Carnival of Financial Planning - Edition #101 - August 7, 2009

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

Welcome to the August 7, 2009 Edition #101 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

Dorian Wales presents The Personal Financier: Personal Finance Management: Budget vs. Net Worth posted at The Personal Financier, saying, "While it may be recommended to manage both a budget and net-worth sometimes focus leads to better results."

Susan Saverton presents Living Expense Tracking posted at Family Financial Planner, saying, "If you do not understand how much you spend and how much you are saving and investing, you simply do not have a financial plan. This situation dramatically increases your family’s long-term financial risk."

Economics

Banker Saver presents Is The Inflation Protected Certificate of Deposit Still Around? posted at Banker Saver

Tony Cookson presents Chicago: Why we have good apples, but few old cars posted at This Young Economist, saying, "Chicago streets have a lot of nice cars: BMWs, Audis, Hummers, Range Rovers, etc. Even the less expensive cars are relatively new. This is in stark contrast to the stock of cars in Montana. Not only are such fancy cars rare in Montana, but the fleet of vehicles is much older -- at least based on my casual observation. Our 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass is a dinosaur in Chicago, but it does not stick out too much in Montana. This article explains why."

Phil B. presents 7 Reasons Why Cash for Clunkers is a Bad Idea « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "The "Cash for Clunkers" Program only seems like a good idea to stimulate the economy.."

Finance Tips 101 presents Saving Cash With Coupons? Three Tips To Keep More of Your Money posted at Finance Tips 101.

Zach Scheidt presents GDP Report Offers Positive Headline, Negative Details posted at ZachStocks, saying, "The GDP report was trumpeted as an improvement and an indication of a recovering economy. However, behind the headlines there is significant detail pointing to risk for the economy and for investments."

TIE presents Efficiency and Rationality in Financial Markets posted at The Incidental Economist, saying, "A careful review of the EMH and the extent to which it applies to non-institutional investors."

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."

Roshawn Watson presents The Rich Get Poorer posted at Watson Inc, saying, "The implications of this recent recession have been far-reaching enough to put a big dent in American and world wealth. Both the magnitude of wealth and the number of millionaires decreased profoundly in 2008."

Estate Planning

Jeff Rose presents Taking Care of an Elderly Parent posted at Jeff Rose, saying, "Find of what you need to do when you have to become the parent of your parents."

Financial Planning

Tom Drake presents Fee-Only Financial Planners posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, "Looking for someone to help with your investments with your best interests in mind? You should hire a fee-only financial planner."

jim presents Go Direct To Credit Bureaus for Credit Score posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Patrick @ Military Money presents How Much Life Insurance Do Military Members Need? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, "Military members may have different life insurance needs than civilians. Here is information regarding how much life insurance military members should buy, and some resources for finding the best life insurance deals."

Big Cajun Man presents Mid-Year Personal Finance Check Up posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, "Mid year is a good time to go over your plan for the year to see how well you are doing, so do it now!"

KCLau presents I achieved financial freedom at 38 posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "This post is contributed by WaiYin, a reader whom I admire very much because she achieved financial freedom at age 38! Here, she shares how she did it."

Four Pillars presents Make Home Affordable Refinance Program Changes Eligibility Requirements For Easier Refinancing posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, "Making Home Affordable refinance program eases requirements."

Curt presents Don’t Take The Bait: Why You Shouldn’t Trade In Your Car For $4,500 On a New One posted at PennyJobs.com.

Sam presents New !! Prenup !! Should I Sign a Prenuptial Agreement? Do I Need a Prenuptial Agreement? posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, "Sometime before the wedding, your loved one may bring up the issue of a prenuptial agreement. Don't panic. You've heard about prenuptial agreements. Donald and Ivana Trump had one. Liz Taylor and construction worker Larry Fortensky had one. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have one. Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have one. A prenuptial agreement, also called a prenup, is a way to protect your interests if it becomes time to untie the knot."

Fitz Villafuerte presents How To Find The Best Personal Financial Adviser posted at Ready To Be Rich, saying, "How do you find the best personal financial adviser? It's easy and you'll be surprised where you could find him or her."

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."

Susan Saverton presents Personal Investing Strategies posted at Family Financial Planning, saying, "When pursuing optimal financial planning and investing strategies and controlling your costs and capital gains taxes, you also need to establish a time-efficient system to monitor, adjust, and adhere to your financial plan. You need to control and limit the time that you spend on your financial planning, and you need to focus your planning efforts on the most effective activities."

Financing a Home

FMF presents Now's the Time to Buy a House posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Has the housing market hit bottom? If so, now's the best time to buy a new home."

Ben Dinsmore presents Why Do I Have to Pay for Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)? posted at Trees Full of Money, saying, "If you do not stay on top of your Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), you may end up paying hundreds (if not thousands) more than you need to!"

Ray presents Net Worth Update and First Time Home Buyer Plans posted at Money Blue Book, saying, "Looking to finally purchase a new construction home. Need to improve credit score and save for down payment"

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents What Do You Do When You Face Possible Foreclosure? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, "What are your options when you face foreclosure?"

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

Dividend Tree presents Which High Do You Prefer? posted at Dividend Tree, saying, "High profitability or high income, or high EPS growth rate as a standalone does not provide a true picture. We can get a true picture by looking for consistency. Two simple statistical measures of average and standard deviation can help us measure consistency."

Praveen presents Students Beware! Colleges, Tuition, Loans, and Debt - Will Education Follow the Housing Bust? posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, "Tips for students to avoid excessive loans and debt"

Joe E presents President Obama Increases Pell Grant and Perkins Loan Limits posted at Consolidating Student Loans Online, saying, "New loan limits on Pell Grants and Perkins Loans - both government backed financial aid products - may make it easier for some students to afford school. The new limits will go into effect in fall, 2009..."

Health Care

Brian presents High Cost Of Health Care: What Is The Root of the Problem? posted at How To Live a Longer Life, saying, "It doesn’t matter if we have private health care insurance, single-payer public coverage, or if we pay out of our cash and savings. No matter the health care system, the last year of life will be more expensive. At some point the costs might not be worth it."

Income

Joe Plemon presents Is a College Degree Necessary For Success? posted at Personal Finance By The Book, saying, "Besides, being billionaires, what do Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Michael Dell have in common? None graduated from college. What attributes helped them succeed and can help you succeed?"

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

FMF presents My Jobs, I Get My Dream Job posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "This post details the twists and turns associated with me getting my dream job and lists several key career-building principles I learned in the process."

Investing

Dividend Growth Investor presents MLPs Dominate Distribution Increases posted at Dividend Growth Investor.

Dan at Everydayfinance presents Swine Flu Stock Mania - Just Wait 'til Fall posted at Everyday Finance, saying, "This article highlights the recent triple digit gains in several so-called 'Swine Flu Stocks' and questions whether the hype has gotten ahead of the fundamentals."

Marc Ryan presents IndependentInvestor.info - Non-traditional ETFs in Canada: wolves in sheep’s skin? posted at IndependentInvestor.info, saying, "In this second commentary on exchange traded funds, we look at the various types of ETF’s traded on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) in Canada. We explain how to find yourself among the more and more numerous new ETF funds, where to find information on fund management fee levels, and the speculative aspects and weaknesses of many of the new funds."

Dividend Tree presents Apple - Great Products But Is It a Great Investment? | Dividend Tree posted at Dividend Tree, saying, "I am one of those millions of aficionados who love Apple products. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same when it comes to investing. Questions like these make me wary of investing in Apple."

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Online Discount Brokers: SmartMoney Broker Survey posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "The SmartMoney broker survey ranks the online discount brokers on various criteria."

The Smarter Wallet presents Online Stock Brokers With Cheap Brokerage Fees posted at The Smarter Wallet

Ray @ Financial Highway presents Discount Brokers: 5 Tips to Choose the Best Discount Broker posted at Financial Highway, saying, "Tips on how to find the best discount broker"

Jae Jun presents 2009 Top 40 Best Stocks to Retire On: Part 4 | Old School Value posted at Old School Value, saying, "Went through all 40 of Fortune's Best Stocks to Retire on list of 2009. View the results now."

Sun presents Broker Web-Based Trading Platform Comparison posted at The Sun’s Financial Diary.

The Skilled Investor presents 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."

Barry presents Does It Make Sense To Use Home Equity To Invest? posted at Associate Money.

Zach Scheidt presents Verso Paper Breaking Out From the Brink of Death posted at ZachStocks, saying, "Verso Paper Corp (VRS) has been under intense pressure relating to excessive debt and a lack of paper orders. A slight improvement could touch off a sharp reversal in fortunes, however, as many competitors are now gone. Debts have been re-negotiated and are no longer so serious."

Mike Johnson presents Trading System Part 2 posted at System Trading | Stocks Trading Systems, saying, "Now we covered a large form of protection in the exit strategy. In other investments, there is usually not as much overlap. However you probably want to learn a lot about forming a business entity. Talk to your accountant, bookkeeper, and attorney, and any other needed professionals to determine what is right for you."

Dorian Wales presents The Personal Financier: Diversification is Dead. Long live Diversification posted at The Personal Financier, saying, "Don’t give up on diversification through asset allocation just yet"

Dividends4Life presents Snap, Crackle and Pop: The Sound of a Rising Dividend! posted at Dividends Value, saying, "Dividend increases aren’t the only thing the Kellogg Company (K) is known for. For anyone over the age of two, Snap, Crackle and Pop are very familiar characters. Since 1933 the three elf characters have been the spokesmen for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies."

Allison Johanson presents Why Everything You’ve Heard About Leveraged ETFs Is Wrong posted at ETFdb.

TIP Guy presents Stock Buying Process posted at TIPBlog.in, saying, "For my long term portfolio, I buy stocks that I want invest for long term and grow with the company. I buy stocks in blocks of one third over a period of time. I initiate a position which helps me follow the company. It also helps me make sure; I am not making a mistake. It may take me one year, two years, or more for second or third installments."

The Dividend Guy presents Dividend Stocks in My Portfolio that Have Raised Dividends posted at The Dividend Guy Blog, saying, "As a dividend investor, I watch closely how my dividend stocks perform. In an environment where may stocks are cutting their dividends, here are some of mine which have been increasing them."

The Smarter Wallet presents Stock Mutual Funds: Building Your First Investment Portfolio posted at The Smarter Wallet

Tom Escent presents Quantitative Finance posted at Nerds on Wall Street, saying, "Think of this book as sort of a Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wired Markets. There are no robots parking cars for six million years, but there are robots trading millions of shares in six milliseconds, so maybe that’s close enough."

Dividend Tree presents BRIC Acronym? Does it Have Any Relevance? posted at Dividend Tree, saying, "This BRIC label does not have any fundamental basis other than emerging markets. There are thousands of companies in all four economies, and clubbing all together to preparing a representative fund of few tens, or few hundreds does not make sense to me. Also, the idea that one can capture and hedge by investing in BRIC based funds is something that I cannot understand."

Frank Vertin presents Best Index Funds posted at Best 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.".

Zach Scheidt presents Solar Stocks Cheer SunPower Results posted at ZachStocks, saying, "Solar Stocks traded higher after SunPower Corporation announced positive earnings. The industry is working through an inventory glut but it appears that certain segments are finding strength. SPWRA could reach $50 over the next few months if analyst expectations prove correct."

ABC presents Some Index Funds and ETFs Are Not Diversified posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, "Some ETFs and index funds are too specific and risky for a passive investor."

Larry Russell presents Best Noload Mutual Funds 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."

ABC presents Different Types of Stock Market Indexes posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, "How different types of stock market indexes work."

Tushar Mathur presents Can't Control the Markets? Try controlling the Costs posted at Everything Finance, saying, "As 2008 proved, the financial markets are prone to unpredictable periods of turbulence. That can make investing feel a bit like a roller-coaster ride. The disappointing results that many mutual funds posted in 2008 and at the outset of 2009 may have left you feeling concerned over your financial future. You're not alone."

Managing Debt

MoneyNing presents AnnualCreditReport.com For Free Credit Reports posted at Money Ning, saying, "AnnualCreditReport.com should be the only way to get a free credit report."

Big Larry presents Stupid Ways to Get Cash posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, "When you are desperate for cash, there is always *someone* willing to lend you money, but of course at a tremendously high price. We reveal the high price of for popular ways to get quick cash and provide more sensible alternatives to each."

Mr Credit Card presents Airline Credit Cards Survey posted at Ask Mr Credit Card, saying, "This is a survey of available airline credit cards"

Roshawn Watson presents Outrageous Law Transfers Parents' Debt To YOU posted at Watson Inc, saying, "With few exceptions, such as a divorce decree, you are not legally liable for debts you have not personally signed for or agreed to pay. There is an inherent sense of fairness to this principle: your finances cannot be obligated to pay for something without your consent (except perhaps to the taxman or to your dependents). However, an archaic law in Pennsylvania is being enforced to make adult children to pay for their parents' debts."

Pinyo presents What is a Good Credit Score? posted at Moolanomy, saying, "Your credit score is an important aspect of your finances if you're planning to borrow money -- e.g., mortgage for home purchase or a student loan. In this article, learn what the industry considered a good score and follow instruction on how to get your credit score and credit report, as well as how to improve your score."

Flea presents Getting Out Of Debt posted at Be A Survivor, saying, "Learn how to pay off your debt faster using proven techniques."

Miscellaneous

FMF presents Details on Cash for Clunkers posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Details on the governments new car-buying incentive."

Tyler Tervooren presents Can You Benefit From Energy Efficiency Rebates? posted at Frugally Green, saying, "Being frugal means being able to look past the initial cost of something to see its long term value. Luckily, our government seems to understand this and is willing to help you with the purchase price of high efficiency appliances and renewable energy systems."

Roshawn Watson presents Colleges Pimping Their Students posted at Watson Inc, saying, "Colleges Pimping Their Students: Universities are selling students' personal information, typically to the highest bidding credit-card companies."

FMF presents Parents and Students Finally Getting a Clue on College Choices posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Everyone is starting to wake up and realize that college costs need to match the expected payout from a degree."

Four Pillars presents 2009 Cash For Clunkers Program - Trade In Your Old Junker For Money posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, "A comprehensive look at the new Cash for Clunkers trade-in program."

Noload Bonds presents Bond Index Funds posted at Bond Index Funds, saying, "Simply put, if you pay higher bond mutual fund fees, then these bond management expenses tend just to be a deadweight loss to you. The best bond fund buying strategy is to pick only very low-cost no load bond funds."

Retirement Planning

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Tips for Managing Your 401k Plan posted at Cash Money Life, saying, "Tips for managing your 401k plan and other retirement contributions."

Super Saver presents Planning to Retire Later also has Risks posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, "The option to continue working is no longer easily controlled by the employee."

MoneyNing presents 401k, Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Savings Not The Same posted at Money Ning, saying, "When you plan for retirement, do you really look into the tax situation and how it will affect your account balances?"

Jeff Rose presents 5 Year Rule for Roth IRA Qualified Distributions posted at Jeff Rose, saying, "How to get your money out of a Roth IRA tax and penalty free all depends on the five year rule."

Patrick @ Military Money presents Is REDUX Retirement Worth it? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, "REDUX is a military retirement option that offers military members a $30,000 Career Service bonus in return for a lower monthly pension. But is it worth it?"

Super Saver presents A Gift of Retirement Funds posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, "A relatively small lump sum investment of $10,000 can lead to a significant sized nest egg at retirement."

Top 10 Index Funds presents S&P 500 Index Funds posted at Top 10 Index Funds, saying, "Buy these top 10 very low cost no load S&P 500 index mutual funds directly. You do not have to pay the heavy added expenses of buying through a stock broker, financial adviser, investment adviser, or investment counselor."

Risk Management and Insurance

Paul Kamp presents Know the Signs! Pyramids and Ponzis… posted at Don't Quit Your Day Job - Personal Finance, Economics and Investing, saying, "I wrote this article about 3 types of financial scams... Ponzi Schemes, Pyramid Schemes, and Matrix Schemes. Education is the best defense against these risks, so I'm submitting it to your Risk Management and Insurance section."

Taxes

Jeff Rose presents Cash for Clunkers Tax Rules posted at Jeff Rose.

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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