My post on being a solar cell skeptic was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted at Money Crashers.  Here are a couple of other posts I enjoyed:

• Madison at My Dollar Plan wrote about a calculator at Vanguard.com that compares the cost of an ETF vs. a mutual fund.  It’s a particularly thorough calculator that includes, for example, the bid-ask spread on the ETF purchase.  Now if only the calculator was available at a more general site that included more than just Vanguard’s funds.  (Hint:  Are you listening Google?)

• The Canadian Finance Blog had a solid post with financial tips for soon-to-be-parents.  As the Mom of a young son, the best suggestion I have to expectant parents is to not go overboard in buying stuff (Canadian’s tip #5).  When in doubt, resist the urge to buy.  Babies need a lot less than you might think — a few clothes and toys, but mostly your bountiful love and attention.  They grow out of the baby stage quickly, so thoughtful friends and family might consider buying books or toys that will be useful in 6 or 12 months. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: CreditKarma, ETFs, rental deposit

My thanks to David at Credit  Card Offers IQ for selecting my post as an Editor’s Pick for this week’s Money Hacks Carnival. Well, “Editor’s Pick” is my term — he categorized the top tier as “VISA Black.”  After all, it is a credit card site. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Appliance cash for clunkers, ETF deathwatch, probate process

Tonight I have a little luxury of time, so I thought I’d peruse the web and write about what’s out there.

My first stop is the Carnival of Money Hackers, hosted this week at the ABC’s of Investing, which included my article on the Three-Minute Portfolio.

1.  The host has a post that will interest you the most, as he takes you through the ABC’s of REIT’s.  I’ve been interested in real estate investment trusts; because, as the posts points out, they are said to have a low correlation to the stock market.  I thought I’d take a quick look at this bit of “common wisdom,” by graphing the return of an REIT ETF that he suggests, VNQ (blue), against the S&P 500 index (yellow).  Here is the graph from Morningstar:

They look rather strongly correlated to me.  Now perhaps this is an unfair comparison; because, the overall markets were so strongly affected by housing and mortgage-related issues over the last several years.  But it’s not clear to me that they are truly uncorrelated — I think this will take some more studying to convince me.

2.  OneMint compiled a useful collection of China-focused ETF’s.  I’m not sure I want to hold such a region-specific fund, but it seems like a good list and, overall, a good blog.

3.  FourPillars wrote about the possible “Cash for Clunker Appliances” program in which you can turn in old appliances for new Energy Star rated ones.  I’ ll nitpick that he didn’t include a link to a government website with a definitive description.  Here it is.  The DOE site also has a list of all of the Department’s recent initiatives to both develop new sources of energy and to use what we have more efficiently.  It’s really quite an impressive list.

4.  Matt at Debt Free Adventure wrote about his foray into worm composting.  I especially like that he made his own composter inexpensively rather than shelling out cash for an off-the-rack version.  I’m a huge fan of composting.  I long ago gave up my gym membership in favor of a little sweat equity in my garden.  Plus, it’s more fun hanging out in my backyard than a sweaty gym.

I also recommend reading:

5.  Jim Blankenship’s post on Index Investing over at his most excellent blog, Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row.  He tells a compelling “story” about how success statistics for mutual funds can be manipulated.

Tags: Cash for Clunker Appliances, composting, linklist, REIT, VNQ

My post on converting a traditional IRA into a Roth was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.  Stephanie at Poorer Than You did a terrific job pairing up each contributed post with a US President, relating the post’s topic to some aspect of his presidential legacy.

I also enjoyed the video of Warren Buffett giving investment advice to Girls Scouts while eating a Blizzard.  Never too young to start talking about retirement, I say.  I thought the girls did a great job, too, asking good questions.  Frankly, I’d be pretty nervous sitting there.  I hope they at least awarded him an honorary Junior Girl Scout Cookie Biz merit badge.

Jean at Keener Financial Planning let us know about a series of free Webinars sponsored by NAPFA.  Great idea, but they’re all scheduled at 1pm (ET) on workdays — so that eliminates most of us from participating.  Hopefully they’ll be available to replay later.

Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice frames the discussion of when to tap into your Social Security benefits in terms of annuities.  I would have used the price of inflation-indexed annuities instead of conventional immediate annuities.  After all, the Social Security payment stream would rise both with the numbers of years that you delay the start of payments and with inflation.  The analysis would be similar and would most likely result in the same answer (the intuitive one you would arrive at without all that math) — if you expect to outlive the average life expectancy, delay the start of payments as long as possible.

Tags: girl scouts, inflation-indexed annuities, Warren Buffett

My post on the advantages of organizing your business as an S corporation was included at this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted at ManVsDebt.  Check out the Carnival for Adam’s great photos of New Zealand.

The awards this week are as follows…  May I have the envelope, please.

• The award for the best use of a credit card goes to Anna who wrote about a wall-sized rainbow made up of credit cards currently on display at a Dutch art museum.
• The award for best family story goes to The Incidental Economist for  his exploits selling a family heirloom.
• The award for the best theme is a three-way tie that goes to the Suburban Dollar, Nina at Queercents, and My Money Blog who each wrote a post this week on the benefits of paying off your mortgage early.  I hope this may signal a national trend and the end of the CDO.

