Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Wealth Builder Carnival #148

Welcome to the one hundred forty-eighth edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

This week, Blog Carnival had some technical difficulties resulting in fewer than normal submissions.

And now on to the Carnival.


Earning


Martin Poldma presents The Secret Behind Increasing the Sales of Your Business posted at Success and Personal Development Blog, saying, "In this article I talk about the secret that most top salesman use to increase their turnovers and revenue."


Insuring and Protecting


Gary presents How Much Life Insurance Do I Need? posted at MyLifeInsuranceQuotes123.com, saying, "Term life insurance is cheap, but why overpay for more coverage than you need? Or worse, accidentally under-insure yourself and put your family’s financial future in jeopardy? In this guide, we discuss the factors to consider when calculating how much life insurance you need."


Investing


Matt Becker presents Start Investing Now, Even if You Stink posted at Mom and Dad Money, saying, "Many people avoid investing out of fear. They fear doing something wrong and losing all of their money. But the truth is that those first few years of returns are relatively unimportant to your final result. So get started today, even if you don't know what you're doing. The benefits of starting far outweigh the risks of getting something wrong."

John Schmoll presents Reasons Why You Should Start Investing For The Long Run posted at Frugal Rules, saying, "Many people want to go for the quick buck when it comes to investing. However, a long term approach in generally best if you’re looking to build wealth and grow a decent retirement portfolio that will last."

Mark Hanna presents Why Dividend Investing is Perfect for New Parents posted at Debt, Dividends, & Diversions, saying, "4 points for why new parents should think about getting started with dividend investing: simplicity, time required, the ability to start small, and that it supports your kids as much as you."


Taxes


Justin @ Root of Good presents $150,000 Income, $150 Income Tax posted at Root of Good, saying, "Justin at Root of Good reveals how his household made $150,000 and paid only $150 in income taxes through a combination of contributions to workplace savings plans and IRA's. Tax efficient investing and tax loss harvesting also played a key role in keeping his income taxes at 0.1%."


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Monday, October 28, 2013

Bullish or Bearish?

At the beginning of 2013, I was expecting the worst for the stock market and continued to plan for the worst in September 2013.  I was wrong.  2013 has been one of the best years for stock market returns,  both in percentage gain and lack of major corrections. 

The bulls are making a case for the market advance as in the article The next 10% correction could be 5 years away.   Of course there are also calls, although fewer, for a market decline as in the article Scary this bearish call points to 40% drop which interview Mark Spitznagel who called the 2000 and 2008 declines, resulting in large gains for the short positions his hedge fund.

At this time, I am still choosing to be very cautious.  I plan to maintain our current investment amounts, continue to reduce our exposure to my company stock options, and take profits in equities in which we are overweight.   I will also return to my strategy of buying every dip, which I didn't do for the debt crisis/shutdown pull back.

For more on Strategies and Plans Ideas, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Thursday, October 24, 2013

In the Zone

One of my fun activities with our daughter is to do Dave & Busters on their 1/2 price game day.  Not only to we play for half price, but we are using play points that I purchased using a 2 for 1 coupon.  So it really is a 1/4 price game day for us.  We usually use about 200 play points, which would be 400 play points on a regular day, and costing $70 to $80 dollars.  But due to the promotions I use, it only costs about $20 for us, which I think is very reasonable for kids entertainment.

Usually, I will average hitting one jackpot a session, which gets my daughter excited since we win 500 to 1000 points towards prizes.   However, the last time we went, my daughter was in the zone.   She managed to hit four jackpots, while I got my usual one jackpot.   Each time, she did made the jackpot with ease, with little thinking or effort.  It was amazing to see her in the zone.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every  Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial or entertainment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

An Unstoppable Stock Market

"I believe the United States economy is extremely resilient and will recover to reach new highs."  ~ my father-in-law in 2009.

My father-in-law had unfailing confidence in the U.S. economy over the long term.   He believed that short term disruptions were a buying opportunity.   We often debated the merits of timing versus fundamental investing.  

He would have appreciated this last minor pull back due to the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis.  He would have been buying and benefiting from the subsequent market advance.  On the other hand, I was convinced there would be a 10% correction and waited for a further decline, which did not happen.  

