My Career Limiting Move

"Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time." Malcolm Forbes

Yesterday, my boss pulled me aside to explain an issue that had been discovered. Apparently, one of my client's info sheets had become attached become to another client's packet. Here was the conversation:

"I don't thnk it's my fault that someone else took my client's papers and put them with their client's paper," I defended, know that I was right.

"I'm not assigning fault," my boss replied.

"Aren't we supposed to look through every sheet, before giving a client their paperwork?" I asked remembering the training I had been given.

"Well, I don't look through every sheet," my boss replied. (May have been hint#1.)

"Well, what do you want me to do to solve the problem?" I asked thinking there was a solution.

"I don't know. I was just letting you know," my boss replied.

Later I asked a colleague about who should be responsible for making sure the paperwork given to one's client is correct. He danced around the question saying he didn't want to get in the middle. He implied that I should have looked for the missing piece of paper. (May have been hint #2). For reference I just assumed I hadn't hit the print key when the sheet wasn't on our shared printer. From that discussion, he has lowered my respect for him to zero.

Anyway, my esteem for some of my colleagues and the company is quickly declining this year. My earlier estimate of only working one or two more years in this part time job may have been optimistic. There's a chance this may be my last year. My only regret is losing the relationship I have with some of my long time clients. Those are the people that mean the most to me in this job.

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Tough Guy Role Model

"Choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong." ~ Bob MacDonald

Both my dad and father-in-law were tough guys. They weren't tough guys in the traditional sense of the term. They weren't muscular, intimidating or avoided by others. To me, they were mentally tough, in how they lived and even as they faced death. Otherwise, they were regular guys. Here's what I thought made them tough:

Did what was needed. Both men did what was needed throughout their lives. I don't think they ever backed down from any hard task, personal or professional. They both had strong work ethics and strove for excellence in whatever they did. They also worked full time and earned PhDs part time while supporting young families. Although both were born into hard economic times, they were able to achieve financial success as adults. In addition, they accepted any responsibility that was theirs, never delegating it to others.

Can do attitude. Both men had a very positive attitude about their capabilities and their futures. My dad was laid off from three different jobs. Each time he quickly found another job within the industry. His started his final job at the age of 65 and worked for seven years before retiring. My father-in-law retired from the military, became CEO of a privately held company for ten years, and then taught college level course for another decade.

Rarely complained. Neither man complained much. They generally "played the hand they were dealt" the best they could. They never played the "if only" game. I should have known both were ill when they mentioned they weren't feeling well, which I had rarely heard from either one before. It wasn't long afterwards that minor complaint that both became very ill.

After my dad died, my uncle informed me that my dad had a severe stuttering problem as a young adult. I never knew my dad overcame a severe stuttering problem. He never mentioned the issue and he rarely stuttered. He, like my father-in-law, was a tough guy. To my dad, severe stuttering was only one of life's issues to be faced and conquered, as he did with many other challenges in his life.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial, or personal development advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Good Life

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." - The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy of the Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain

In You're going to die the way you lived at CNN.com, William Lamb describes how people with fatal diseases chose to live well in the time before their death by taking special trips, connecting more with loved ones and tying up loose ends. I found their stories very inspirational.

Most people in the article had between four months and four years before their death. If living a good life is a good idea, why wait until death is imminent? Since my life expectancy is about 40 more years, starting now would give me a lot more trips, connections and resolved loose ends. It makes excellent sense.

I'm going to start living a good life right away.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Saying Goodbye

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.” ~ Dr. Seuss

For me, one of the toughest things as I get older is having to say goodbye family and close friends when they pass away. When I was younger, the death of a family member or close friend was a rare event. I only had one grandparent when I was born, and she lived overseas. A close friend from high school died in a car accident when I was college. Other than those two people, no one close to me has passed away.

Then in 2005, my dad became ill and subsequently passed away in 2006. During his illness, I was able to tell him that he was a great dad and how he had done a excellent job raising his children. I also thanked many times him for everything he had done. We thought he would fully recover, and then he suddenly passed away. I miss him very much.

Now my father-in-law is very ill. His time is short and he has just entered hospice. I have been able to talk to him for a few minutes in private. I let him know that I've enjoyed very much all the economic discussions and debates that we have had. I also told him I would help with his financial investments to the best of my ability. He eyes lit up as we talked financial matters, and I know he understood that I would miss him.

I'm not looking forward to the future inevitable goodbyes as I get older. Instead, I would rather remember the good times that I enjoyed with someone. Hopefully, when it's my time to go, my family and close friends will also smile for our good times together :-)

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Timeless Articles from the Archives #28

It's been over four years since I started My Wealth Builder. As I think about topics to write , I often remember, "I've written about that before," and decide to find a new topic. However, since many principles of personal finance are timeless, I want to include them in a recent post on My Wealth Builder. Therefore, I have started a series called "Timeless Articles from the Archives" and am highlighting posts from the same week in 2007-2010.


2007

Why Aren't We All Wealthy (Yet) ? - Here are four reasons that I think we are not all wealthy yet.

Stages Of A Career - Some thought on where one should be at different ages.

An AMT Tax Benefit - Really - This onerous does have one small benefit: not having to claim a state or local tax refund as income in the subsequent year.


2008

Tax Season Humor: A Simple Tax Return - A look at a very simple tax return :-)

Asia: The Next Land Of Opportunity? - It isn't obvious to me that the United States will maintain being the land of opportunity in the 21st century.

Stressful Personal Finance Situations We Like To Avoid - I prefer that my personal finances be boring and uneventful. No living of the edge for us, when it comes to personal finance.

Three Ways We Maximized Our Retirement Savings - Here some great steps we took to maximize our retirement savings.