I also liked Jim’s post over at Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row clarifying how to best divvy up an inherited IRA.

Robert Brokamp wrote a great guest post at Get Rich Slowly on the importance of saving for retirement, even if you don’t plan on retiring.  I think retirement will be quite different for my generation than it was for my parents’ (or their parents’), so it pays to keep an open mind about your options.

Image credit:  calca at Flickr.

Tags: carnivals, credit card art, IRA

My post Is title insurance worth buying? was included in this week’s Money Hacks Carnival.  The host this week is the Canadian Finance Blog, which has some solid articles on personal finance with a little maple syrup flava’.  I’d like to learn more about the Canadian retirement system, so I plan to return and read more.

• I also liked the post by M is for Money on Knowing your partner’s credit — good advice for everyone.
• The Personal Financial Analyst points out in Cash for Clunkers: We never learn that most folks who drive cars that would be eligible for the rebate probably don’t have cash on hand to pay for a new car.  They’ll end up with more debt — perhaps not what we want to encourage, right now.  That’s a good point I haven’t heard elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Google FICO, home inspection, long-term care insurance

My post on the Monte Carlo estimator for retirement planning was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.  LAL is the host this week at LivingAlmostLarge and she did a great job compiling the list and included a line or two about every article.  Kudos to you, LAL, for going the extra mile.  Some of your comments are pretty on target, too.  I especially liked the comparison of credit to booze.  It’s true that some folks can’t help themselves and would be better off abstaining.

The carnival had a number of other intersting articles including:

• AskMrCreditCards’ article discussing Can Credit Card Companies Go After You If You Leave The Country?, including the legal, moral, and practical implications of leaving without paying.
• Rohit from eMoneyLog wrote a two part Complete guide to emergency funds, which in general is quite good.  I disagree, however with his statement that certificates of deposit aren’t a good place for Emergency Funds.  I think a CD is a great place to stash the cash, because it’s just hard enough to get money out that you won’t be tempted to spend it on that shiny new set of golf clubs you’ve been wanting.  And Ally bank offers a no-penalty CD with a pretty good rate.
• Mr. GoTo from GoToRetirement wrote on how to Create a Free Financial Plan, listing two online programs and two stand-alone software programs — all free.  I’ll be checking them out, and I’ll be reading more of his well-written blog, too.

Photo credit:  Robert C at Flickr.

Tags: carnivals, emergency fund, free financial plan

The Rollings Stones edition of the Best of Money Carnival at Wealth Pilgrim chose my post on a Monte Carlo estimator for retirement planning as the #3 post for the week.  Thank you for your confidence in my code.

And, yes, I know my post title is a reference to the magazine and not the group.

I also enjoyed the #2 post on Save Money (and Water!) With a Rain Barrel from fivecentnickle, especially after watching “Extreme Bathrooms,” last weekend on the Travel Channel.  My five-year-old son and I both loved it!  One of the featured bathrooms used collected rainwater to flush the toilets — a great idea — and I started scheming on how to collect the rainwater (typically at ground level) and pump it up to be above the second floor.  Of course you could use an energy-guzzling electric pump, but I thought of the recumbent exercise bike I bought when I was pregnant.  I could reconfigure the bike to pump water from ground level to a storage tank in the attic, right?  I ran the idea past my better half, who rolled her eyes and gave me “the look.”  I have to admit that it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to install such a system in Massachusetts where the thermodynamically stable state of water is solid almost half the year.  After all, it’s the middle of June, and I’m wearing a sweater.

Tags: best of money carnival, rain barrel, water conservation

The 208th Carnival of Personal Finance is now up at Money Under 30. The host included my post on Who Benefits from Employee Benefits?.

I also enjoyed the post on Balance Transfer Credit Card Tips, Facts and Traps at The Digerati Life. 

PennyJobs points out in Should I Stop My Mortgage Escrow? that some states have laws allowing you to opt out of escrowing your taxes and insurance, after you’ve had the mortgage a few years.  I’ve always negotiated out of having my insurance premiums escrowed, but I’ve never tried to remove my taxes.  I think that’s worth pursuing, as I could collect more interest than the miserly 0.10% paid by my current mortgage company by using a savings account of my choice.  Thanks for the tip!

The theme for this week’s carnival was the Maine celebration of the Lobster Roll.  While I commend you on your culinary creations, I’d also like to congratulate the LGBT community of Maine on the recent legislation giving them the right to marry.   So for all you LGBT folks in Maine who might have questions about the legal and financial implications of getting hitched, I recommend you check out Queercents, a personal finance blog for our community.  This might be filed under “shameless self-promotion,” as I do write for Queercents, but seriously, they have a lot of good advice collectively among their many writers.

TAGS: None

My article on Why don’t more 401(k) plans include index funds? was published today in the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted this week at FIRE Finance.

I’ve submitted ETF’s vs. Index funds: The good, the bad, and the ugly to the Money Hack Carnival being hosted this week at Financial Highway.

Tags: carnivals