Timeless Articles from the Archives #7

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" that will highlight posts from the same week in 2006-2009.

For the week in 2007, I wrote The Education of Our Daughter in which I shared the additional training I believe our daughter should have to be successful in the future. In Business Week - Retiring Early Strategies: The Fifties , I evaluated the strategies shared and added perspective based on my experience.

For the week in 2008, I wrote Joined A Health Club which gave the reasons for doing something I thought we would never do.

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

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From September 21 to 27, 2010

Here are the links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from September 20 to 27, 2010:

The Wealth Builder Carnival #7

Baby Boomers Blog Carnival #58

Carnival of Financial Planning #158

Carnival of Money Stories #73

Carnival of Personal Finance #276

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #8

Welcome to 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. As a result, this carnival did not include submissions that were off topic, e.g. those about debt, debt management, debt reduction, credit scores, credit monitoring, credit card evaluations, or account opening bonuses.

For this carnival, I have organized the posts into seven categories: Earning, Investing, Insuring and Protecting, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes. I have acknowledged bloggers who are in Technorati's Top 100 Finance blogs by showing their 9/28/2010 rank in parentheses. Finally, for some submissions, I have added my perspective and comments related to the post topic.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

Martin presents Starting an Online Business posted at Impact Your Money, saying, "Join me as I take you with me on my journey to start an eCommerce/online business." The author provides an excellent explantion of how to keep business and personal elements separated for legal, financial and tax purposes.

Investing

Walter W. Fouse presents Top Ten S&P 500 Index Funds: Large Cap Core Mutual Funds with Lowest Costs posted at Best No Load Funds, saying, "This table of low cost top 10 S&P 500 mutual funds has been organized with the lowest cost index fund first. Nevertheless, each of these S & P 500 index funds is among the least costly on the market."

Dividends4Life presents 12 Stocks Raising Their Dividends posted at Dividends Value, saying, "When it comes to selecting dividend stocks, one of the most important items to look for is consistency in raising dividends. Sure it is easy to increase dividends when the economy is booming and business is good, but to be consistent a company has to persevere and continue to increase dividends even during the tough times."

MoneyThinking presents Why Should I Care about Gold? posted at Money Thinking.

FMF (#20) presents Avoiding the 10 Most Common Investor Mistakes, Mistakes 1-3 posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Mistakes to avoid if you want to make the most of your investments."

Mitch Archuleta presents What Investments Can I Hold in a Roth IRA? posted at RothIRA.com's Retirement Planning Blog.

Living Frugally

Tash Hughes presents Top 10 business saving tips posted at Word Constructions. Being frugal also applies to businesses.

PT presents The Best Cash Back Sites posted at Prime Time Money, saying, "I rank some of the best places to make cash back online. Get a kickback for your shopping."

Arjun Rudra presents Practical Tips To Best Utilize RESP Savings And Control Student Debt With Aurele Courcelles, Director of Tax and Estate Planning at Investors Group posted at Investing Thesis, saying, "According to Statistics Canada, university tuition fees in 2009/10 were up 3.6 per cent to an average of $4,917 and compulsory fees (such as student services fees, administrative charges, athletic and recreation fees) for Canadian students increased 6.8 per cent from the year before to $749. On top of this, student living costs for rent, transportation, food etc. can range from $500 to over $30,000 depending on where they go to school. This past year student debt hit an all time high exceeding $13 billion in Canada. We sit down with Investors Group financial planning expert Aurele Courcelles to find out how current students can take steps to limit their student debt and accomplish their financial goals." Living frugally is also important for students especially with respect to education loans.

Freefrombroke (#2) presents Why We Chose A 30 Year Mortgage When We Bought Our Home posted at Free From Broke, saying, "When we bought out home we realized a fixed rate, 30-year mortgage loan was the best for us. Here is why." We chose a 30 fixed mortgage over a 15 year fixed mortgage for the very same reason - knowing we could always cover the payment and pay down principal with extra funds.

Leave Debt Behind.com presents How to Handle Lifestyle Inflation posted at Leave Debt Behind, saying, "The first step is understanding how to live within or below your means, regardless of your income level."

Silicon Valley Blogger (#1) presents Taking Out A Loan? Questions To Ask First posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "When you need the money, you should ask yourself a few questions: should you get a loan in the first place? And if you do, which one should you get? " In the past, we only answered yes for college, home and car loans.

Khaleef @ KNS Financial (#32) presents How to Create a Budget – Celebrate Small Victories! posted at Faithful With A Few, saying, "Some of us respond better to rewards and incentives then we do to calls for discipline. Because of this, it is wise to budget rewards and incentives to motivate us to achieve our goals!"

Retiring

Super Saver (#18) presents Early Retirement can be Expensive posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, "In terms of the financials, retiring early is usually not a good choice unless one is within a few years of the normal retirement age. Even so, the lifestyle changes made early retirement worth the cost for us."

Taxes

Mike Piper (#13) presents Deducting an IRA Loss (Roth or Traditional) posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, "Under what circumstances can an investor deduct a loss in an IRA?"

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 or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Turn Down Offers, Not Opportunities

A career counselor once told me, "Turn down offers, not opportunities." His point was not to be too choosy by only applying to and interviewing for jobs that are an exact match, high enough salary, in the right location or whatever. His advice was to apply broadly, and after receiving an interview/offer, then make the decision to accept or decline.

With an offer in hand, the candidate often has leverage to negotiate on responsibilities, pay and sometimes, even location before making a decision. However, if one never applies, there is zero chance to get an offer and do those negotiations.

