Carnival Round Up For The Week #3

Here are the Carnivals from this past week that I am reading :

The Carnival of Personal Finance #89 is hosted by Binary Dollar.	My Carnival choice is Free Money: Federal Excise Tax Refund posted by Simple Guru. This is about the one-time $30-$60 tax credit for a federal phone tax from 2003-2006. I chose this post because many filers have not taken the credit. To date, out of 34 million filers, 10 million people have not claimed the credit, which is available to everyone. (I think the reference is a Wall Street Journal article, which I can't find at the moment.)
The inaugural edition of the Investors Blog Network (IBN) Festival is hosted by BioHealth Investor.	My Festival pick is Big Business Betting on Your Second Life! presented by SciTech Investor. Virtual money=Real money, virtual lives and real companies - an exciting blurring between reality and what can be. However, I agree with SciTech Investor that my real life (versus a virtual world) is where I want to spend my time.
The Carnival of Family Life is hosted by Modern Sage.	My Carnival choice is Do It All presented by Home School Daze, which points out that a good strategy may be to choose a few things versus doing it all. I fully agree. Doing what's important or needed (and avoiding the unneeded or unnecessary) should be the highest priority.
The Festival of Frugality #63 is hosted by Stingy Students.	My Festival pick is My 25 Frugal Habits & 5 Spendthrift Confessions by The Frugal Duchess, which make the point that no one is 100% perfect in their strategies. While every habit is not for everybody, the list is a good starting point if one is looking for ideas. Personally, I use about 10 of the frugal habits described.
The Carnival of 30s and 40s Personal Finances: The Wealth Accumulation State is hosted by Making Our Way.	My Carnival choice is presented by the host, Making Our Way, and is titled Thoughts on portfolio construction & All About Asset Allocation. The post reminded me that Small Cap and Value stocks tend have higher returns over the long term. In thinking about my own portfolio, I am under represented in Small Cap, at this time. The reason is that, historically, Large Caps outperform Small Caps in the later stages of the economic recovery, which is the current stage, theoretically. Based on this article, I am going to revisit my Small Cap portfolio allocation.

I hope you enjoy reading these Carnivals and finding tips you can use.

Check back on Saturday for the next Reflections and Musings segment.

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

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Carnival Round Up For The Week #2

Here are the Carnivals from this past week that I am reading :

The Carnival of Personal Finance #88 is hosted by Stock Market Beat.	My Carnival choice is 5 Important Ways to Protect Yourself Against Job Loss by Debt Free. The guidance is a mix of diversification, having contingency plans, and having the right knowledge.
The Carnival of Debt Reduction #75: Diamond Jubilee Edition is hosted by Money, Matter and More Musings.	My Carnival pick is Shift Your Thinking to Reduce Debt presented at Extreme Perspective. It's a real life story that shows investing in real estate can be a lesson about debt management. I agree. In the past, I had found myself trying to justify debt and negative cash flow for real estate because it was an "investment." The reality is that it is still DEBT. Fortunately, I was never able to convince myself and didn't buy the properties :-)
The Festival of Stocks is hosted by The Stock Geek.	My Festival choice is Warren Buffet Buys More USG and More presented by Fat Pitch Financials, which highlights Mr. Buffet's recent buys and sells. If only I could know what Warren Buffet bought and sold before he did it:-)
The Carnival of Taxes #12 is hosted by Don't Mess with Taxes.	My Carnival pick is Reduce taxes by fighting your property appraisal posted at Trying To Get It Right. The excellent coaching tip to getting a reduction are: Follow instructions, do your homework, and meet deadlines. I will keep these in mind for when I receive my next appraisal of my home for taxes.
The Carnival of 30s and 40s Personal Finances: The Wealth Accumulation State is hosted by Making Our Way.	My Carnival choice is Leaving Taxes to My Accountant presented by Ask Mr. Credit Card, which provides good reasons for using a tax professional. I would love to outsource this annual task to an "expert." However, my personal experience with tax accountants has been less than stellar. While we were on an international assignment, my taxes were done by one of the major accounting firms for four years. In two of the years, I found errors which resulted in a higher refund. In another year, the accounting firm rechecked the filing and found an error (in data provided by my company) resulting in another significant refund. In only one of the years, there were no changes, perhaps indicating the return was done correctly. Admittedly, while I am not a tax professional, I prefer to read my returns in detail before signing them. And it is concerning to me that I found errors in two out of the four returns done by a professional tax preparer. On the other hand, I also admit that it is getting more difficult for me to keep up with all the new tax laws. So I continue to look for a tax professional that will meet our needs.

I hope you enjoy reading these Carnivals and finding tips you can use. I have moved my Carnival reviews from Tuesday (Ideas You Can Use segment) to Saturdays since several Carnivals that I read publish after Tuesday. In the Saturday review, I will be adding a bit more commentary to the review to fit into the Reflections and Musings theme.

Check back every Saturday for the next Reflections and Musings segment.

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

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

New Carnival - The Carnival of 30's and 40's Personal Finances

The inaugural edition of 30's and 40's Personal Finances: Wealth Accumulation Carnival is posted at Making Our Way. This Carnival focuses on family, career and investment financial planning for people in their 30s and 40s. To me, this Carnival will begin to serve a segment, the 40s, that is currently under represented by the blogging community.

My Carnival pick is Everything You Need to Know About Financial Success in Less than 100 Words posted at Worldwide Success by David E. The post uses Scott Adam's (author of Dilbert) idea that a guide on savings and wealth building can be put on one page, which Scott did in 126 words.

If you are in your 30s or 40s, this Carnival may have a number of tips one can use. I hope you enjoy reading the articles as much as I did.

For more New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for the next segment.
This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Carnival Reading for the Week of 2/4/07

Here are the Carnivals that I will be reading this week:

The Carnival of Personal Finance #86 is hosted by The Simple Dollar.	My Carnival choice is Retirement Savings Contributions Credit presented by A Penny Saved, which shares how one may qualify for a tax credit of up to 50% (maximum $1000 per person) for retirement contributions. Married couples with an adjusted gross income (AGI) less than $50,000 and singles with an AGI less than $25,000 may qualify.
The inaugural edition of Carnival of 30's and 40's Personal Finances presented by Making Our Way.	This new Carnival is scheduled to post on February 7, 2007.

I hope you enjoy reading these Carnivals and finding tips you can use. Check back every Tuesday for the Ideas You Can Use segment.

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

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC