Last week, I shared my thoughts on the health care reform bill. I view it in the same way I view the new Credit Card Act — the premise behind these changes are great, but what is the reality? It remains to be seen. Given how critics have reacted to the bill, [...]
Thoughts On ObamaCare? Obama’s Health Plan & Health Care Reform Timeline
Just recently I celebrated my birthday. At age 34, I’m officially in my mid-30’s now. In some ways I’m feeling like I’m at a turning point in my life. Am I too old to be taking advantage of restaurants’ free birthday food?
Thinking about it a little bit, I’ve decided that I’m not. [...]
Related posts:
Home and Garden Television (HGTV) has a lot of shows that could easily fill the normal viewer with “home envy.” One of these programs is “House Hunters.” “House Hunters” is a show about people who are searching the perfect new home or condo to purchase. One of the major reasons why people seem to want [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Special bonus offers
myFICO is running a promotion to celebrate their anniversary; 30% off the price of your credit report as well as other services like Score Watch, Suze Orman’s FICO® Kit, and IDFreeze. The promotion is over at the end of this month – myFICO Promo Code
I cover deals, coupon codes, and savings in the deals section and [...]
It’s time to rejuvenate your finances! To celebrate spring The Life Skills Network is featuring a rejuvenation day today. Check out all the fun topics to spice up your spring at the end of the article.
Written by Madison
Click here to leave a comment on this article.
© My Dollar Plan
Get free subscriptions to hundreds of popular magazines!
Welcome to the Million Dollar Journey March 2010 Net Worth Update.
Another month, fortunately another net worth gain. Usually when it comes to personal finance, there are two main lines of thought. The first, and perhaps the most common, is to spend less than you earn. This train of thought leads to frugality and separating your needs and wants.
The second line of thought, which is [...]
Earn cash back when shopping online through BigCrumbs.com.
With deals sites being the rage these days, I don’t see why online shoppers should shop without a promotional code or online coupon in hand or a handy bookmark to a cash back shopping portal. In the past, I’ve covered Ebates as one such shopping portal that offers [...]
I opened a 9-month No Penalty CD account with Ally Bank last July. Though I could withdraw after only 6 days without having to pay any penalty, I kept the money in the account because Ally Bank has been slowly, but steadily, cutting rates since then and the rate I got back then was pretty good.
The [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Special bonus offers
It seems like I’m a magnet for sickness these days. In a span of about 12 hours, my wife wife broke her foot and my dog has picked up some kind of cough. I spent yesterday shuttling both of them to and from doctors (hence the old article). It was comical how [...]
Related posts:
Should You Use a Credit Counselor?
Have you tried to get out of credit card debt on your own but find you simply can’t stay on track? You’re not alone. Getting out of debt and getting your spending under control is hard to do and you shouldn’t feel bad if you are having trouble. This is [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
It may be common knowledge to have an “ICE” (in case of emergency) number listed in your cell phone, but what about establishing ICE financial efforts in advance? In today’s economic climate, it’s important to prepare now for the worst. While you may very well not be able to anticipate the unexpected, you can at [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Special bonus offers
Tax day is almost here, have you filed your taxes yet? If not, you can still get free H&R Block at Home software if you enter by the end of the day. Below are some tax tips from around the web on topics such as tax audits, tax deductions, hiring an accountant, amended tax returns, [...]
When filing tax returns, the second question everyone asks is “How long does it take to get my tax refund back?” Of course, the first question everyone asks is “How much is my refund?”
If you want to get your refund faster, opt for the direct deposit route. Not only will the IRS send your money a week earlier via direct deposit, but you’ll cut down on the mailing time too.
Here is the 2010 IRS refund schedule for both direct deposit and mailed refunds. The IRS doesn’t guarantee that you’ll receive your refund by a certain date, but the schedule they publish does give some guidance.
Please note that the dates provided are for efiled returns only. In addition, the schedule doesn’t differentiate returns filed by the tax deadline, so be sure you’ve filed in time.
| Transmitted and accepted (by 11 am) between… |
Direct Deposit Sent |
Paper Check Mailed |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 15 and Jan 21, 2010 | Jan 29, 2010 | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Jan 21 and Jan 28, 2010 | Feb 5, 2010 | Feb 12, 2010 |
| Jan 28 and Feb 4, 2010 | Feb 12, 2010 | Feb 19, 2010 |
| Feb 4 and Feb 11, 2010 | Feb 19, 2010 | Feb 26, 2010 |
| Feb 11 and Feb 18, 2010 | Feb 26, 2010 | Mar 5, 2010 |
| Feb 18 and Feb 25, 2010 | Mar 5, 2010 | Mar 12, 2010 |
| Feb 25 and Mar 4, 2010 | Mar 12, 2010 | Mar 19, 2010 |
| Mar 4 and Mar 11, 2010 | Mar 19, 2010 | Mar 26, 2010 |
| Mar 11 and Mar 18, 2010 | Mar 26, 2010 | Apr 2, 2010 |
| Mar 18 and Mar 25, 2010 | Apr 2, 2010 | Apr 9, 2010 |
| Mar 25 and Apr 1, 2010 | Apr 9, 2010 | Apr 16, 2010 |
| Apr 1 and Apr 8, 2010 | Apr 16, 2010 | Apr 23, 2010 |
| Apr 8 and Apr 15, 2010 | Apr 23, 2010 | Apr 30, 2010 |
| Apr 15 and Apr 22, 2010 | Apr 30, 2010 | May 7, 2010 |
| Apr 22 and Apr 29, 2010 | May 7, 2010 | May 14, 2010 |
| Apr 29 and May 6, 2010 | May 14, 2010 | May 21, 2010 |
| May 6 and May 13, 2010 | May 21, 2010 | May 28, 2010 |
| May 13 and May 20, 2010 | May 28, 2010 | May 28, 2010 |
| May 20 and May 27, 2010 | Jun 4, 2010 | Jun 11, 2010 |
| May 27 and Jun 3, 2010 | Jun 11, 2010 | Jun 18, 2010 |
| Jun 3 and Jun 10, 2010 | Jun 18, 2010 | Jun 25, 2010 |
| Jun 10 and Jun 17, 2010 | Jun 25, 2010 | Jul 2, 2010 |
| Jun 17 and Jun 24, 2010 | Jul 2, 2010 | Jul 9, 2010 |
| Jun 24 and Jul 1, 2010 | Jul 9, 2010 | Jul 16, 2010 |
| Jul 1 and Jul 8, 2010 | Jul 16, 2010 | Jul 23, 2010 |
| Jul 8 and Jul 15, 2010 | Jul 23, 2010 | Jul 30, 2010 |
| Jul 15 and Jul 22, 2010 | Jul 30, 2010 | Aug 6, 2010 |
| Jul 22 and Jul 29, 2010 | Aug 6, 2010 | Aug 13, 2010 |
| Jul 29 and Aug 5, 2010 | Aug 13, 2010 | Aug 20, 2010 |
| Aug 5 and Aug 12, 2010 | Aug 20, 2010 | Aug 27, 2010 |
| Aug 12 and Aug 19, 2010 | Aug 27, 2010 | Sep 3, 2010 |
| Aug 19 and Aug 26, 2010 | Sep 3, 2010 | Sep 10, 2010 |
| Aug 26 and Sep 2, 2010 | Sep 10, 2010 | Sep 17, 2010 |
| Sep 2 and Sep 9, 2010 | Sep 17, 2010 | Sep 24, 2010 |
| Sep 9 and Sep 16, 2010 | Sep 24, 2010 | Oct 1, 2010 |
| Sep 16 and Sep 23, 2010 | Oct 1, 2010 | Oct 8, 2010 |
| Sep 23 and Sep 30, 2010 | Oct 8, 2010 | Oct 15, 2010 |
| Sep 30 and Oct 7, 2010 | Oct 15, 2010 | Oct 22, 2010 |
| Oct 7 and Oct 14, 2010 | Oct 22, 2010 | Oct 29, 2010 |
| Oct 14 and Oct 21, 2010 | Oct 29, 2010 | Nov 5, 2010 |
You can also track the status of your tax refund with the IRS tool Where’s My Refund?
Written by Madison
Click here to leave a comment on this article.
© My Dollar Plan
Get free subscriptions to hundreds of popular magazines!
After a post last week about how annuities work, there were a lot of questions in the comments and via email from readers (and Kathryn). Below is a list of common questions and answers about annuities. If you have any additional questions, please add them to the comments.
What are the advantages of annuities?
You will pay [...]
Home ownership has long been described as the American Dream. Some in the media have questioned that statement recently, and for good reason. For many, their dream has turned into a nightmare with underwater mortgage balances, mortgage rates adjusting, and ever-increasing property taxes. Still, most of us take great pride in our homes, whatever that [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
Here’s a follow up to a post I published a few years back, where I took a look at historical financial charts and various investment markets. Since it’s been a while, I’ve decided to do an update on the performance of different markets. Note that the charts illustrated below reflect a snapshot in time, primarily [...]
Investing In Global Financial Markets: A Look At Historical Investment Performance
Yes, you can pay taxes with credit cards, but no, it may not be such a good idea to do so.
The deadline to file 2009 taxes is only 19 days away. If you owe a large amount of taxes but have difficulties to arrange the money on April 15th, one way to pay the dues [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Special bonus offers
Disorganization is the pits. It causes you to forget important dates, misplace your keys, and let money saving coupons expire before you get a chance to use them. It wreaks havoc on your finances, puts strain on your relationships, and causes more stress than you need. Rather than go another day living amidst chaos, why [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
It’s that time of year again! Time when I look at our asset allocation and convince myself to take on more international exposure in our portfolio. After making the update, here’s what our target asset allocation looks like.
When we started using a total market approach for our portfolio I began with a 20% international (18% of the total portfolio) allocation, with plans to increase it each year.
As of our last asset allocation, I had 30% (or 27% of the total portfolio) international allocation.
Now I’ve moved it up to 35% (31% of the total portfolio). This may or may not be the final move; next year I may move it to 40%.
Here’s how our portfolio currently looks.
Our international holdings currently include Vanguard Total International Index, the BGI EAFE Index Fund, and the Vanguard Emerging Markets Index.
In addition to the overall asset allocation, I also like to keep the EAFE at 85% and emerging markets at 15% of the total international holding.
Rebalancing our portfolio is always fun. Since our portfolio is split over 10 different retirement accounts (which I cannot combine), in addition to the asset allocation, I try to keep it (relatively) simplified and with the lowest expense ratio possible.
I came up with a plan to shift some of the bond holdings into the EAFE fund in Scott’s 457 plan. That should account for the majority of the change.
There’s still a slight need for some additional emerging markets. I hate to buy more of the Vanguard emerging market fund, since the expense ratio is .40% with purchase and redemption fees.
I recently compared the emerging market ETF shares to the index fund, and the ETF came out on top, so I’m planning to head that route.
However, since it’s a small holding in a small account, I don’t want to pay much for the trades, so I’m going to take a look at some of my other brokerage accounts to make the move.
Written by Madison
Click here to leave a comment on this article.
© My Dollar Plan
Get free subscriptions to hundreds of popular magazines!
I’m a bit late getting to this reader question as the RRSP deadline was at the beginning of this month (March 1, 2010), however, this can apply to the current tax year. The question relates to the tax implications of transferring stock in-kind to an RRSP or a TFSA.
Say Mr. Investor has stock in his [...]
The following guest post is from Neal Frankle of Wealth Pilgrim. Wealth Pilgrim is on my short list of daily reads. After reading the post, head over to Neal’s site and sign up to receive his posts.
ETF’s (Exchange Traded Funds) are pretty darn popular these days. The total dollars invested in these buggers grew 45% [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
Our review on a couple of airline credit cards.
Whether you’re making daily purchases or just want a credit card with reward miles for your flights, American Express and Delta have teamed up to provide you with a few choices. Here’s a look at Amex’s credit cards for frequent travelers:
American Express Delta Credit Cards For [...]
American Express Delta Credit Cards For Flight & Miles Rewards
[The following is a fictional story by Kosmo. Kosmo is an aspiring novelist, vehement opponent of the designated hitter, student of true crime, and plays the keyboard for The Casual Observer - an eclectic, team-written web magazine.
Kosmo would like to give readers of Lazy Man and Money a discount at his store. For [...]
Related posts:
This guest post is from one of my favorite online (and real life) friends, Cap from Stop Buying Crap who is helping me while I convalesce.
For those that don’t know me (and that’s basically everyone), I am a cheap, cheap man. This may explain why I’m still single. Also, I’m short. And ugly. And [...]
Another Friday, another set of finance links. If you’re a procrastinator and haven’t started preparing your taxes yet you better get on it! You only have a little over two weeks to get things done in time. Remember, the tax filing deadline is April 15th. You can still file an extension to give yourself more [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