2009

Reduce Spending without Sacrificing Lifestyle #4 - Be Choiceful on Options - We choose only the options we need when making a purchase.

Renaissance Man - After retiring, I took a number of courses to broaden my knowledge.

Now Another Reason to Owe Taxes Instead of Getting a Refund - I don't need an I.O.U from a bankrupt state government.


2010

Contracts - Read and Understand before Signing - I am a big believer that I should read and understand every document before signing, especially when related to financial matters. I never assume that signing is just a formality.

Our Approach to Buying a House - Our conservative approach has enabled us to pay a reasonable price, get some appreciation, and not lose too much during the housing crash.


To me, the content of these posts are still relevant today and worth reading again.

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

This is not financial, tax, career, investing, retirement or saving advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #29

Welcome to twenty-ninth 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 them into seven categories: Earning, Investing, Insuring and Protecting, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

"Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." Spike Milligan

Steve Faber presents Debt Free- Top 10 Part Time Evening Jobs - The New Way to Pay for Your Rising Mortgage and Gas Bills? posted at DebtBlog, saying, "To get ahead, you have to invest, and to do so, you need capital. If you're barely making it with your current job, here are some great ways to earn the extra investment income you need to finally take aim at financial security."

Job-Interview-Site.com presents What Career is Right For Me? Finding the Right Career Path posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, "A few years ago, there were very less options as to what would be the best career for a person. Also, the decision would be made more on a financial basis than on an interest’s basis. The reason behind this was that most careers were not financially viable."

Michael presents How to Be a Good Boss posted at Consumerism Commentary, saying, "The better boss you are, the happier your employees are and ultimately, the more successful your business becomes. We've got a few tips to get you started."

Insuring and Protecting

"Fun is like life insurance; the older you get, the more it costs." ~ Kin Hubbard

FMF presents One Insurance Not Worth the Money: Term Life Insurance posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Term versus permanent insurance: which is better?"

Odysseas presents How to Save Money on Life Insurance posted at Wallet Blog, saying, "I think your readers will enjoy my submission because I explain how my husband and I were able to save money on our life insurance by doing a little bit of research."

Investing

"In this business if you're good, you're right six times out of ten. You're never going to be right nine times out of ten." ~ Peter Lynch

Hussein Sumar presents How to Analyze Mutual Fund Investment Risks posted at Best Mutual Funds, saying, "Before you head out to purchase mutual funds for your investment portfolio, you must analyze what your investment objectives are, the levels of risk you can take, your age, the # of years to your retirement, etc. Apart from these factors, you must also research the risks that an individual mutual fund contains if you put your money in to it."

Dividends4Life presents 20 CEO?s Showing Confidence With Increased Dividends posted at Dividends Value, saying, "A person’s character is determined by how they behave when no one else is looking and during difficult times. In much the same way, we can learn a lot about a company’s management when they face adversity. One metric I look at closely during a downturn is cash generation relative to earnings."

2 Cents presents Wake Up and Smell the Inflation posted at Balance Junkie, saying, "Some analysts are worried about rising inflation while others say it's just a sign that the economy is improving."

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Invest In Shares of Common Stock posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "A discussion on stock investing."

Ryan @ CML presents Build Wealth from Your Tax Refund posted at Cash Money Life, saying, "Your tax refund is a great opportunity to boost your investments and grow your wealth. These ideas can get you started."

Living Frugally

"I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart." ~ e e cummings

Wenchypoo presents Coupon Queen Gets Hit With Expired Food Products--If You Shop at Dominick's, Chances are You're EXPIRED posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket, saying, "Are you one of those "hyper-couponers"? You might want to pay closer attention to the expiration dates on the food you buy. All across America, grocery stores are selling goods that are as far outdated as 2-3 years ago, and if you're stockpiling them using discount maneuvers such as coupon-and-sale stacking, you might want to think twice because you're wasting HUGE amounts of money! Stockpiles of food you can't eat is akin to buying someone else's useless junk for pennies on the dollar. No matter how little you paid for it, you still can't eat it--where's the savings?"

Retiring

"When I was young I used to think that money was the most important thing in life. Now that I am old, I know it is." ~ Oscar Wilde

Jim Yih presents What Does Retirement Really Mean? posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying, "Obviously, retirement means different things to different people. Retirees face more challenges than ever."

Saving

"There is a certain Buddhistic calm that comes from having....money in the bank." ~ Tom Robbins

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Automating Your Finances posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, "Automating your finances makes sure that your money does what it is supposed to without any direction from you, reliving stress and freeing up time."

Taxes

"A tax loophole is something that benefits the other guy. If it benefits you, it is tax reform.'' — Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator

Martin Kemp presents 3 Things Every Self Employed Person Should Know About Self Assessment posted at Being Self Employed, saying, "Our guide to three things every self employed person should know about submitting their self assessment tax return"

Steve Norman presents 5 Things That Affect Your Tax Code posted at Tax Codes, saying, "Our guide to the five most important factors that affect your tax code"

Steve presents When you are missing your W2 Statements 2009 Taxes posted at 2009 Taxes, saying, "When you do not receive your W2 statements by the end of January there are a number of steps you can take to still file your tax return."

Patrick LaRue presents The Changing Tax Laws And Who They Affect posted at 2010 Tax, saying, "Tax law changes have affected your pay checks this past year and could also affect your 2010 tax return."

Robert Moore presents Did You Know About These 2011 Tax Changes? 2011 Taxes posted at 2011 Taxes, saying, "At the end of 2010 the congress and President Obama passed several measures that will change your tax situation in 2011."

PT presents Making Sense of Education Tax Credits and Deductions posted at Prime Time Money, saying, "Trying to figure out how to maximize your tax savings on education expenses? PT Money provides a guide to the tax credits and deductions."

