Ten For Tuesday (January 6, 2009)
By JLP | January 6, 2009
1. First off, check out this resource I discovered a couple of days ago. It’s called NewMogul.com. Basically, it is a reader-driven business news aggregator. It’s nicely-laid out and best of all…it’s SIMPLE! Hopefully it won’t be taken over by self-promoters!
2. NCN lists 20 Things That Rock About Being Debt Free. - Bottom Line: you can afford to do stuff!
3. Charles Kirk of the KirkReport details his plans for 2009. - His portfolio was UP 11% last year.
4. Speaking of plans, here’s Digerati Life’s .
5. Gather Little by Little hosted the 92nd Edition of the Carnival of Money Stories.
6. Lazyman has some tips on how to have a successful 2009.
7. Tricia wrote about credit card offers on college campuses. She said, “I have come to realize that whenever you get a credit card through another avenue than the credit card company itself, someone is making money from selling that card to you. The same rings true for web sites and blogs that have links to credit cards.” I have always had a problem with blogs selling credit cards because none of them (at least to my knowledge) ever let their readers know that they are making money from the links. In my opinion, it’s not enough to “assume” that readers know this.
8. Social Security: the Biggest Ponzi Scheme on Earth.
9. 2009 could be better than you think.
10. From Larry Winget’s blog: Are People Idiots? - the end of his post details how you can get a free book this week.
That’s it for this week. Enjoy.
BTW - Do you like Ten For Tuesday? Do you read them or am I just wasting my time? Do you like the mixture of blog posts and traditional articles or would you prefer one over the other? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.
Also, if you’re a blogger and have a blog post you would like me to consider for inclusion in a Ten For Tuesday, send me an email (JLP - at - AllFinancialMatters.com) and I’ll see about including it (no promises).
Topics: Miscellaneous, Weekly Roundup | 8 Comments »
AFM is Experiencing Technical Difficulties
By JLP | January 6, 2009
I’m having commenting issues this morning. If you have problems leaving a comment that’s why. I have a work order in with my host. Hopefully we’ll get this fixed soon. Stay tuned…
Topics: Blogging | 3 Comments »
A Review of “People Are Idiots” by Larry Winget (and GIVEAWAY)
By JLP | January 5, 2009
*I love the title and cover of this book! That said, DON’T LET THE TITLE FOOL YOU…this is a VERY positive book!
For those of you not familiar with Larry Winget’s work, he’s known as The Pitbull of Personal Development. That should tell you something about his style. Larry tells it like he sees it. He has no tolerance for stupidity and refuses to sugarcoat his medicine. Personally, I think this is EXACTLY what people need! I almost always find myself nodding in agreement as I read Larry’s books—”People Are Idiots” is no exception!
Larry opens the book with examples showing why he thinks people are idiots. He breaks down his examples in categories such as health, parenting, finance, etc. Some of my favorites:
“Americans spend $33 billion annually on weight-loss products and services. Wouldn’t it be a lot chaper to just eat less and go for a walk? People complain that they have no money—I could save society $33 billion a year in this area alone.”
“People say they want good public schools for their kids. Yet only a small percentage of parents belong to or attend PTA meetings or go to parent-teacher conferences.”
…and my ultimate favorite:
People sign contracts with credit companies, agreeing to pay their bill on a certain date. While the print is small, the rules and regulations are clearly laid out in black and white—all you have to do is read them. Then people don’t make their payments on time and don’t pay the minimum amount as they agreed (probably because they spent their money at the mall or eating out). Why are these people surprised when their interest rate goes up and the company reports their late payment to the credit bureaus and their credit score goes down?”
In the second chapter, he lists ten reasons why people are idiots and tells the reader to confess how they qualify for each one (yes, I did the exercise!):
People are ignorant.
People are stupid.
People are lazy.
People don’t give a damn.
People lack vision.
People have low expectations.
People don’t recognize the consequences of their actions.
People have bad habits.
People have poor role models.
People have no plan.
Chapter 3 begins the “idiot healing process” through recognition, education, and application.
The Second Section of the book contains what Larry calls “Idiot Fixes,” which are lists…lots and lots of lists. I like lists. Larry has a list for everything! There’s a list on how to take responsibility, how to set and achieve goals, how to be smarter, how to make great conversation, how to manage time better, how to solve problems, how to be a better communicator, and lots of other lists.
There’s even a list for how to dress better. His fashion tips for men cracked me up—especially his thoughts on shoes:
“Shoes should always be shined. Loafers never go with a suit. Penny loafers don’t really go with anything, Fonzie. And in my personal opinion, tassel loafers work only when you want everyone to consider you a pretentious goober named Biff.”