My lesson is to follow my buying every dip plan going forward, even if I expect a 10% or greater correction.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every  Wednesday  for a new segment.

This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Wealth Builder Carnival #147

Welcome to the one hundred forty-seventh edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

This week, Blog Carnival had some technical difficulties resulting in fewer than normal submissions.

And now on to the Carnival.


Earning


Bryan Chau presents The Acronym of My Life – PASSION posted at SuccessPenPal, saying, "earning, passion, mindset, success, business, entrepreneurship, ambition, strategies, etc."


Insuring and Protecting


Gary presents Return of Premium Term Life Insurance posted at MLIQ123 saying, "Ever heard of free life insurance? Thought it was a myth? Check out our guide on return of premium life insurance and the pros and cons of a policy that refunds all your premiums if you outlive the term period. Should you buy ROP term life insurance?"


Investing


Matt Becker presents Beware the Source of Your Financial Advice posted at Mom and Dad Money, saying, " When it comes to financial advice, there's so much BS out there and it makes me sick. When it comes down to it, you’re the only one who truly has your best interests at heart. There are people who can help you make your goals a reality, but you have to understand that there are likely even more who are much more interested in simply taking your money and running. And the financial services industry is one of the worst in this respect. Educate yourself and thoroughly evaluate any prospective advisor before entrusting them with something as important as your financial future. After all, if they’re worried that you could do their job for them, they’re probably right."


Living Frugally


Gary presents How Much Car Can I Afford? posted at Gajizmo, saying, "Unfortunately, many American consumers overspend when buying a car. Here’s a guide on how you should budget for your vehicle and a few strategies on how to determine how much car you can afford."

John Schmoll presents Frugal Birthday Parties for Kids - Frugal Rules posted at Frugal Rules, saying, " It can be quite easy to throw a birthday party for your child and overspend. However, with a little creativity and planning you can throw them a frugal birthday party and still have one they’ll enjoy and remember."

Justin @ Root of Good presents Auto Costs On The Cheap posted at Root of Good, saying, "Justin at Root of Good reveals helpful hints that allow his family to keep auto costs very low. Justin walks his kids to school instead of driving them, and does simple maintenance tasks himself."


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Wealth Builder Carnival #146

Welcome to the one hundred forty-sixth edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now on to the Carnival.


Earning


Theresa Torres presents How to Make Some Extra Money posted at CreditDonkey.com Tips, saying, "Here are a few ideas to help you get some extra cash in your spare time. Check out which suits you best."


Insuring and Protecting


Gary presents Is Life Insurance Tax Deductible? posted at MyLifeInsuranceQuotes123.com, saying, "Is life Insurance tax deductible? Is life insurance taxed at all? How about estate taxes, death benefit payouts, and premiums – how are all these aspects of life insurance treated under the tax code? Check out our guide to answer the most important questions you’ll have about life insurance and taxes."


Investing


Bill Smith presents Rating Royal Bank Of Scotland Today posted at FastSwings, saying, "Royal Bank of Scotland Group operates in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Its operations in other countries are minimal in comparison."

John Schmoll presents OptionsXpress Review: An Online Brokerage Worth Looking At posted at Frugal Rules, saying, "Investing in the stock market is vital to building wealth and with the variety of options available of where to invest it can be confusing. Choosing a good brokerage that has good offering and low fees can be a great way to help grow your retirement portfolio and get your investing on the right foot."


Living Frugally


Matt Becker presents Buying a Car: Sealing the Deal posted at Mom and Dad Money, saying, "This is the final installment of my series on buying a car. In this post we'll go over the final steps in the car-buying process to make sure you get exactly the car you want at the absolute best price possible."


Retiring


Justin @ Root of Good presents A Simple Way to Retire 15 Years Earlier posted at Root of Good, saying, "Justin at Root of Good illustrates the huge impact of lower spending and higher savings. By increasing savings from 10% of income to 30% of income, aspiring early retirees can knock 15 years off their retirement date."