Madison DuPaix presents How Do You Handle Lending Club Taxes? posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, "If you invest with Lending Club, read this to find out how you should handle your taxes."

Tom Tessin presents How Much Does It Cost To Get Taxes Done? posted at Tom, saying, "Want to get your taxes done professionally? Find out what it is more than likely going to cost you."

Ryan @ MFN presents Federal Tax Refund Schedule posted at The Military Wallet, saying, "The IRS published a tax refund schedule based on when you sent in your taxes. This article explains when you might receive your tax refund."

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: the wealth builder carnival, blog carnival.

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 © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Strategy for Pricing

I have a very simple pricing strategy for doing business. It's simple to remember and easy to implement. Here is My Wealth Builder's strategy for pricing:

Free is not a price point. A colleague once commented that customers don't appreciate services that they get for free. He commented that customers of free services will not value the service, leading to frequently cancelled appoints. Charging a fee, even though a small one, created commitment by the customer.

Therefore, I won't give away my service for free, even to get trial.

No discounts to make a sale. I do not discount my services. If customers inquire about a lower price, I have two options. First, they can buy in bulk. My yearly price paid up front is 17% lower than 12 times the monthly price. To me, the time savings of billing one time versus twelve times is worth the price difference. The second option a different and lower level of service, which is commensurate with the lower price.

For renewing customers, I will maintain their initial price for at least two years, as recognition for being long term customers.

50% conversion is a good price point. I price my service such that 50% of those that inquire think the service is a great value and 50% think the price is too high. I don't want the customers that think my price is too high. In my experience, customers who didn't buy would have been high maintenance, e.g. paying bills late, requiring multiple billing, or constantly negotiating price.

The customers that pay my price realize the benefit that my services provide.

To note, I have no formal marketing or sales experience, which probably makes those in the field cringe:-) However, since my business and revenue is pretty small, this simple pricing strategy works for me.

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

From Retiree to President

In March 2011, I will hire on as the President of a recently formed non-profit organization. So my three and half year early retirement will come to an end. I am excited about joining during this stage of the organization's history. The role is temporary and is expected to last no longer than the end of the year. By 2012, the organization will have completed an executive search and hired a someone to fill the role of President in a permanent capacity.

At this point, I've told the search committee I do not plan to apply for the permanent position. While I reserve the right to change my mind, I am looking forward to returning to retirement by the end of 2011. In the meantime, I expect that my experiences and skills will enable to me significantly help the organization this year.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial, retirement or career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Overcoming Financial Fear

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" — H.P. Lovecraft

When I was considering early retirement, I dealt a lot with fear of the unknown. Since taking my first job, I had never lived without compensation that paid my living expense. With no personal experience, I was unsure that we had enough assets to sustain a successful retirement. However, after a few months, I was able to overcome the fear and retired in my forties in October 2007. Here's what I did to overcome my fear:

Get the facts. For most of my life, I had lived without a budget. I simply put 10-20% of my salary in savings and spent the rest. Therefore, I didn't know how much money we needed in retirement. As a first estimate, I used 80% of our take home pay for our retirement budget. Then, I asked our financial advisor to determine whether our retirement savings could deliver that income.

Look as worse case scenarios. The first analysis showed that we would be able to comfortably retire with income at 80% of our take home pay. However, I requested analyses of several worse case scenarios: lower stock market returns, no social security, and poor stock option returns. In just about every case, we were still able to maintain our retirement, although sometimes at lower, but acceptable, lifestyles.

As it turned out, looking at worse case scenarios was very useful since the Great Recession would begin in December 2007.

Develop a plan. Several plan options (e.g. pay off mortgage, put short term funds in money market funds, and cut back expenses) were developed to address the scenarios. As it turned out, we used many of the options.

After taking the above steps, we felt the future was no longer completely unknown. There was still uncertainty, however, we no longer feared going through with early retirement.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Great First Outing

This past week, the temperatures were in the low 50s making round of golf a possible activity. So I decided to do my only volunteer job: playing with golfers that have disabilities. Since I had not picked up a club since November, I expected a poor to extremely poor round.

Much to my surprise, I had an exceptional round for me. I parred the first hole, ended with two pars and four bogeys, and scored a 45 for nine holes. I missed having a third par by an inch. The other three holes weren't pretty: two triple bogeys and one quadruple bogey. Overall, I was very happy with my first round the year.

As my partner commented, my game could only get worse. I acknowledged I was already on that path after the first hole, which I parred. I wasn't likely to do any better and proved it by bogeying the second hole. Oh well, it could be a long golf season this year.

Still, it's the best volunteer job I've ever had. So I will tough it out and play the entire season, even if means always having worse scores than the first round of the year :-)

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.Photo

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Timeless Articles from the Archives #27

It's been over four years since I started My Wealth Builder. As I think about topics to write , I often remember, "I've written about that before," and decide to find a new topic. However, since many principles of personal finance are timeless, I want to include them in a recent post on My Wealth Builder. Therefore, I have started a series called "Timeless Articles from the Archives" and am highlighting posts from the same week in 2007-2010.


2007

Fixing Things Myself (and Saving Money) - Total saved was $141.50, not including tax. Not bad for one week of handling my own repair work, which I sometimes enjoy doing since I am an engineer.


2008

I Want To Owe Taxes - Personally, I prefer to owe a little bit of tax..

Get Ready For The Second Act And More - Just one great idea is not good enough.

Simple Pleasures In Retirement - While working, it was easy for me to forget to relax and have fun. It was easier work hard and spend money to have fun, i.e. the work hard, play hard approach. In retirement, I have tried to break away from this syndrome and invest in more relaxation time for myself.