Dang! I have a pair of penny loafers on at this very moment (and I own and wear tassel loafers too)! I think they look nice. To each his own, I guess.
Anyway, despite his fashion advice, this is his best book yet. Everyone—both idiots and non-idiots—will benefit from reading (and APPLYING) this book.
Larry was also kind enough to send me an extra signed copy of his book to give away. So, if you’re interested, please leave a comment below and I’ll randomly-select a winner on Wednesday, January 7. Just remember my two rules:
1. You must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada (I won’t ship internationally).
2. You can only enter once.
Related
LarryWinget.com - Larry’s website
10 Questions for Larry Winget - An interview with Larry
Larry Winget on the Housing Crisis - An interesting interview I did with Larry last spring
A Reveiw of “Shut up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life”
* Affiliate Link
Topics: Books, How to..., Personal Growth | 140 Comments »
The ‘Blog of the Week’ is Back
By JLP | January 5, 2009
This is the first Monday of 2009. One of the changes I’m making to AllFinancialMatters in 2009 is to bring back the ‘Blog of the Week’ (BotW) feature. As far as I know, this blog was the only personal finance blog to have such a feature. I had gotten away from the BotW because I grew tired of it and felt it was time for a change.
Now it’s back. Why? For a few reasons:
1. There are a lot of new blogs out there to choose from.
2. The BotW is a way for AllFinancialMatters to differentiate itself from the other blogs.
3. The BotW is a way for me to point out other blogs that AFM readers may find worth reading.
Each Monday will feature a new BotW. The selection will get its own spot in the upper right hand corner of this blog.
So, this week’s Blog of the Week is:
Fixing the 401(k) (fixingthe401k.com), which is run by Joshua Itzoe, a CFP and fiduciary expert (as well as a fee-only financial planner). The blog is written for retirement plan fiduciaries but the content is applicable to anyone planning for retirement. I think it is worth checking out.
NOTE: If you have a blog that you think would be a good candidate for Blog of the Week, send me an email (JLP - at - AllFinancialMatters.com) with “Blog of the Week” Suggestion in the subject line. I’ll be happy to consider any suggestions.
Topics: Blogging | 2 Comments »
How Long Will It Take to Get Even?
By JLP | January 2, 2009
The total return for the S&P 500 Index for 2008 was -37%!
For simplicity’s sake, say you invested $100 in the S&P 500 Index on December 31, 2007. At the market close on Wednesday, December 31, 2008, your account would be worth $63. Your question: how long will it take my account to get back to $100?
Likely scenario: at least 5 years (and I’m not even talking about inflation)!
Check this out:
To get back to $100 from a beginning balance of $63, would require a return of 58.73%. That’s highly unlikely to happen within a one-year time period. In fact, going back all the way to 1926, we have never had a one-year return greater than 53.99% (happened in 1933).
I put together a graphic to show the required rates of return based on different time horizons to recover from a 37% market drop. Here’s what I found:
Keep in mind that this is assuming we have bottomed out! Regardless, I think it is highly unlikely that we will recover from 2008’s market anything short of 4 to 5 years.
One thing you can do to help recover from 2008 is to dollar-cost-average (DCA) by buying a set dollar amount of stocks over a long period of time. That way you are buying stocks at reduced prices, which lowers your overall cost per share and also lowers the risk of buying at the wrong time since you’re not risking all your capital at the same time.
Bottom line: expect it to take years to recover from 2008.
Topics: Investing | 8 Comments »
2008 Benchmark Index Returns
By JLP | December 31, 2008
Okay, the markets closed about 30 minutes ago. Here’s a quick look at how some of the major U. S. market indexes performed for 2008. NOTE: These are not total returns. I’ll publish total returns as soon as they are available.
I don’t know about you but I’m happy to say goodbye to 2008!
Topics: Miscellaneous | 6 Comments »
OT: How Many Songs Are On Your iPod?
By JLP | December 30, 2008
I FINALLY got an iPod! My wife bought me the 160 GB iPod Classic. I LOVE IT!
Every CD I own has been ripped and stored on my music hard drive. I have spent some time over the last few days, going through my music library and loading up my iPod. I even purchased one of those cassette adapters so that I can play the iPod in the car. The sound quality isn’t perfect but it will do until I get an iPod-ready stereo.
The really cool thing:
NO MORE CDs IN THE CAR! I used to have 30 or so CDs sitting in my car at all times. Now, I have an iPod.
Anyway, I’m curious to know how many songs you have on your iPod. Naturally the number depends on the size of your iPod but I’d still like to know. So far, I have 8,907 songs (or files as there is a book included in those numbers). Nearly all of my files are ripped at the highest quality, which means they take up more room. But, according to my iPod, I have nearly 70 gigabytes of empty space left.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 26 Comments »
Ten For Tuesday (December 30, 2008)
By JLP | December 30, 2008
Here’s this week’s Ten for Tuesday. Enjoy!
1. From Charles Schwab comes the Personal Finance Calendar for 2009.
2. Brian Tracy’s short and sweet Guide to Time Management.
3. A TV cannot change your life.
4. The Digerati Life takes a look at how the Madoff fraud affects us.
5. How to Keep Your Job While Unemployment is on the Rise
6. Six Financial Milestones to Reach Before You Turn 30.
7. Buying TIPs on the Secondary Market (along with Part 2 and Part 3)
8. Meg details her first eBay experience as a seller.
9. Lazy Man maps out his 2009 blogging strategy. I need to work on the income-side of my blog.
10. The Gift of Time.
Topics: Weekly Roundup | No Comments »
Bureaus Roll Out New Credit Score Formula for 2009
By Meg | December 29, 2008
The three credit bureaus will begin using a new formula to calculate credit scores in 2009 - just as folks were starting to get the hang of what goes into the old formula. Transunion will roll out the new formula in January, Equifax in the Spring, and Experian is TBD as of yet.
The primary difference in the new formula (dubbed “FICO 08, as it was supposed to be rolled out in 2008) is that it is even more sensitive than the classic FICO as to how much of your available credit you’re using.
According to Yahoo! Finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston, “if your credit card issuer slashes your credit limit — which is increasingly likely these days — you could see your scores plunge, regardless of whether you carry a balance.” Not. Good.
The new scoring formula also responds more negatively if consumers have few open, active accounts. So make sure to use your oldest cards at least quarterly in order to keep them active. And it might be worth opening another account if you only have one or two (this will raise your overall credit limit AND the number of accounts in good standing you have - as long as you keep them in good standing).
Another negative impact is that they are “materially limiting” the impact on your score if you are merely an authorized user on someone else’s account. So now new college grads - and spouses with limited credit in their own name - will not benefit substantially by adding their name to credit accounts of their parents’ and spouse’s.
OK, time for some good news. Collections items and even “mishaps” like charge-offs and repossessions won’t hurt you as much.
The new formula ignores small collection accounts in which the original debt was less than $100. This is a big victory for consumers and one I’ve advocated for years, because niggling little debts — created by unpaid library fines, forgotten parking tickets or a small medical bill that slipped through the insurance cracks — had an outsize impact on people’s scores.
Fair Isaac says the new version is less punishing to those who have had a serious credit setback, such as a charge-off or a repossession, as long as their other active credit accounts are all in good standing.
[Excerpt from Liz Pulliam Weston's article, linked above.]
This sounds like nothing but bad news for consumers, except potentially for consumers with charge-offs and / or collections items.
More from Meg at The World of Wealth
Topics: Miscellaneous | 10 Comments »
Question of the Day - Kids and Chores
By JLP | December 29, 2008
Okay, here’s today’s question of the day:
How much of a stickler for details are you when your kids do a chore?
I ask this because I don’t know if I’m expecting too much of my kids.
Here’s the way things usually play out:
The boys are supposed to do their chores. They know what chores they are supposed to do—there are no surprises and yet I have to remind them. Anyway, they have been shown how to do the chore properly. However, they still try to do a 30-minute job in 5 minutes and then get all bent-out-of-shape when I point out all the stuff they missed or did half-ass.
So, to “solve” my problem, I wrote out step-by-step instructions on how to clean the bathroom. This way the expectations are fully explained, so there are no excuses. If this doesn’t seem to work, I’m going to turn it into a checklist that they have to check off as they complete the chore.
We’ll see if this works. I gotta do something different. I keep doing the same things over and over again but expect different results. Something’s gotta change!
Why is this important? Because there is a right and a wrong way to do things (the bathroom is either clean or it is not). I don’t think I’m being unreasonable in expecting them to do the job correctly. Maybe I’m at fault for not explaining my expectations clearly. Someday they will be working for an employer and knowing how to do the job right will be important.
Thoughts? Would you like me to post my step-by-step instructions?
Topics: Parenting | 13 Comments »