Resume Samples by Experience Level and Industry

Perhaps the best feature is that Microsoft sorts the resume templates and cover letters by experience level and industry. It offers resume and cover letter samples in the following categories (with number of available templates in parenthesis):

• Basic Resumes (85)
• Entry-Level & College Students (85)
• Experienced Professional Resumes (100)
• Job Specific (76)
• Situation-Specific Resumes (e.g., career move)(15)

There are many sub-categories, and the resume template collection can be searched. Users can rate each template on a 5-star scale, so you immediately see user feedback on every resume.

Post Your Resume Online

You can also post your resume online. Microsoft has partnered with monster.com, an online employment site. If you are new to monster.com, you can get started by clicking here.

Resume Building Tips and Articles

Microsoft also offers several articles on how to build an effective resume and general job hunting tip. Here are some of the articles that caught my eye:

• Five Resume Tips for College Students
• Keyword Challenge Find the Right Ones for Your Resume
• Sample Cover Letter for an IT Professional

All in all, Microsoft offers a great resource if you are in the market for a job or just want to update your resume. If you use the service and find a resume template you really like, please leave a comment below to let us know.

And if you're fortunate enough not to be hunting for a job, check out this great personal finance articles and carnivals from the last week:

Personal Finance Articles

• Readers Share Favorite Cash Back Programs (@My Dollar Plan)
• Current Coupon Codes and Money Savings Offers (@Cash Money Life)
• 15 Low Cost Ways to Beat Stress (@Wise Bread)
• Percentages are the Way You Think (@Bad Money Advice)
• How to Budget for Medical Expenses (@The Wallet - WSJ)
• Obama's 2009 Robin Hood Health Care Reform Plan - What's in it for You and How Much Will it Cost Tax Payers (@Saving to Invest)
• Dave Ramsey And The Power of Behavioral Finance (@Moolanomy)

Finance & Investing Carnivals

• Carnival of Personal Finance #214: United States Presidents Edition (@Poorer Than You)
• Carnival Of Money Stories #11 – Money Quotes Edition (@Bible Money Matters)
• Carnival of Personal Finance: New Zealand Edition! (@Man vs. Debt)
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights: Sweet 16 Edition (@Wise Bread)
• Money Hacks Carnival #73: Working For The Weekend Edition (@Money Beagle)
• Carnival of Twenty Something Finances for July 13, 2009 (@Money Under 30)

Once you find what you want to buy on the Internet, cut and paste the url of product information page (the page where you can add the product to your shopping card) into Price Protectr, and it will monitor the Internet for a better deal. Give Price Protectr your email, and it will send you a note when it finds the product at a better price. It can also track the price on items you've already bought, and if the price goes down, you may be able to get some money back if the store you bought from has a 30-day price guarantee. Here's a screen shot of the entry form:

And to make using this tool really easy, Price Protectr offers a Firefox toolbar that enables you to 'cut and paste' the product url into Price protectr with the click of a button. And here's a short video showing how to use Price Protectr:

Now to take your mind off shopping, here are some great personal finance articles and carnivals from the past week:

Personal Finance Articles

• OK, I’m Frugal – Now What? (@Domestic Cents)
• 10 Tips From Tim Ferriss, Guy Kawazaki and Keith Ferazzi on Lifeline Relationships and Mentoring (@Money Energy)
• 4 Quick Money “Fixes” That Will Put You In The Poor House - Amateur Asset Allocator (@Amateur Asset Allocator)
• Quicken offers deal for jilted Microsoft Money users: Consumer Reports Money & Shopping Blog (@Consumer Reports)
• Credit Cards That Don't Require Swiping (@Alpha Consumer)
• An Investor’s Manifesto: 20 Guiding Principles for Investment Success (@Get Rich Slowly)
• Finding an Investment Property with InvestorLoft and PropScout (@My Money Blog)
• 107 Things That Make Good Financial Cents (@Good Financial Cents)
• Commodities - How Natural Resources Affect a Country's Economics (@Mint)
• On Money and Psychology (@Bad Money Advice)