2009

The Mind Stays Young - To me, the hardest thing about getting older is that the mind ages much slower than the body.

My Lower Tolerance for Corporate Bureaucracy - My main bureaucracy complaint is that the corporate headquarters develops programs that sound good to management (theory), but are one notch below stupid when executed (practice) with the client, which is the interface I work.

2010

Why We Chose a 30 Year Mortgage - For our most recent mortgage in 2003, we were weighing the pros and cons of a 15 year versus a 30 year mortgage.

Six Reasons to Consider Consulting a Tax Advisor - I think there are six situations when it may be worth consulting a tax advisor, because of the complexity of interpreting the tax laws.


To me, the content of these posts are still relevant today and worth reading again.

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

This is not financial, tax, career, investing, retirement or saving advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #28

Welcome to twenty-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 them into seven categories: Earning, Investing, Insuring and Protecting, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

Job-Interview-Site.com presents How to Negotiate a Pay Raise posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, "Negotiating a pay raise is not an easy task. You have to consider factors to talk about during the salary negotiation. A raise in salary will be based on your productiveness for the company and your performance value.
Read further.."

Insuring and Protecting

Michael Pruser presents Different Types of Life Insurance Policies posted at The Dough Roller, saying, "Nobody wants to think of dying but any responsible person needs to. Finding the right insurance policy for your needs is a “biggy” when it comes to planning ahead."

Investing

Hussein Sumar presents How to Examine a Mutual Fund's Portfolio Turnover posted at Best Mutual Funds, saying, "Portfolio turnover is a great way to measure the investment quality of a mutual fund because a higher turnover means increased costs of trading, which is paid for by investors' money and not the fund manager's salary."

Patty Pedersen presents Best Oil ETFs: Looking Beyond Energy Select SPDR XLE posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters - Investing Blog, saying, "Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF wins the contest among oil ETFs when it comes to popularity. This ETF however wasn’t the best performing ETF in this category in 2010. This article analyzes different energy ETFs and explains why energy service and natural gas ETFs have the potential to be top performers in 2011."

Hemant Beniwal presents Financial Planning Process posted at financialplanninglab.com, saying, "Make sure your financial planner follows this 6 step financial planning process."

Dividends4Life presents 16 Dividend Stocks Growing Future Yield posted at Dividends Value, saying, "Yield does not come without a price, usually in the form of added risk and/or complexity. Ultimately, dividend growth investors realize that long-term and sustainable high-yield investments are grown over time. This is accomplished by purchasing high-quality dividend investments with a reasonable yield and a long history of growing their dividends, and waiting for the yield on cost to grow."

Mike Piper presents Investing Life Insurance Proceeds posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, "How would you invest a portfolio if you were expecting to need to withdraw from it for potentially 50 years or more?"

Carlos Sera presents A Tale of Might Financial Tales posted at Financial Tales, saying, "This is A Tale of Might. Do As I Say Not As I Do."

John Border presents Stock Tips For Beginning Investors Stock Market Basics posted at Stock Market Basics, saying, "The articles talks about essential tips that you need to know before starting out in the volatile stock market and thereby save yourself from the agony of losing money."

Hussein Sumar presents Stocks that Pay High Dividends - February 2011 Edition posted at High dividend stocks, saying, "Recently upon the end of January 2011 & recent Egyptian crisis, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has reached its 12,000 points mark, the highest level seen since June 2008. Financial experts believe this is a sign where companies' profits are getting better, revenues are growing & the American economy is recovering."

PT presents How Forex Trading Works posted at Prime Time Money, saying, "A quick introduction to Forex Trading--how to trade in currency, how to set up an account, and where to go for practice before investing your own money."

Ryan @ CML presents Why The Apple Flash Crash Doesn't Matter posted at Cash Money Life, saying, "Investors should look deeper into fluctuations in stick prices before reacting to changes in valuation."

BankMan presents What to Look for in an Investment Option posted at High Yield Savings Accounts, saying, "These tips can help you screen investment opportunities to find the best one for your needs."

Living Frugally

Khaleef @ KNS Financial presents Valentine’s Day Ideas: 8 Frugal Ways To Declare Your Love posted at Faithful With A Few, saying, "These frugal Valentine’s Day ideas will help you show your love without breaking the bank!"

MoneyNing presents Want to Buy Something? Save, Don’t Borrow! posted at Money Ning, saying, "The title says it all! Don't get into debt!"

FMF presents How to Save 20% OFF MSRP on a Brand New Car Purchase posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "How to save a boatload on a car purchase."

Retiring

Jim Yih presents Getting Ready for Retirement posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying, "Imagine you are talking with your spouse about the topic of retirement and it is going to happen within the year. What do you need to do, to get ready for it?"

Saving

Charles Tran presents Long-Term View of Financial Planning Basics posted at CreditDonkey.com Tips, saying, "Building wealth starts with having a long-term view on financial planning."

Taxes

Steve Norman presents 5 Things Everyone Should Know About Emergency Tax Codes posted at Tax Codes, saying, "Our guide to what an emergency tax code is and when you might get one"

John Keeble presents What To Do If You Have Lost Your UTR Number posted at UTR Number - Unique Taxpayer Reference Number, saying, "Our guide to where you may find your UTR number and what to do if you have lost your UTR number"

Madison DuPaix presents New 2011 Tax Rules for eBay Sellers: The 1099K posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, "If you sell on eBay, the IRS' new tax rules for 2011 may affect you. Read this to find out."

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: the wealth builder carnival, blog carnival.

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 © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Weeding Out High Maintenance People

In my experience, high maintenance people can suck the capacity right out of an organization. I learned that in several of the management roles that I have had. Here are my issues with high maintenance people:

Take up significant management time. In my experience, high maintenance employees take up 80% of my management effort, leaving less time to spend with my top performers. Although one might expect benefits from such an investment, I found high maintenance people usually changed or improved the least.

