Analysis Topic: Personal Finance
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Why America's Bestselling Retirement "Plan" Is Jeopardizing Your Retirement / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Money_Morning
Robert Hsu writes: I recently received a call from "Russ," a client of mine. He was wondering why the investments he holds at my money management firm have gone up so much more than the money he's entrusted to a major fund broker.
I'd be wondering, too.
That's because, in a year filled with hundreds of 52-week highs and a broad market that climbed roughly 25%, they've managed to "grow" Russ' money all of... 2%?
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Thursday, December 12, 2013
Six Traits of Successful Retirees / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
When I coached baseball many years ago, a young ballplayer came to me asking for advice. I offered my opinion: he needed to get his act together. Then, like many young men might do, he griped about me to one of the other coaches. Our paths crossed again when he was 28 years old, at which point he said, "Now that I have a family of my own, I've thought back on your 'lectures' and realized you were just answering my questions honestly. Thank you."
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Franchise Dangers - Why Buying a Business Franchising is a Bad Deal / Personal_Finance / Business
By: BATR
The most often cited reason to go into business is to make money. At least that is what you are supposed to believe. If that was the only motivation, there are many other options to turn a quick buck and avoid all the pit falls and responsibility of making a payroll. For the brave of heart and persistent of will, starting your own business is a dream come true. Therefore, at first look, it seems reasonable to follow a pattern of a proven winner, when the leap requires putting your entire net worth on the line. Franchising has the appeal of lessening the odds of failure, to the uninitiated.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
How to Judge Your Financial Advisor / Personal_Finance / Investing 2013
By: Don_Miller
A friend of mine used to have three financial advisors whom he forced into competition. If one started underperforming, he would pull some money from him and give it to the other two. I’ve heard of similar strategies several times now. In some ways, it makes sense. However, this strategy misses the real purpose of having a financial advisor.
Monday, December 09, 2013
The A to Z of HMRC Tax Self-Assessment for 2014 / Personal_Finance / Taxes
By: Submissions
Doug Barden writes: Do you earn an income through freelance work? Are you a company director? If you are self-employed, every year you need to complete a tax return for HM Revenue & Customs. You have to showcase your income and capital gains, and you can claim certain allowances and reliefs.
It’s important that you understand everything you need to know about self-assessment in order to avoid any penalties from the taxman.
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Tuesday, December 03, 2013
RBS Crashes Christmas as Panic Button Hit, Savers Dump Savings for Spending and Property Investing / Personal_Finance / Banksters
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Tax payer bailed-out and 82% owned RBS remains one of Britains largest weapons of mass financial destruction that along with its subsidiaries such as Nat West literally crashed Christmas for millions of its customers as debit cards were declined and ATM's went offline on cyber monday freezing customers out of their accounts on the busiest shopping day of the year that continues today.
Sunday, December 01, 2013
How to Buy Happiness / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: DailyWealth
Mark Ford writes: Many times, the things/experiences that give us the greatest joy are free.
But oftentimes, money is involved. And when that's the case, we have to weigh the cost of the thing/experience against the pleasure we will get from it.
One example: owning a home...
In Automatic Wealth, I argued that one of the most important things you can do to become rich is to get off the "moving-on-up train" and be satisfied with the house you have.
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Sunday, December 01, 2013
Personal Finance - What You Need to Teach Your Kids Today / Personal_Finance / Educating Children
By: Investment_U
David Fessler writes: Today is Black Friday, Americans’ annual homage to our greatest passion: shopping. And I’m not looking to spoil your fun. But before you hit the stores, I want to skip my typical commentary on the energy sector and talk about how to model good financial habits for your kids.
Because it breaks my heart that so few parents give their children the gift of financial wisdom. According to CNBC, most parents over age 50 have never discussed investing with their children. Are you one of them?
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Terrorism, Starvation And The Global Economic Crisis: Counter Strategies / Personal_Finance / Social Issues
By: Dr_R_M_Mathew
Every major problem affecting the humanity has become a part of several other problems, as the peoples and the nations are getting more and more interconnected for the forces of globalization and Information Technology,. There is no single solution for any problem without taking into account the solutions for the other problems. Faith, ideology, technology, poverty or starvation, inter-regional and inter-sector imbalances, terrorism or fundamentalism and the global economic crisis are getting inseparable and mutually interconnected.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Investor Street Smarts - Staying in the Game / Personal_Finance / Learning to Invest
By: Don_Miller
Fifty-eight percent of workers have not even tried to calculate how much they need for retirement, let alone put a plan in place. To stay in the game, you have to get in the game. As a reader of articles like this, you are already past that hurdle.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Getting the Most from Your 401(k) / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
Getting the Most from Your 401(k)
People who invest heavily in their 401(k)s expect to have enough money to retire. Many are surprised when they come up short—a topic Frontline recently covered in "The Retirement Gamble." What is going wrong?
The show cited mutual fund fees, a topic we tackled in depth in our special report The Top 10 ETFs to Replace Your Expensive Mutual Funds. In addition to fees and some basic number-crunching, there are fundamental issues that determine how well our 401(k) and other retirement accounts perform.
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Friday, November 15, 2013
Rent to Own - Don't Fall for This New Old Retail Sales Trick / Personal_Finance / Shopping
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: Kmart has joined a long and "distinguished" list of retail chains who offer a rent-to-own program.
It's a sign of the times... Only, rather than being a sign of economic recovery, it's a sign of retail desperation.
Ostensibly, these programs are intended to benefit cash-strapped consumers who couldn't otherwise afford to buy big-ticket items. In reality, the program turns consumer goods like a $300 television into a $415 purchase, according to Bloomberg.
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Friday, November 15, 2013
Living on Two Paychecks or on Too Many Expectations? / Personal_Finance / Money Making
By: Don_Miller
A good friend once asked me, "How come in the 1950s, you could support a family on a single paycheck, but now my wife and I both have to work to make ends meet?" I'd heard this question many times before. People give countless answers, from the Fed's inflationary policies to the lack of decent-paying manufacturing jobs. Usually, the explanations suggest macroeconomic shifts and major policy changes. And sure, those explanations are a part of it, but folks rarely mention increased expenses and heightened expectations.
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Nuclear Power, National Security And The Dirty Bomb / Personal_Finance / Nuclear Power
By: Andrew_McKillop
Although severely damaged by the world public opinion fallout from the Fukushima disaster, the nuclear industry continues to claim nuclear power is the low carbon, oil saving energy of the future. Taking the lifetime of the civil nuclear power industry as starting in the late 1950s, however, it has already had a long period through the 1980s and 1990s when world reactor orders and completions were often zero per year. Public confidence is weak.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
UK Savers’ Situation Still Poor Despite Inflation Falling to CPI 2.2% / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: MoneyFacts
Inflation figures released today show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell from 2.7% to 2.2% during October.
To beat inflation, a basic rate taxpayer at 20% needs to find a savings account paying 2.75% per annum, while a higher rate taxpayer at 40% needs to find an account paying at least 3.66%.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Are Investors Getting Dumber / Personal_Finance / Learning to Invest
By: Investment_U
I’ve long lamented that basic financial literacy is not a routine part of a high-school education in this country. Students routinely graduate without understanding compound interest, IRAs, mortgages or why we even have a stock market.
And so they trundle out into the real world, saving little, investing poorly (or not at all) and – typically – paying 18.6% annual interest on their credit cards. Within a few years, they are deep in a hole, trying to dig themselves out, and telling anyone who will listen of the essential inequity of the capitalist system.
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Sunday, November 03, 2013
Home Winter Weather Proofing 22 Steps to Save Money on Energy and Repair Bills / Personal_Finance / Home Maintenance
By: Sami_Walayat
Now is the time before the temperatures drop to conduct a relatively quick preventative home winter weather proofing survey that than can save on costly repair bills such as damage form blocked drains, gutters, leaking roofs, and burst pipes that can result in soaring insurance premiums on claims, as well as save on costly excessive energy usage due to drafts, poor insulation and boiler problems.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
A Million Dollars Isn’t What It Used to Be / Personal_Finance / Money Making
By: Don_Miller
We all share a common goal: to grow our nest eggs and make sure they last over the long haul. Our generation was taught to live off the interest and never touch the principal, but interest rates for CDs and Treasuries no longer allow for that. Frankly, they don’t even keep up with inflation, so we have to invest our money elsewhere if we want it to last.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Whom Would You Trust with Your Savings: Your Grandfather or Big Brother? / Personal_Finance / Money Saving
By: Don_Miller
My grandfather was named William Smith, and he was about as common a man as his name implies. He was an army sergeant in WW II, then came home and ran the family farm when the war was over. I doubt he ever heard of Keynesian or Austrian economic theories, but his words of wisdom made it clear just where he stood.
Friday, October 18, 2013
British Gas Freezing Pensioners Not Prices, 9.2% Price Hike, Exponential Inflation / Personal_Finance / Household Bills
By: Nadeem_Walayat
It's that time of the year when Britain's cartel of 6 energy suppliers steps forward one by one to announce extortionate price hikes with SSE's 8.2% of a few days ago now being followed by British Gas announcing that they will hike energy prices by 9.2% (gas prices by 8.4% and electricity by 10.4%).