Personal Finance Carnivals

• Carnival of Debt Reduction - Learn Some Investing Basics (@ABCs of Investing)
• Carnival of Money Stories: Father's Day Edition (@Not The Jet Set)
• Carnival of everything about personal finance – 1st Edition (@nil2million)
Festival of Frugality #182 - Revenge of the Fallen Edition (@Stupid Cents)
• Working at Home Blog Carnival-143rd Edition (@Working at Home on the Internet)
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights No. 12: Catch a Wave Edition (@Pecuniarities)
• LivingAlmostLarge » 209th Carnival of Personal Finance (@Living Almost Large)
• Money Hacks Carnival #69 - The Dollar Bill Edition (@Own the Dollar)
• Carnival of Family Life — The Cathy Thorne Cartoon Edition (@The Expanding Life)
• Carnival Of Twenty Something Finances: Numbers Edition (@How I Save Money)
• Festival of Stocks #145 (@Fat Pitch Financials)

Indeed.com saves your most recent searches, and the results can be sorted by salary, company, job title, location and so on. You can also get email updates based on searches you've performed. For example, Indeed.com can notify you when a programming job that meets certain requirements becomes available in your area. So if you or someone you know is looking for a job, Indeed.com looks to be a great employment resource.

Here's a short video showing how to search for jobs on Indeed.com:

There were a number of great blog carnivals and articles this past week, and here are a few that caught my eye:

Articles

• Straight from Google: What You Need to Know (@Matt Cutts) (Note: This article (powerpoint slideshow, actually) is a must read for bloggers and website operators.)
• Amazon’s 25 Software Bestsellers - And Their Free Equivalents (@The Simple Dollar)
• An Interactive Definition Of Upper, Middle, and Lower Class (@The Frugal Dad)
• The Lazy Way to Investment Success (@Get Rich Slowly)
• Get Out Of Debt For Good (@Moolanomy)
• Swoopo - Legitimate Auction Deals or a Scam? (@Cash Money Life)
• Tracking Your Spending For A Month Can Help Open Your Eyes To Unnecessary Expense. (@My Two Dollars)
• Readers Share Lending Club Returns (@My Dollar Plan)
• The Financial Snapshot (@Five Cent Nickel)
• What is the best way to save money? (@ChristianPF)

Carnivals

• Festival of Frugality 180: The Gifts Edition (@Frugal for Life)
• Carnival of Personal Finance: Vacation-time edition (@Funny About Money)
• Money Hacks Carnival #76 - The Land Down Under Edition | Man Vs. Debt (@Man vs. Debt)

Four Editions of TurboTax

TurboTax Free Edition

TurboTax offers a free version of its software for those filing form 1040EZ or a very simple 1040. Online tax filing with e-file is included in the free package, although the state software and filing costs $25.95. The free edition is for those who have to prepare a basic return. If you itemize your deductions, for example, the free edition won't get the job done. If you start with the free edition, and then realize you need to upgrade, TurboTax makes the upgrade very easy, including importing all the data into the new version that you already entered into the free one.

TurboTax Free Edition includes the following IRS Forms (along with some others less commonly used):

• Form 1040--Individual Income Tax Return
• Schedule A--Itemized Deductions
• Form 1040A--Individual Income Tax Return
• Schedule B--Interest & Dividend Income
• Form 1040EZ--Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents
• Schedule EIC--Earned Income Credit

TurboTax also offers what they call a Basic edition, which is very similar to the Free version. The big difference is that with the Basic edition, you can import last year's tax return information if you used TurboTax. So if you have used TurboTax in the past and still have the data, the Basic edition may be the better choice. You can check out more information about the free version on TurboTax's website by clicking here.

TurboTax Deluxe Edition

TurboTax Deluxe was designed for those who itemize their deductions. TurboTax has extensive screens to walk you through every conceivable itemization, which makes completely the return much easier and reduces the risk you'll miss a deduction. So according to TurboTax, if any of the following apply to you, TurboTax Deluxe edition is probably the best version:

• You own your home
• You donated to charity
• You have significant education or medical expenses
• You have childcare expenses
• You have lots of deductions

TurboTax Deluxe federal is $29.95 and includes e-file. The state version, which is optional, costs $34.95. You can check out more information about the Deluxe version on TurboTax's website by clicking here.

TurboTax Premier Edition

TurboTax Premier is designed for those who own rental properties or bought and sold stocks, bonds, ETFs or mutual funds during the year. For example, the Premier edition will, according to TurboTax, "walk you through reporting sales of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Automatically calculates capital gains/losses and tells you how to deduct losses and associated expenses to help you get a bigger refund. Plus it keeps track of capital gains/losses that carry over to future tax returns." Having used the software for several years now, I found it pretty easy to figure out gains and losses on mutual fund sales.

The Premier version costs $49.95 and includes e-file. The state version is optional and costs $34.95. You can find more information on the Premier version at TurboTax by clicking here.

TurboTax Home & Business

Now we get to the Cadillac of TurboTax, the Home & Business edition. This is what I use because of my self-employed income (running a blog and other websites has become a real business!). The Home & Business edition is designed for those that are self-employed, have 1099 income, or run a small business. It costs $74.95, and like the other versions, comes with e-file. The state version is optional and costs $34.95.

You can get more information on the Home & Business edition from TurboTax by clicking here.

Compare TurboTax Versions

If you are still undecided on the right edition of TurboTax for you, here is a quick comparison chart of each version (click image to enlarge):

TurboTax Features

Ease of Use

Perhaps the most important criteria in choosing tax preparation software is how easy it is to use. As tax software has improved each year, they have all gotten easier to use than they were just a few years ago. But I've found TurboTax to be really straightforward. It is easy to navigate to any part of the return. And TurboTax offers a guide that will walk you through each part of the return with a series of questions. Sometimes I use the guide when I'm not as familiar with a certain part of the return. In other areas you can go right to the return itself to enter data.

There are two other features that can make TurboTax much easier to use. First, if you've used TurboTax in the past, importing last year's data is easy. I wasn't able to do that this year because I switched from a Mac to a PC and didn't want to fuss with the conversion. But next year the import feature will come in handy. Second, you can import W-2 and 1099 information if you work at a participating company.

Deduction Finder

This is where tax preparation software can really pay off. TurboTax Deluxe version and higher will walk you through all the possible deductions for your return. Even though I've done our taxes for years, I'm always concerned that I've missed something. With TurboTax, it covers every available deduction, so it acts as a great reminder so you don't miss anything.

Just to give you an idea, here is a screen shot from my Home & Business version of TurboTax that shows the various categories of possible deductions:

You can either click on each item to get more information and enter your information, or you can let TurboTax walk you through every deduction.

Audit Risk Meter

Starting with the Deluxe version, TurboTax offers an Audit Risk Meter. The ARM tells you whether you are at high risk of an audit, and suggests changes you can make to reduce your risk. I wouldn't buy the software for this feature, but it does come in handy. Almost every year TurboTax spots some error I've made in the return that gives me a chance to fix it before filing.

Free E-File

Finally, TurboTax has included free federal e-filing with the cost of its software. Remember that e-File not only makes filing your return a snap, but more importantly, it speeds up your refund. You can get your refund in as few as 8 days.

TurboTax Premier Edition

The first question to ask here is whether you need to pay the extra money for the Premier edition of TurboTax. For most I believe the answer is no. The Premier Edition adds features helpful for those that buy and sell investments. If you have bought and sold a lot of investments in 2008, by all means consider the Premier Edition. For most of us, however, it's just not necessary, UNLESS you own rental properties.

First let's talk about stocks and mutual funds. For most people, they own stocks and mutual funds in 401k, IRA and other retirement accounts. If that's the case, buying and selling investments in retirement accounts does not trigger any tax consequences, so the Premier Edition would be unnecessary. For many others, they invest in mutual funds and trade very little during the year. That describes me, and I wouldn't upgrade to the Premier version just for the few trades that I make. If you have a lot of trades, however, the Premier version can help you wade through all the tax implications.

