Personal Finance Review – Vacation Edition

The bags are packed and we’re ready to go!  When I’m out on a much needed vacation in the coming days, you’ll have articles from guest writers and an interview to keep you entertained.  Have a good weekend everyone, here are some money articles for the week.

– Generation X Finance reminds us Your 401k is Not a Savings Account

– Blueprint for Financial Prosperity went to a real estate auction.

– Lazy Man asks what money advice you’d give yourself if you could go back in time

– Five Cent Nickel gives 10 tips for a successful moving sale.

– Money, Matter, & More tell us 25 things he does to save money

– Free Money Finance is shocked by how little people have saved for retirement.

– The Digerati Life covers 10 things you can do to avoid money fights

– Mighty Bargain Hunter talks money offense & defense.

– The Suns Financial Diary moves from Sharebuilder to Zecco

 

 

---

Would You Rather Make More Money Or Be With Family?

I met a lady last night that answered this question the hard way.  She came to the US from Honduras three years ago, leaving behind her family in search of a better paying job. Now she’s decided the extra pay is not worth being separated from her kids and parents and is counting down the days until she can return home to her family.

Hard Working Woman
Adela spends 10 AM – 3 PM at a local restaurant then works 3 PM – Midnight cleaning our office building.  As I worked late last night she commented on a picture of my son when she stopped by my desk to empty the trash. Despite her broken English and my ignorance of Spanish we managed to use Google Maps, Babelfish translation, and a whiteboard to communicate.

She works two jobs and is saving up money for her family. She has a two-year old son here in the States with her but left a son and daughter with her parents in Honduras that she sends money to.

Family Over Money
She talks to her kids back home twice a month, every other Monday.  Although she is providing more money for them than she could back home, she misses them dearly.  She’s decided the extra money isn’t worth being separated from family and will return home when she has a chance.

Balancing Blessings & Ambitions
Hearing her story made me a little embarrassed to be complaining about not having enough family time. My job might not be the most enjoyable and might keep me long hours but at least I only have one job to worry about and my family lives in the same country and the same city.

Of course this makes me wonder if I’m being unappreciative of what I do have. I guess I could just be thankful for my blessings and not push so hard for changes in my life.  It is hard, for me at least, to find a balance between enjoying what I have and working hard for what I want.  I’m glad I met Adela, she reminds me to slow down and appreciate the things in my life but to also not be afraid to venture out and attempt to improve it.

---

How My Local Banker Saved My Credit Score

I talked the other day about online banking vs. local banking and how I think using a combination of virtual and brick & mortar banking is the best strategy.  A close call on my credit score this week reminded me of the value a local relationship brings.

Credit Card Crisis
I opened a business credit card that I haven’t been using because it doesn’t offer me cash back for my purchases.  When the statement came for the credit card I filed the envelope away in my to-do pile knowing I hadn’t used it yet so I didn’t owe any money. Or so I thought.

When I finally got around to opening the statement I had few nasty surprises. First off, the card carried a $25 annual fee I wasn’t aware of.  Secondly, the fee had shown up on the previous month’s statement and was now long overdue.

Banker to the Rescue
As soon as I realized what had happened I called up the lady that had setup my business account and credit card. I explained the situation to her and stressed that my main concern was damaging the business credit with missed payments and unpaid balances.

She assured me she would take care of the whole thing.  Sure enough, later that day she called back to let me know her branch had paid the fee for me and worked with the credit division to make sure nothing negative would be turned in to the credit reporting agencies.

Banking Benefits
Thank goodness for my local banking relationship.  I was able to talk to a person instead of submitting a ticket online and awaiting a response to my problem.  Not only that, I was able to get immediate help from her.  No navigating phone menus and sitting on hold for 15 minutes. 

Maybe most importantly, there was no follow up necessary on my part after the initial call.  I didn’t have to waste my time babysitting the problem, coordinating between the different bank divisions and customer service reps.  My banker was able to take care of an important credit issue for me right away and all it took was one quick & easy phone call.

