Today is Superbowl Sunday, which I suppose means little outside the US, but it’s especially exciting for those in the Northeast as the N.Y. Giants (who play in New Jersey) meet the New England Patriots, a rematch of the 2008 teams. As someone who grew up in NY, I’m a bit torn between rooting for my old home team and my current home’s team. So much for the sport talk, time for another recap.

First, an update. Just a few days ago, I asked if you were getting 401 K-O’ed, overcharged by your plan. In that article, I mentioned that rules regarding full disclosure of the fees charged within 401(k) accounts would take effect April first. This week, I found that 408(b)(2) Disclosure Regulations are Delayed to July 1, 2012. So it appears the joke will be on us twice, the traditional April fool’s day, and again three months after.

Next, in the wake of Suze Orman’s Twitter meltdown regarding her debit card, the Wall Street Journal reported that the data in a newsletter she co-owns, “understated the performance of the S&P 500” which of course exagerated the relative performance of its model portfolio.  Time for the next round of damage control, I suppose.

Note: the image above is a bowl of San Antonio Chili from Another Fine Meal. A great addition to your Superbowl Menu.

Andrew Tobias discussed Double Taxation and why the claim that all cap gains are from money that’s already been taxed doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. As I view this issue, the average person gets very little in cap gains as most of our savings is probably in retirement accounts, not in regular brokerage accounts. The loopholes that allowed hedge fund managers to turn all their income to cap gains while stealing investing other people’s money should be closed down.

Ron at The Wisdom Journal produced a list of 57 Avoidable Tax Mistakes. Amazing list, worth reading. If I read this years ago, I might have not forgotten to sign my return. Yes, they sent it right back. I was getting a refund that year so no penalty or interest due.

At Free Money Finance, Why You Shouldn’t Count on Social Security. Not that it won’t be there, just that the replacement rate is low enough that for most of us it will only be one component of our retirement funds.

The Financial Buff shared Best Rewards Card for Groceries and Gas: American Express Blue Cash Preferred vs PenFed Platinum Rewards. A 6% back at grocery stores? Hmm, that might just be worth getting.

Note: the image

written by JOE \\ tags: Retirement, Social Security

Another week of Personal Finance blog reading, so with Super Bowl a week away there’s lots of time for another roundup.

First, let’s start with The Car Negotiation Coach’s Auto Industry Trends: 2015 and Beyond Will Be Great for Car Buyers. I like forecasts. Not because I believe the experts all the time, I’m still waiting for my food replicator, after all, but because those who study an industry can often see the trends. In this case, the Coach offers 12 long term trends he sees. I like his prognostication that we’ll be buying cars without having to even go to the card dealer. I also am as hopeful as he is that the Electric Car will become more prevalent.

At Five Cent Nickel, Lisa White wrote Accelerating Your Mortgage Payment. A decent discussion of the bi-weekly mortgage, along with the decision to pre-pay principal each month. I understand the desire to be debt free. No one ever lost sleep knowing their mortgage was paid in full. On the other hand, current mortgage rates are now at record lows. I am now in a 3.5% 15 year fixed rate. Years ago, I’d have bet I’d never live to see a sub-5% mortgage. This also means my after tax cost is 2.5%. With many stocks yielding more than this, the prepaying vs long term investing is one tough decision.

Personal Finance Whiz asks How Much Should I Have Saved for Retirement By Age 30? What I found most interesting was the graph showing the remarkable difference the next 30 years of compounding would bring, ranging from a probably too low 3%, to a high of 12%. It was the difference between $500K and $5.5M. It’s not just about saving, but also getting a decent return.

37 Must-Read Posts for Tax Savings was an excellent resource at Money Spruce. ‘Tis the season, as they say. Tax day isn’t far behind.

Fabulously Broke asked Am I the only one who does this? She used to imagine the things she’d like to buy with that next pay check. Me? I imagine much larger windfalls, tens of millions, but that’s another story.

Last, but most exciting of all, is my refreshed guest post at Don’t Mess With Taxes, titled How your future retirement tax bracket affects today’s Roth IRA decisions. The choice we have each year between investing pre tax in the traditional 401(k) or IRA, vs the Post Tax Roth variants of these accounts isn’t so clear cut. In my guest post at Kay Bell’s site, I go into a deep dive of the numbers. It’s an important decision, choose wisely and you’ll be richer for having done so. Choose wrong, and Uncle Sam will benefit.

written by JOE \\ tags: Mortgage, Retirement

This week really flew by, and it’s time for another roundup. Unlike last week’s all-Suze roundup, this week we’re back to a variety of authors.

