Do You Need Life Insurance after You Retire?

March 25, 2013

It’s hard to believe, but the 20-year term life insurance policies my wife and I have are about to expire. We bought them when we adopted our children, and my how time flies. And it has me wondering whether we need to have life insurance as our kids leave the house and we start looking [...]

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How Late Payments Affect Your Credit Score

March 19, 2013

Photo: TheTruthAbout Late payments may be the bane of your credit score perfection, or they may just be part of your overall credit mediocrity. How late your payments are, how perfect your score is otherwise, and a host of other factors all play into how much a late payment (or multiple late payments) will affect [...]

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How I Clobbered the Market in 2012

March 13, 2013

About three years ago I did the unthinkable–I started investing in individual stocks. As a long-term, buy and hold, index fund investor, dipping my toe in the deep end of the pool was unnerving. But there I was, buying shares of Citi in my SEP IRA that I have with Scottrade. There were two reasons [...]

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The Future of Mobile Banking

March 13, 2013

Photo: BankSimple Mobile banking apps make banking and managing finances more convenient and less time consuming. They also reduce the need for working with loads upon loads of paper, like all those forms you need to fill out in brick-and-mortar banks. The most common activities performed by mobile banking app users include scanning and depositing [...]

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Capital One 360 Review

March 12, 2013

As you may have heard, Capital One recently purchased ING Direct. Now called Capital One 360, it’s an online bank that offers everything from checking accounts to savings accounts to bank accounts for children. My wife and I have had a savings account at ING direct for a number of years. We’ve also opened up [...]

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Why You Should Save Money

March 7, 2013

Photo: Tax Credits I charge both of my children rent to live in our home. Even our daughter, who’s a senior in high school, pays rent. But it’s probably not what you think. I “charge” them rent by requiring them to save 50% of the gross income they make from their jobs. It’s still their [...]

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6 Simple Tips for Home Sellers

March 6, 2013

With the real estate market showing some signs of life, many people will be putting their homes up for sale. As a homeowner and real estate investor, I know firsthand that there are simple things you can do to increase your chances of selling your home fast and at a great price. So I was [...]

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20 of the Best Checking Account Promotions and Deals

March 4, 2013

We just opened a new checking account at Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct). We not only got a $50 bonus, but we earn interest on our balance. This experience got me to wondering just how many great checking account promotions are available. With a little bit of research, we came up with what I [...]

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Dow 14,000–Interview with Gerri Willis of the Willis Report

March 1, 2013

Recently Gerri Willis of the Willis Report (Fox Business Network) and I had a chance to exchange email on the Dow. With it recently surpassing 14,000 (again), I wanted to get Gerri’s take on the Dow’s historic climb (I guess history does repeat itself). As somebody who largely ignores the hoopla around something like Dow [...]

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