Saving


simon elstad presents How Much Money Should You Have In Savings Before You Invest? posted at Modest Money, saying, "Beyond what amount should you move part of your emergency fund from a savings account to maybe an investment account. This weeks post explores that from the combined wisdom of PF bloggers."


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Prepared for a 10% Correction

"This time is different.  I think they (Wall Street) should be concerned." ~ President Obama on government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis.

It doesn't appear that the budget and debt ceiling stalemate will be resolved without causing market volatility.   This may the be catalyst that causes a 10% market correction that I've been anticipating for the over a year.  The decline may be as much as 20% which is just a little more than happened in 2011.

Should the market correct, I am prepared to increase the amount funds that we have in equities, through managed accounts, commission free index ETFs, and dividend paying stocks

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

The Wealth Builder Carnival #145

Welcome to the one hundred forty-fifth edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now on to the Carnival.


Earning


Shelby Martin presents 5 Nanny Expenses Your Employer Should Cover posted at GoNannies.com Blog, saying, "For some nannies, especially those newer to the field, it can be a little tough to bring up money with an employer."

Martin Poldma presents How to Start a Business With No Ideas and No Money posted at Success and Personal Development Blog, saying, "Here is a great post I recently wrote on how to start a new business, even if you have no ideas and no money at the time. I give an explanation of how 2 great entrepreneurs did it in their lives."


Investing


Bryan Chau presents Don’t Shun From Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) posted at Success Pen Pal, saying, "exchange-traded funds, ETFs, investing, business, wealth, retirement, success, market indexes, etc."


Living Frugally


John Schmoll presents A Pumpkin Costs What?!: 4 Fun and Frugal Fall Activities posted at Frugal Rules, saying, "If you’re like our family, we don’t want to spend $150 to get into a park to buy a pumpkin. I share some of our favorite frugal ways to celebrate the season and still have fun in the process."

Theresa Torres presents The Secrets to Job Searching on a Small Budget posted at Simply Hired Blog, saying, "The hidden costs of looking for a job can add up if you're not careful, so here are a few tips to help you along the way."


Saving


Matt Becker presents Roth IRA as an Emergency Fund - Is it a Good Idea? posted at Mom and Dad Money, saying, "The concept of using your Roth IRA as an emergency fund is one I find incredibly interesting, mostly because of the mental or behavioral considerations. From a purely technical standpoint, it can make a lot of sense. But from a behavioral standpoint, it can be dangerous when you start mixing your retirement savings with other purposes. Today I'd like to explore some of the strengths and weaknesses of taking this approach."


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Monday, October 07, 2013

Wealth Builder Ratios - Q3 2013

Here is our Q3 2013 Wealth Builder Ratios update. During the third quarter of 2013, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P500 indices were up 1.9%, 10.1% and 4.7% respectively. My company stock was down 1.1%.  Our investment portfolio decreased in value 1.3% due mostly to the decline of my company stock.

For more details on the relevance of these ratios, please see this How Much Is Needed To Be Wealthy - The NUMBER.

Ratio and Target
Q2 2013
Q3 2013



Comments
Retirement Income to Salary
Target=0.8
2007= n/a
2008= n/a
2009= n/a
2010= n/a
2011= n/a
2012=  n/a
n/a0.79This is the new metric that I'm using which is based on a 4% withdrawal rate of the liquid assets in our retirement and savings accounts.

The initial target I'm using is a 0.8 ratio, which would be 80% of our pre-retirement pre-tax income.
Investment
Income to Salary
Target=0.8
2007=3.41
2008=-5.47
2009=-1.38
2010=1.29
2011=0.5
2012= 2.02
4.734.44I will use this metric through the end of 2013 and then replace it with the Retirement Income to Salary ratio.

This decline was due mostly to the decline of my company stock

I plan to sell some additional shares of company stock in my retirement plan, keeping only the low basis shares in my company retirement for a future NUA execution.  At this point, I have sold 90% of the stock options with an early 2014 expiration date.
Savings to Salary
Target >20
2007=23 2008=16.7 2009=15.3
2010=16.6
2011=17.1
2012=19.1
23.823.5I will use this metric through the end of 2013 and then replace it with the Retirement Income to Salary ratio.