---

What I Really Want for Father’s Day

I bought myself a Father’s Day present two months ago.  I ran across a PanDigital digital photo frame for 50% off and decided that’s what I wanted for my desk at work.

What I Really Want
As I loaded up the frame with pictures of my family and friends I realized why I wanted the frame so much.  It’s not like me to spend $60 on a whim on electronics so I knew there was something more to the present for myself.  The pictures I uploaded represented the things I’d rather be doing than sitting at a desk all day long. 

The people in the pictures are the ones I call at the end of the day with bad news, “Sorry, I’ll be home late because something came up at work”.  They’re the ones that have to put up with my grouchy moods and whining because of the latest foobar thing at the office.

What I really want for Father’s Day isn’t a digital picture frame that reminds me of the people I care about, it’s too have more time to spend with the people I love.  It’s to spend less time worrying about work meetings, projects, and documents.  I want to spend more time making memories with family and friends and less time working on and complaining about TPS reports.

How I’m Going To Get It
This posting would be in vain if I simply lamented my situation and ended it there.  Instead, I’m building a plan to get out of my current situation, an exit strategy.  I’m tired of the work that I do but don’t really know what I’d rather do instead so I’m in the scouting phase.  I do know I’m tired of the rules, practices, and hours of working for a corporation so I’m exploring working for myself. 

I’m researching topics that interest me and determining how I can bring enough value in those areas to trade information & experience for financial compensation.  I’m meeting other people that have the same aspirations or already do work for themselves doing something they enjoy.  I’m learning the ins and outs of accounting, taxes, benefits and other topics necessary for a small business.

Sweet Success
I’ve put in many hours so far and will certainly be burning the midnight oil for some time to come but it will be worth it in the end. My hope is that I can set my own hours so that I’ll be able to work more on my family’s schedule instead of an employer’s. Since I’ll be working on things that interest me and I enjoy, I’ll be a happier person.

I know that I’ll get there; just not sure how long it will take yet.  The best part is I’ve made the decision and started working towards the goal so I’m on a roll!  That’s what I really want for Father’s Day.

---

Personal Finance Review – First Birthday Edition

We celebrated our son’s first birthday a little early yesterday with a birthday bash.  Although he didn’t really know what was going on I think he had a good time.  He had his own little birthday cake that he dug into; it was fun watching him enjoy the icing while managing to get it all over everything.

One lesson we learned is to go easy on the cake for one year olds.  All the sugar kept him up and hyper long past his bedtime, oh well; you only turn 1 year old once.  Here are some recent money articles I enjoyed.

-Binary Dollar brings up umbrella insurance.  It’s a relatively low cost way to protect yourself from liability suits.

-Free Money Finance has an article any homeowner should read on property taxes.

-The Digerati Life rebalances her investment portfolio.

-Five Cent Nickel lets us in on a little tax arbitrage secret.

-Sun’s Financial Diary covers how your credit score affects your insurance rates.

-Art of Money has a helpful spreadsheet for evaluating money making projects.

-Moneyning talks about budgeting and the cost of wedding happiness.

-Get Rich Slowly has an interesting post on getting more out of life by overcoming your fears.

Happy father’s day to all the dad’s out there!

---

Who Actually Reads the Terms & Conditions?

Do you read every word of the terms & conditions when you’re signing up for a new account?  Whether it’s an email account or credit card application they all seem to come with a lengthy terms & conditions.

Who Has Time?
I just signed up for a service online last night and their terms & conditions page was 4369 words long, 9 pages pasted into Microsoft Word at 12 point font.  I had a lot of things to do and didn’t want to take the time to sit down and read through a lengthy document.  One thing that really bugs me is when I signup for a product or service that’s supposed to make my life easier, faster, or more convenient and have to trudge through 10 pages of terms & conditions in legalese.

Who Understands Them?
The main reason for the terms & conditions from the company’s perspective is to lay out exactly what they will & won’t do to protect them from liability.  I’d be willing to bet most companies don’t care whether you read the conditions or not, just as long as you check the box that says “By checking this box I agree I have read & reviewed the Terms & Conditions”.

Since the target audience is more lawyers than customers, the conditions are often written in legal jargon that might still leave you scratching your head even after reading through it a few times.

Who Reads Them?
We have come to expect terms & conditions to be long and confusing so the thought of struggling through them often deters us from reading them at all.  The obvious problem with this is that when you agree to the terms and conditions you may not know what you’ve gotten yourself into until days, months, or years down the road when something unexpected pops up.

When I’m dealing with a financial contract such as a loan or credit card application I make sure to read the whole document but if it’s for something such as a merchant or a service I have an abbreviated method I use.

How I Scan Terms & Conditions
Most terms & conditions are separated into multiple sections, each marked by a header in large bold text.  What I typically do for non-financial documents is to scan through the headings to see which sections I really care about. 

I always look for the Privacy Policy section to see how they’ll handle my personal data.  I scan for headings on Arbitration, Governing Law, Jurisdiction, or Forum for Disputes that lay out how any disputes with the company will be settled. 

Another section I look for is something about Changes in Terms & Conditions or Changes in Products & Services that details how the company will interact and inform customers when modifying their terms or their products/services.  Lastly, I check for any mention of additional fees.

Did I miss any key parts of the Terms & Conditions you should look for?  Do you think people can get a good feel for the important aspects of a terms and conditions document by just scanning it or do we really need to read the whole thing? 

---

Chase Says Credit Limit Increase Is An Opportunity!

A credit card limit increase may be an opportunity, but for whom?

Unsolicited Credit Limit Increase
I received a letter in the mail today from Chase announcing they had increased the limit on my credit card.  I had to laugh at the first two sentences of the letter:

“You deserve the opportunities that come with a larger credit line. Your increased credit line of $13,000 gives you more flexibility to enjoy the opportunities in life with less worry.”

I didn’t ask for this increase, so why was it granted?  Chase proudly claims it’s for more opportunity.  I now have greater purchasing power, however, what they don’t mention is that their opportunity for making money increased right along with my spending power.

Credit Card Prestige?
I continued to chuckle as the letter went on:

“Use your Chase credit card for all of your every day needs, as well as for the larger purchases you’ve been waiting to make. So take pride in the prestige of using your Chase credit card and enjoy the potential of your credit line. Its our way of saying thanks to you.”

They remind me that my new credit line will allow me to buy the things I’ve always wanted but couldn’t and will make me feel more prestigious.  Wow, I never knew a credit card could get me what I wanted and make me feel better about myself.

They wanted to offer me these benefits to say thank you for using their credit card. Well that’s certainly one way to spin it.  Another way to put it is they want me to feel good about spending more money in hopes I’ll stop paying off my balance in full each month and start paying finance charges.

Sorry Chase, not going to happen.  Thanks for the credit limit increase, but I already have enough “opportunities” to spend money in my life, I don’t need any more.

---

Personal Finance Review – Job Review Edition

As a manager of a group at work, I’ve been tasked with doing mid-year reviews for my team.  I find it a bit frustrating that I have to spend hours of my time putting together documents that don’t really add any value in our company.  Everyone gets a 2.5 – 3.5% raise at the end of the year and no one gets fired, it doesn’t really matter what it says in your review.  If you’re doing poorly enough to get canned, which no one is, it’s blatantly obvious and no one needs a review to establish that. 

If the company actually based merit increases on our reviews and made them a sizable amount then I would gladly spend the time putting them together.  Until then, I grudgingly create them at the last possible minute. Here are some interesting articles so far this week:

-Generation X Finance offers tips on how to deal with car salesman.

-Mighty Bargain Hunter gives some tips for people looking to make extra money from direct sales parties.

-Lazy Man talks about inflating your eBay rating.  In my experience, eBay users aren’t dummies.  It only takes one click to check your past sales to see what types of things you’ve been selling.

-Money, Matter, & More wonders when lifestyle inflation becomes a problem.

-Blueprint for Financial Prosperity talks about donating stock to charity and is also looking for your votes to help him win a free trip to California!

-The Simple Dollar has a detailed guide to becoming self-employed.

