My Personal Finance Journey

All posts by Jacob A Irwin

Yakezie Blog Swap # 5 Roundup and My Favorite Pick

————————————————————————————————————————
Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
————————————————————————————————————————

Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

On Friday of this week, My Personal Finance Journey participated in the 5th ever Yakezie Blog Swap. 

In this event, members and challengers of theYakezie Personal Finance Blog Network paired up and traded posts amongst themselves on the common topic of “what motivates us to be financially responsible.”

My Favorite Swapped Post

After reading through all of the posts for this week (there were a lot of great ones!), I’ve decided that my favorite one was written by Justin from Money is the Root.

In this article, Justin explains how he had two parents with very different viewpoints and actions regarding money. However, he explains how through a lot of sacrific, his mother was able to support him going through college and getting his MBA in finance from The University of Michigan. Quite an inspirational post!

You can read the whole article at the link below!

What Motivates You Financially? – Just from Money is the Root

My Swapped Post
This week, I partnered with Khaleef from KNS Financial! His and my posts can be read at the links below.
  • Khaleef writes about how how his faith drives his finances here at My Personal Finance Journey.
  • I share the three things I do to keep focus and motivation at KNS Financial. These include keeping on target with my Purposed Focused Financial Plan, updating my net worth and financial goals, and keeping myself accountable by posting these updates on my blog.

The Rest of the Great Financial Motivation Posts

  • Kevin from Thousandaire.com wrote an article about being Snubbed for “Most Likely To Succeed” at LifeAndMyFinances.com
  • Derek from LifeAndMyFinances.com posts about Fear, Family and Independence on Thousandaire.
  • Andrea writes about how she is finally done with debt even though her friend might not be at Money Sanity.
  • Alan shares 5 Great Reasons to be Financially Responsible at So Over Debt.
  • Kevin talks about experiencing the world at Financial Success for Young Adults.
  • LaTisha D Styles says Financial Freedom Brings Options at Debt Eye.
  • Robert tells the world 10 Things That Motivate Him to be Financially Responsible at The Single Saver.
  • Denise talks about real life Horror Scenes and their Financial Impact at The College Investor.
  • Jason shares how three little monsters, better known as children, keep him financially focused at Narrow Bridge.
  • Eric just wants to Live the High Life, whether that’s being active and single today or settling down in the future, and shares at Live Real, Now.
  • Penny talks about making a big change and saving a quarter of her family income for the sake of her children at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff.
  • Crystal wants to live well today and retire early, and she has the plan to make it happen at The Saved Quarter.
  • Melissa talks about finding enough money to send her kids to Japanese school so they can learn their dad’s language at Money is the Root.
  • Dave learned his lessons about gambling in college and now wants to retire young. Check out his story at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance.
  • Joe is about to be an asset millionaire, but he’s in it for the kids, not the money, and shares at Invest it Wisely.
  • Kevin (note from Jacob – look at all these people named Kevin!) shares a powerful story about growing up in poverty and taking control of his life as an adult at Smart Money Focus.
  • Sandy from Yes, I Am Cheap posted about Fear of Poverty at Beating Broke.
  • Shane from Beating Broke posted about Financial Intentionality at Yes, I Am Cheap.
  • Barbara shares some financial tips with you at Money in the 20s.


How about you all? Which post was your favorite? And more importantly, what motivates you financially? 


Share your experiences by commenting below!

    ***Photo courtesy of http://26.media.tumblr.com/51oitr3wVqin3ncrpC4CQf7fo1_500.jpg

    My Personal Finance Journey Vs. The United States of America – How Much Do You Save For Retirement?

    ————————————————————————————————————————
    Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
    ————————————————————————————————————————
    Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

    For most of the first year of My Personal Finance Journey’s existence, we were running a poll on the left sidebar of the site. This poll was seeking an answer to the question below:

    What percentage of your salary do you contribute to your 401K retirement account each month?


    In the course of the year that the poll was running, we received a total of 97 votes, with the answer distributions as shown in the pie chart below:


    As you can see in the chart, the majority of people on My Personal Finance Journey save approximately 5-10% of their income for retirement each month. This is very good! Great job readers!

    Second place was saving 10-15% of your income, and third place was saving 5% or less.

    How Does This Compare With The Rest of The United States?


    So, we were able to see that the majority of MPFJ readers save 5-10% of their incomes for retirement. Having established this, we then wanted to see how these numbers compare to the rest of the country.

    In a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute of 401K plan usage in the USA, the results below were found:

    • On average 401K participants saved 6.8% of their salary on a before-tax basis. 
      • So, it looks like our results above were fairly representative!
    • The typical American household, headed by a 43-year-old, has retirement savings of $18,750.
      • Yikes – this is a little on the low side!
    • The typical pre-retiree household (age 55 and up) has a retirement savings of $60,000.
      • Also yikes! I don’t think this will be enough money for them to live on. 
      • Save some Social Security benefits for my generation! Don’t use it all up! 🙂

    Thanks so much to everyone for participating in the poll. Now that this one has been wrapped up, the next poll (up now!) will be asking about savings accounts interest rates you all are earning.

    In today’s age, interest rates on savings accounts are going lower and lower, and I think doing a poll such as this would be a good way to make sure we’ll all getting the most competitive interest rate possible!

    For example, DollarSavingsDirect.com is currently offering a 1.00% APY interest rate on their FDIC insured savings accounts. On the other hand, Bank of America is offering 0.05% APY. WOW!!!! That is barely anything!

    Let’s all make sure we’re not on the wrong side of that coin!!

    How about you all? Were the results above indicative of how much you save in your 401K account? 


    Share your experiences by commenting below!


    Also – please share what sort of interest rate you’re currently receiving by voting in the poll on the left sidebar of the site.

    What Motivates You To Be Financially Responsible?

    ————————————————————————————————————————
    Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
    ————————————————————————————————————————

    Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

    This is a guest post from Khaleef from KNS Financial (and Fat Guy Skinny Wallet, where he is tracking his struggle to lose 100lbs) as part of the 5th Yakezie blog swap. This week, everyone wrote about what motivates them to be financially responsible. You can view my post at Khaleef’s blog too by clicking here.

    When the idea of writing about our financial motivation first came up, I was nervous. I knew that my biggest motivation may be offensive to some. Before you read this please know that is not my intention at all – I just want to share what is on my heart.

    This is only the second time that I’ve ever done a guest post, so I want to first thank Jacob for giving me this opportunity!

    My motivation to be financially responsible can really be broken down into three main areas: 1) Being a steward of God’s provision. 2) Having a good testimony before others…and 3) Freedom! Let’s take a look at each one in detail.

    Financial Motivation: Stewardship of God’s Provision

    The main thing that motivates me to be financially responsible is my devotion to God. The bible is clear that Christians are slaves to Christ (and He is our Lord)! That means that everything that I have is subject to God’s will and His word. This includes my marriage, my time, my devotion, my desires, and even my finances!

    The bible makes it clear that we are nothing more than stewards over what God has given to us. As a steward, I do not have any rights, but merely responsibilities. It is not my money to begin with, but God has blessed me with what I have, in order that I might carry out His will.

    It is just like a man going on a journey and leaving a steward in charge of his possessions. The steward would be expected to live off of the provision of the owner and to take the rest and use it the way the owner wants it used. The steward has an obligation to make sure that the owner’s will is being carried out by using the possessions in the right way (according to the instructions left by the owner)!

    Many people (including me when I first became a Christian) see the bible as only dealing with deep, spiritual matters. But what I have found is that the bible is full of commands about how we are to handle our finances. This is because how someone views, and reacts to money, is usually a clear indication of what’s going on in their heart!

    Here are some of the broad topics that the bible addresses when it comes to financial matters. These are the things that motivate me to be financially responsible on the major issues.

    We are told to honor the Lord with our wealth (Proverbs 3:9-10), and in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, we find instruction on how to practically carry out that command:

    For us (because I know that I can speak for my wife in this matter), we try to remain focused on the fact that it is God who provides for us. This helps us to avoid putting our trust in “the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy“. We know that we have a future in heaven, and so we do not agonize over earthly riches, nor stress over financial setbacks (as long as they are not the result of poor financial management).

    The fact that we are to honor the Lord with our riches, and that those who are rich are given clear instructions on how to handle their money, shows that God does not hate wealth or wealthy people – in fact, Deuteronomy 8:18 teaches, “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth…”!

    We are told that debt is equivalent to slavery (Proverbs 22:7) – this is something that I am currently feeling firsthand! This is why I hate debt the way that I do…it usually stems from poor money management (yes I know that some people use debt as leverage, but most don’t), and it puts you in a place where you can’t give to help others!

    In our finances, we are expected to give our best and first to God! God commanded the nation of Israel saying, “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:19a) and when detailing the offerings that went toward supporting the priests He says, “You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep” (Deuteronomy 18:4).

    Proverbs 11:24-29 tells us that we are expected to be generous and ready to share! We are also commanded to be fair and compassionate in our dealings with others (Proverbs 3:27:28). In fact, the bible is very clear on how workers, managers, and business owners are to conduct themselves (Ephesians 6:5-9; Amos 8:4-6).

    All these things enter my mind before I make any decision on what to do with my money. However, the instruction doesn’t just stop at these larger principles. This post would turn into a book (hmmm…that’s not a bad idea 😉 ), if I were to list every little detail. However, the bible does give a lot of practical instruction on things like giving, Christians paying taxes, get rich quick schemes, investing, and even becoming a cosigner on a loan.

    As I said earlier, as a born again believer, I am a slave to Christ and I find joy in obeying God’s commands. It isn’t always easy to do, but I know it’s right, and I know that God will bless me when I am obedient. So, my primary motivation to be financially responsible is to be a good steward over God’s provision.

    Testimony

    Well, after I just wrote about my primary motivation, it would be a horrible thing if you found me constantly violating these biblical financial principles! If I claim to have this God-given desire to follow these commands, and then you see me doing other things with my money on a regular basis, a couple of things may happen.

    First, this sort of hypocritical behavior can lead someone to conclude that my Christian faith really hasn’t done anything to change my worldview. I would give someone cause to blaspheme the word of God, and consider it to be a lie! When it comes to matters of sin, salvation, hell, and heaven, no one would care what I have to say, since I’m not even being faithful to simple things like money management!

    So, I am motivated to live out these things so that I don’t cause someone to have a low view of God or the bible.

    Second, another believer could witness how I mismanage my money, and conclude that this is how a Christian should behave (especially since many people are not taught what the bible teaches about finances). They could say, “Well, if Khaleef went out and borrowed a bunch of money in order to buy electronics, cars, a house, or vacations, then I guess it’s okay for us Christians to do that”! I do not want my actions to lead someone to go against God’s word!

    Freedom

    Because I am currently in debt, this is a huge motivation for me! We manage our finances the way that we do (what many would call conservatively), because we eventually want to be free. Whenever we have to make a decision concerning our finances, we always have to think about our debt! This is why I fully understand what the bible means when it says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” ~ Proverbs 22:7

    If we want to move, or make a purchase, or pay for an item to be repaired, we have to consult our financial master (debt) to see if we can do it. Our giving has been hurt, and we are not able to help people the way that we want…all because our master won’t let us!

    I would love to be able to work from home and build up my financial consulting and tax preparation business (and also work on my websites)! Being able to spend the majority of my days with my wife would be such a wonderful blessing! Once we are out of debt and have adequate savings, we plan to make this a reality (as long as it’s in God’s will).

    So, being free from debt, and free to serve God completely with my finances is a huge motivation to be financially responsible.

    Final Thoughts

    I know that many of you who read this are not Christians. However, I feel that the beauty of what the bible teaches about finance is that if you apply these principles to your life, you’ll most likely become a better financial manager! Trying to avoid debt, get rich quick schemes, and chasing after money with no real goals in mind, will automatically make you better off!

    Just be sure that before you make a financial decision, it lines up with your ultimate goals in life. No matter what your motivation may be, you will need discipline and an ability to think about the long-term in order to make it!

    How about you all? What motivates you to be financially responsible? 


    Share your experiences by commenting below!

    Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.

    • I am very honored to be hosting just your second ever guest post Khaleef! It’s an honor to have someone which as well-established of a blog as yours here at MPFJ!
    • @ We are told that debt is equivalent to slavery (Proverbs 22:7) – I didn’t know money was so directly addressed in the bible! Interesting!
    • @ The idea of Khaleef turning his ideas in to a book – I actually think you might be on to something there. How is the market for books on Christian finances? I have never looked, but it might be an opportunity to take advantage of!
    • @ The ideas in the whole article – It’s very interesting to me how motivations for something can be very different, but the end result/goal is the same. 
      • For example, Khaleef wants to be debt free to have the freedom to better serve God, whereas my motivation for being debt free is more to have the freedom to travel, move where I want if life events occur, etc. The end goal is the same (being debt free), but the motivations are different. It is interesting to me.

    ***Photo courtesy of Goldemberg Fonseca

    Can You Be Denied Approval For a Credit Card Because You Have No Credit Card Debt?

    Well folks, I think it finally happened; I’ve actually been “punished” for being too fiscally responsible. Haha!

    Yesterday, I was trying to take advantage of one of the free money promotions I posted about (the $100 cash back bonus for signing up for the Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard).

    After entering in the normal pertinent details for applying for a credit card, I received the usual “you’ll receive an answer in several business days” message. I thought nothing of it.

    To my surprise, this morning, I woke up and had the message below in my email inbox.

    Dear JACOB:

    Why we’re writing you
    Thank you for applying for the Citi(R) Dividend Platinum Select(R) MasterCard(R) account. Unfortunately, we are unable to approve your request for the account at this time because of the following:

    Your credit bureau report shows you have no revolving accounts with a balance.