Again all of the gain was due to the property inherited.  The value would be slightly down at 20.9 without the inheritance.

During Q3, I slightly reduced the amount of funds invested in equities.   If there is a correction, I plan to add some funds into stocks and ETFs during Q4 2013.
Debt to Salary
Target=0
2007=1.51 2008=1.46 2009=0
2010=0
2011=0
2012=0

0

0
We said bye-bye to our mortgage on May 20, 2009. Eliminating a mortgage payment has reduced our expenses by 24%.

My financial goals for 2013 are:

1.  Maintain a Retirement Income to Salary ratio >  0.8. (off track)

2.  Continue to maintain an Investment Income to Salary ratio > 0.8. (on track)

3. Maintain a Savings to Salary ratio of 20. (on track)

4. Maintain Debt to Salary Ratio at 0. (met final goal of 0)

(For reference, Salary refers to gross salary just prior to early retirement in October, 2007.)

 #1,  #2 and #3 were directly correlated with how well our stock, bond, and CD investments returns. With the  slightly down performance of my company stock and the high proportion of cash, our portfolio was down slightly.

Although I am pleased with our portfolio results, I am not confident the gains are sustainable. Our short term expenses (next 3-5 years) are invested in CDs, bonds and money markets. I continue to be concerned about volatility of our investment portfolio, and there equal downside and upside potential going forward due to EU sovereign debt crisis and the US debt ceiling crisis.  So I continue to add funds to the stock market during dips, and sell off my company stock and stock options in a tax efficient manner.

I continue to have the same financial goals for 2013. At this point, I am slightly optimistic about the economy and the stock market.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

The Wealth Builder Carnival #144

Welcome to the one hundred forty-fourth edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now on to the Carnival.


Earning


Jon Rhodes presents You CAN Sell Affiliate Products WITHOUT A Website! posted at Affiliate Help!, saying, "This article shows you how you can earn money online with a website or blog."


Insuring and Protecting


Gary presents Second To Die, Survivorship Life Insurance - An Estate Planning Tool posted at MyLifeInsuranceQuotes123.com, saying, "Life insurance is most often thought of as a means for income replacement for heirs and beneficiaries, but how can you best leverage the benefits of life insurance for estate planning? Have you learned the advantages of setting up an irrevocable life insurance trust? What about a special needs child trust or wealth replacement trust? Here is a guide to walk you through the characteristics and uses of second to die (also known as survivorship) life insurance."


Investing


Bryan Chau presents Strategies For Becoming A Value-A-Bull Stock Investor posted at Success Pen Pal, saying, "stocks, equities, value investing, strategies, success, business, work-at-home, investors, money, passive income, capital gains, etc."


Living Frugally


Matt Becker presents Buying a Car: How to Negotiate With the Dealers posted at Mom and Dad Money, saying, "Check out my exact step-by-step process for negotiating a killer price on your next car. The best part: it can all be done through email!"

John Schmoll presents 6 Flea Market Shopping Tips That Will Help You Save Big posted at Frugal Rules, saying, "Going shopping at a flea market can be great entertainment as well as a way to save money on certain items. If you’re creative, you can be frugal and save some money on items you may need for your home."

Gary presents Benefits of Green Tea posted at Gajizmo, saying, "The benefits of drinking green tea cannot be overstated – studies have shown health benefits throughout the body. But have you ever considered taking that a step further and realizing how a $1 tea bag can save you thousands in healthcare costs? If green tea can lower the chances of cancer, reduce tooth decay, protect against heart disease, and generally detoxify the body, the benefits of drinking green tea can be in the hundreds of thousands in terms of medical bills!"

Janet Golovine presents 21 Blogs with Tips for Making Halloween Cards posted at Become A Nanny, saying, "Instead of sending out store-bought Halloween cards this year, why not make your own? Doing so will not only save you money, it will also provide a fun, festive craft for the kids to do."

David Thompsonn presents The Risks of Buying Used Car Seats posted at Backup Care, saying, "One of the risky items to purchase secondhand is a car seat, a piece of equipment so essential that it must be in place and properly installed before you’ll even be allowed to take your baby home from the hospital."


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2013 Achievement Catalyst, LLC