posted at Jeff Rose.

Retirement Planning

Raag Vamdatt presents Defined contribution and defined benefit pension schemes / plans :: RaagVamdatt.com :: Financial Planning demystifiedposted at RaagVamdatt.com.

Jeff Rose presents 7 Things To Know About a Solo 401(k) posted at Jeff Rose.

Lynn Mills presents How to Find and Use Retirement Planning Tools posted at How to Plan Finances and Retirement – for Beginners, saying, “This is a retirement and financial planning information blog discussing today’s economic market, how you can survive it and still plan for your retirement.”

Risk Management and Insurance

TIP Guy presents How to do a Realistic Valuation for New IPO | The Income Portfolio posted at The Income Portfolio, saying, “Investors need to see if there is justification for high premiums during a IPO. Compare its investment preposition with industry practice or peers to see if it makes sense.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Lower Your Car Insurance Rates! How To Cut Insurance Premiums In Half posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “I offer some suggestions and tips for lowering your car insurance and keeping your car related costs (and budget) to a minimum.”

KCLau presents Bad Experience of Car Insurance Claim posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “a story of bad experience with vehicle insurance claim”

Mike Pastore presents Prepare Your Umbrella Insurance Policy for the Rainy Days posted at Mikes Millions.com.

MoneyNing presents 20 Different Areas to Think About for a Cheaper Auto Insurance Policy posted at Money Ning, saying, “Insurance is something we usually forget, yet we pay quite a bit for it regularly. If you can spend a few minutes and save big, why not?”

Savings

BankMan presents $250k FDIC Deposit Insurance Extended to 2013 posted at High Yield Savings Accounts, saying, “The FDIC has extended the additional insurance until the end of 2013, which will add stability to the banking industry and instill more consumer confidence in our economy.”

MoneyNing presents How to Save Money on Your Wedding posted at Money Ning, saying, “We go through the big day at least once but many people think it’s one of the most expensive days of our lives. Here are some tips that will help reduce the expenses of this important day.”

Super Saver presents Our Principles for Saving posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, “To me, saving is the primary skill that enabled us to build wealth. As they say, it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep that makes a person wealthy.”

Barry presents Successful Investing In Certificates of Deposit posted at Associate Money.

KCLau presents Easy Pawn Shops – Do you need to Pawn? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Pros and cons of pawning”

Nancy Miller presents 25 Simple Tricks to painlessly cut $100 /mo from Your Spending posted at Online University Lowdown.

Four Pillars presents 397 Ways To Save Money – Squawkfox Book Review posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “397 Ways To Save Money – Book review on Squawkfox.com’s new release!”

The Skilled Investor presents Most Individual Investors Are Poor Personal Portfolio Managers | Personal Investment Management posted at Personal Investment Manager, saying, “Investors more easily understand investment costs that are directly measurable, such as fees deducted on investment statements. However, many investors ignore or are unaware of the opportunity costs of their sub-optimal investment behaviors. Opportunity costs are usually much more difficult to measure directly, but these investment costs can be even higher than more visible investment fees.”

Taxes

Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Independent Financial Planner, saying As you move your cash, bond, and stock financial assets into lower cost, more broadly diversified investment mutual funds and/or ETFs, you should also consider how to locate your investment asset allocation with respect to more optimal taxation. This article will discusses some ideas about where and how to hold your cash assets and how to make emergency cash available.”

MoneyNing presents Let Businesses Deal with Sales Tax – Government Improvement Series posted at Money Ning, saying, “Government really needs to improve on somethings and I say to let businesses deal with sales taxes!” 

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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