Blogger Luke Landes guest posted at Business Insider, a thoughtful article, Yes, There is Such a Thing as Saving Too Much Money. It’s as much about the journey as the destination. Saving to the point you are not happy is certainly saving too much.

New Year resolutions are behind us (you’re keeping up with yours, right?) but Financial Samurai Predictions for 2012 is a great read. 10% on the S&P would be great to see this year.

The Enemy of Debt Brad Chaffee telld us that American Consumers Dive 5.6 Billion Dollars Deeper in Credit Card Debt in One Month. Truth is, this is barely $17 for every person in the US, but it’s accumulated to a $2.5 trillion total. Now you’re talking some real money.

At Beating Broke, advice on how to Save Money by Turning Off Appliances. In a comment, I shared my own experience, an extra computer I left on, till I realized it burned $20 a month in electricity. At 15 cents per kilowatt-hour that’s what a 180W device will cost you.

At The Millionaire Nurse, Dr Dean wrote A Million Bucks? In My 401K? Ya Gotta Be Kiddin’!  No kidding, it’s possible, and takes dedication to putting away as much as you can. The company match helps, of course. Are you maxing out your 401(k) contributions? Are you at least getting the company match?

And to wrap up this week, Len Penzo dot Com’s Roth IRA and Traditional 401(k) Differences – Which Is Better? The biggest missing piece to the puzzle is the not knowing where rates will be in the future or for that matter anything else about the tax structure. This leaves us with a tough decision to make each year.

Another great week of blog reading. Stay warm.

written by JOE

This Roundup will be different than most. It’s about one topic, one incident, one lesson. It also takes a bit of introduction. As I drove my daughter to basketball practice today I started to tell her about the events of these past few days. First I had to explain who Suze Orman is. She’s an author of finance books (“oh, dad, like you’d like to write one day.” Yes, sorta like that.) and she has a show on CNBC (“oh, like Kudlow.” Hmm. No nothing like Larry. Her show takes questions from people that call in and she helps them.) So far so good, She recently offered a card. A pre-paid card, yes, like the gift card you’d get, but you can use it anywhere that takes a credit card. (That’s stupid dad, who would want that? Is this for kids who can’t just use their credit card like you and mom? No, it’s aimed at adults.) Well, there was no selling this idea to my Jane 2.0, and that brings us to Thursday night. My fellow finance blogger (and host of the financial blogger conference I attended in October) Phil Taylor at his site PT Money posted an article What We Need from Suze Orman Instead of Another Celebrity-Endorsed Useless Prepaid Debit Card. It seems another blogger tweeted about it and Suze reacted.

Her tweets about this article included the above screengrab from a video at Fox Business, Suze Orman’s Card Backlash. Note that Fox appears to show some respect calling those Suze slammed “money experts.” Good move, it takes a long time to conclude whether an author is worth reading, and of course Suze fast visceral response was just wrong. Eventually she apologized, but the damage was done. As far as I’m concerned, she’s there with the rantings of Mel Gibson and Michael Richards, but not quite at the level of Kanye West’s faux pas. Now, the rest of the roundup.

Even Times Author Ron Lieber wasn’t too gung ho on the card. The Approved Card: Uses for Suze Orman’s Plastic. He does point out, as my daughter did, the card may be useful to give to a child to use as a preloaded card. Although my local mall sells these for $1.50 and no cost each month. (The mall call is a Visa, and it’s used like a credit card, anywhere Visa is taken.)

Stephen at Nerd Wallet posted Suze Orman Loses Her Sh*t on Twitter. More than a recap, Stephen dug up some of Suze’ responses to tweeters asking about such cards. All her replies were in favor of using secured cards instead.

Lazy Man and Money posted Suze Orman’s Pre-Paid Debit Card Scam. Before you dismiss this as a false accusation, remember, there’s no credit involved and the idea that it will help your credit report remains to be seen. Appropriate to add here, Suze is working with Transunion to see if the spending data can be used to help one’s credit. At present, it’s a science experiment, which is clear if you read the fine print very carefully.

At Beating Broke, Suze Orman Releases Prepaid Card. Wait, What? A level-headed discussion of the card’s features, and disappointment in Suze for her rant.

20 and engaged gets the prize for her Suze Orman’s “Approved Card” Gets Denied; Thinks PF Bloggers Are Idiots or at least for the fact that it was her tweet that Suze responded to which started the ruckus. Briana gives a great overview of the tweets Suze sent during this time. You’d think she’d have a bit thicker skin.

Elle at Couple Money (not to be confused with Elle, one of my readers and sometime guest poster, more about her later) posted Suze Orman’s Approved Prepaid Debit Card Causes a Stir. Elle is kind, “For those with limited banking options or those who have bad credit, the card may work for them.” I agree, this card may have limited use. For a very few people who can’t even get a debit card from their own bank. Yes, Elle, I was shocked at Suze rant.

Miranda Marquit at her Planting Money Seeds wrote Even if Suze Orman’s Name is on the Card Prepaid Debit Sucks. Miranda doesn’t leave us wondering “so what do you really think?” No, sir, “While the Approved Card is less crappy than other prepaid cards, it still sucks.” Yup, that’s right on target.

The Mighty Bargain Hunter gives us My two cents on Suze Orman and her prepaid card. Here’s one of the most balanced discussions, kudos to my friend MBH. Best line? “This can’t be taken from her: She’s done well for herself on this earth by helping a lot of people.” And I’ll concede, this is probably so.

Jeremy Vohwinkle helps us understand the fees this card has with his article Suze Orman Shows True Colors With Her Approved Prepaid Debit Card. Wow. Those dollars do add up. He also talks about the experimental nature of this card and the work with Transunion behind the scenes.

At Graduated Learning: Life after College, The Approved Card? More like the DIS-Approved Card! An insightful post concluding “I just think that this is a bad move on her part, using her fans’ trust for financial gain.” Yes, indeed.

Cash Flow Mantra exclaimed Suze Orman, WTF?! (to be clear, the acronym stands for ‘Why the fees’?)  ’nuff said

Jim Wang at Bargaineering doesn’t mince words with Why Suze Orman’s Approved Prepaid Debit Card is Terrible. Jim wonders why celebrities don’t learn from each other’s mistakes. Me too.

And last, really, At Make Spend Save Invest,  Is Suze Orman’s Approved Prepaid Debit Card Right For You? Some more details about the card itself, but the same conclusion, “no.” As many of us believe, a secured credit card is the way to go for those who cannot qualify for a real card.

Now to end this already too long post, about my reader Elle. When I first started blogging about three years ago, Elle knew me from a Usenet group misc.taxes.moderated, where not long ago, I was made an honorary moderator. At my blog I posted an article in which I was, shall I say, unkind to Suze. Elle called me out on it, suggesting that name calling and unkindness didn’t suit me (in so many words) and I took her note to heart. I apologized to Suze on my blog, and edited the original article. Since then, I’ve stuck to the facts, and refrained from nasty name calling, or at least tried to. And I’m grateful to Elle for her kindness and support. If you, my reader agree with everything I write, that’s ok, but I won’t grow from that. I hope my readers will continue to challenge me, question me and teach me a lesson now and then. In return, I promise to listen, and to never call my readers anything but friend. To call someone an idiot without knowing more than the fact that he doesn’t like your card isn’t saying much, it’s just overreacting. As many have said, Suze, in fact, has helped many, and I’m willing to cut her some slack, but she needs to know one thing. The financial realm contains many finance bloggers, and combined, we have millions of readers from all walks of life. We have different opinions, and disagree on some issues, but we are far from idiots. And our readers know us from our work. Most of which is done for the love of finance, not to push any product.

written by JOE

I’ve continued to think on this, but I’ve not yet put my 2012 goals in writing. I understand that there are those who believe that writing goals down makes them real and helps form a commitment. At this moment, I’m stuck on my own advice to my 13 year old Jane 2.0, “You can do anything, you just can’t do everything.” So in thinking about what I want for my future self a year from now, I feel I should be specific, but also limit the goals to a short list and focus on just a few important things.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading my fellow finance bloggers’ goals and would share them with my readers today. First, Free Money Finance posted My 2012 Financial Resolutions. He has 7 goals, which might seem too many to me, but a few are tasks that don’t really take the year to complete. He’ll update his will for one. We need to do the same. Our will was written shortly after our daughter was born. There’s a bit in our will that needs adjusting. During these years, our financial profile has changes along with a number of relationships. FMF offers an interesting list, check it out.

Barbara Friedberg wrote 2012 Foolproof New Years Resolutions (part 1) and (part 2).  Donna wrote “I am convinced, that writing down your short and long term goals, working towards them diligently, and accepting inevitable failures along the way, is the recipe for lifetime achievement.” She’s determined and dedicated, it was my pleasure to meet and talk to her at last year’s FinCon 2011.

One of the goals I know will hit my list is to continue the de-cluttering effort. At Zen Habits, Leo Babauta wrote How to Tackle Your Clutter. Not quite a resolution post, but if decluttering is on your 2012 list, a good read. At times, I ask myself how I’d feel if when I was away for a few days, if I came home to find that Jane had thrown all my stuff out. After the initial shock, I’d probably feel relieved, and I’d not miss much of it. Hmmm. There’s an idea.

Young and Thrifty gave a lookback with 2011 New Years Resolutions- A Year in Review. Interesting to see how tough it is to stick to the new year plan, I don’t feel so bad missing some of my own goals.

At The Centsible Life, Kelly shared her goals in Viva La Resolutions! , spread among Family, Money, Life and Work. A Mom of four, she really seems to have her priorities in order.

And to wrap it up, Financial Samurai’s Predictions for 2012. I read Sam’s predictions and as the year goes on, will hold on to two of them, a 10% rise in the S&P, and Obama’s re-election. We’ll see. 10% would be great, Sam.

By the way, not one of my fellow bloggers is prediction the end of the world this year.  I consulted my ‘made in Jersey Magic 8 Ball and when asked if the end was near, the response was “fuggettaboutit.”

written by JOE

Some terrific writing this week. A few posts that really left me thinking long after I read them.

Jason at Frugal Dad tell us Why I Stopped Contributing to My 401k.   What I am not certain after reading this article is whether Jason’s company offered matching.  Since his first rule for investing after killing all debt is to contribute to the 401(k) up to the match, I suspect not. I’m a big believer in the match. The first 5% of my income that I deposit to my 401(k) is matched dollar for dollar.  I’d be hard pressed to find a reason to walk away from that.

At Frugal Families, the question Are Warehouse Clubs Worth It? A Breakdown of Fees Versus Savings.  I am a big Costco fan and for me, the $50 is easily recouped in a visit or two.  I may discuss this more in a post of my own, but for now let me just say this – no matter how good the per oz price of the mustard looks, don’t buy that gallon container. Unless you run a restaurant or cafeteria. This may have been my only #costcofail in all the years I’ve shopped there.

My friend J. Money hosted a guest post by The Debt Princess, Jessica Streit titled Side Hustle Series: I’m a Sample Passer-Outer.  This actually looks like a fun gig, no heavy lifting, just heat food up and offer it to passersby. The image in the article happens to be from a Costco store, but not sure that’s where Jessica worked. Either way, a good way to make some pocket money.

Hank Coleman wrote Five Ways to Cut the Cost of Your Coffee Addiction.  When I read these, I’m reminded how $5 seems like nothing, but multiply it by a couple who both frequent Starbucks, and you can easily approach $4000 a year in coffee bills. Hank’s home brew estimate of 32 cent cups is still higher than mine. I shoot for $3 per pound coffee. Even though the pot says 12 cups, it’s really 4 big mugs, and my math works out to 20 cups per pound or 15 cents per cup. Half of Hank’s estimate but a whopping 1/30 the cost of the Lattes, not to mention the gas it takes to get to the coffee shop.

Canadian Finance Blog has declared Christmas is Cancelled.   Is guest poster Nelson a Scrooge? Hardly. He would actually like to get back to true meaning of Christmas, and remove the commercialism.  Nice sentiment.

Len Penzo shared 10 Old Wives’ Tales Masquerading As Financial Rules of Thumb. People will believe anything they hear and there’s a lot of incorrect info out there. My favorite?  When planning for retirement, assume annual stock market returns of 8 percent.  With the last decade returning close to zero, relying on 8% (or for that matter the insanely optimistic 12% repeated by Dave Ramsey) will likely lead to a financial catastrophe down the road. A person planning to retire in a few years should plan for 4.5% says Len and I think I’m in agreement.

And last, 401k Manifesto™ – The New Standard is a 31 page PDF that discusses what the industry needs to do to improve the 401(k) account. The author Neil Plein is Vice President of Invest n Retire, LLC, a Portland, Ore. Based 401(k) record keeper specializing in offering ETFs to defined contribution plans through its patented technology for managing tax-deferred retirement accounts (patent US 8,060,428).   Disclaimer – this is a product his company offers. I am not promoting anything here, and wasn’t asked to refer to his article, the reference is for informational purposes.  The content was a worthy read and I agreed with most of his goals and implementation.

written by JOE \\ tags: Finance, Retirement