January 2012

YAP Prepaid MasterCard Review

January 21, 2012

Update: The YAP MasterCard is no longer available. But a popular alternative with very low fees is the Walmart MoneyCard Prepaid MasterCard. You’ve probably never heard of the YAP Prepaid MasterCard. While it’s not the most popular prepaid card, there were two things about this card that caught my attention. First, as I’ll explain below, [...]

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5 Online Tools for Tracking Your Cash

January 19, 2012

I often think of my mom and her frugal ways. She was a budget goddess. In the days before the pc, lap top, tablet and smart phone phenomenon, she implemented a budget system that anyone could manage – anyone who was committed that is. It was the envelope system. When the paycheck came home my [...]

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Cash or Credit – How Should You Pay?

January 18, 2012
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Photo: Rareclass Trying to figure out the best way to manage your money takes some careful thought. One money management question we face everyday is deceptively simple–should you pay with cash or credit. On the surface the choice between paying with cash or using a credit card seems straightforward. Many of us make this decision [...]

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A Review of Mint.com – Online Budget Tool

January 17, 2012

I‘ve been a long time user of Mint.com. If you’re not familiar with Mint, it is a free online personal budgeting tool that allows you to see your whole financial life in one place.  Whether it’s checking, savings, credit cards, PayPal, investments, retirement accounts or many other personal finance accounts, Mint.com is your one stop [...]

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How to Invest with Just $25 A Month

January 13, 2012

When I started investing in the stock market back in 1993, my wife and I were dirt poor. I’d just graduated from law school, and our net worth was a negative $55,000. We still wanted to start investing, but we were faced with a big problem–how do you invest when you don’t have much money? [...]

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How Half a Percent Can Ruin Your Retirement

January 12, 2012

Last year one of my largest expenses was one I never saw. I didn’t get a bill for it. And I didn’t have to pay it, at least not directly. But it still cost me a small fortune. I’m talking about investment costs in the form of mutual fund expenses. Mutual fund expenses present two [...]

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Official 2012 Federal Income Tax Brackets

January 10, 2012

The final figures for the 2012 Income Tax Brackets have been confirmed by the IRS (pdf file). The current tax rate structure we use has been in place since 2003 and consists of 6 rates: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35%. These 6 tax rates will remain in effect through 2012, but we expect [...]

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Beware of Debt Collectors Bearing Gifts

January 9, 2012
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Photo: wajakemek | rashdanothman Imagine that you have unpaid credit card debt. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the statute of limitations on the debt has expired, so you are not legally obligated to pay. But your credit score has taken a dive, so getting more credit seems impossible. And then comes [...]

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Reader question: Should you invest in a 401(k), a Roth IRA, or pay off credit card debt?

January 8, 2012

Recently a reader e-mailed me with the following question: I definitely do want to open a Roth IRA as soon as possible because I hear it’s typically better than the Traditional IRA. However, I’m not certain whether one should be putting money way in one’s 401K or Roth. As you can tell, I’m not that [...]

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