Friday Finance Findings for October 29th

Happy early Halloween. Hard to believe we’re just a few days from November already. What’s even more ridiculous is the fact that some stores are already beginning to offer Black Friday sales nearly a month before traditional Black Friday. Seriously? Can’t we enjoy October and most of November in peace? It doesn’t matter much to me since I do most of my holiday shopping online so I don’t have to be bothered with waking up early, standing in lines, and fighting with crowds just to save a few bucks. But even so, the constant early advertising is a little irritating.

With that being said, I guess it’s time for another roundup of some of the great personal finance articles from around the web this week.

Funeral Expenses: Staying Financial Focused in a Time of Grief – Here I wrote an article over at the new American Express Currency site discussing funeral expenses, how to plan for them, and what to expect. This topic was fresh on my mind as we’ve had a few deaths in the family over the past couple of months.

Safeway’s Just For U Program Reviewed – Lazy Man takes a look at the Safeway Just For U program. It’s a personalized savings program that might be of interest to you if you’re near a Safeway.

Repeated Violent Blows to the Head – If you’re an avid football fan you’re well aware of some of the violent hits that can take place on the field. There has been some talk in the news about these hits to the head and Steve examines the issue in more detail and compares how it relates to other areas of our lives.

Social Security 2011 Wage Base Remains Unchanged – I have a feeling there are going to be a number of unhappy seniors out there after hearing the news that Social Security isn’t getting a cost of living increase this year. After all, it is supposed to be tied to inflation, and since we’re in a low inflation environment at the moment there’s the argument that an increase isn’t needed. That isn’t to say everything costs the same for seniors, but there’s not much we can do about it.

Preferred vs. Common Stocks ‒ A Primer on Preferred Stocks I – You don’t often hear a lot about preferred stock, but it still plays a big role in the investment world. In fact, even you can often get your hands on preferred stock. Here’s a good introduction to the different types of stock and how it can help you reach your goals.

Don’t Look Now! The Christmas Shopping Season Is Just Ahead – Just as I mentioned in the introduction, holiday shopping is out of control. It’s a good idea to plan ahead for the holidays so you aren’t stuck with a lot of holiday credit card debt.

Opt For A Deferred Payment Plan When You Can’t Pay Your Bills – When you find yourself in a jam and can’t pay your bills it can be difficult to juggle everything without completely ruining your credit in the process. One thing people often don’t consider is asking for a deferred payment plan. Here’s how.

A Simple Formula for Financial Independence -Achieving financial independence is the end goal for many of us. The ability to go through life without worrying about money would be fantastic. But more often than not this goal seems unattainable. While it won’t happen overnight, there is a simple formula that can get you on the right track.

Is an MBA Worth the Money? – With college tuition at record levels it has some people questioning whether the cost is worth the benefit. This is especially true for expensive MBA programs. I know I started my MBA about six years ago and it didn’t take me long to realize the cost was totally not worth it so I quit early.

DIRECTV Promo Codes & Television Deal Coupons – I don’t have DirecTV, but we did have Dish for a while. The best thing you can do when signing up is to seek out a discount code. There’s never a reason to pay full price for these services, so here’s a list of current deals.

Why Job Performance is Mostly Unrelated to Job Security – Everybody thinks that by being a good employee and doing a good job you’ll secure your place in the company. Obviously, that’s better than being a deadbeat at work, but in the end it has little to do with your ultimate job security.

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