All Entries in the "Personal Finance 101" Category
Do 401K plans still make sense?
Millions of Americans, unbeknown to them, are trusting their retirement to the luck of the stock market draw. I recently talked about this in my post 401Ks: Main Street’s Friend or Foe? I just stumbled across a great article from the Wall Street Journal that adds data to my intuitive thinking.
Boston College’s retirement research center [...]
Why Are Gas Prices So High, And What Can You Do About It?
I had an interesting discussion this week about why gas prices are so high. It was actually more of an argument than a discussion. As prices continue going up, the debates get more emotional. There is absolutely nothing you or I can do about the price the oil. As in any situation, I look for the opportunity. You should know where [...]
Why Women Face a Retirement Crisis
Articles written specifically for women on money issues most often include lessons for men as well. I found the following table quite interesting and alarming.
This quote follows the table:
“You’ll notice there aren’t any contribution suggestions for you 45-year-olds if you don’t have at least 3 times your income saved. That’s because T. Rowe doesn’t think [...]
The Risks of Being Audited
April 18 – it’s time to relax. Unless you are like me and have filed for an extension your taxes are in, but can you really relax. What if the IRS has a couple of questions for you? The following article discusses the probability of being audited as well as the process. According to this [...]
Personal Tax Earmarking
A reader sent me the link to a site on Tax Earmarking. It sounds like an interesting concept. However, I question some of the benefits. For example, this concept would encourage people to file taxes earlier. Since I typically owe the Government money, I am not paying until the last possible moment. Another benefit is that [...]
Debt and Financial Freedom Don’t Mix
One of my least favorite subjects in the financial freedom arena is debt reduction. People use all kinds of reasons to justify their debt and it becomes a very emotional struggle to eliminate it. I am pleased that I have adopted the “Not So Easy” approach to financial freedom. That way I don’t have to [...]
Credit Card Debt the Movie
It is a sad state of affairs. Credit card debt is so out of control that they are making movies about it.
Source: Herald Net
Some of the stories, for instance, are clearly examples of addictive personalities, people who simply can’t stop spending money, or who have no idea that buying something with a credit card means [...]
Simple Tax Refund Most Aren’t Claiming
Source: Market Watch
It’s perhaps the easiest $30 to $60 you’ll ever collect from the IRS, but more than one-third of early-bird tax filers failed to claim the telephone excise tax refund, available this year to just about any taxpayer who paid for long-distance telephone service in recent years, the IRS said Wednesday.
“A little more than [...]
3 Smart Ways to Get a Raise
If you don’t have direct responsibility for profit and loss or aren’t a salesperson, it can be a challenge to demonstrate to your boss that you deserve a raise. That’s one of the reasons I loved my last job in sales. It was pretty clear at the end of the year whether your performance was [...]
Free Credit Report
I remember when I graduated from college, nearly 20 years ago, I wanted to buy a car before I started my new job. I had had enough. I refused to be seen any longer riding around in a 1980 Ford Pinto. Some may recall that the Pinto had a slight design defect. Its fuel tank was in [...]
