by Silicon Valley Blogger on November 6, 2009
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I’ve discussed how to avoid foreclosure and how to avoid bankruptcy in the past, but in some cases, things don’t work out too well, and there are people who end up becoming casualties of the real estate bust, credit crisis and weak job market.
Lots of people have been forced into homelessness due to a variety of reasons. Many cases of homelessness are because of mistakes and choices people make in their lives. There are those who fall into substance abuse and become stuck in this kind of existence. But there are other cases — particularly in recent years — that are not from bad choices. In some situations, it may be due to poor planning.
But this is not the entire story because there are those who fall into homelessness even with reasonable planning. Sometimes, even when you think you’re sufficiently ready for any kind of emergency, the sky does fall on you and you find yourself reeling from an unrecoverable financial predicament. Bad health can do it. Extended job loss can do it as well. Sheer bad luck and misfortune can just be in the cards for a while.
I used to think that with enough savings and preparation, nothing is insurmountable. Well, I’m halfway through my life now and I’ve seen enough to think otherwise. Sometimes, it’s about crossing your fingers too, and hoping that you never have to face a financial tsunami in your lifetime.
by Silicon Valley Blogger on November 6, 2009
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Here’s a reminder to those of you who’ve been contemplating on getting your finances in order. Ramit Sethi, the blogger and New York best selling author behind “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” is offering a personal finance boot camp — or interactive online course, if you will — that will run from November 9 through December 20. It will cover all topics from debt and credit management, to budgeting, saving, investing and entrepreneurship, and promises to help you get yourself financially organized.
I’ve written about this boot camp in detail here, so if you’re thinking of registering, this is the final day to get signed up. The regular cost is $199, but I am offering a $50 rebate if you complete the course and register through this link. To those who’ve already signed up, this offer extends to you as well.
by Silicon Valley Blogger on November 5, 2009
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Investing simply means putting your money to good use with the expectation that you’ll receive a return or reward for doing so.
A lot of us don’t have much money to spare. Sometimes you may find yourself with an extra $100; maybe someone finally paid you back for a long-forgotten debt (it’s happened to me!) or your mom sent you over a cash gift for your birthday. Or chances are, it’s just an extra $100 rattling around in your bank account that could find better use somewhere else.
A few days ago, I published a guest post on where to invest extra cash and savings. Well that post inspired me to reflect on how I’d personally make use of a little extra money.
Got $100? Best Ways To Invest Small Amounts of Money
1. Set up an automatic investment program.
I started an automatic investment program at a discount broker around a couple of decades ago. If my memory serves me right, I committed to placing $50 a month in a few mutual funds that represented diversified asset classes. I figured that I could afford to spare at least $50 a month on building a portfolio, and I found the process of choosing funds, deciding my allocation and finally starting an investment program pretty fulfilling.
by Silicon Valley Blogger on November 4, 2009
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Should I get a personal loan? At any given point in time, that’s what a whole lot of us are pondering. Taking on consumer debt has become one hard habit (or vice) to break.
One of the most eye-opening profiles on consumer debt that I’ve seen was one from the New York Times, where they presented a whole bunch of articles and multimedia elements to answer the question: how the heck did America get in the current financial mess it’s in right now? How did we fall into such a deep debt hole?
9 Decades of Consumer Debt: How Our Debt Problems Got Out Of Control
There’s a lot we can discuss about in this series (aptly called The Debt Trap) but I wanted to focus a bit on the interactive feature that gives us a look at consumer debt throughout the years (nicely illustrated by Amy Schoenfeld and Matthew Bloch). The graphic is entitled “The American Way Of Debt” and shows the average household debt and annual savings in today’s dollars, throughout nine decades (1920 – present). It’s pretty incredible to see just how much our love affair with personal loans, 0% APR credit cards and mortgages has caused our household debt to balloon to unprecedented levels (click on the image to enlarge it):
by Silicon Valley Blogger on November 4, 2009
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Did you love the book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”? Even if you haven’t had a chance to read it, I’m hoping that you’ll find this post helpful.
This is a time sensitive post and you’ll know why in a second. You may have noticed the new prominent banner I have on my sidebar, advertising the first of its kind personal finance boot camp. This interesting online course is courtesy of Ramit Sethi, the top financial blogger behind the blog, I Will Teach You To Be Rich.com.
Well here’s what this is about. I’m one of several bloggers who’s helping Ramit get the word out on an interactive online personal finance course which will be offered from November 9 through December 20. You can consider it to be the natural offshoot of his New York best selling book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”, where he covers a lot of ground on key topics such as banking, saving, budgeting, investing and earning more. Here are some particulars about the boot camp:
I Will Teach You To Be Rich Boot Camp Details
Who: Ramit Sethi will be hosting and will be guiding you to take action on your finances. He will be answering your questions over the course of the event. What: 6-week online boot camp to help people take ACTION and manage their money. Includes coursework on credit cards, debt, automating money, picking the right accounts, investments, and day-to-day money questions. Guest speakers: Also includes guest speakers who are tops in their respective fields (online marketing, entrepreneurship, financial services, job coaching). They’ll be speaking about entrepreneurship, earning more, finding a mentor, landing your dream job, etc. Cost:$199 $149 only after $50 rebate No Risk: There’s a 30 day money back guarantee associated with this program, no questions asked.
by Jacques Sprenger on November 2, 2009
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Have you got some extra cash you’ve squirreled away, waiting to be put to good use? If you’ve got your debt paid down and your emergency fund taken care of, and you’re fortunate enough to have additional disposable income or a windfall to work with, then here are a few ideas about where to put that cash.
Savings account rates are not exactly where we want them right now. Even the best online savings accounts these days are yielding relatively lower returns; Bankrate surveys show that the best cd rates aren’t too exciting, with the average yield for a three-month CD lingering at 0.86 percent. There is an understandable fear to invest in stocks and the mattress is no longer an acceptable option (has it ever been?). How can one obtain some decent returns in this close to zero prime rate environment?
Image from ColoradoEnergyNews.com
Where To Invest Extra Cash and Savings Today
1. Invest In A Checking Account
Recently, I discovered quite by accident, a regional high yield checking account (also known as a rewards checking account) that was returning up to 4.25% APY if certain qualifications are met. For example, the bank asks that you:
Have no more than $25,000 in the account to earn that interest rate (.95% will be paid on any amount above that limit).
Make a minimum of 10 debit card purchases per month. ATM withdrawals do not count.
Sign in to your online account at least once a month.
Manage your account electronically. The bank won’t be sending out paper statements with everything done electronically.
The great aspects of this offer are that it requires no minimum balance, and offers a free ATM and debit card, FDIC insurance, $500 overdraft privilege and free online banking. If you don’t comply with the requirements, your APY drops precipitously to 0.10 %. For more details, check out CheckingFinder.com.
by Silicon Valley Blogger on November 1, 2009
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If you’re a borrower who’s looking to get a personal loan that’s potentially cheaper than at banks or loan companies, or if you’re an investor who’s interested in a new way to invest in short term instruments, you may be interested to know that there’s a particular service that allows both borrowers and investors to help each other out via a special network, called a peer to peer lending network.
The idea is to match borrowers and lenders/investors without the need for a “middleman”. We’ve covered this type of service in a lot of past articles, such as in this Lending Club review. But I’d like to mention another well known company in this space that is offering some cash bonuses for its members: Prosper has a few ongoing promotions right now.
by Silicon Valley Blogger on October 31, 2009
| 6 comments
This gave me the giggles, especially since this dance style seems so utterly familiar (I know too many people who move this way…. ). The music used in the video was playing non-stop at my kids’ school yesterday, where I spent a lot of the afternoon, attending their Halloween party. So now it’s engraved in my head (arrrgh).
Have a great Halloween! I’m going to be manning the house today, handing out the treats while the rest of the family goes on the prowl with the rest of the neighborhood.
By the way, it’s too late for this year, but I’m getting this bubble fogger machine for next year’s occasion. It’s easily the most awesome Halloween item (toy?) I’ve seen in action in a while. It works like a bubble machine, except when the opaque bubbles burst, they release a mist.
Disclaimer: I'm not a financial professional, and I'm not in the business of giving advice. This is a personal blog and most of the content here is based on my own experiences and opinions. I hope to use this site as a way we can both learn from each other. I also earn income from this site, so I accommodate advertisements here.