Have an inflated view of themselves. Most high maintenance people that I have known believe they are top performers, despite feedback to the contrary. Sometimes they see themselves as God's gift to the organization.

Low performance in areas of responsibility. From what I've seen, high maintenance people display lots of activities but low amounts of real work. They send out lots of e-mail, work on lots of committees, and volunteer for projects not related to their responsibilities.

My solution is to put high maintenance people in roles of high individual responsibility, where outcomes are clear and contributions are due primarily to their own work. As a result, I spend less time with the person, since the role is clear, and the results from the person's work is obvious, making it harder to inflate.

In some cases, the high maintenance person will turnaround their performance, which is great. In other cases, the high maintenance person will move on their own accord to a new organization or company. In either case, the problem with the high maintenance person is solved for me.

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 © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Purchased our First Trip Insurance

In the past, my spouse and I have not purchased trip insurance. We took our chances on not being sick nor experiencing trip interruption. We have been lucky so far and have not missed a planned trip. However, for our next vacation, we have decided to purchase trip cancellation insurance for about 10% of the vacation's cost. Here are our reasons:

1. Young child. As a former boss used to say, " Children can get sick at a drop of a hat," especially if they are in school or day care. My spouse and I are still pretty healthy. Typically, we'll make a trip even if we're not feeling well. However, we don't want to put that burden on a child.
   
2. Older parents. The health situation of aging parents can change suddenly. For example, my mother is in a nursing home. While her condition is stable, a sudden change may require my attention or presence.

While a health related issue has not arisen yet prior to a vacation, I feel the probability has increased significantly for us. Going forward we want to flexibility to adjust to our child's or parents' health situation. Therefore, for vacations requiring up front payments, we will be buying trip cancellation insurance.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Auxilliary Social Security Benefits

While working at one of my part time jobs, a colleague mentioned to me that Social Security can be paid to minor children of Social Security recipients. This was new information to me and I decided to check with the Social Security administration, since our daughter is only six years old.

Here's what I learned. When I start collecting Social Security payments the following people can also qualify for additional payments from Social Security:

My spouse who earns less than $14,000 and is caring for a child under 16. She can collect 50% of my full retirement benefit.

My daughter until she turns 18 (19 and 2 months while in high school). She can collect 75% of my full retirement benefit.

Total family benefits are limited by the calculated maximum benefit amount.

Due to the auxiliary benefits, it is financially beneficial for me to start my Social Security payments when I'm 62, instead of waiting for full retirement age. Even though my payments will be reduced, the additional auxilliary payments will make the break even point for waiting be several years older.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Rewarding Effort on Math

Our 6 year old daughter dislikes kindergarten math. While she uses reading every day, our daughter doesn't see any benefits for learning math since she does not use math daily. My solution is to link math with an everyday task, such as using money.

A couple times a week, I plan to do addition and subtraction exercises with my daughter with coins. My deal with my daughter is that for every five correct answers in a row, she will get to keep her choice of one set of coins. This has significantly increased her interest in learning math. Fortunately, the total value of coins will be usually under a quarter. However, if I end up losing a lot of money, I will be happy she is learning her math:-)

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

This is not financial, parenting or education advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Timeless Articles from the Archives #26

It's been over four years since I started My Wealth Builder. As I think about topics to write , I often remember, "I've written about that before," and decide to find a new topic. However, since many principles of personal finance are timeless, I want to include them in a recent post on My Wealth Builder. Therefore, I have started a series called "Timeless Articles from the Archives" and am highlighting posts from the same week in 2007-2010.


2007

Retirement Planning - A Staged Approach - Before the housing crash, here's how I was integrate home ownership into our retirement planning. Even after the housing crash, it will till work for us.

Lessons From The Poker Table - On weekends in college, I regularly played poker. The lessons I learned in poker were very applicable to my career and life.

Don't Get Talked Into Bad Deals - How does one avoid getting talked into bad deals? Here are some ways I use.


2008

Retired Life - A Four Month Report Card - Here was my perspective on how we were doing.

Risk Management Applied To Personal Finance - Here are some of the ways I apply risk management to our personal finances.

Delayed Gratification - A Foundational Life Skill - The ability to delay gratification appears to be a good indicator of potential for life success.


2009

Reduce Spending without Sacrificing Lifestyle #2 - Buy Below Regular Price - Our second step in tightening our belts was to buy below the regular price.

Early Retirement - Time Gains Outweigh Financial Losses - If I had to do it over again, I'd still retire early.


2010

Tickets for Super Bowl XLV - Here's how to enter a lottery for Super Bowl tickets.

To me, the content of these posts are still relevant today and worth reading again.

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

This is not financial, career, investing, retirement or saving advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #27

Welcome to twenty-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 them into seven categories: Earning, Investing, Insuring and Protecting, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

"Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed." ~ George Burns

FMF presents Free Money Finance: A Reminder: Networking is Important to Your Career posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "A reminder to all of you who want to maximize your income -- keep your network strong for times when you'll need it."

Job-Interview-Site.com presents Work Philosophy Examples: What Is Your Philosophy towards Work? posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, "A question about work philosophy is generally asked to managers, team leaders and high level executives.It is also asked to professionals who work in a noble profession as nursing, teaching and social work."

Kyle Taylor presents NASA Will Pay You $5,000/month to Stay in Bed posted at The Penny Hoarder, saying, "The folks over at NASA are paying $5,000 per month to participants of their bed rest study."