    How about that folks? The way I read this news is that I was denied the credit card because I have no credit cards on which I am carrying a debt balance from month-to-month.

    In other words, the credit card companies are not making money off me (except for the fees they charge the merchants for each card transaction I make – which by the way, MAKES THEM A LOT OF MONEY).

    After half-way coming to terms with what had just transpired, I then did a quick Google search to see if this had happened to anyone else and if they could shed some light on the situation (see the link below for details of my findings).

    Google Search For Reasons Why I Was Rejected For Not Carrying a Balance
    CreditNet.com Discussion Board About Being Rejected For Not Carrying Balances
    CreditBoards.com Discussion Board – Being Rejected for Having No Credit Balances

    As it turns out, this has happened many times to people applying to CitiBank credit cards. And, the only thing that the others could figure out was that they were rejected because they were currently paying off their balances in full each month.

    What Can You Learn From This?

    I think the key thing to learn from this is 1) to not apply for CitiBank credit cards for free money bonuses unless you are carrying a balance month-to-month on your credit cards and 2) to stick to what you know is right and keep paying off your balance in full each month (even if society seems to be enticing you to SPEND, SPEND, SPEND, AND SPEND MORE).

    How about you all? Have you ever been denied a credit card for seemingly strange/weird reasons? What did you do about it? Did you ever get the company to overturn their decision? 

    Share your experiences by commenting below!

    ***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/cafecredit/27297023342/sizes/l

    Free Money Promotions Catch-Up!

    ————————————————————————————————————————
    Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
    ————————————————————————————————————————

    Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

    It’s been quite a while since I reported on the various free money promotions around the web. So, today, I wanted to fill you in on all the deals I’ve caught wind of in the past few months so that you can take advantage of them, if you are a finance nerd like me!

    Listed below are the free money bonuses currently available for signing up for no annual fee credit cards.

    •  Citi Dividend Platinum Select Credit Card
      • Get $100 cash back after spending $500 in the first three months of opening the account.
      • 1% cash back on all purchases.
      • Click here to apply.
    • Chase Freedom Credit Card
      • Get $100 cash back after spending $500 in the first three months of opening the account.
      • 1% cash back on all purchases.
      • 5% cash back in rotating categories throughout the year.
      • Click here to apply.
    • Discover More Credit Card
      • $50 cash back after making $250 of purchases in your first three months.
      • 5% cash back in popular rotating categories throughout the year.
      • Click here to apply.
    • BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa Credit Card
      • $50 cash back after spending $100 in retail purchases in your first two months.
      • Click here to apply.
    • Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards AMEX Credit Card
      • $50 cash back bonus.
      • Click here to apply.

    Remember: When you sign up for these credit cards to get the free money bonus offers, follow the instructions below to avoid damage to your credit score:

    • Keep the credit card account open after completing the initial requirements for the free money promotion. 
    • Schedule an automatic, small charge each month on the credit card to extend your credit history. This benefits your credit score.
      • And, going along with the second piece of advice above, schedule an automatic payment of your credit card balance each from your checking account.
    • Lastly, I would not recommend signing up for all of these at once. Typically, signing up for a new credit card every 3 months is considered “almost too much.” I would stick to doing two per year or so.  



    How about you all? Have you taken advantage of any free money promotions lately? Which ones were they? 


    Share your experiences by commenting below!

      ***Photo courtesy of http://instructors.dwrl.utexas.edu/schell/sites/instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu.test/files/images/free-sign.gif

      Time is Money

      ————————————————————————————————————————
      Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
      ————————————————————————————————————————

      Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

      Today’s guest post comes to us from Les Roberts. Enjoy! 

      Time is Money

      “Procrastination is the thief of time” or so the old saying goes, but there is a new kid on the block and browsing online could be the new thief of time!
      As anyone that works in an online environment will testify to, aimlessly browsing online can be a huge drain on productivity and can seriously eat into the hours that are meant to be spent working.
      So whether it’s sports news, shopping, or social networking that keeps you from fulfilling your daily targets, follow these simple steps to curb that appetite for distraction.
      Take out the timewasters

      Before you can stop wasting time online, you need to examine your surfing habits and work out what sites are eating into your productivity.
      This doesn’t necessarily mean the sites that you spend the most time on, rather those sites that you spend time on without them contributing to your productivity.
      So, if a lot of your time online is spent window shopping or sorting out your plans for the weekend, then you will have to cut the online shops and social media sites from your daily routine. If you while away the hours gaming or reading up on this year’s best holiday destinations, then the gaming and travel sites will have to go.
      A good way to start this process is to keep a log of exactly how you spend your working day, taking note of the number of breaks you take, which sites you visit, and how long you spend on each site. You can then make any necessary changes accordingly.
      Changing your browsing habits will require a great deal of willpower, and it will seem like any fun is being taken from your working day. But, it is a vital step in eliminating time wasting and increasing productivity.
      Time your tasks and targets

      There are some work days when you find yourself jumping from one task to another without actually giving any one task your full attention. When this happens, you can easily reach the end of the day without actually finishing a thing that you set out to do!
      A good way to avoid this is to take time out at the start of each day, or at the start of each week, and write out a work schedule.
      The schedule should break down each day into task specific sections that are each given a certain amount of time to be completed. At this point, it’s worth noting that you are better off overestimating how long each task will take, as underestimating can lead to a backlog of work which can be demoralizing and may cause you to abandon your schedule.
      This will help eliminate any time wasting tendencies as it will give a clear indication of exactly when and where you need to focus your attention and how far through your workload you should be at any given point of the day. And, because the schedule is time specific, you need to ensure that you factor in break times and any time taken to respond to emails and phone calls.
      It may also be a good idea to keep a timer on your desk that counts down how long you have left for each particular task as this time pressure may help you to focus on the job in hand.
      Separate social media from social planning

      Social networking can be a great marketing tool, as it can enable you to interact with your target market, keep abreast of market trends, and if you have a website to promote, it can boost traffic to your site.

      But, social media sites can also have a massive effect on productivity, so you need to keep the boundaries clear and avoid using work time to make plans for your free time.

      Another good strategy to build your online presence is to comment on articles in your particular field. But, if you do adopt this technique, it’s vital that you don’t get dragged into any online arguments as this can easily take your focus away from your work.

      Take a break

      This last piece of advice may appear to contradict the advice that has gone before it, but you should try to make sure that you don’t spend your entire day sitting behind your computer screen.

      The standard recommendation is that you should take a break from your screen every 45 minutes. This is not a break from your work, just a break from your computer. So, it’s not just a case of opening a new web browser to check the latest sports news, you should physically step away from your desk.

      As well as having health benefits, the act of sitting in front of a screen all day can be detrimental to your well being, the actual act of concentrating on another task, even just stretching your legs, can help to refocus your mind.

      They are just a few steps that you can take to decrease the distractions and pep up your productivity, and it’s worth bearing in mind that what works for one person may not necessarily work for another.

      But, if you can find a technique that increases your efficiency then you could well find that you free up more time to do the things you really want.

      How about you all? Where in your day do you find yourself wasting the most time? What steps do you take to make sure you stay on target? 


      Share your experiences by commenting below!

      Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.

      • @ Social media websites that distract from efficiency – For my generation, perhaps the biggest time-spending black hole is Facebook. Many times, I find myself going to Facebook between tasks. However, my time would most likely be spent elsewhere.
      • @ Spending too much time on email – Another enormous “time-suck” for people in today’s age is email. In a book that I read recently, it is estimated that people spend an average of 2 hours on their email each day. This is truly amazing! I admit that I need to do a better job of spending less time on email as well!
        • The two best books I know of that offer systems to assist in email overload are 1) The Hamster Revolution by Mike Song and 2) Getting Things Done by David Bach. 
          • For details about The Hamster Revolutions system, click here.
      • @ How to reach the end of the day and accomplish what you wanted to – I read recently somewhere that a good way to ensure a feeling of accomplishment at the end of each day is to make a mental agreement with yourself twice a day – 1) When you get in to the office in the morning, agree with yourself what you will feel good about getting done with that day, and then 2) at lunch time, reassess where you are and if that goal is still reasonable. This way, you hold yourself accountable for what you get done, and will be more likely to stay on target.
      • @ Taking a break from your computer screen – This is something that I am a strong believer in. When I am blogging and am having to spend many hours in front of the computer screen, I often find myself feeling zoned out and in a sort of trance. Taking a break and even reading something away from my screen will help get me “back to the real world.” 

      ***Photo courtesy of http://www.timeforresults.com/images/TimeIsMoney.png

      Best Ways to Get Started With Investing Online

      ————————————————————————————————————————
      Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
      ————————————————————————————————————————

      Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

      Today’s guest post comes to us from Stella Workman. Stella is a freelance writer who normally provides savings accounts reviews.


      Best Ways to Get Started With Investing Online

      The best ways to get started investing online often begin with identifying those investments that carry lower risk and understanding those investments thoroughly. Learning the basics of any market is essential to successful investing.


      Stocks

      The stock market is now more accessible than ever and is also one of the best ways to get started with investing online if you have studied the market and how it works. Stocks are generally considered a higher risk investment than some other markets but also can have nice returns if you are successful with the investment.

      You can now invest in most stocks online with less than $100. The key to making a sound investment in the stock market is studying the history of the company that you are interested. Most companies with a steady increase over the past several years are a good stock investment.


      Affiliate Marketing

      Unlike traditional investments, such as stocks and bonds, affiliate marketing is quickly becoming a popular way to invest online. Large companies often offer customers a chance to advertise their products on a personal or business website in exchange for a small amount of profits that come from sales through those advertisements. If you already have a website then affiliate marketing may be one of the best ways to get started with investing online.

      Affiliate marketing isn’t for everyone, however. You do need a space to advertise for other companies and will usually make much smaller profits through this type of investment than with traditional stocks. If you are looking for one of the best ways to get started with investing online and prefer a much less risky type of investment, then you may want to consider a 401k or other type of diversified account.


      Diversified Accounts

      A 401K account is a diversified investment that is typically a long-term investment. One of the best ways to get started investing online is to find an account that allows you to invest on a regular basis over the span of time. Each time you add money to the account the company will invest small percentages in several different types of investments.

      With a diversified account you have a great chance of seeing returns on the investment and successfully lower the risk of losing your entire investment. This is a type of investment that generally lasts for ten years or more, however. There are other types of diversified accounts that you can invest in, as well.


      The Bottom Line

      When searching for the best ways to get started investing online, your knowledge is the best tool you have for making the decision. Since there are so many options, it is usually best to choose one type of account and stick with it until you have a good working knowledge of how to make sound investments.

      How about you all? Where do you invest online? Do you worry about the security of sharing your information online, or are the protection measures taken these days enough to give you peace of mind? 


      Share your experiences by commenting below!

      Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.

      • @ Investing in stocks – Personally, I don’t partake in investing in individual stocks, nor do a recommend it for normal individuals. Why is this? The evidence (70% of investment professionals fail to beat the market indices) simply doesn’t support the idea that us regular “Joe’s” can pick stocks well.
        • Instead, I personally follow and recommend a passive investing strategy, which involves buying and consistent reallocation of index ETFs or mutual funds.
        • However, if you are interested in investing online in individual stocks, I would recommend using a deep discount brokerage. The cheapest and easiest to use one that I have found is Sogotrade.com.
      • @ Affiliate Marketing – For me, I don’t really consider this to be a form of investing. It is more of a type of business opportunity. There are some great affiliate programs available out there (FlexOffers, LinkJunction, etc). However, my favorite simply has to be the Amazon Affiliate Program. Why is this? Simple. You need to buy items on Amazon any way. Why not give some “love” to the site that steered you there in the first place. 
        • Caution – Affiliate marketing is not to be confused with multi-level marketing / business opportunities, which involve selling product while at the same time trying to add people “under you” in your network. I have participated in several of these home business opportunities and was very sorry that I did in every instance. Live and learn right!?
      • @ Investing in diversified accounts – Another great option for investing in this type of account is opening up a Traditional or Roth IRA. My favorite place to do this is Vanguard, since they offer the lowest expense ratio mutual funds. 

        ***Photo courtesy of http://www.cyclingfans.com/2009_giro_d_italia_columbia_highroad_team_time_trial_start_line.jpg

        Carnival of Passive Investing # 4 Live at Canadian Finance Blog

        ————————————————————————————————————————
        Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
        ————————————————————————————————————————

        Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

        Happy Saturday Morning Everyone!

        I’m in an awesome 2-star hotel in Richmond, Virginia today (used Priceline.com’s Price Negotiator to get a $65 normally priced hotel room with a kitchen for $31 – nice!) getting up early for the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k running race. They say that 40,000 people will be running today! Yikes!

        As you all read in my blogging goals for this year (goal # 7 to be exact), one of my targets was to grow the Carnival of Passive Investing to a point where people are excited to host it.

        Going along with this aim, the March 31st edition of the Carnival of Passive Investing recently went live at The Canadian Finance Blog at the link below. This was the first time that the carnival was guest hosted! A big “thanks” to Tom @ The Canadian Finance Blog!

        Carnival of Passive Investing # 4 – March 31st 2011 Edition

        ***Photo courtesy of http://www.wnrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sunrise.jpg

        Helping A Friend Get Out of Debt – Part 2 – Finalize Your Debt Free Action Plan

        ————————————————————————————————————————
        Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
        ————————————————————————————————————————

        Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition

        The following post is on behalf of Debt Advisory Line, an award winning debt management company; one of the largest in the UK. They’ve already helped thousands of people who thought bankruptcy was their only option. They offer professional debt management help and advice.

        In Part 1 of this series, I began to help my anonymous friend, Debtor Dan, get on the road to being debt free. For those of you that missed the post, let’s just recap quickly to bring you all up to speed with what has been done so far.

        Debtor Dan came to me several months ago asking for some help in putting together a debt management plan that would reduce the stress of paying off four debt accounts he had – 1) two credit cards, 2) a  car loan on the verge of default, and 3) an outstanding balance from a health care procedure from the previous year. Dan had been trying desperately to pay down the balances, but was falling behind due to a combination of high interest rates and large debt balances. 

        After agreeing to assist in his efforts, I proceeded to work with him on the first step (addressed in Part 1), which was to tally up all of his debt balances in to one centralized spreadsheet. You can view a template Google Docs spreadsheet I put together for everyone to use at the following link – Google Docs Spreadsheet – Collect Your Debts. This spreadsheet contains necessary information about each debt account, including balance, APR, monthly minimum payment, and payment due dates.

        Having finished collecting his debts, it was finally time for Debtor Dan to proceed to Step 2 of process, finalizing his Debt Free Action Plan.

        How to Prioritize Your Debt Payoff

        There are really 3 “camps” of thought for how people should go about prioritizing paying off their debt. Each is summarized in bullet form below:

        • Debt Snowball Method

          • The debt payoff method that is, in my opinion, most popular in the personal finance blogosphere (maybe due to the catchy “ring” it possesses) is debt snowballing.

          • Essentially, this technique involves reorganizing your debt payments so that you pay only the minimum required payment to all debt accounts, except for the one with the lowest balance. You then commit as much money as possible to paying off the lowest debt account balance as quickly as possible.

          • Advantage = It gives the debtor the psychological benefit of seeing the number of their debt accounts dwindle quickly.

          • Disadvantage = This technique also costs you the most money because while you are seeing the number of debt accounts you have decrease, you can still be paying out large amounts of money in interest in your higher interest accounts.

            • For example, if you have a car loan (1% interest) balance of $500 and a credit card balance of $10,000 (28% interest), the debt snowball method dictates that you would pay off the car loan first, even though the credit card debt could be costing you hundreds of Dollars in interest.

        • DOLP (Done On Last Payment Method

          • The proprietary DOLP method is the cornerstone of David Bach’s Debt Free For Lifehttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mym032-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0767929861 book.

          • It involves assigning each debt account a DOLP number.

            • DOLP number = balance outstanding/minimum payment

          • After assigning this number to each of your debt accounts, you then pay only the minimum payment for every account except the one with the lowest DOLP number. 

          • In my opinion, this method is good because it takes in to consideration both the psychological benefit of paying off a small account balance quickly and the effect of interest rates on minimum payments.

        • Pay Off the Highest Interest Rate Account Balance First

          • This is my favorite of the 3 methods, and also the one recommended in Ramit Sethi’s book, I Will Teach You To Be Richhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mym032-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0761147489.

          • This method is very simple because you pay only the minimum required payment on every debt account except for the one with the highest interest rate, which you pay as much as you possibly can.

          • It is my favorite because bottom line, this technique saves you the most money. Why is that? This is due to the fact that with this method, you will be getting rid of your (most costly) highest interest rate account first.



        So, as you can guess, the “paying off the highest interest rate account first” approach was the one that Debtor Dan and I went with. 

        The Method in Practice

        To finalize the Debt Free Action plan, Debtor Dan and I took his Collect Your Debts spreadsheet and sorted it by column D, from highest to lowest APR. We then rearranged the planned payments so that he would only pay the minimums for all accounts except for the one with the highest APR.

        For the highest APR, the new repayment going forward would = total amount he is currently paying per month for all of his debt accounts – sum of the minimum payments for the lower APR accounts. Simple, no excuses, and effective.

        Summary

        Clearly, there are many different approaches that can be taken to manage your debt, ranging from simply organizing your debt payoff plan to maximize effectiveness (as discussed above) to more direct approaches of debt consolidation and counseling (when the debtor is in danger of bankruptcy). 

        However, as is the case with many things in life, the key is to figure out which strategy best suits your financial situation and personality profile.  

        In Part 3 (coming soon!), we’ll go through the steps Debtor Dan and I took to get his debt interest rates lowered with a simple telephone (or cell phone in this modern day) call. Stay tuned!

        How about you all? What method do you use to prioritize paying off your debt? Share your experiences by commenting below!

          ***Photo courtesy of http://www.loseweightguy.com/img/set-your-goal-and-take-action.jpg

          On Managing Your Finances as a Young Professional

          ————————————————————————————————————————
          Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
          ————————————————————————————————————————

          Click here to enter my free giveaway for 5 copies of H&R Block At Home Premium Edition


          Today’s guest post comes to us from Alvina Lopez. Alvina is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges.