If you own rental property, however, the Premier version is a must. I own 5 rental units along with a partner (we blog about it our real estate investments at Two Wise Acres), and tax time is always lots of fun. I would not do our taxes without the Premier version. One thing that I've found helpful is the depreciation calculations. We do this by hand, but I always check the results with TurboTax.

Home & Business Edition

This is my first year using the Home & Business Edition of TurboTax. I suspect that I could have gotten away without it, but it has come in handy. Like all other aspects of TurboTax, the Home & Business Edition will walk you through every step, so it helps to know you haven't missed anything. Still, most of the effort comes in gathering all of the information necessary to complete the return. That's when you swear to yourself that next year you'll be more organized.

Regardless of which you chose, I've found TurboTax to make tax preparation as painless as possible. If you'd like more information on TurboTax, you can check out there site: www.turbotax.com.

Discover More Card Benefits

One aspect of the More card that I like is that it has a lot of benefits rolled into one card. You not only get 0% APR on balance transfers, for example, but you also get no interest on purchases. The card also comes with up to 5% cashback (20% cash back with select online retailiers) and an unbeatable 20% rebate if you shop at certain Discover online retailers. And all of these features come with no annual fee. Here is a quick summary of the card's benefits and features, followed by more details for each benefit.

Quick Summary:

• Earn more cash in more ways than anyone else(SM)*
• Unlimited cash rewards, automatically
• Up to 20% Cashback Bonus when you shop online*
• Double rewards with more than 100 Cashback Bonus Partners*
• Customer Service in less than a minute, anytime you want
• 0% Intro APR for 6 months on Balance Transfers and for 6 months on Purchases

  Apply Now!

0% APR on Balance Transfers for 6 Months

The card offers a zero interest balance transfer feature for 6 months. Transferring a high interest credit balance to the Discover More card is easy. On the Discover online application page, you'll see a section on balance transfers that looks like this:

Simply check the box when you submit your application. Later in the process, you enter the credit card account numbers of the cards you want to pay off, and subject to your credit limit, Discover takes care of the rest.

You should be aware that Discover charges a 3% balance transfers fee on the amount transferred. This means, in effect, that you are getting a fixed rate of interest of 3% for the 6-month period. From experience, I can report that Discover may cap the fee if you ask. Either way, this is still a good deal, but if this is the only feature you care about, you may want to consider other balance transfer credit cards.

0% APR on Purchases

Perfect for holiday shopping, the Discover More card offers a 0% APR on purchases for 6 months. Unlike the balance transfer feature, there is no fee to take advantage of the 0% on purchases. Simply use the card, and for six months, pay no interest. You will have to pay at least the minimum payment amount each month, but the entire payment will go to principle, not interest.

5% Cashback

The cashback rewards are one of the best features of this card. The Discover More card offers up to 5% cashback on certain purchases throughout the year. Discover introduces new categories throughout the year, including travel, gas, groceries, restaurants, movies, home, and fasion. And you earn up to 1% cashback on all purchases anytime. Here's the details from Discover:

Earn unlimited cash rewards on all purchases. Earn a full 5% Cashback Bonus on category purchases throughout the year by signing up for each program. In addition, earn a full 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases after your total annual purchases exceed $3,000; other purchases that are part of your first $1,500 earn .25% and other purchases that are part of your second $1,500 earn .50%. Warehouse purchases (those made at select warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates) earn .25%. We do not include warehouse purchases or 5% Cashback Bonus program purchases (up to the dollar limit specified in each applicable program) in calculating your total annual purchases to determine your tier level. Rewards are redeemable in $20 increments. Rewards have no expiration date; however, if your account is closed for any reason or inactive for 18 consecutive months or if you fail to make the Minimum Payment Due by the Payment Due Date for two consecutive billing periods, your Cashback Bonus will be forfeited. Full terms and conditions will be sent with your card.

And you can redeem your bonus for cash in increments as small as $20, and Discover will transfer the funds directly to your bank account.

In addition, Discover let's you redeem your rewards for gift cards and earn up to twice the amount you'd get in cash. Discover has over 100 business partners including retailers like Kohl's, AMC Theater, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Lowe's.

Discover Credit Card's Customer Service

When your shopping for a credit card, customer service is probably not the first thing on your mind. But it will be when you need to reach the credit card issuer for something important. And this is where Discover really stands out. Having spoken to Discover's customer service several times, I know first hand that the customer representatives are friendly and helpful. And Discover promises that you'll reach a live person within sixty seconds of calling customer support.

Customize the More Card

Discover card also let's you chose from more than 150 designs for the More card. While you can browse all of the designs on Discover's online application page, here are a few of my favorites:

The Discover More card is arguably the best overall credit card available. If you'd like to get more information about the card or apply online at Discover, click here.

Burton Malkiel is a Princeton University economist and author of the best-selling book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

Whether you are looking to invest in a new fund or evaluate the funds you already own, the 50-50 rule can help you pick long term winners. The 50-50 Rule has just two components, a fund's expense ratio and its turnover ratio.

Invest in Mutual Funds with an Expense Ratio Under 0.50%

The expense ratio is how much a mutual fund charges investors to manage the fund. An expense ratio of 1%, for example, will cost you 1% each year of the amount you have invested in the fund. An investment of $10,000 will cost $100 for a fund that has a 1% expense ratio. That might not seem like a lot, but at $100,000 invested, the cost goes to $1,000 per year, and at $500,000 the cost goes up to $5,000. Many retirement funds rise to seven figures (hopefully) as you near retirement, so the expense ratio becomes even more important.

Malkiel believes that most investors should stick with funds that charge less than 0.50%. According to his research, funds with expense ratios under 0.5% generally perform better than their higher cost competitors. He does note that with some funds, like those investing in emerging markets or other highly specialized assets, a higher expense ratio may be acceptable. But on the whole, he recommends keeping the costs below 0.50%.

As it turns out, this is the same rule I've followed for years. While some of my funds charge more than 0.50%, my goals is to pay less than 0.50% on a weighted average for all of my mutual fund investments. Currently, my weigted average cost is 0.47%.

If you'd like to check the weighted average cost of your mutual funds, Morningstar's Portfolio Manager is just the tool you need (and it's free). Check out this article on how to use Morningstar's Portfolio Manager for all the details.

Invest in Mutual Funds with a Turnover Ratio Under 50%

The second part of the 50-50 rule is really important, but one that many people overlook. A mutual fund's turnover ratio is the portion of its portfolio that it will trade in a given year. For example, a turnover ratio of 100% means that the fund trades the equivalent of 100% of its portfolio every 12 months. A 100% turnover ratio would not mean that the fund bought or sold every security it owns. Rather, a $100 million fund with a 100% turnover ratio means that it buys and sells securities valued at $100 million each year. And that means that a fund can have a turnover ratio of more than 100%.

There are several factors that contribute to a fund's turnover ratio. First, a fund's management may buy and sell large blocks of securities as part of their investment strategy. Second, if outflows of a fund greatly exceed inflows, a fund may have to sell securities to pay investors as they exit the fund. A fund may also trade securities for tax purposes, matching losses with gains to help minimize the tax hit to its investors.

Malkiel recommends that investors stick with funds with a turnover ratio of 50% or less. The reason he gives is that it costs mutual funds a lot of money to buy and sell securities. And these costs are NOT included in the expense ratio. The reason is that a fund does not know what the cost of trading will be for a given year until the year is over. But the higher the turnover ratio, the higher the costs. Consistent with seeking funds with low expense ratios, funds with low turnover ratios will further keep costs down.

Mutual fund companies must disclose the cost of trading in a document called the Statement of Additional Information. Check out this article on the costs of mutual funds, which includes information on the Statement of Additional Information.

A high turnover ratio can also mean other potential problems with a fund. If your investment is in a taxable account, for example, a high turnover ratio my mean you pay more capital gains tax each year. That's not always the case, as some fund managers can sell stocks at a loss to offset any gains they have accumulated. But a high turnover ratio is at least cause for concern and further investigation.

My Portfolio

Morningstar's Portfolio Manager makes it a snap to see the expense ratio, turnover ratio, and just about every other imaginable data point for your mutual funds. Using Malkiel's 50-50 rule, I checked out my portfolio to see how my funds stacked up. Here is a snapshot:

You can see that the weighted average expense ratio is 0.47%. The turnover ratio, however, is a tad over 50%. This is due entirely to the PIMCO bond fund, and is to be expected for a short to intermediate term bond fund. Apart from this fund, the turnover ratio is well below 50%.

So whether you are looking to invest in a new fund or evaluate the mutual funds you already own, you can use the 50-50 Rule to see how the funds measure up.

For more tips on getting the most out of Morningstar, check out the Morningstar User's Guide.

My virtual library is a collection of online articles and other resources that I've assembled over the years. I originally created this library as a means to conveniently store all of the online materials I've read about retirement accounts (e.g., 401(k) and IRAs), investing, asset allocation, money management and the like. The materials include articles covering very practical aspects of personal finance and investing to more academic pieces. I thought this information would be helpful to you as well, so I decided to make it available here. I've grouped the resources by category, and provided a brief summary of each document. I have many more resources to add to this list, so I'll be updating it regularly. If you know of great resources that are not included here, please let me know via my contact form.

Investing Resources

The Volatility of Correlation: Important Implications for the Asset Allocation Decision
by Williams J. Coaker II, CFP, CFA, CIMA (2006)

This article looks at whether the correlation between the S&P 500 and 15 asset classes is consistent or inconsistent. The findings showed most relationships to the index were inconsistent over time. Interestingly, the author concluded that large cap value provided more diversity than large cap growth, and that small cap value provided more diversity than small cap blend or growth.

Emphasizing Low-Correlated Assets: The Volatility of Correlation
by William J. Coaker II, CFP, CFA, CIMA (link takes you to The Journal of Financial Planning where you can download a pdf version of the article)

Correlation among asset classes change over time. This article looks at the volatility of the correlation of asset classes. The article is extremely well written and includes informative charts showing the historical correlation among the major asset classes. Note, this is a continuation of the article listed above.

Buy The Numbers: Asset Class Correlations
by Richard A. Ferri, CFA (Fall 2006) (pdf download)

This is an ongoing supplement to Mr. Ferri's excellent book All About Asset Allocation. One observation from this paper that really hit home was the following:

It should be noted that low correlation does not always increase return and lower risk. In several cases there is no beneft from adding a low correlation asset class to a portfolio because that asset class does not have the prospect of higher returns. Commodities are one example shown in this report.

New Concepts in Index Categorization
by Richard A. Ferri, CFA (Nov. 2007) (pdf download).

Ferri introduces a new way to classify an index. Rather than using the traditional style box, he proposes the Index Strategy Box. Here's is brief description:

Index providers must follow self-created rules for construction and maintenance. Index Strategy Boxes(TM) differentiates those rules. The process focuses on two primary axes that set apart most indexes; security selection and security weighting. Each axis is divided into three primary categories creating nine boxes. Every index falls into one of those boxes. The system can be applied to all asset classes including stocks, bonds, and commodities.

The paper includes excerpts from his excellent book, The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange-Traded Funds.

Calculating After-Tax Asset Allocation is Key to Determining Risk, Returns, and Asset Location
by William Reichenstein, Ph.D., CFA (2007) (pdf download)

Reichenstein writes a lot about after-tax asset allocation. This article provides a thorough explanation of his approach and the math to support it. Briefly, Reichenstein believes that an investor should take into account how much of a portfolio will eventually be paid in taxes in establishing an asset allocation plan. For example, $100,000 in a Roth retirement account is worth the full $100,000 to an investor. In a 401(k), $100,000 is worth a lot less because taxes must be paid when the money is withdrawn. Here's a chart from his paper that depicts his approach:

A Guide to Understanding Mutual Funds
by The Investment Company Institute (2006) (pdf download) (online html version)

This guide is a thorough yet very approachable summary of mutual funds and establishing an investment plan.

Mutual Fund Prospectus, Tips for Reading One
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2007)

The SEC put out this nice little piece on reading a mutual fund prospectus. My guess is that most investors never read the prospectus. I always do, and this guide will help you wade through what can otherwise be a difficult document to read.

401(k), IRA and Retirement Account Resources

Retirement Plans for Small Business (SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans)
IRS Publication 560 (2006) (pdf download)(online html version)

This is a 27 page very thorough description of SEP, SIMPLE and Qualified Plans. Although it is for 2006 returns, it includes information relevant for 2007.

Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
IRS Publication 590 (2007) (pdf download) (online html version)

The IRS each year issues a very helpful and thorough publication about Individual Retirement Accounts or IRAs. Called Publication 590, the document covers traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and other related issues. You can also check out my summary of what's new in 2008 for IRAs.

Retirement Plans FAQs regarding Designated Roth Accounts
Internal Revenue Service

This guide answers questions about the Designated Roth Accounts (i.e., Roth 401(k)). It's a great resource that is very easy to follow.

401(k) Resource Guide--Plan Participants--General Distribution Rules
Internal Revenue Service

This is a great resource describing the rules relating to distribution of 401(k) balances.

401(k) Resource Guide--Plan Participants--Limitation on Elective Deferrals
Internal Revenue Service

This document describes the contribution limits for 401(k) retirement accounts.

Retirement Plans FAQs regarding IRAs
Internal Revenue Service

This provides some good information about the rules relating to IRAs.

Retirement Planning

Baking a Withdrawal Plan 'Layer Cake' for Your Retirement Clients
by William P. Bengen, CFP

Bengen is the father of the 4% withdrawal rate rule of thumb for retirement savings. In a nutshell, a conservative investor's retirement savings will likely last at least 30 years if the withdrawal rate is limited to 4% each year, adjusted for inflation. Stated differently, multiply the yearly pre-tax income you will need from your retirement accounts by 25, and the result is the amount you'll need in retirement savings. If you are willing to invest more aggressively, Bengen suggests the withdrawal rate can go as high as 7.6%.

Bengen, however, advises his own clients to withdraw no more than 4% as the best conservative approach. He wrote an earlier article on his approach that is worth reading, too: Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data, which was originally published in 1994.

Calculating a family's asset mix
by William Reichenstein (1998) (pdf download)

This article recommends that asset allocation be based on after-tax values. In other words, you should adjust account balances for what you will eventually pay in taxes, and then determine your asset allocation. It also recommends including assets in the mix such as social security benefits, pensions and even your mortgage. This is a very interesting read.

Personal Financial Ratios: An elegant Road Map to Financial Health and Retirement
by Charles J. Farrell, J.D., LL.M. (2006)

This article looks at what your savings to income, debt to income, and savings rate to income should be at various ages if you are on track to retire at age 65 with savings equal to 12 times your income. The numbers can be a bit shocking, so you may want to sit down before reading this one.

Financial and Investing Journals

Journal of Financial Planning--JFP "is the official publication of the Financial Planning Association. Its goal is to foster intelligent and informed dialogue, and enhance the knowledge and understanding of the ever changing technical and practice management aspects facing the growing community of financial planning practitioners. From asset management to the needs of the elderly, all of the complex and diverse aspects of the financial planning process are explored."

Journal of Wealth Management--JWM is "is dedicated to helping you preserve and grow the assets of high-net-worth investors and family offices. It addresses the investment concerns of affluent families and shows you how to profit from new investment vehicles like hedge funds and alternatives."

Journal of Portfolio Management--JPM is a "source for thought-provoking analysis and practical techniques in institutional investing. It gives you cutting-edge research on asset allocation, performance measurement, market trends, risk management, and portfolio optimization. Contributors of The Journal of Portfolio Management are the industry's foremost academics and practitioners, including many Nobel laureates."

Financial Services Review--FSR is "the official publication of the Academy of Financial Services. The purpose of this refereed academic journal is to encourage research that examines the impact of financial issues on individuals. In contrast to the many corporate or institutional journals that are available in finance, the focus of this journal is on individual financial management."

Taxes

The Alternative Minimum Tax--Not Just for the Wealth
Yahoo! Finance How-to Guides

This is a short introduction to AMT. It's an easy read and provides some good information on what is becoming relevant (unfortunately) for more and more taxpayers.

Your Federal Income Tax for Individuals
Internal Revenue Service (2007) (massive pdf download) (online html version)

Also known as Publication 17, this is a 289 page beast of a document. But if you want comprehensive information on individual tax returns, it's a great resource. And the internal navigation of the document is much improved.

A reader recently brought a website to my attention and asked what I thought of it as a money management tool. The site is called PriceAmbush, and it purports to allow you to search the Internet for the best deals on stuff. But I have very mixed feelings about this site. First, it appears to find deals only through Amazon.com, at least based on the searches I ran. While this is not a problem, per se, the site doesn't disclose this fact (at least that I could see). Second, because Amazon's prices on products can change by the minute as can availability of product, I found PriceAmbush's product availability and pricing information to be inaccurate on several occasions. There are, however, two features about the site that make PriceAmbush worth considering.

First, using a very simply and clean looking interface, you can search for any product you want. Of course, you can do this on Amazon.com just as well. I searched for a Nintendo Wii. The results show several places to purchase the Wii, ordered from the least expensive on up. The best price according to PriceAmbush is $574.99 through Amazon. When I clicked through to Amazon, however, the price was listed as $639.99. The second Wii listed was for $599.99, but when I clicked through to Amazon, it wasn't available at any price from that reseller. In fairness to PriceAmbush, these problems are probably due in part to the popularity of the Wii. I did search other products, for example, where the price was lower than what PriceAmbush listed. This raises some questions about the second feature, price alerts.

You can set a price alert that will notify you via e-mail when the product you want is reduced to the price you want to pay. Setting the price alert is easy. This seems to be the only reason to consider using PriceAmbush. However, as noted above, if PriceAmbush is not aware of lower prices on some products, you have to wonder how effective the price alert will be. Also, while this is a potentially useful feature, it's nothing new. Although there are many sites that have the same or similar feature, one is WishListBuddy:

Another promising price alert site is cleverly called PriceAlert.

Have you used PriceAmbush, WishListBuddy or Price Alert? If so, which one have you found to be the most useful?

Oh, and if you want to search for great deals on Amazon the old-fashioned way, here's an Amazon search box (affiliate link) to get you started:

Yesterday I came across a website that identifies unhealthy toys and thought I'd pass it along. HealthyToys is a project of the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. HealthyToys allows you to search for toys by name, brand or type. You can also see a list of the best and worst toys. The worst toy, for example, is the Brush Your Teeth! Robot due to high lead content. Here's what the review of this toy looks like:

Please pass this website along to others. You can click on the "Share This" link at the bottom of the post, then click the e-mail tab and e-mail this article to others who could benefit from the HealthyToys website.

But don't think of Tipping Monkey as entertainment only. It can also teach you about some of the more advanced trading options. For example, do you know the difference between a covered call and a naked put? Trust me, you don't want to leave your puts naked (and I know a few regulators who might be interested if you did). Tipping Monkey allows you to try out these and other more sophisticated investment vehicles and techniques (leverage, short-selling, options and other derivatives) to see how they impact your portfolio's performance.

And if you run a hedge fund on Tipping Monkey, others can invest their virtual money in your fund, which gets its own ticker symbol, quotes and charts. Don't you just love the Internet!