Best of Money Smart Life 2009 – Your Career, Taxes, Insurance, and the Economy

We’re two months into 2009 so far, how has your year been going?  It’s always good to take time to look back on where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished so I’m reviewing the best of Money Smart Life so far this year.

Good Conversation

It’s always fun (and sometimes educational) to have posts that stimulate good conversations, a recent one that generated some debate was the first in my Financial Confessions series, I’m a Bad Tipper.  Even my mom chimed in on this one 🙂  Another one that hit a nerve had to do with the cost of Valentines Day flowers and whether they are a rip-off.

Insurance, Career, and Taxes

We’ve run three series of posts this year on the topics of insurance and taxes, your favorite things right?  We also took a look at some career tips for bad economic times, thanks to MSN Smart Spending  for featuring the post Tips for your Boss During a Recession (authored by my sister). Yesterday I wrote a summary of each series so far this year:

• Homeowners and Auto Insurance Policies
• Career Tips for a Bad Economy
• Tax Software and Tax Forms

Economy

Of course the economy is the elephant in the room, it’s captured the attention of most of the country for a while now. A while back, we asked whether there would be a second stimulus check in 2009 and also how the stimulus money should be spent. With so much money flying around Washington, it’s hard to know what exactly how the bills effect us taxpayers individually so I wrote about the economic stimulus package and what it means to you.

Credit is still tight and many people are having a hard time getting money when they go to get a loan.  One thing people are turning to is borrowing money from friends and family, here are some things to consider if you’re thinking of lending money to friends or family.

The government is trying to get cash flowing again with the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), which will make money available to businesses and institusions. Of course we can’t access that money but one other option for you and I is to tap into the new peer lending companies.  Prosper is still out of commission for a while but here is a Lending Club review that details how to borrow money at Lending Club and another one on using Lending Club as a debt consolidation option.

That’s it for the best-of review. Stay tuned for more money tips to come!

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards