tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56926636437772969872011-11-27T18:20:18.850-05:00a personally written blog about personal financeDavid Gongnoreply@blogger.comBlogger481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-53537400063131669552007-08-03T22:19:00.000-05:002007-08-03T22:53:58.447-05:00

I'm trying to do some forecasting (related to job search activity) and came across an AWESOME financial site -- MoneyChimp.Here are some quick and easy calculators I recommend from the site:Roth IRA contribution limitsRoth IRA retirement calculatorCompound interest calculatorFederal tax bracketsI definitely recommend clicking around the site to learn more. Pretty cool. (Caveat -- I just hope

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-65809743666623935562007-07-16T20:42:00.000-05:002007-07-16T20:53:00.132-05:00

I received a solicitation letter from First National Bank Omaha today. The offer was 1.99% APR on balance transfers in the first three billing cycles, for life.Almost immediately, I thought about doing some more arbitrage. Meaning, I envisioned getting a high credit limit on this card, getting that amount transferred to another card, withdrawing the credit balance, and then investing that money

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-28103650612188418292007-07-15T18:53:00.000-05:002007-07-15T18:56:07.241-05:00

Very interesting article on the best days to make certain purchases. Honestly, I'm not sure how accurate this, given that the suggestion is to buy clothes on Thursdays, before retailers stock their shelves for the weekend. Last I heard from my friends in the fashion and retail businesses, seasonal collections stay out for more than a week, so shopping every Thursday seems unnecessary.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-73779932048325342642007-07-14T12:55:00.000-05:002007-07-14T13:04:57.622-05:00

When I first started reading about personal finance as a young pup (aka fresh out of college), one of the things that seemed to echo throughout was the importance of saving. Sure, investment gains are great, but a big key to growing wealth was to save.Circumstances (low income, student loans, bad spending habits) prevented me from saving much in the first half of my post-college life, but since (

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-28698213369962639782007-07-14T12:50:00.000-05:002007-07-14T13:05:30.873-05:00

It's been a long hiatus, with some soul-searching in between, but for now, I'm back. Here's an update (primarily because I'm feeling so good about how things have been turning out):Not counting my mutual fund holdings, which totals a number of contributions since the start of the year, below is a table that shows my stocks and ETFs, with performance from when I purchased them this year.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-64429007164574678202007-02-20T23:22:00.000-05:002007-02-20T23:29:46.211-05:00

Flipping through the current issue of Money magazine. The focus is on Baby Boomers, and to reinforce some of the attributes of that generation, there's a feature story on how to look younger.There's stuff about hair transplants, teeth whitening, Botox, etc. What caught my eye was the part about fat and, particularly, abdominal etching. I had never heard of this but there's now a procedure where a

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-47556060481285423502007-02-19T20:09:00.000-05:002007-02-19T20:17:51.314-05:00

This past Friday, I went up to Boston to meet a client for dinner and a show (he's a comedian and part of an improv group). I got up there in mid-afternoon, and after checking in, called down to the hotel's concierge to arrange for a cab.When I went downstairs at the pre-arranged time to meet my cab, no one was there. I asked the concierge if the cab had been confirmed and while she said it was,

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6370810858722387912007-02-19T19:57:00.000-05:002007-02-19T20:05:46.895-05:00

Tis the season to do your taxes, or find an accountant. Thanks to two moves last year, working in three different states and pure joy at the thought of having a professional wade through the mess that is our tax code, I'll be going the latter route.Whether you're hiring someone or doing it yourself, here is a list of deductions to remember (courtesy of the March issue of Money):Phone tax credit:

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-37875507515716142582007-02-19T10:35:00.000-05:002007-02-19T10:42:30.536-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year!The latest Carnival of Personal Finance is hosted by Stock Market Beat.Some cool articles include another on credit card arbitrage and a warning on the perils of penny stocks. My own how to guide on opening an IRA is also listed.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-90914404958802665902007-02-15T10:05:00.000-05:002007-02-15T10:12:07.237-05:00

Came in to work today and when I saw my stock ticker, I almost had a heart attack. Baidu had dropped 10%. I looked up news of the company, fearing that the world was falling apart (at least in China).Appropriately enough, the headline of the first article I read said something along the lines of "Baidu collapses." I read further, and found out that Baidu reported soaring profits. In fact, the

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-67553025520022607012007-02-14T10:25:00.000-05:002007-02-14T10:27:47.324-05:00

JLP over at AllFinancialMatters has posted some great information on how not all index funds are equal. This is a good read because everyone, myself included, usually assumes that throwing your money into an index fund makes the most sense. The research shows that you need to be mindful of the expense ratios because even among mutual funds that are supposed to easy/passive, some are more

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-5490604765045883102007-02-13T21:40:00.000-05:002007-02-13T22:05:40.125-05:00

To facilitate the recharacterization of my Roth IRA contribution from last year, I had to open up a traditional IRA at Fidelity. Even though I had four separate accounts with Fidelity at that time, I actually never went through their online account opening process. I was surprised and pleased just how easy it was (disclaimer: I'm not getting paid for this endorsement, though I wouldn't mind ).The

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-45985571536445256882007-02-12T10:10:00.000-05:002007-02-12T09:57:59.530-05:00

I had mentioned this earlier, but here's a great write-up in Fidelity's Investor Weekly newsletter about putting money into a non-deductible traditional IRA, and then converting that into a Roth in 2010. This is great for people who find themselves currently unqualified for a Roth.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-63856978819292340282007-02-12T09:52:00.000-05:002007-02-10T03:12:29.566-05:00

The latest Carnival of Personal Finance is up at 2 million's blog. There are a couple of good tax-related posts ('tis the season), including one on overlooked deductions and relief of tax headaches. My post about going over my IRA limit was also included, though buried deep down. =)Definitely check it out !

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-68538460506926530242007-02-09T12:45:00.000-05:002007-02-08T16:19:59.779-05:00

Thanks to my friend's recommendation, I went to see an accountant today for help on my 2006 taxes. Man, was the wait long. It was actually the second time I went to see the guy, but the first time was around lunch time, and there really was no hope to get in within a reasonable time period.Today, I thought I'd be smart and get there by 10. I was smart, as it only took an hour before I got in

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-74622582889599911842007-02-08T16:16:00.000-05:002007-02-08T09:22:37.573-05:00

Due to my need to recharacterize my 2006 Roth IRA, I had sent Fidelity an email asking how to go about that. Below is their response:Yes, you can recharacterize the $4,000 Roth IRA contribution to a non-deductible Traditional IRA.There are no tax implications for recharacterizing to a Traditional IRA before April 17, 2007. With a recharacterization, Fidelity would transfer your 2006 Roth IRA

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-64230125257933023552007-02-07T20:23:00.000-05:002007-02-07T20:27:53.182-05:00

Thanks to a post by AllFinancialMatters, I was reminded of an article I read recently about annuities. The article came in handy, as it helped me resist falling into the tangled web a financial advisor was weaving to bring me into his lair.Anyway, the gist of the article, by Kiplinger, is that annuities are a rip off. Given that some of my friends are/have been/will be talking to the same advisor

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-60835657912346536622007-02-07T17:10:00.000-05:002007-02-07T17:12:43.543-05:00

Who wants to have their tax returns audited? I do!Just kidding.Anyway, a nice article on CNN Money about tax audit red flags.On an side note, it's getting really depressing to know that I've exceeded the income threshold that'll increase the odds of my getting audited -- depressing because I didn't even really make that much in 2006. Stupid relocation costs! =P

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-42621616378388841192007-02-06T21:01:00.000-05:002007-02-06T21:25:11.089-05:00

Thanks to two relocations in 2006, as well as a signing bonus, a merit bonus, a raise and a salary adjustment, I was in for a shocker when I received my W-2 a week and a half ago.Since I'm single (woe), my ability to contribute the full amount allowed ($4k) for a Roth IRA begins to phase out when my "modified adjusted gross income" reaches $95k. Don't ask me what modified adjusted means, but the

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-45109053830217734732007-02-06T16:25:00.000-05:002007-02-06T16:28:41.161-05:00

Here are a couple of links worth reading:The first is a quick recap of the traditional IRA. This has come up with me recently because, due to two relocations in 2006 being imputed to me as income, I realized I was disqualified from making a Roth IRA contribution (which I already did). Hopefully, recharacterization would be too much of a hassle.The second is a write-up on life cycle funds. Many of

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-52765857812218694982007-02-05T17:27:00.000-05:002007-02-05T17:45:36.964-05:00

Cutting-to-the-chase-moral: Keep PDFs of your credit card applications!I recently started to do an app-o-rama with credit cards, aka credit card arbitrage (aka get a bunch of cards with 0% apr, do a balance transfer and put the money into a savings account to earn interest). There are some good "deals" out there in terms of cards with balance transfer fees waived. One such deal I found was for

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-25703106673553597402007-02-05T16:51:00.000-05:002007-02-05T16:57:47.591-05:00

I've recently sat through a pitch for variable life, and so have some of my friends. The advisors that sell this stuff are like snake oil salesmen. When you're in the middle of the pitch, you can't help but think everything they say makes total sense.--------------------------------------Now, I suspect that part of the sales pitch for this VUL policy was the promise of tax-free returns down the

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-31596434594749393812007-02-03T00:58:00.000-05:002007-02-03T01:04:21.241-05:00

In its attempt to get more user data and make their search results more personalized, Google has launched a few new services -- most notably, Search History. I definitely recommend reading this post on Search Engine Land for more details.Basically, the company that claims to do no evil will be defaulting new users to have their search history saved with Google (anyone remember the AOL fiasco?).

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-26474283310058330032007-02-03T00:54:00.000-05:002007-02-03T00:58:21.700-05:00

With all the recent changes to mileage programs, where airlines are taking away your miles earlier, its nice to see the increase in articles with advice on how to combat that. Here's a free article from the Wall Street Journal on how to save those miles.The one thing the reporter didn't mention is that if you have an airline credit card, you can keep your account active by making a charge and

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-76279538708177530842007-02-02T10:40:00.000-05:002007-02-02T10:41:40.504-05:00

For all my recent enthusiasm on earning points in Starwood's Preferred Guest program, this forum thread is a bit of a downer.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-45963433644949887272007-02-02T09:59:00.000-05:002007-02-02T10:12:32.388-05:00

I work in the online marketing space, and I like to think I know my stuff about the industry. That said, I decided some time ago to place a bet on Yahoo. The company's been faltering a bit, and there are many valid doubts about the company's management and monetization technology. However, beyond the short term skepticism, I think the company has the most important components -- audience and

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-23544212943462500322007-02-01T19:04:00.000-05:002007-02-01T19:50:13.534-05:00

Last year, I paid off the last of my student loans and went debt-free for the first time. This year, I decided to better track my net worth than in the past. Previously, I'd keep one "current" column on my spreadsheet, and while it was great in providing a snapshot of where I was at that moment, it didn't do me much good in terms of seeing my trends.Unfortunately, I neglected to really get

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-71980371324200822652007-01-30T19:18:00.000-05:002007-01-30T19:28:46.003-05:00

One of the best things about traveling for work is the ability to build up loyalty points to earn free travel. Airlines make it really tough to redeem miles, so I've been thinking about focusing my efforts on earning hotel points instead. Based on some research I've done, I decided Starwood's Preferred Guest program is by far the best.With each stay, you earn two points per dollar spent. Once you

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-29574905649266877242007-01-28T12:11:00.000-05:002007-01-28T12:25:10.040-05:00

I received an email from HSBC yesterday, promoting their new 6% APY for "new money." The gist of the deal is that through April 30, you'll get a 6% APY (vs. the regular 5.05%) for all new money deposited into your online savings account. The higher rate is nice, but is it really worth it in all situations?A friend of mine just IM'ed me about the promotion, and thought he'd be able to get $300/

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-42578968752617852442007-01-28T00:01:00.000-05:002007-01-28T00:11:23.702-05:00

Taking a break from talk of numbers, here are a couple of cool links sent to me by my friends.The first is the latest video from my buddy Robert -- [Hard Reft]. (Note: if you like this, definitely check out some of his other videos. I particularly liked "Wish Diary" -- long but hilarious -- and "RobertFace." His Wii video was actually linked to from CNN.com as well.) The second is the latest

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-22069760283828947762007-01-26T13:50:00.000-05:002007-01-26T13:55:40.723-05:00

Just read this article about how some in the credit card industry think "deadbeats" should pay an annual fee. Now, the deadbeats they're referring to aren't those that don't pay -- they're talking about people who pay their balances in full each and every month. The credit card companies make very little money from those people (a group in which I belong), and according to some (some crazies I

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-39511888352983568082007-01-26T13:24:00.000-05:002007-01-26T13:47:24.786-05:00

Obviously, I'm not going to say I know what stocks/sectors are going to do well, but I do have some ideas on how to pick some winners for your portfolio (this post is in response to the several questions I've received lately about what to buy -- keep in mind that, by day, I'm a marketer, and by night, I'm a blogger; nowhere in between am I a certified financial guru. =)So my first suggestion is

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-81850578299410958702007-01-26T01:00:00.000-05:002007-01-26T01:19:59.378-05:00

Finally back from Tampa. Of course, the return flight was delayed because of traffic into LaGuardia. When will I learn and fly into Newark?Anyway, some great posts from others during my hiatus. This one about target date funds caught my eye. Particularly because one of my friends recently threw his rollover money into a Fidelity Freedom Fund.For those who don't know, a target date fund is

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-51817913397119821382007-01-23T18:45:00.000-05:002007-01-23T18:46:49.525-05:00

Finally, some good news for one of my stocks -- Yahoo Beats Estimates.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-63403721640856824932007-01-23T18:31:00.000-05:002007-01-23T18:45:07.442-05:00

Lately, there's been much talk about how profitable it can be to exploit credit cards with 0% balance transfer offers, including articles written at 2million, Consumerism Commentary and Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.I used to do that back in the day, right after I graduated college. Actually, right after college, I transferred balances left and right to stay financially afloat, because of my

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-56580295307086095392007-01-23T18:13:00.000-05:002007-01-23T18:23:16.170-05:00

Yesterday, a friend of mine showed me two pictures of furniture she was interested in buying. One was for an entire set of bedroom furniture -- bed, dressers and all those other things -- and another was just for a bed. The prices for the sets of furniture were (hypothetically) 1.5x and 1x. She was wondering which one to buy, and I told her to go for the entire set for 1.5x.This actually kind of

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-19375569479815658152007-01-22T22:40:00.000-05:002007-01-22T22:44:40.289-05:00

JLP at AllFinancialMatters recently posted three great articles about calculating returns. He explains things much better than I would, so here are the links:How Total Returns Are CalculatedHow To Calculate the Expected Return on a PortfolioCalculating Personal Rate of ReturnDefinite must-reads!

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-66807937094109839572007-01-22T22:25:00.000-05:002007-01-22T22:27:57.108-05:00

Mutual funds are simple, but they're also complex. Instead of trying to explain them in my typical long-winded fashion, I'll just link to a nice write-up from the Money Walks blog, called Mutual Funds 101.Pay particular attention to #6. That's something to consider when thinking about funds vs. ETFs in taxable (regular brokerage) vs. non-taxable (usually retirement-type) accounts.

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-69537555847402900702007-01-22T22:06:00.000-05:002007-01-22T22:19:04.052-05:00

Recently, the evil empire announced that it'll be offering free real-time stock quotes. Many people would love that. I, on the other hand, have realized (yet again) just how addicted I can be to monitoring my holdings' performances. It's probably similar to a gambler's addiction.I've been using the Windows Vista, and one of the cool new features it has is the sidebar. You can put gadgets on it (

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-80246519653675961452007-01-22T09:44:00.000-05:002007-01-22T09:47:54.213-05:00

There's this thing called Carnival of Personal Finance (actually, there are many different types of carnivals -- check out my right hand column) where bloggers submit articles about -- you guessed it -- personal finance. My post about term life was actually featured in the latest carnival of personal finance, so check it out. Lots of other good articles too written by regular folks like you and

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-43864706132895314922007-01-21T22:41:00.000-05:002007-01-21T23:05:53.166-05:00

One of the strongest pieces of advice out there for retirement/financial planning is to invest in index funds. The rationale is backed by how, over the long term, something like 98% of actively managed funds underperform when compared to the index (usually the S&P 500 index). Actively managed funds are those where the fund managers often make decisions about what to buy, hold and sell based on

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-78232999909161706022007-01-19T19:13:00.000-05:002007-01-19T19:28:30.803-05:00

That's the prevailing advice. It's the smart thing to do, and the numbers through the years definitely support it. But man, is it hard to do. Especially for someone who has a gambler's mentality like me. Speaking tangentially, maybe investing isn't the best thing for someone like me, but its also necessary for someone like me to build wealth. I just need to keep it in check.So today's post is

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-36786151349610979362007-01-18T22:07:00.000-05:002007-01-18T23:20:30.648-05:00

(This is a long one, but I think its pretty interesting if you’re finance-geeky)if you've talked to me lately, you'll realize that I’m not a huge fan of whole life, variable life or any type of cash value life insurance policy. Part of that has to do with bitterness from having been sucked into one such policy a few years ago (one of the worst financial decisions of my life). Another part of that

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-60483855496255784022007-01-18T10:31:00.000-05:002007-01-18T23:06:51.242-05:00

Up until recently, I was a big proponent of cash back credit cards. You didn't get a whole lot back per purchase, but after a while, the 1%/5% breakdown would add up to a decent amount. In fact, I actually hit my $300 limit on my Citibank dividends card in 2006. But I’ve lately been using my rewards cards that give me miles on United and/or points with Starwood. This was somewhat due to the joy I

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-80230974662153061312007-01-17T21:24:00.000-05:002007-01-18T22:57:30.244-05:00

In my Roth IRA, I recently sold off my positions in the Mainstay Small Cap Opportunity Growth fund (motbx). The fund was a mediocre performer for me in the nearly three years I held it. In fact, when the small cap sector was doing lights out, I had only about a 6% annualized return. In other words, combine that with the high expense ratios and the fund stunk.With the proceeds from the sale, I

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-2046250099368955032007-01-17T15:10:00.000-05:002007-01-18T23:04:20.383-05:00

Yesterday was my one year anniversary at work. That also meant that 1/5 of the total stock award I received when I joined was going to vest. I was all excited. I mean, the total number of shares involved wasn't much, but still, I thought it'd be a nice lil' bonus. I had received 170 shares total as part of the award, and on the 16th, I was expecting 34 to vest.I checked my Fidelity account today

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-28324010283606254192007-01-17T00:26:00.000-05:002007-01-18T23:01:53.096-05:00

From people preeminently more qualified than me.Morningstar.com is one of the best sites for financial info. They're not really biased and they don't really make money telling you to buy, buy, buy. That being said, they've put together a series of "lessons" that you can take for free to learn about investing. It's called Investing Classroom.I've gone through some of them and they're pretty

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-83817154040742112552007-01-16T23:40:00.000-05:002007-01-18T22:59:41.801-05:00

Why this, why me, why now...Among most of my friends, I probably know a lot more about personal finance issues than others. I'm by no means an expert who should go on CNBC (first, I don't wear starched shirts and second, i don't think i'd qualify for Asia Squawk Box), but I know my fair share. And I love talking about this stuff. It's something I care about for my own personal situation, and its

David Gongnoreply@blogger.com2