Insuring and Protecting

"The Act of God designation on all insurance policies; which means, roughly, that you cannot be insured for the accidents that are most likely to happen to you" ~ Alan Coren

CreditCardGuru presents Credit Card Travel Insurance Coverage posted at credit card forum [the blog], saying, "An overview of the various travel insurance benefits commonly found on credit cards these days, including some caveats about them that everyone should know about."

Mike Piper presents Protecting Your Private Files posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, "If you keep old tax returns saved on your computer, how do you keep them both backed up and protected in the event of computer theft?"

Investing

"Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs repairing." - Billy Rose

Steve presents Exxon-An Example Of Success posted at FastSwings, saying, "Exxon reported a very good quarter and should continue to perform well at the current price of oil."

Aussie Investor presents 2011 Share Floats - What Will 2011 Hold For Investors In IPOs? posted at Australian Investing, saying, "With the year now well underway, it's time to turn our attention to what the IPO market might throw our way in 2011. In terms of the number of new issues, last year was an improvement on 2009. Will 2011 be a better year again for investors in Australian share floats?"

Dividends4Life presents 28 Dividend Stocks Acting Like a Money Machine posted at Dividends Value, saying, "Readers of this space know that the primary focus of my investing efforts is to build an ever-increasing income income stream by investing in dividend growth securities. This means that often I will choose a lower yielding security with better dividend growth prospects over a higher yielding security. As one that values diversity, I also invest in some high yield securities."

Arjun Rudra presents On A Quest To Turn $3000 Into $100000 With Trader Mark Li, DMS posted at Investing Thesis, saying, "An interview with equity and currency trader Mark Li who is attempting to turn Turn $3000 Into $100000."

BankMan presents Are Online Brokerages a Good Deal? posted at High Yield Savings Accounts, saying, "Are online brokerages a good deal for cheap stock trades, or do they skimp on the features you need most to make informed investing decisions?"

Living Frugally

"Never spend your money before you have it." - Thomas Jefferson

Michal presents 5 Ways To Save Money On Your Cell Phone Bill Phone Reviews Plus posted at Phone Reviews Plus, saying, "Tips to saving money on your cell phone bill"

Ryan Hudson presents Can Using a Credit Card Be Considered Frugal? posted at Best Credit Cards IQ, saying, "How to use a credit card responsibly and maintain a frugal lifestyle."

Retiring

"Retire from work, but not from life." ~ M.K. Soni

Robert @ The College Investor presents What Young Workers Should Know About Social Security posted at The College Investor, saying, "I got my first Social Security statement and it got me thinking..."

Jackson presents Retirement Plans; A Roth IRA posted at 2009 Tax, saying, "Traditional IRAs are not as beneficial as Roth IRAs for most tax payers."

Ryan @ MFN presents Roth IRA Qualifications posted at The Military Wallet, saying, "Are you qualified to open a Roth IRA? Find out income and contribution requirements to see if you are eligible!"

Saving

"The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it." - Edith Wharton

Super Saver presents How Living Only on Base Salary Funded our Early Retirement posted at My Wealth Builder,saying, "Here were the compensation elements that we saved instead of spending."

Taxes

"A tax loophole is "something that benefits the other guy. If it benefits you, it is tax reform." — Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator

Robert Moore presents 2011 Tax Information For Small Businesses And Self-Employed Individuals posted at 2011 Tax, saying, "Small business owner tax information and tips is available for 2011 on the IRS website."

Madison DuPaix presents Tax Extension Form 4868 posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, "Need more time to get your taxes in order? You can extend your filing date but you'll need this form first!"

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: the wealth builder carnival, blog carnival.

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 © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links to Carnivals from to February 1 - 7, 2011

Here are the links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from February 1 - 7, 2011:

The Wealth Builder Carnival #26

Carnival of Financial Planning #171

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dealing with an IRS Notice

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” — Albert Einstein

For most people, communicating with the IRS is a fearful event. After all, many IRS notices are requests for more money because of an apparent mistake by the taxpayer. It seems like a lose only situation. However, the IRS notice is only a beginning which notes a difference in calculation of income or requests for proof of deductions or credits. The next step is to minimize the increase in income or verify the the deduction or credit.

Here's how I do it:

Read the specifics of the IRS note. Is it a claim of under reporting of income? Denial of deduction or credit? Or a request for documentation? Depending on the note, different actions may be needed.

Know the tax regulations involved. Understand the definitions, requirements and details of the tax laws. The IRS isn't interest in arguments based on emotions, fairness or logic. Specifically, the IRS will be look at the facts that demonstrate compliance with the regulations.

Assemble the documentation. If the IRS is correct, I agree and pay the requested amount. If I don't agree, I use the facts to develop support for my case. Doing an amended return for the tax year in question is often a good way to prove my case.

Submit the information before the deadline. I always submit my supporting documentation before the deadline. The IRS usually allows 30, 60 or 90 days to respond If I need an extension, I call and request one.

From my experience, I estimate the IRS is completely right about 25% of the time. About 50% of the time, the IRS is only partially right and less is owed than the amount requested. About 25% the IRS has made a mistake and nothing is owed. In rare cases, there is even a refund.

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Last Hurrah

I am going to accept a position as temporary executive director of a new non-profit organization. The contract is expected to last no longer than end of 2011, at which point I will transition to a permanent executive director for which a national search is being done. Effectively, I will be un-retiring since this a paid position which will require close to 40 hour work weeks.

I am excited about the position mainly because of my passions for helping people and personal achievement. I believe the combination of my passions, career and volunteer experiences will enable me to grow the organization to help more people, i.e. make a difference.

In addition, the position will enable me to expand my professional network since I will be working with others that have similar passions, executives at potential sponsoring companies, similar organizations across the country. I may even call on a few classmates who are in a position to contribute.