---

Colleges Sell Alumni Data for Extra Cash

Does your college have a privacy policy?  I never worried whether mine did or not until I started getting credit card and line of credit applications in the mail bearing the name of my school!

Alumni Credit Card
It appears my alma mater has decided its okay to sell my name and address to Bank of America so I decided to look into their practices.  I started off by looking for a privacy policy on the school’s website but didn’t have any luck finding one. When I visited the Alumni page I ran across an ad, asking people to sign up for the WorldPoints Platinum Plus MasterCard Credit Card.  This is probably the same one that I saw the first credit application for several months back.

“Show your support with every purchase you make! For every new account that is opened and every purchase made with the card, Bank of America will make a contribution to the organization – at no additional cost to you!”

I understand the concept of encouraging alumni to sign up for the card; it’s not a bad fund raising idea. Anyone that wants to support the school can use a branded credit card whose rewards go to the college.  However, I don’t like the fact that the school is selling or giving my personal data to credit card companies without my consent.  Asking me to sign up for the card on their website is one thing, handing my information over without my consent is another.

Line of Credit
The latest piece of mail I received wasn’t even touting an alumni card; it was an application for an unsecured line of credit.  My alma mater’s name showed through the envelope window so that I wouldn’t throw it away as junk mail. 

“How much do you need?  Request up to $25,000 to pay off your high-interest credit card balances right away!”

In this case there was no attempt to spin the application as supporting the college; it appears to be simply a money grab.  I don’t know for sure that the school is being paid for my information or if they get a commission for each person that opens a line of credit but why else would they be working that closely with Bank of America?

Student Privacy
I don’t know what the school’s privacy policy is but I don’t appreciate them selling or giving my information away without my consent.  If they’re willing to give up my name and address what other information about me might they sell?  Have you had a similar experience with your alma mater?

---

Why You Should Work Smart, Not Hard

How much harder would you have to work to earn an extra $50 a day? How about $100 or $500 more? Why is this an important question to ask? Because there are only 24 hours in a day and we don’t want to spend them all working!

Your Precious Time
Your time is valuable. Once it’s used up, you’ll never get it back. In today’s world, we spend a lot of time working to provide for ourselves and our families. If we can find ways to earn more money in smaller amounts of time then we can have more time to live. We can often accomplish the same end result with much less work if we work smart instead of working hard.

Smart Questions
Working smart is often the result of asking yourself the appropriate questions.

Should I be working on this in the first place?
What value do you get from the task you’re working on? If you’re working your fingers to the bone for a measly outcome, should you even be spending your time on it? What are your other options? If you decide you’re not working smart then make some changes.

Is there a better way to do it?
Could you change the process you use for the things you’re working on? What takes the longest or is the most frustrating about your task? What is one thing you could change to make it go more quickly, easily, or profitably?

How are other people doing the same thing?
Find people that are doing the same type of thing faster and better. Do they use a whole different strategy? What about their approach is “smart”? What allows them to get the same thing done with higher quality in less time?

Hard Work is Good For You
Hard work is not a bad thing. Most successful people work very hard for their achievements. Hard work is the driving force behind most success and helps you appreciate that success when it comes. However, if you have the option of working hard or smart, which would you rather do?

Hard Work as a Substitute
I am a hard worker. I often fall asleep at the keyboard in the middle of the night because there is always one more thing I want to do. This work ethic has gotten me far in life but I wonder if it has also held me back.

Often times I find myself working hard because I don’t know exactly what I’m doing, the best way to do it, or what I’m trying to accomplish. I throw myself into something head first and after enough work, success comes out the other end. Although I get positive results, I find myself working most of the time with this approach. So I ask myself, am working hard because I’m not working smart? If I was smart about my decisions, could I accomplish the same result with less work?

Smart Resources
Here are some books that can help us examine why and how we work. These books look at ways to become more strategic about how we select work and more efficient in getting things done:

– 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey [Audio]

– Getting Things Done by David Allen [Audio]

– 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss [Audio]

---

 Page 120 of 151  « First  ... « 118  119  120  121  122 » ...  Last »