December 2006
You are currently browsing the articles from General Finance written in the month of December 2006.
It is the end of the year and that means contributing to your Roth 401k. My wife reminded me yesterday that we need to put some more money in there to reach our 2006 limit in deposits. I will need to examine our portfolio and place the money in the place that gives us the best diversification. There could be a mutual fund or company stock. I have been crunching some numbers and examining some large cap stocks in the S&P 500 and I will decide soon what is best.
We have until April 15 to make the limit of our Roth IRA contribution for 2006 so we might even wait to see how the stock market shakes out after the beginning of the year.
Written by Nagel on December 31st, 2006 with no comments.
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Since the end of November Apple (AAPL) stock has taken a dive from being over 93 to its current 80. That is about a 14% drop in 4 weeks for the ipod maker.
Much of the pressure AAPL is receiving is due to its options practices, and this is not the first time. This time, CEO Steve Jobs has allegedly received an option grant that was not board approved–though it was supposed to be approved.
Friday, things seemed to get cleared up and AAPL jumped up almost 5%. So it looks like this story should end up much ado about nothing.
Written by Nagel on December 30th, 2006 with no comments.
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My wife received a notice in the mail today from her credit card that effective February 1, 2007 they will begin to charge interest on the day of purchase. Now most people throw these notices away without reading them. That can be a costly oversight because rising fees is becoming a trend in the industry.
This is just the beginning for more draconian measures by credit card companies. With Congress’ blessing they have started to milk every dollar out of cardholders that they can.
0% balance transfers might be a thing of the past soon. Currently, there is usually a transfer fee that goes along with the balance transfer. I have only done these transfers when there was no charge that went along with the transaction. A Smartmoney.com article can help you decide if you should transfer a balance from one credit card to another. Do not count on this free money in the future.
Rewards are dwindling into oblivion. Those cards that offered 5% back on gas and groceries are changing their tune. Most companies already have started cutting back their reward plans so do not count on these as a permanent help to you.
Also, watch out for the other fees associated with credit cards. Companies are more scrutinized so they have changed tactics by increasing fees on things that are not so obvious. For example, instead of jacking up the most expensive fee for a late payment, they hike the lower tiers of fees so it can go under the radar.
Credit is an important thing to have, but the credit card industry might go too far this time and begin to lose customers or invite a governmental investigation. The more calls our representatives in Congress get the more pressure they will put on credit card companies to change these trends. We shall see what happens.
If you want to see some cards that are still offering good deals take a look at Consumerism Commentary blog.
A devil’s advocate view is posed by Blueprint.
Written by Nagel on December 28th, 2006 with no comments.
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I have one week left at my old job and will start my new job on 01/02/07. My old company will continue to cover me until one month after my last day. My new company does not cover until after 60 days. Therefore, there will be a gap in coverage. Now when I was 23 years old I would have went a month without health insurance, but at 34 years old it does not seem to be the choice I once thought it to be.
COBRA is an option for me for that month. However, the cosdt is usually extremely high. My probably choice will be to get short term health insurance through a typical health-care provider. It usually costs about $60-70 a month and it covers for catastrophic claims. I probably will not need my health care coverage for that month so the most cost-effective course in this option.
My wife is also covered at my current job so this might influence me to take the COBRA insurance depending on the expense. If the differnce is significant we will go a month with the short-term health care coverage, otherwise it is COBRA.
You can get a quick quote online by going to the many sites that revolve around short-term coverage. Try ehealthinsurance.com to compare plans and signup if you like what you see.
If you want to learn about negotiating doctor bills take a look at Blueprint’s article.
Written by Nagel on December 27th, 2006 with no comments.
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2006 has been a busy year for me. I was married on December 23, 2005 (I will count this as 2006), we went on our honeymoon to Italy in March, I had job issues, we had a very difficult time finding a house to buy, and just last week I switched jobs.
Now I think things will settle down a little so I can plan some financial goals for the new year.
1. Pump more money into our retirement accounts. We want to max out our Roth IRAs as well as increase our contributions to our 401ks (my new 401k has much better options than my current one).
2. Create an emergency fund of at least 6 months of expenses in case of a job loss, injury or some other major financial incident.
3. Wipe clean all my student loan and credit card debt. Neither amount is high, but I have been paying my student loan for almost 10 years so it will be nice to close that account permanently. My wife and I have put a little money on a 0% purchase credit card for furniture, but we should easily be able to pay that off in the next several months.
4. Save enough to do home improvements. Our house we purchased is 40 years old. It is in great condition, but like all houses it has a lot of small projects that need to be done as well as one big one–rehabbing the kitchen (it is the original). We want to be able to complete this without borrowing money.
5. Start a roof fund. When we bought the house we were told the roof was 6 years old; it is actually 12 years old and probably only has about 5 years left. Therefore, we need to start saving now for that eventuality.
6. Start investing outside of our retirement accounts. We hope to have enough to begin investing our non-retirement money in 2007. Unfortunately we have not been able to do that because we were saving for a down payment for a house for a long while.
These are some lofty goals. We might not reach them all in 2007, but we sure plan on trying our best.
I hope we all can reach our 2007 financial goals. Good luck to you and have a great 2007!
Take a look at others’ goals on Consumerism Commentary.
Check out pfblog’s financial goals for 2007.
Check out 2million’s net worth.
Moneysmartz has some tools to help you with your financial goals.
Personal Finance Advice has this to say about 2007.
Written by Nagel on December 26th, 2006 with 3 comments.
Read more articles on Household and Real Estate and Stocks.
Often when we research money and finance one of the last places you think to look is the government. While you can like or dislike the government’s bureacracy they do have some productive websites to help you and me. From finance regulation to how to do your taxes, you can find it all on federal government websites.
ftc.gov
The Federal Trade Commission provides a wealth of information on everything from cars to travel. This site is especially helpful because it is the safest place to get your credit reports for free.
energy.gov
The Department of Energy has a consumer portion of the site where it explains tax breaks available for energy conservation as well as the How To’s on conserving energy in your home and for your car.
irs.gov
Yes, the IRS can be helpful. Their site is so useful when it comes to taxes. You should see them as your friends not enemy. They have so many tips that can save you time, headaches and money.
These sites are by no means the full list, but they are a great starting point to get trustworthy advice on a rtange of topics.
Written by Nagel on December 26th, 2006 with no comments.
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I have not talked about the stock buys that I made in the past couple months so I thoought it would be a good time to recap. Qualcomm (QCOM) has been declining–please read this Bloomberg article. So I am a little over 2% down since I bought QCOM. Within days of buying it it was up over 5% so this has been a big swing.
Walgreen’s is up over 4% since my purchase rebounding from being down over 10% at one time during my ownership of the stock. I feel confident that WAG will continue to do well and I will probably hold it until it gets near the $52 range when it was crushed by the Wal-Mart $4 perscription rollout.
Pfzier (PFE) has performed well over the past week after being lackluster for a while. Currently it is up over 5% since my purchase and I plan on holding until it gets back to its price before their recent drug pullout out of Phase III testing.
I have some 401k rollover money coming my way since I am leaving my job. I think I have found a stock I like, but I need to wait until my account funds.
Written by Nagel on December 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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This article on Money Magazine online gives you insight on how to “Be A Millionaire.” They have 5 easy steps, but let’s see if they are really that easy. This article is a good companion piece to Financial Resolutions for 2007. So check out both articles for ways to improve your finances.
Written by Nagel on December 24th, 2006 with no comments.
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Often new years bring resolution for many Americans. Losing weight and getting in shape get the most attention and typically by February the resolutions are broken. For 2007 try to make a financial resolution and keep track of your progress to help you keep it.
1) Start a Budget: You need to know where you money is going. Keep your receipts and create a simple spreadsheet to track your spending month-to-month. You will be amazed to see how much money you spend on certain items and you will find ways to save money for your or your family’s future.
2) Learn about Investing: You may not know anything about investing, but you need to have some idea on how investing works. You need to save and invest for your retirement so you need to know some basics so your retirement nest egg grows. If you are knowledgeable about investing begin to teach your spouse, your children, friends or family.
3) Simplify your financial life: Get an online bank account and bill pay—you will never need to worry if your check gets there on time any longer because bill pay will do it for you. If you have a hard time keeping track of investments consolidate them as much as possible.
4) Plan a financial strategy with goals: Maybe your goal is to buy a home—set up a plan on how you can reach that goal. Maybe you want to retire at 50 years old—plan how you can realistically do that.
5) Shop around: There is a lot of competition for your money out there so shop around for deals on credit cards, banks, investment accounts, etc.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of ways to make your financial life better and easier. So if these do not fit try your own, but do try to make some financial changes for the new year.
Written by Nagel on December 23rd, 2006 with 1 comment.
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