Finally, the role will help me set a good example for my daughter, who will benefit from seeing a parent working regularly at a job full time. I wouldn't want her to grow up thinking that non-working parents the norm :-)

Being over 50, I know that I won't get many more opportunities like this. So I will take the first step and accept the temporary position. If the job turns out to be the expected great match, I may even apply for a permanent role.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial, career or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Building Client Loyalty

Several of my part time jobs involve working with clients on a one-on-one basis. While many clients don't uses a single provider, each year I have had more clients specifically request my services even though others are available sooner. This year, I have had the largest increase in clients requesting appointments only with me. Here's what I think I've done to build client loyalty:

Customize the product - While our company offers a standard product, I take additional time to understand each client situation and modify the offering to meet their needs. In addition, I anticipate what may be future needs and provide guidance on options.

Demonstrate value - During my meeting with clients, I show them my understanding of the product and demonstrate how that can benefit them. I explain the reasons for different options and clearly explain the benefits for the choices made.

Exceed expectations - Most of my clients leave with more than they expected from our service. For example, I may show them benefits that have been missed, handle a difficult issue, or explain how small changes can create benefits next year.

Overall, I believe the loyal clients are ones that trust me give top priority to what is best for them. Because the trust exists, the client asks specifically to see me when making an appointment. For next year, I hope create a base of at least 50 loyal clients that specifically request me for an appointment each year.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Social Security Payback Option is Elminated

Historically, Social Security has allowed beneficiaries to payback previously received benefits interest free and restart payments at a higher benefit level. Originally, the payback option was allowed so as not to penalized beneficiaries who could qualify for a higher benefit. However, as the payback option became more known, many financial advisors realized that the option was effectively an interest free loan and a great hedge to protect higher benefits. Thus, a Social Security recipient could start taking benefits at 62, put the money in the bank, earn interest, return all the payments at 70 and begin receiving the higher monthly benefit. Not only would the beneficiary be guaranteed higher payments the rest of his life, he would also get to keep all the interest earned for 8 hears. Of course, this assumes the beneficiary did not need to spend the money on living expenses.

Effective December 8, 2010, Social Security has eliminated the current payback option. Beneficiaries can no longer payback benefits and restart at higher payments indefinitely. Paybacks must now be initiated with 12 months of starting benefits and can only be done once in a lifetime. In addition, suspending benefits voluntarily can only be done for payments that have not been received, i.e. one cannot suspend benefits earlier and repay payments. The elimination may save Social Security as much as $5.5 billion if every beneficiary with sufficient liquid assets used the payback option.

While I had evaluated the benefits of using the payback option, I am not unhappy Social Security has eliminated the do over. Losing the option will eliminate a retirement benefits scenario and reduce our decision to simply when I start taking benefits and when my wife starts. As I get older, simpler is definitely better :-)

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Free Family Entertainment from Tony's Pizza

In 2010, Tony's Pizza offered free bowling coupons on the package. So for less that $2.50, I could get a frozen pizza and one game of bowling. Shoe rental was extra, but my spouse and I own bowling shoes making one game completely free for us, but not our daughter.

In 2011, Tony's Pizza is offering coupons for free admission to participating roller skating rinks. Skate rental is extra and no one in our family owns skates. However, a local roller skating rink has a special that includes admission and skate rental and is accepting the Tony's coupons for the session. Thus, for $6-9 (depending on weekly Tony's promotions), we can get three pizzas and three free roller skating session. Since the total cost of roller skating for our family is normally $15, I consider the Tony's Pizza coupons a great deal for family entertainment.

The idea of free family entertainment is a great idea. Usually, it's hard to find free promotions that appeal to everyone in our family. In case Tony's Pizza needs an idea, I'm hoping the next free coupon promotion will be for admission to an ice skating rink :-)

Disclosure: No compensation was received for writing and posting this article.

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Timeless Articles from the Archives #25

It's been over four years since I started My Wealth Builder. As I think about topics to write , I often remember, "I've written about that before," and decide to find a new topic. However, since many principles of personal finance are timeless, I want to include them in a recent post on My Wealth Builder. Therefore, I have started a series called "Timeless Articles from the Archives" and am highlighting posts from the same week in 2007-2010.


2007

Continual Growth and Reinvention - Here's one way to avoid becoming obsolete.

On-line Bill Paying Services -Save Money, Time and Reduce Stress - Electronic bill paying is a great banking service because it benefits me.

Assisted Living - Pros and Cons - These were some of my thoughts as my mom moved to assisted living.


2008

Our Daughter's Investment Earnings Won't Be Taxed - According to 2007 federal income tax laws (and still true in 2011), dependent children under 18 can earn up to $850 of interest or dividend income and owe zero income taxes.

Saver's Credit Helps With Retirement Savings - The Saver's Credit was enacted in 2001, made permanent in 2006 and provides a non-refundable tax credit for contributions to retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401Ks.


2009

Making our Financial Plans Stronger - Here are some changes I've made based on our experience during the Great Recession.

Reduce Spending without Sacrificing Lifestyle #1 - Eliminate Waste - Here's one great way to reduce spending.

Lessons from my Dad - Reduce Taxable Income by Contributing To IRAs - Save for retirement AND pay less taxes.

Retiring on the Cheap - Part II - Consider a state with lower taxes.

Mutual Christmas Gift Reduction - My sister and I instituted this idea in 2008.


2010

A Personal Finance Perspective on the U.S. Budget - I scaled the U.S. budget proposals of early 2010 to an individual level. The outlook was concerning

To me, the content of these posts are still relevant today and worth reading again.

