Washington Mutual has raised the rate on their Online Savings + Free Checking combo to 4.0% APY. This is now the highest of the no-minimum no-fee savings accounts. Curiously, HSBC Direct actually dropped their rate to 3.25% APY earlier this … [Read the rest]
How We Tried To Save Money On A Trip To Spain
Posted on September 23, 2008 // 27 Comments
The tickets are booked and hotel reservations are made for our trip to Spain. Of course, all this economic turmoil makes me a bit nervous, but the fact that we finally finished saving up for our 6-month Emergency Fund makes me much more comfortable. … [Read the rest]
Travel and Money: Best Way To Get Cash, Best Credit Cards, and Safety Concerns
Posted on September 19, 2008 // 39 Comments
I wouldn't say my wife and I are well-traveled, but we do try and experience other cultures whenever we can. Given work constraints and Corporate America's hatred of vacations (2 weeks a year??), we are lucky if we can manage one trip per year. … [Read the rest]
Want To Bail On Your Stocks? Answer 2 Questions First.
Posted on September 18, 2008 // 28 Comments
In response to a few reader questions, all relating to moving their investments into something safer: Question #1: Why do you really want to sell? Can you predict future movements of the stock market? I can't. If you could, then you should … [Read the rest]
September 2008 Investment Portfolio Update
Posted on September 18, 2008 // 24 Comments
Given recent events, I suppose I should take a look at how my investments are doing. I am also planning to make some large-ish 401k contributions and need to figure out which asset classes to buy in order to rebalance my portfolio. … [Read the rest]
Money Market Fund Breaks The Buck: What’s Safe Now??
Posted on September 17, 2008 // 31 Comments
One of the largest and first money market mutual funds ever has broken the buck yesterday. The Primary Fund, run by The Reserve, with $65 Billion in assets, saw it's per-share price drop from the standard $1 to 97 cents, due to it's holdings of … [Read the rest]
Financial Meltdown Explained: Greed, Leverage, and Keeping Up With The Joneses
Posted on September 16, 2008 // 46 Comments
Yesterday on CNBC, the Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis talked about the financial meltdown. He pinned on a few things: greed, leverage, and keeping up with the Joneses. Lots of homeowners out there are in trouble with their mortgages. Some got … [Read the rest]
Is Money The Secret To A Happy Marriage?
Posted on September 15, 2008 // 42 Comments
The New York Times had an article this weekend called The Key to Wedded Bliss? Money Matters*. It was kind of hit and miss for me, but I did like one particular quote: “A lot of the debates people have about money are code for how we want to … [Read the rest]
Stock Chart Simulator: Would You Make A Good Day-Trader?
Posted on September 12, 2008 // 43 Comments
Have you ever daydreamed about becoming a daytrader? Sitting at home in your pajamas, making some clicks here and there, and making money out of nothing. Much of daytrading is based on technical analysis, of which Wikipedia says: Technical … [Read the rest]
Rule of Thumb For Reasonable Housing Costs?
Posted on September 10, 2008 // 23 Comments
In an earlier post on motivating myself to work harder, I had thrown out a piece of "common" financial advice: Spend less than 30% of income on housing. It was really just an afterthought, but I got a bunch of e-mails about it. Where did you … [Read the rest]
Scottrade Referral Code: 7 Free Trades
Posted on September 10, 2008 //
Through October 31st, 2008, the referral bonus from Scottrade is now worth 7 free trades (instead of the usual 3) when you open an account with at least $500. At $7 per trade, that's worth nearly $50. If you need a referral code, please contact me … [Read the rest]
Should Home Ownership Be The Dream?
Posted on September 9, 2008 // 40 Comments
Now to the bigger picture... As of today, the U.S. government is the largest mortgage lender in the country. And that means, if things continue to go badly in the housing market, you and I as taxpayers get to pay for bad mortgages! Hurray! … [Read the rest]
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