Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
I usually don’t read too much the Costco Connection magazine I received every month as part of the benefit of being an Executive Member, because more than half of the magazine are ads while the rest are articles about stuff Costco offers . But a piece in the February [...]
With a 1.25% drop in the Federal funds rate in just over a week, this signals bad news for the cash in your savings accounts. Whether it be high-yield online savings or more traditional bank and money market accounts, you will be seeing lower rates. We have been spoiled with nice rates on cash for [...]
Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
When I posted our total passive income in 2007 in the middle of the month, one item missing from the calculation was interests earned from our purchases of 4-week T-bills in the first half of the year. Though I can go through all the transactions and figure out myself [...]
I have mentioned in the past that I’m a huge fan of professional football. My wife calls this Sunday my biggest holiday - and she’s right. Your personal finances have a lot more in common with a football team than you might think. Let’s take it position by position starting at the [...]
Once a month, I make it a habit to pick up a copy of Homes and Land. I’m not looking to buy a home in Northern California, but I like to stay informed about the local real estate market. The homes in this area are among some the most expensive in the nation. [...]
Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Since the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis points emergency rate cut on January 22nd, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained more than 500 points in 5 trading sessions ended yesterday. The rally was partly fueled by speculation that when policy makers conclude their 2-day meeting this afternoon, another 0.50% [...]
Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Nowadays, you can get a lot of stuff for free, news, music, movie, as long as you read/listen to/watch the ads that come together with the free stuff. You can even monitor your credit score for free, says CreditKarma.com, a newly launched credit monitoring service that promise free access [...]
While I’m not a big fan of how many people quickly jump on the litigation bandwagon for almost anything nowadays, there are legitimate situations where you may have a case against a bad broker or advisor. Even so, keep in mind that you can’t sue just because you lose money on an investment they have [...]
Earlier today, I was watching the Super Bowl Media Day coverage, when this little conversation nugget occurred. In a little bit of fun, Patriots’ Tom Brady was taking questions from Pierre Woods, a Patriots player who doesn’t get a lot of playing time. Here’s a paraphrase of the conversation:
Pierre Woods: Everyone says [...]
Not too long ago, I ran a series of ways to save money on many things. I’ve found that it helps keep them fresh in my memory if I review them from time to time. I decided to consolidate them here. If you missed any of them, now is a good time [...]
Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Around the new year, many previously closed mutual funds reopened their doors to new investors, including such well-known names as Fidelity Magellan (FMAGX) and Oakmark International (OAKIX), after a rough second half of 2007. For investors who had an eye on these funds, but were denied access [...]
When most people think about insurance, the first things that come to mind are health and life insurance. We all realize how important it is to provide insurance that can pay doctor bills when we’re sick, and we understand that in the event of our death, it would be nice to leave some money to [...]
[The following is a guest post by RateLadder.com. I asked him if he would be kind enough to write an article about the SEP-IRA since he has more expertise in the area than I do. He’s also taking an approach that I though readers would find interesting. If you are interested in [...]
Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
What’s Regulation D fee? I have no idea until I read the post on Generation X Finance, where Jeremy explained what transactions could trigger the elusive Regulation D savings account fee.
If you are interested in investing in real estate, be sure to check out the post, 7 Things to [...]
Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
One year ago, I had a post discussing the return of 4-week T-bill, whether it’s APR or APY, and how to calculate the equivalent yield based on the state income tax. In that post, only the formulas on how exactly the calculations should be done were given. Though it [...]
Observant readers may have noticed that I added a donation button. I was (and still am) a little conflicted about this change. On one hand, I do make money from advertisements. On the other hand, a reader suggested that I put it on the site. I’m not opposed to making money [...]
It has been a busy week around here, and there are plenty of items to take note of. First, the complete overhaul of Generation X Finance is drawing near. Earlier this month I sought out a designer to completely revamp the site, and the final touches should be going on next week. From [...]
Portfolio magazine is reporting that Britney Spears is worth 120 million dollars worth of business to the United States. When she is touring it goes up from there. Here’s their breakdown of costs:
Promoters/Licensers - 30-40 million through endorsements
Paparazzi - 4 million peddling photos
Print, Web, and Video media - 75 million
Federline Factor - He [...]
The Writer’s Coin is thinking of starting another blog. Since I have a couple of existing blogs he asked me how I manage writing for multiple blogs. The short answer is that it’s not easy. It’s a treadmill that doesn’t stop. However, with a bit of organization, I find that I’m [...]
Have you ever faxed over a copy of your name, address, and social security number to an identity thief? I thought for a brief moment today I might have fallen victim to a savvy phishing/fax scheme that originated with the email below:
2nd Notice! - Important! - W-9 tax form
This is just a reminder. We request [...]
Just a quick reminder to let everyone know I’ll be hosting the Cavalcade of Risk #44 next week, Wednesday the 30th. If you’d like to submit any risk-related post (or anything about risk management) to this carnival, please have your submissions in by Monday, January 28.
You can submit via the Blog [...]
YouTube DirektLink
Politicians in Washington acted pretty quickly this time to hammer out a stimulus package with tax rebates, for both individuals and businesses, as the center piece. According to the tentative deal announced today:
Most individuals who pay income taxes would get $600; working couples would receive $1,200. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don’t [...]
In case you missed it earlier this week, Brip Blap hosted the Second Carnival of Peer-to-Peer Lending.
I particularly liked Moolanomy’s article about his second Prosper loan. I caution him to not judge Prosper until he has a fair sample size of loans. I believe that number to be at least 50.
There were a [...]
I didn’t.
I made a few bucks when Chinese stocks were the hottest on the street, but not lately. As a matter of fact, not just that I didn’t make any money from my investments in Chinese stocks, my brokerage account has been hit pretty hard since last November after some once high flying Chinese stocks [...]
We have an interest in diversifying into real estate at some point in the future. More than a few friends and family members have gotten themselves involved one time or another as real estate investors, so there’s quite a pool of experience there to draw and hear from in case we ever get serious [...]