          On Managing Your Finances as a Young Professional

          Entering the real world can be a daunting experience, especially for the many college students these days who were given assistance from grants, loans, scholarships, and their parents. 


          The truth is, we don’t fully appreciate the money in our bank accounts unless we’ve poured our own blood, sweat, and tears in to earning it. As responsible adults, it’s important that we manage it properly in order to avoid going broke, damaging our credit, and generally making life more difficult than it should be. Here are a few tips we’ve compiled that’ll help you get off to the right start financially:

          Resist spending too much from the get-go

          This one is certainly common sense, but you’d be surprised by the amount of young adults who go crazy after their first few paychecks. You can avoid that by composing a monthly finance sheet. Once you’re familiar with how much you’ll be earning after taxes, calculate how much you’ll be spending on bills — you’ll likely have rent, electric, water, internet, phone, student loans, car insurance, and hopefully not much else. Subtract those necessary expenses from your income after taxes and you’ll have your disposable income, which can be used for food, gas, clothes and entertainment. 


          After a couple months of familiarizing yourself with your finances, you should know if you can afford to take on any additional payments. You don’t want to live month to month.

          Save, save, save

          Have some money left over after each month? Great, then you’re doing your job. However, don’t be tempted to splurge on items and services you don’t truly need. For example, you don’t need the premium cable channels. Don’t eat out each day. Bring your lunch to work. Set a limit to how much you spend on food each week, and only buy what you know you’ll eat from the store. Plan your car use and save on gas. The money you save can be used for more necessary stuff or put into savings. It’s always good to have cushion just in case unforeseeable circumstances — like car troubles or being laid off — affect your pocket book.

          Enroll in online automatic bill-pay programs

          The bills will add up now that you’re entirely on your own. Keeping track of all of those bills and when they’re due can be difficult given your other newfound responsibilities as an adult. Fortunately, you can save the hassle by enrolling in online automatic bill-pay programs on the websites of either your bank or the company you’re paying.  As a result, you won’t miss payments and you’ll build your credit, saving money in the long run.

          Determine when the time is right to purchase a car

          Living in a commuter city and still driving that hunk of metal and plastic your parents bought you for your 17th birthday? You may not have much of choice but to buy (or lease) a car. Of course, you should consider doing so only if you earn enough and spend modestly, otherwise you should consider public transportation and carpooling. 


          Leasing can offer lower monthly payments, but you’ll be paying for a while until the lease is up. If you plan to buy, you should be prepared to provide a hefty down payment. Obviously, the process of buying (or leasing) is extremely complicated and requires a considerable commitment of time in order to get the best price possible. Here’s some a great advice about car buying from mint.com.

          Enroll in a personal financial management service such as mint.com

          Free of charge, the aforementioned Mint.com provides more than just financial advice, allowing users to track their bank and savings accounts, loans, credit cards, and spending habits. That information also helps them set goals and establish budgets. Even if you aren’t earning a lot of money and your financial situation isn’t overly complicated, it’s a great tool to have. You can never be too prepared on your new financial journey.

          How about you all? What tips helped you get ahead on your finances after joining the real world after college? What didn’t work for you? 


          Share your experiences by commenting below!

          Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.

          • @ Resisting spending from the get-go
            • I am continuously amazed at how many people feel seemingly obligated to load up on a extra debt the minute that they have a real job. You think, “Hey, I’m making $60k, I gotta spend it somehow, right?”
            • But, you really can give yourself a head start on life by resisting the urge to buy a house, a new car, new furniture, and new sound equipment the first year out of undergrad. 
            • Another fact of life is that having more debt makes you less flexible in your life plans. Think about it, if in 2 years after starting working, you want to go back to graduate school, you won’t be able to afford to take that step if you are $100k in debt on cars, houses, etc. The same thing goes with if you were asked to move to be with someone you were wanting to marry. 
          • Two of the most important things I did coming out of college were 1) establish an emergency fund with 6-9 months of expenses in liquid, cash assets (high yield money market online savings account) and 2) set up and fully fund a Roth IRA each year. Do both of these things and you’ll be well on your way to financial freedom! 
          • @Mint.com – I have signed up for Mint.com, but have never really used it. For me, I have a very good idea about where I am financially each month that the budgeting interface Mint offers doesn’t add any value. 
            • How about you all? Do you use Mint.com? How does it work out for you?

          ***Photo courtesy of http://www.clevelandwomen.com/images/virginia-marti/03-26-08column/young-professional-women-2.jpg

          1 … 128 129 130 131 132 … 161
          >