Overall, I think "Turn down offers, not opportunities," is a great piece of advice, especially in today's economy. Of course, it doesn't mean to apply to jobs one would never accept. However, if the job description is close enough scope, salary and location, it's probably worth trying to get an offer and then deciding.

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Investing - How Timing and Luck can Play a Role

According to The One Missing Investing Ingredient: Luck, chance plays a significant role in the returns of an investment portfolio. For example, the article reports that the difference between 1964 and 1965 in investing a lump sum would have resulted in a 20% higher return over 30 years.

Prior to the recent economic crisis, many articles focused on historical average returns of the stock market. Not many articles acknowledged how much the luck of timing could impact investment returns. However, while the luck of timing can significantly affect one's investment returns, it is not a controllable factor. No investor can predict the best time to invest when the results of the following 30 years are unknowable.

The article's solution? Manage those areas that are controllable. Save early, save as much as possible, diversify investments, keep expenses low and recognize that historical averages are no guarantee of future returns.

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Recession Over? - Yes and No

The National Bureau of Economic Research announced Monday (September 20, 2010) that the recession, which had begun in December 2007, was over in June 2009. The 18-month recession was the longest economic downturn since the Great Depression. The announcement has been met with great skepticism since the economic recovery has been very unbalanced. Here's how I see the breakout:

Recession is over

Businesses - If a business has survived, the recession is likely over. During the recession, businesses have been eliminating marginal work and aggressively reducing costs. Many surviving businesses are earning record profits despite the recession.

Recession hasn't ended

Unemployed - Businesses are not hiring yet. Many companies are holding onto record amounts of cash since confidence in the economy is still low.

Homeowners - While housing values are no longer in free fall, they haven't recovered to pre-recession levels.

Retirees - Many investments accounts are still significantly below the values of late 2007. Interest rates on fixed income investments are extremely low. Some people are working longer or returning to work.

State and local governments - With high unemployment and significantly lower property values, tax receipts are lower and still going lower. Many of the tax levies in our area will likely fail.

The economic recovery seems to have been mainly in the area of business so far. As the recovery expands dimensionally, more will view the recession as truly over.

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Best Ever Volunteer Job Yet

I recently started doing a volunteer job in which part of my role is to play golf. My specific job is to assist golfers with disabilities to play at an executive 9-hole course. If the golfer is interested, I can play along with him.

This is my best ever volunteer job for the following reasons:

Enjoyable - Although I am poor golfer, I do enjoy playing the game, mainly for the company and to be outdoors. The golfer whom I assist and I are very compatible. Since volunteering, my golf game has improved. This summer, my big achievement was scoring my first eagle.

Convenient time - We play on a weekday morning once every couple weeks on a day that is good for both of us. Since we only play 9 holes, the total time committed is about four hours when my travel time is included.

Freebies - The course does not charge me for playing when assisting golfers with disabilities.

Volunteer credits - For each round of golf, four hours are credited against my volunteer time. When I reach 100 hours, I am able to use park services, including golf, in the system at no charge.

At this point, I can't think of any downsides for this volunteer job. Hopefully, the golfer will continue to ask me to assist him.

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 © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Combining Work with Bonding Time

One of my part time jobs is teaching science in an after-school program. A job perk is that my daughter can attend to for free. Last year, I brought her to most of my K-2 classes since she was attending half day pre-kindergarten. She enjoyed learning and being with the older students at school. Since our daughter is in full day kindergarten this year, attending my classes at other schools would not be an option. My solution was to teach a program at her school.

Based on my first class, the idea is working out well.

• Time together. I get to spend an hour with my daughter and teach her about science. Best of all, she considers it a fun time with me.



• Already know some students. Usually, I don't know any of the students on the first day of class. In this class, 25% of the kids are our daughter's friends.



• Teach about working. Last year, I paid my daughter 50 cents per class to help clean up the room. I am continuing to do this so that my daughter can learn about earning money for work.

For now, our daughter is still delighted that she is in a class that I am teaching. I think it's great that I can spend time with her and get paid for doing so :-)

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Timeless Articles from the Archives #6

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 am starting a series called "Timeless Articles from the Archives" that will highlight posts from the same week in 2006-2009.

For the week in 2006, I wrote To Budget or Not to Budget ... in which I shared our budget strategy of saving first and then spending the rest. I also wrote about Frugal or Stingy? which shared theoretical examples of both characteristics. In Avoiding an Expensive Mortgage Mistake, I wrote about my concern with adjustable rate mortgages and our preference for conservative fixed rates mortgages. Finally, I wrote how I like Using Other People's Money to Save.

For the week in 2007, I wrote a number of great timeless articles. ForTime or Money - Which Is More Important To Me?, I concluded time was the answer. In Reduce 2007 Taxes: Accelerate Deductions or Delay Income, I wrote how being able to time deductions or income could reduce tax liability. Some Money Rules of Thumb I Use shared ones from an MSN.com that I used. Financial Lessons From My Parents shared my top five lessons that I learned. Finally, in Business Week - Retiring Early Strategies: The Forties, I evaluated the strategies shared and added perspective based on my experience.

For the week in 2008, I wrote Will this Financial Crisis become a Panic? I thought the answer was no, but it turned out to be yes.

For the week of 2009, I wrote Lessons From the Crash which we are still following in 2010.

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

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From September 14 to 20, 2010

Here are the links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from September 7 to 13, 2010:

The Wealth Builder Carnival #6

Carnival of Financial Planning #158

Carnival of Money Stories #72

Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival #172

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

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

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

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC