Middle Class Squeeze Edition – Personal Finance Review
April 7, 2008
With real wages stagnating or declining, rising health care costs, expensive college tuition, and record-high gas prices many people are feeling their bank account squeezed by rising costs without an associated increase in income. I’ve heard this referred to as the middle class squeeze and came across an example of it this weekend. One of our neighbors […]
International Investing Teaches Us a Portfolio Diversification Lesson
April 4, 2008
You know things aren’t good financially when you stop measuring which investment has made the most money and you start looking for the ones that have lost the least. A recent article in Forbes called “Is Global Investing Dead” touts the DOw & S&P 500 as having “better” losses than major international indexes: “The blue chip […]
The Falling US Dollar and Foreign Exchange Rates – My Walk Down Memory Lane
April 3, 2008
As a kid growing up my family traveled to Europe several times in my younger years. I was already interested in money back then, finding the currency changing booths and turning our dollars into English Pounds, German Marks, or French Francs was pretty neat. Foreign Currency is CoolI was fascinated by all the different types of […]
Financial Markets in Trouble – Who’s to Blame?
April 1, 2008
The markets are dragging down the economy …. Giant institutions are, to use the technical term, scared to death. I wish it was an April Fools joke but unfortunately it’s all too real. Alan Sloan from Fortune magazine has a good overview of how the current financial mess came about and what the impacts might […]
Opportunity Costs of High Fuel Prices – Personal Finance Review
March 31, 2008
I spent the weekend making money for the oil companies. We drove about 800 miles on the way to and from a family get together. Although we drive a rather fuel efficient Honda we still ended up paying over $100 in gas for the trip. As fuel prices continue to climb I can easily see the effect […]
Free TaxCut Online Premium Software for the Most Creative Tax Deductions
March 29, 2008
If you haven’t done your taxes yet, the clock is ticking. According to the “Countdown to Tax Day” calendar there are 17 days left until your returns have to be filed. You may actually have benefitted from procrastinating this time. I’m giving away access to H&R Block TaxCut Online Premium + efile to two readers […]
Clean Up Your Finances Four Times a Year
March 28, 2008
Did you realize that every March 31st, you’re 25% of the way towards the end of the year? By the end of June you’re half-way through the year. I’m very aware of this since I work in an industry where the end of each quarter means a lot of work for us. It seems like […]
Economic Stimulus Rebate Check Frequently Asked Questions
March 27, 2008
JKLasser, the company that puts out an annual tax guide, sent me the following information about the rebate checks that will be going out to some people. From the looks of things, we should get back $1500. It will be a nice little boost for our vacation fund but I’m sure it won’t help the […]
Watch Out for these Tax Scams, Frauds, Schemes, & Abuses
March 26, 2008
Every year the Internal Revenue Service provides a list of “tax schemes and scams” that they’re on the lookout for, the list for this year was just released two weeks ago. Here are a few of the items to watch out for. Phishing for Financial InformationMost of you probably already know that phishing is the […]
Market Questions to Ask Before Starting Your Own Business
March 25, 2008
Do you know anyone who runs their own business and is always struggling to find new customers or make enough money? Wouldn’t it have been easier if they would have done more research about the competitiveness and viability of their business before launching it? Mid Life CrisisOne of my co-workers is having a quarter life […]
