Owner: The Financial Ladder URL:http://www.thefinancialladder.blogspot.com Join Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:44:02 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: To record and measure the financial progress of me and my wife. To motivate me to learn, and share financial and economic information. Site statistics:Click here
We Were Almost Caught In The Credit Card Trap... 2007-03-09 14:56:00 With all the hoopla going on about NCN being featured on the Jean Chatzky Show on XM radio, I thought I'd share our near "trapped in credit card debt" experience. A few years back, my wife and I had about 2 years to save for a wedding, honeymoon, and a new home! At that time we were making decent money, a bit higher than average for Jersey. But that still didn't seem like enough for what we wanted.
We eventually decided to stretch it out and settle for a nice wedding and a condo. That's pretty much where the money ended, even with all of the wedding gifts. All of the condo updating like paint, new kitchen cabinets, new electrical, new furniture, etc. was paid for by credit cards. Luckily all the cards were newly applied for, and all of them offered zero percent financing for a year. After everything was said and done, we had gotten into a little over $15,000 in credit card debt! We had NEVER been that far into the hole before. For me it was something like 1 or 2 grand at the most, Read more:Almost
, Caught
March Net Worth Snapshot... 2007-03-02 00:36:00 Youch! This months net worth stung! Due to automobile value re-calculations, baby preparations, and the stock market "correction," we're up only 2.08% or $2,921.96 for the month of March
. You can view the full balance sheet on the left for more data. (click to enlarge)
That's a record low increase for us since we've been calculating it for over a year now. But I suppose it's to be expected since it's been about a year since our last car value calculations. Because I slacked on re-evaluating at the end of the year, we took a hit of approximately $1,100.
Let's see, our cash savings increased approximately $2,200. That increase on top of the $1,400 immediate liabilities reduction brings our emergency reserve to healthy $37,665.33. For now, you're always going to see the obligatory large amount of savings, and a slight reduction in debt due to our goal of buying a house within this year, or possibly the next. Don't get the wrong idea, all bills are paid on time, a Read more:Worth
, Worth Snapshot
Some Amusing Money Quotes To Make You Smile... 2007-02-27 19:46:00 In God we trust, all others must pay cash - American Proverb
Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work. - Robert Orben.
When I was young I used to think that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old, I know it is. - Oscar Wilde
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. - Oscar Wilde
Rich or poor, it's good to have money. - Sid Lance
The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. - Frank Hubbard
I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money. - Pablo Picasso
You can't force anyone to love you or lend you money. - Jewish Proverb
I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart. - E. E. Cummings
My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income. - Errol Flynn
Lack of money is the root of all evil. - George Bernard Shaw
Money
frees you from doing things you d Read more:Quotes
, Smile
, Money Quotes
Inherited Wealth - Don't Give It To Your Children... 2007-02-20 18:02:00 With a little over 2 months before our first baby is due, my mind has been swirling with tons of financial issues. From "how much is that crib?!" To "holy crap I have to research all of the possible college savings plans out there, I'll be up all night!" From "how much allowance should we provide" to "how and when will I teach our child about money and finance?!" While searching for help on these questions, I came across and interesting quote by one the greats of science, Alfred Nobel.
I regard large inherited wealth as a misfortune, which merely serves to dull men's faculties. A man who possesses great wealth should, therefore, allow only a small portion to descend to his relatives. Even if he has children, I consider it a mistake to hand over to them considerable sums of money beyond what is necessary for their education. To do so merely encourages laziness and impedes the healthy development of the individual's capacity to make an Read more:Wealth
, Children
Another "Top Personal Financial Blogs" List... 2007-02-07 15:37:00 I recently found that the "Your Credit Advisor Blog" has compiled their own "Top 100 Personal
Finance Blogs
" list. At first glance it looks like link bait to me, but it looks like they took a little time and attention with this one. They have the list broken down into 11 defined categories, with summaries for each blog. The categories are:
Ask the Advisor's Top 10Babes, Chicks, and DivasDollars and CentsFinancesGeneral Personal Finance AdviceHow to Be a MillionaireInvesting and BusinessMoney, Money, Money, MoneySavings, Debt, Credit, Frugality and TaxesSingles, Couples, Single Parents, Families, Retired, or RetiringYouth/Under-30, College Students, Recent Graduates
My blog can be found under the "Finances" category, which is explained as "All the blogs here are about personal finance, but these are extra-focused." Read more:Financial
Are personal finance bloggers mean people? 2007-02-05 12:41:00 Bankrate.com asks "Does money make you mean?" They find that a behavioral study points out that people
with money on their minds are less helpful, less considerate and less willing to ask for help or associate with others than those who have not been "preconditioned" when it comes to money. The positive side to this behavior is that money-minded people tend to be more independent, focused and tend to work longer on tasks before asking for help.
A recent issue of "Science Magazine" published the study called "The Psychological Consequences of Money." They used random samples of students and nonstudents at the University of Minnesota, Florida State University and the University of British Columbia. After the groups were separated, some groups were "money primed" and the others received a "neutral primer" to money. The "money primed" group was reminded of money in several ways...
word scramble puzzle that contained money references, a poster depicting
different currencies, stacks Read more:finance
, bloggers
2006 to 2007 Net Worth Compare... 2007-02-04 14:58:00 I mentioned in my last post that February 7th would be one year since this blogs inception. That was also the first time I started to keep track of our net worth on a monthly basis. I whipped up a quick spred sheet to compare last years figures to this years. (click picture on left) The results have me feeling stuck in the middle.
We did well with saving our money and increasing our net worth, but there's a part of me that feels we could've done better. The first category on the list are our various savings accounts. We saw a 127% increase due to our goal of saving for a house.
It was a nice surprise to see that our bonds have increased by 5.74%, which won't be touched by the federal government. Our assets overall have increased by a little over 18%. Not much to say about the liabilities. Slowly chipping them away by 4.56%. We won't be working hard on getting rid of them until we actually get a house. Our net worth overall have a nice size increase of almost 56.5%. Not bad.. Read more:Worth
, Compare
, Net Worth
Cut Your Property Tax?! 2007-01-16 17:27:00 I didn't know it was actually possible. But The National Taxpayers Union reports...
"As many as 60% of homes are assessed for too much. About 33% of property-tax appeals succeed."
The procedures on how to get this done vary, but you normally have 30 to 60 days to file an appeal.
"Ask the assessor's office for a copy of your property card, which documents the information on which the assessment was based. If the card lists the wrong number of rooms or square footage, for example, you may be able to get your assessment changed without a formal appeal."
If the information seems to be accurate, visit sites like Zillow.com and domainia.com to check how your homes assessment compares to the other homes in your area. If you find similar homes assessed at a lower value, that may help you build a stronger case. Pete Sepp from the national taxpayers union recommends...
"If you spot big discrepancies, check your local assessor's office's records for more details on homes with similar fea Read more:Property Tax
Bank Of America: Trying to Break the Glass Ceiling... 2007-01-16 17:05:00 A report by Market Watch this morning mentions that the Bank Of America
is looking to lift the 10% cap on deposits for all U.S. banks.
"Bank of America is now the nation's largest holder of deposits and ranks as the second-largest U.S. bank by market value after Citigroup."
Bank of America goes on to make a good point for why they would like to lift the cap in order to grow to become a larger force...
"In addition to restricting the growth of giants, the cap keeps U.S. banks artificially small and makes them vulnerable to international acquirers that aren't similarly limited."
"Over time, foreign banks will be in a position to buy U.S. banks."
They're not saying how much higher they'd like the cap to go, or even if the cap should be taken off all together. The banks move to try and lift or even eliminate the cap is being opposed by the Independent Community Bankers of America and other small community banks. But interestingly The Bank of America have a few allies in this matt Read more:Break
, Glass
, Ceiling
A Busy Bee... 2007-01-15 21:27:00 A busy bee, that's been me. I've been working extra over time this past couple of months, the paychecks have been nice. Unfortunately they have been offset by extra big expenses. Holiday spending, and a new patio door. Now we're working on getting a new carpet and recently bought new baby furniture. By the way, we purchased baby furniture manufactured by a company named Babee Tenda. It's supposed to be some of the safest and most durable baby furniture around. They've been around since the 60's with a great track record. Has anyone out there used their furniture or have at least known someone who has? Not much to report in the financial sector of our family. Saving and spending, and repeat.... Read more:Busy Bee
Man, it keeps getting worse around here... 2007-01-09 02:36:00 In posts here and there I've mentioned that my wife and I planned on moving out of our condo within the next couple of years. That time may be getting closer and closer with all of the problems we've had with this place in the past 2.5 years. Within the first year of purchasing our place, we find that the complex has an issue with the building continuing to "settle" after being built 30 years ago. Then we had issues with our neighbors above us where water was coming through our ceiling.