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

This is not financial, career, investing, political, retirement or saving advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #26

Welcome to twenty-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 them into seven categories: Earning, Investing, Insuring and Protecting, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

"Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators." ~ Olin Miller

Mark Macaluso presents How to Make Money (Online and Offline) from Accounting Jobs posted at Masters In Accounting.

Job-Interview-Site.com presents About the Targeted Resume Format: How to Target Your Resume? posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, "Effective job hunting already starts when drafting a resume.
Your resume must be targeted to the job roles you are looking for – You should change the wording of the resume and customize it to the proposed job."

FMF presents Free Money Finance: 25 Toughest Interview Questions of 2010 posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Some of the most off-the-wall interview questions you'll ever hear."

Insuring and Protecting

"The chief beneficiary of life insurance policies for young, single people is the life insurance agent." ~ Wes Smith

CreditCardGuru presents American Express Extended Warranty Review posted at credit card forum [the blog], saying, "If you have an American Express card, here are some important things you need to know about the extended warranty benefit. It's a great free perk for protecting your purchases, but if you don't understand the rules and exclusions, you could be in for a nasty surprise."

Boomer presents Crisis Management: Have An Emergency Plan posted at Boomer & Echo, saying, "I believe that there are a few emergency essentials that will help protect your finances in case of a crisis."

Investing

"We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful" ~ Warren Buffett

Hussein Sumar presents 5 Tricks to Successful Dividend Investing posted at High dividend stocks, saying, "Why should you make dividend investing a part of your strategy? Because it is free money! Think of dividend paying stocks as investments that will put cash in your wallet, without you having to worry about market values going higher. According to value investor Benjamin Graham, this becomes especially true for those companies with tons of cash flows & little or no debt. The school of thought behind this is, why should you care of growing your stock's price from $50 to $52 if you are already getting a decent 8% annual dividend yield from your company; this in a world where banks are literally offering 0.75% interest on a 12 month GIC. In this article, we explain the 5 basic traits that all successful dividend investors should have."

Dividends4Life presents 25 Stocks Building Wealth Through Higher Dividends posted at Dividends Value, saying, "To ensure a retirement that is free from financial concerns, there are certain things that must be done today. The stock market does not travel in a straight line. There will be times it will behave irrationally. These are the times that try an investor’s patience. Those with clear goals and confidence in their chosen strategy aren’t phased by these market movements."

Arjun Rudra presents How To Adapt Your Investing Approach To Changing Market Cycles With Eden Rahim, Portfolio Manager at Jov Investment Inc. posted at Investing Thesis, saying, "Highlighting the importance of adapting your investing approach to changing market cycles with Eden Rahim, Portfolio Manager at Jov Investment Inc."

CPF presents How To Select A Financial Advisor posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, "Select the perfect financial adviser to keep your finances in order and growing."

FIRE Getters presents Investing - The Mistake Of Timing The Market posted at FIRE Finance, saying, "We sometimes ponder and try to speculate the market. Basically we try to time the market to maximize our gains. Often we give up in despair! There are so many factors to be taken into account, volumes of information to be considered (not all of them are all reliable either) and finally there is a humongous number of unknown parameters that may influence the market! How on earth does one tackle all that?"

Michael presents US Government Minting Five-Ounce Silver Rounds posted at Consumerism Commentary, saying, "The value of silver continues to increase at a high rate so now may be as good a time as every to consider investing in silver bullion."

Living Frugally

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery." - Charles Dickens

Paul Foley presents Eating out on a budget: Restaurant.com posted at Life and Times Living with In-Laws, saying, "This entry walks through the math involved in getting a great deal using Restaurant.com certificates"

MoneyNing presents 6 Ways to Avoid the Temptation to Eat Out posted at Money Ning, saying, "Do you always want to eat out? Here's how to avoid always spending too much on food."

Mr. Cents presents Saving on your Computer posted at Personal Cents, saying, "My tips on savings on your computer"

Retiring

"Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life." ~ Herbert Asquith

Mike Piper presents Your Personal Rate of Inflation posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, "The Consumer Price Index may not do a very good job of tracking the rate at which *your* spending will change throughout retirement."

Jim Yih presents What is Estate Planning? posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying, "An estate plan is absolutely essential for organizing your financial affairs and providing for the well being of your family."

2 Cents presents 5 Reasons to Skip the RRSP Contribution this Year posted at Balance Junkie, saying, "Canadians are often encouraged to max out their RRSP contributions each year, but that may not always be the best decision."

Super Saver presents Considering Temporary Un-Retirement posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, "I have been asked to consider becoming the executive director of a new non-profit organization."

Saving

"Lack of money is the root of all evil." - George Bernard Shaw

PT presents Ideas for Your Social Security Tax Break posted at Prime Time Money, saying, "We will all be seeing extra money in our paychecks this year because of the payroll tax withholding deduction. So what should you do with that additional cash? PT Money has some great ideas."

Taxes

"The nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose." ~ William Simon

Robert Moore presents Do You Know Your Options For the 2011 Tax Season? posted at 2011 Tax, saying, "For tax payers that earned less than 58,000 in 2010, the IRS offers free filing options through certain tax preparation services and through the IRS website."

Martin Kemp presents What Everyone Should Know About Registering As Self Employed posted at Being Self Employed, saying, "Our guide explains how to register as self employed for tax and National Insurance purposes"

Craig/FFB presents 2011 Federal Income Tax Brackets posted at Free From Broke, saying, "Take a look at each of the Federal Income Tax brackets for both single taxpayers and married couples filing jointly, and take a look at what is changing going into 2011."

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: the wealth builder carnival, blog carnival.

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 © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links to Carnivals from to January 25 - 31, 2011

Here are the links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from January 25 - 31, 2011:

The Wealth Builder Carnival #25

Baby Boomer's Blog Carnival #76

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

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

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC