Yielding Wealth | Personal Finance

May 12th, 2008

B5 Business Channel Theme Day: Taking Chances

Today is the B5 Business Channel Theme Day. And the theme is…taking chances!

You can take chances in life, love, business and your personal finances. Head on over to the post Risky Business and take a look at all the ways you can be rewarded when you decide to live life by taking chances every now and again.

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By miranda -- 0 comments

May 12th, 2008

Investing is All About Taking Chances

One of the things that has got me thinking lately is all of the complaining about investments not returning what investors put in. Many investors (especially those of the Bear Stearns variety) seem to think that an investment is always going to return what you put in to it.

This just isn’t true.

Whether you are involved in stocks, bonds, forex, commodities, futures, real estate or even art investing, whenever you invest, you are taking a chance. You are taking a chance that your investment will lose value, rather than gain it.

Our years of growth (much of it “stimulated”) have put us in a mindset that we should always get what we put in. Life and investing just don’t work that way all the time.

I’m not saying that you should avoid investing. A measured, carefully thought out investment plan can be a good way to grow your assets and prepare for the future (I love me my Roth IRA). But you need to evaluate your decisions carefully, and realize that you could lose money on some investments. But investing is still a good idea, especially if you do so with the long-term in mind.

After all, you can’t make money if your don’t take some chances.

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By miranda -- 1 comment

May 9th, 2008

Friday Fun Video: What Happened to the Hedge Funds?

This is a great little ditty about hedge funds. Thoroughly enjoyed it, although I don’t normally hold with country music.

Happy Friday!

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By miranda -- 0 comments

May 9th, 2008

Tax Rebate Phishing Scam: Beware!

As you know, many of us are expecting a tax rebate in the next few months. However, as is usually the case when something like this is announced, scammers come out in full force. The latest scam take the form of an “email from the IRS” telling you to sign up for direct deposit to get your tax rebate faster.

You go to the linked form and put in all your bank account information. You can see where this is going. DO NOT ever give personal information in response to an email. The IRS does not start communication via email (although it may send you updates if you request them), and does not ever ask you to enter personal information via a linked form.

You can see a copy of the tax rebate scam warning at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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May 8th, 2008

Remember: Postage Rates Increase May 12

On Monday, postage rates are increasing. First class stamps will be going up one cent to 42 cents. I have some Forever stamps. These are stamps that you buy at the going rate, and then you can use them, well, forever. Protecting you from price increases. If you want to stock up the 41 cent version (and use them through any successive increases to postage rates), now is the time to do it.

image credit: Miranda Marquit

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By miranda -- 2 comments

May 8th, 2008

Business Book Review: Managing Online Forums by Patrick O’Keefe

If you make money online, you know that social media is becoming increasingly important. Indeed, many businesses — as well as the self-employed — are finding out that one way they can draw more people to their Web sites and blogs is by building online communities. And one way to do that is through forums.

Patrick O’Keefe is an expert on using forums effectively. And in his new book Managing Online Forums, he presents a practical guide on how to go about setting up, running and using online forums to build online communities. This is a great book that explains everything (in easy to understand, conversational language) from the technical aspects of getting your online forum started to what you should do if someone behaves inappropriately on your forum.

I also found a lot of the information useful in terms of application to other forms of being social online. His suggestions can be applied to blogging (especially the comments aspects) and even managing your social media profile. If you are looking to maximize the way you get yourself “out there” on the Internet, Managing Online Forums is a useful resource.

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By miranda -- 3 comments

May 7th, 2008

Saving Money: E*Trade Bank to Increase APY on Savings Account

As I mentioned before, the string of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve has severely hit the annual percentage yield (APY) on my cash investments, including my high yield savings account.

So it’s rather refreshing that at least one bank is upping its APY, even if by a rather small amount. E*Trade Bank is increasing its APY on the high yield savings account. Does this mean that other banks (including mine, maybe) will follow suit?

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May 7th, 2008

Would a Gas Tax Holiday Help Your Personal Finances?

All three presidential candidates have different economic solutions. And, as the economy continues to dominate headlines (and cause worries about individual personal finances), the candidates continue to roll out economic proposals. One proposal that is getting a lot of buzz right now is the so-called gas tax holiday.

Hillary Clinton and John McCain are both saying that a gas tax holiday would help ease personal finances. After all, it would make gas cheaper. But would it, really? Consumerism Commentary points this out about the gas tax holiday:

Ignoring the fact that when a tax holiday is in practice, gas prices might simply rise to negate the savings and match what consumers are willing and able to pay, the 18.4 cent theoretical reduction in a gallon of gas will be almost invisible. With a gallon of gasoline around $3.60 for me here in New Jersey, this 5% discount doesn’t even bring the price down to its level from a few months ago.

So, in practice, a gas tax holiday doesn’t really help your personal finances. But it would help the Big Oil companies. They’d be able to make even bigger profits, since they would be able to keep gas prices at a level that Americans have so far proved they are willing to pay. Big Oil already enjoys tax subsidies and breaks from the government. Does the industry really need another way to increase its multi-billion dollar profits?

Besides, as Barack Obama points out, a gas tax holiday would decrease the amount of money that is available to pay for road improvements. And our infrastructure in the road department already has issues.

Bottom line: A gas tax holiday might grant you enough room in your personal finances to buy another gallon of milk plus a dozen eggs, but it won’t make that big of a difference.

image credit: IvoShandor

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May 6th, 2008

Personal Finances: Are You Planning Ahead?

One of the most important aspects of getting your personal finances in order — and working for you — is planning ahead. My Dollar Plan has a great post on some areas that you should consider when creating a financial plan:

1. Saving for college.
2. Pick a house for your intended family size.
3. Plan ahead for financing needs (when borrowing for large purchases like homes and cars).
4. Start saving for retirement NOW.
5. Get a marketable degree.
6. Match your goals with your finances.

I think the point here is that you need to plan ahead. You won’t be successful in building your personal finances if you don’t make a plan. This means that you need to sit down and really think about your priorities — figure out what is important to you.

While we are setting aside money for our son’s education, it’s not actually a high priority. (You might have a different priority.) We’re just getting the account started. It will be up to him to do most of the funding. I think that my son should contribute to his education. My parents helped me with living expenses, but always made it clear that I would be responsible for my own tuition. (I worked hard for scholarships as a result.) I plan to do something similar for my son — teaching him the importance of planning ahead

Think about the expenses that are likely to come up in your life, and make a plan for dealing with them. And one thing that I thought should have been on the list was this: Set aside money for a rainy day. Because sometimes you can’t always plan for everything.

image credit: sxc.hu

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By miranda -- 2 comments

May 5th, 2008

IRS Links: Check the Status of Your Tax Return and Figure Out When You’ll Get Your Tax Rebate

Several people have been asking me how they can check the status of their tax refund, and how to figure out when they’ll get their tax rebate. So, here are the appropriate links from the IRS, answering those questions:

1. Check the status of your tax refund. You will need your SSN, filing status and refund amount shown on your tax return.
2. When will you get your tax rebate? This depends on three things: the last two digits of your SSN, when you filed your tax return, and whether you are doing direct deposit for your tax return. If you didn’t file by April 15, your tax rebate will be delayed. (For fun, My Money Blog offers this look at tax rebate promotions offered by a variety of stores.)

The last checks will be mailed out July 11. Unfortunately, with the last two digits of my SSN, and that fact that I owed taxes and didn’t select direct deposit, no check until the very last for me. I wish they’d use my husband’s, but since I’m listed as the filer, and he’s listed as “spouse,” I’m thinking not.

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By miranda -- 2 comments