Recently we had issues with our new neighbors across the way drilling holes in our pipes when trying to install a medicine cabinet! Now we have issues were the patio above our patio isn't functioning properly, and it's funneling water into our patio door and possibly our wall! We're thinking about starting to put a plan together shortly after the baby is born around 6 months from now. Hopefully by the time the place is sold we'll be financially ready to take on a house. In the mean time, we'll h Read more:keeps
, keeps getting
January Net Worth Snapshot... 2007-01-03 23:45:00 Are the holidays over already? The part of me takes care of the finances says hooray! And the part of me that loves friends, family and this time of the year says boooo! The pic on the left side of my post is our net worth balance sheet, click to enlarge. It's the worst net worth increase since I've been keeping track February of last year. I guess that's to be expected due to the holiday shopping, and having a new patio door put in. With all of the overtime I've been working, I expect a nice rebound this month. Wait, we're looking to have a new carpet installed this month, and will be starting to purchase baby furniture...crap.
Looks like we might be in for another sub par month. There's not much really to say about this months net worth. Assests only creeped up due to household and holiday spending, and liabilities creeped down for the same reason. Again, I'm keeping the automobile values static until my next net worth calculation. I've decided to re-evaluate them ever Read more:Worth
, Worth Snapshot
, January
Rethinking Poverty... 2006-12-23 17:11:00 I recently came across a wonderful site simply named "TED." It's an acronym that stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design." Each year TED hosts some of the worlds most fascinating people. Who are these people?
Trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses. The talks
they deliver have had had such a great impact, we thought they deserved a
wider
audience.
A couple of months back they had two speakers who talk about rethinking poverty. Both of them have simple and great ideas on how to help lift up impoverished countries in Africa and Asia. Both speakers gave me a little inspiration and hope for the future of our world...
Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz persuasively argues for a new
approach to foreign aid: "The question isn't 'how do we fix this?' The question
is 'How can we help Africans to do this for themselves?'"Watch video online here
Iqbal Quadir is co-founder of GrameenPhone, an innovative wireless operator
offering ser Read more:Poverty
Free Things Are Nice... 2006-12-17 16:22:00 ...like the Motorola RAZR V3. My current two year Verizon contract expires in a couple of months, and to entice their customers to sign up for another two years, they're offering a discount of $100 off any upgraded phone of your choice. At the moment they're offering the razr for $99! I've desired this phone since it was HOT on the market two years back, and being sold for something like $400!
I guess it wasn't technically free since I re-signed for a two year contract, but I've used Verizon for about six years now with a good service record, so I would've re-signed with them anyway. In the past I've always paid a discounted price, but this time it's totally free, I paid $0.00 this time! I'll be sticking with my current plan of $34.99 per month, 300 mintues for prime time usage, and free nights and weekends. I also receive a 12% discount on top of that offered through the company I work for. It's nothing special, but the service is good and the plan seems to be cheaper tha Read more:Free Things
My Car: Brought Back To Life... 2006-12-12 23:15:00 I was driving home from work the other day, cruising along at about 25 miles an hour, when my car suddenly lost all power!! The car went dead and totally unresponsive. Luckily I was driving on a semi busy avenue, and was able to roll to the side of the road. I was a little surprised since I bought the car brand new back in 2001. Thanks to my car insurer G.E.I.C.O., there was a towtruck there within 45 minutes. Thank god I only needed a jump start to get me going.
Dropped it off at the dealer the next day, and about $100 later found that a ground wire to the frame from the starting system was corroded. The day after that I picked up a a set of jumper cables on sale for $15. Ya never know when I or maybe someone else may need them. This experience reminds me of the days with my prevous two cars which were used, car issues all the time, and AAA on speed dial.... Read more:Brought Back
Good-bye Virtual Bank, It Was Nice Knowing You... 2006-12-04 21:10:00 Several months back I opened two virtual bank money market accounts on behalf of my wife and I. At the time I was taking advantage of the high interest rate, and $20 sign up fee. Alas, the 4.60% interest rate has been left behind in the dust, and all of my referrals aren't as popular as they used to be. I didn't like that the money I had sitting in the accounts was earning a lower rate. So for now, that'll leave us with 5 savings accounts, and one checking account...
December Net Worth Snapshot... 2006-12-02 16:52:00 What a difference a day makes, or in our case, 30 days. Thanks to 5 pay periods this month, it's partially a record net worth. Our net worth increased 5.56%, for a record dollar total of $6,937.36. Due to a mistake I made when opening our new E-loan savings account, we missed the percentage record by .01%. It seems I stated on our application that we're subject to federal tax withholding, which meant they took out a few bucks out of our savings this month. But after a quick phone call and e-mail, that should hopefully be corrected by next month.
It seems the biggest jump on our balance sheet was made in our liquid assests catagory, with a plump $5,000 increase. Retirement was up a bit, and I kept our home value, car and jewelry static until at least the next net worth calculation. The home value will pretty much stay the same ulness I get an official appraisal, I don't put much faith in my real estate guesstimations. The car values I'll have to relay on Blue Book for, and the j Read more:Worth
, Worth Snapshot
, December
Top 100 Blogs To Read In 2007... 2006-12-01 01:47:00 While recently roaming the net for my sites address, I came accross something interesting. An article on creditcard.org dated December 8th 2006, with the headline "Bloggers Tell Financial Secrets." It goes on to spotlight Tricia from "Blogging Away Debt," and then shows a list of it's pick for the "Top 100 Blogs
To Read In 2007." All of them seem to be personal finance blogs, and they are all nominated for "a national award." Surprisingly I'm one of the blogs on that list...
Snips And Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails... 2006-12-01 00:48:00 My wife and I recently visited the doctors office for our 19 week sonogram appointment. It's the one where they check EVERYTHING. From fingers and toes, to cleft lips and any heart deformations. Turns out everything looks fine and we're having a BOY! We didn't really have a preference, only for a healthy and happy baby. Though I have to say whew! You see, my paternal line is pretty thin. My great grandfather was the only male of seven children, my grandfather the only male of four children, my father was an only child, and I'm my fathers only son. When searching the net for articles on the cost of raising a child nowa days, I came accross Bankrates baby cost calculator.
According to them it's going to cost about 190k to rasie a child until the age of 18! That's hard to believe. With this one being our first, we talk about having a couple more. Does that really mean about 600k? I'll have more time to pay off a mortgage than raising children. Can you say hand me downs, and peanu Read more:Snails
, Puppy
, Tails
Retriement Portfolio: 401 (k) Asset Re-allocation... 2006-11-26 17:42:00 In a post long ago, I mentioned that I intended on creating a less expensive, and better performing 401 (k) portfolio. Well, I finally got off my butt and did it. Unfortunately my options were limited to Prudential Financial's 9 mutual funds, one fixed income fund, and my companies stock. Those mutual funds had an average expense ratio of 0.92% and a front load of 4.61%, not that bad I suppose, I've heard of worse options.
I wound up dropping CABDX, SPVAX, and MIGFX. My portfolio in particular averaged an expense ratio of 1.07% and front load of 5.30%. I kept AEPGX, LAVX and obtained an index fund, PDSIX. No load at all, and it has an expense ratio of 0.30%. Nowa days my portfolio is averaging an expense ratio of 0.73% and front load of 3.83%. The funds I now have, average a five year performance of a little under 11%, and ten year of a little over 12%.
I'll try my best to re-balance every quarter, and at the least every two quarters depending on how each sector of the economy, Read more:Portfolio
, Asset
, allocation
The Forbes Richest Fictional 15? 2006-11-23 12:21:00 Wow, Forbes
has a rich list for everyone, even people that don't exist. So of all of the fictional characters you've seen in movies, shows, stories and even cartoons, who do you thinks tops them all at #1? Is it Richie Rich? No, but he's up there. Then it has to be Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island?! Nope, not even close. Ah ha! It's Mr. Monopoly! NO, but getting warmer....Forbes Fictional 15
50 Leading Women to Watch in 2007... 2006-11-21 00:07:00 Today the Wall Street Journal Online reports on something very interesting, the new breed of women moving up the ranks to the top of the worlds biggest companies. They find that women held 16.4% of the Fortune 500 corporate-officer job in 2005. These jobs include positions of vice president or higher that require board approval. That was a 0.7 percentage higher since 2002. The same survey found that woman made up 6.4% of the top five earners among officers which is a rise of 1.2% in the same period.
Women
of color -- African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans -- held just 1.7% of corporate-officer positions in 2005, and were 1% of the top five earners at Fortune 500 companies.
All these people have one thing in common: They're breaking stereotypes about what women can and can't do well, and opening up new opportunities for women who will follow them.
Melinda Gates tops the list of the top 50 women to watch next year. Read more:Leading
FESTIVAL OF UNDER 30 FINANCES: # 10 2006-11-17 16:52:00 Today's super fun "festival of under 30 finances" will be @ Tired But Happy. Today's submissions cover subjects ranging from issues with room mates to spam that saves you money. From credit cards teaching youth about personal finance to 5 lessons that a millionaire taught me. So be there or be square!
Roth IRA Contribution... 2007-03-14 23:25:00 I'm reluctant to mention that I've made a contribution to my ROTH IRA for the year of 2006. It's because it will only be $1000 as opposed to the potential max of $4000. I'm keeping our goal of purchasing a house within a year or two in mind when I make decisions like these.
