Friday Finance Findings For August 10th
By Jeremy on Aug 10, 2007 with Comments 7
If you haven’t already noticed, I have gone ahead and installed a new poll plugin that allows me to pose questions to readers and display the results both in posts and via the sidebar. The first installment came yesterday and I asked a question regarding the most favorable means for paying everyday expenses.
It looks like there was a pretty good response to the first poll, so I’m going to try and come up with a good question every week for the readers to answer. If you have a question you’d like to see answered via poll, feel free to contact me and I’ll see what I can do. Otherwise, enjoy the weekend as summer is winding down and the pleasant weekends will be coming to an end before you know it. Here are some great reads from the past week:
An Introduction to the Crossover Point – J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly presents the classic crossover point. I’m quite familiar with this since it was one of the presentations I used to give in order to scare encourage people to become clients with one of the sleazy financial (I use that term lightly) firms I used to work for. Bonus points if you can guess what firm that is.
The American Dream – What does the American Dream really mean? If you ask me, I don’t think people today understand it. I think it has become more of a sense of entitlement than what it originally stood for. Golbguru has some insight, and there are some good comments to go along with it.
Forgetting to Pay Tax on eBay Earnings – The IRS loves to stick you with penalties if you don’t play by their rules, so it is in your best interest to pay what you owe. If you do happen to forget to pay some tax on side income such as eBay income, Ben shares some tips on what you can do to make it right.
How to Financially Prepare Your Child for College – College is a time of change for both parents and kids alike. One of the biggest changes can be in terms of finances. Jim has some sound advice to better prepare your kid for college.
Top 10 Wealth Building Ways of Ordinary People – You don’t have to be born into a wealthy family in order to become wealthy. The average person has many opportunities to become wealthy. That doesn’t mean they are easy, but the options are a plenty.
Online Banking Comes of Age? – I’m still a brick and mortar bank person and keep the little cash position we have in money market funds right through a brokerage, but Nickel points out a Money Magazine article that outlines features that may make switching to a virtual bank a good idea.
How I Increased my Income 62% in 14 Months – Well, I didn’t, but the Lazy Man did. He shares his story that may be an inspiration for you to think about how you can go about increasing your income as well.
11 Ways to Get Your Share of College Money – There are a lot of ways to find financial assistance for college expenses and some are more well-known than others. FMF covers a list of 11 ways that you can possibly find some money for college.
Tired of Investing in the Same Countries All the Time? – The Sun explains an interesting concept behind a rotating ETF. This is a new fund and a new concept to me, but it is certainly worth reading more about.
Another Great Reason to Pay Cash for a Car – Cash is king. While I agree, I also think that with low interest rates and only financing a car that you can truly afford can be a good use of leverage. MBH points out a good reason for paying cash though.
Dramatically Cut Your Cooling Costs – It has been a miserable week around here with temps in the mid-90s and the heat index well over 100. We only have a small window unit AC in a 3 story house. Needless to say, it doesn’t keep us cool. One point on this list is the use of ceiling fans, and I have to agree. They can work wonders and cost very little to purchase and operate.
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Looks like the last link is pointing to the wrong site.
Great list, though!
Good catch, Brian. Sorry about that. I hate when the copy/paste doesn’t work as intended. It should be fixed now.
You’re still a brick and mortar guy? Time to move into the 21st century!
Well, I’m a brick and mortar bank user, but I rarely ever step into a branch. I think I walk into my bank about 5 times a year. All I need in a bank is free checking and savings, a good reward debit card, and excellent customer service.
Almost all of our bills are paid electronically and a few others are with a check, then we have automatic transfers periodically into brokerage and IRA accounts.
I know I could get all of the same features online, but money never stays in the bank for more than about a week before it is whisked off into bills or other accounts.
Hope the guess doesn’t offend you too much, but:
Ameriprise (or perhaps American Express Financial Advisors when you were there)
Good guess, Steve. You are correct. It was American Express when I was there. I was there just long enough to get my required licenses and I was out of there. I’ve done so many crossover point whiteboard presentations I think I could do it in my sleep.
You must have been one of the good ones. I sat through 3 or 4 American Express / Ameriprise free lunches with various colleagues, and never once did something at least useful like the Crossover Point get mentioned. (Instead, it was always generic, financial advice/blabber.) In addition to the free lunch, I did manage to be entertained as I observed sales techniques being employed on my colleagues (engineers). If I noticed any particular colleague getting too eager about what the Ameriprise rep was saying, I would always be sure to take her/him aside after the lunch and give them some square information.