With this contribution along with my 401 (k) contributions, this will be approximately 7% of our income put away for retirement. Not bad I suppose, but that's running on partial retirement steam, we could do much better.
And unfortunately my wife's new employer restricted her from letting her open a 401 (k) until she was with the company for 6 months. Now that she's finally reached that time limit, they are in the middle of transitioning to a new retirement planner, so they aren't opening new accounts yet. They expect everything to be completed in another couple of months or so.
Though I guess that isn't so bad since I'm banking that money that's not contributed, it's going towards "the goal." Oh w Read more:Contribution
Come Get YOUR Money! 2007-03-18 15:10:00 I'm not sure if you've heard, but the IRS has about $2.2 billion in unclaimed tax-refund money for 2003. There are missing filers in every U.S. state, all U.S. possessions, and in all military services. California ranks #1 among all the non-filing residents with approximately 200,000 for the year 2003.
They've also found that New Hampshire tax filers are most likely to get the largest refund, where the median refund is $709. The biggest potential for even a larger refund are the folks in the military who could be banking about $785 each. They still have the chance if they get their forms in by the April 17th deadline of this year.
This is their last chance, any longer and they could forfeit a refund that belongs to them. My home state of New Jersey had about 56,500 non-filers with the potential of about $690 to be received. I wasn't part of that group, and by the look of my taxes this year, I'm going to actually be paying! Check out how much your states non-filers could b Read more:Money
That Stork Is Getting Closer... 2007-03-27 16:56:00 As of tomorrow my wife will be 36 weeks along in her pregnancy. It will also be the first day of her maternity leave. The doctor said that she would not let my wife go past 39 weeks in the pregnancy due to the size of the baby...he's in the 85th percentile for his size! So that will be about 3 weeks of leave before the baby, and 6 weeks after. If she delivers by C-Section, it will be an extra 2 weeks. So at the moment she's looking at about 9 weeks of maternity leave time.
She'll be receiving approximately 60% of her work salary during that time. After her time is up, she'll be going back to work part time for a little while. So needless to say, it's going to be financially interesting during the next several months. Thankfully we will be having my wife's aunt watch the baby while we're at work. That was a load off of our minds in many different ways. We'll be climbing the ladder a bit slower, but it'll be worth it.
I have to admit it, I'm more nervous than excited. My Read more:Stork
April Net Worth Snapshot... 2007-04-01 17:19:00 It's quiet...too quiet. This is the sound of the calm before the storm...the financial storm. I'm done paying last months bills, and haven't started paying this months yet. Thanks to the timing of a few financial helpers, this is another net worth record for us ($152,120.85).
This month our net worth has increased by 5.99%, for a dollar total of $8,601.65. You can view the blance sheet on the left, click to enlarge. There are a couple of transactions I made last month that stand out. I sold our I-bonds, and made a contribution towards our Roth IRA. I've had the bonds since Oct 05, and they've done pretty well since then, an appreciation of approximately 6.3%. I wanted to use the money for the roth contribution, and for an upcoming tax payment.
We did pretty well on the saving front due to a extra paycheck, auto insurance payment break, some overtime, and a record amount of blog advertising for the month. There was an interesting increase in my companies retirement plan for a Read more:April
, Worth
, Worth Snapshot
Your Personal Finance Skills and Some Sound Advice... 2007-04-02 15:08:00 Times Leader brings to light an interesting study on peoples financial skills, and puts forth some sound advice to help you with YOUR financial skills. The people of Harvard, Princeton and the Federal Reserve came together to compile a report: The Age of Reason: Financial Decisions Over the Life cycle.
After reviewing the financial records of tens of thousands of borrowers, they've basically found that the average person's financial decision-making skills reach it's peak at the age of 53, and then gradually decline.
"We find that younger adults and older adults borrow at higher interest rates
and pay more fees than middle-aged adults. For the young, the lack of experience
outweighs the sharp mind. With older folks, dimming faculties undermine even a
lifetime of experience."
They mention a few simple principles you can keep in mind when making some big financial decisions. Here are some of them:
If you plan on hiring any type of financial consultant..
Get objective adv Read more:Personal
, Skills
, Sound
I Have a Bigger Salary Than The Co-Founders Of Google... 2007-04-04 14:07:00 For the third year in a row the CEO and co-founders of google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin received a salary of $1. Interesting, and here I am thinking that I'm underpaid. Their main compensation comes from returns on their ownership of google. As major shareholders, their personal wealth is tied directly to the stock price appreciation and performance. Shares of google stock closed Tuesday at $472.60 each. Guess this helps out in between the pay checks... Read more:Salary
, Google
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