Earlier this week, in an unprecedented example of Personal Financial Blogger cooperation, nearly 150 of us accepted Jeff Rose’ invitation to write about the Roth IRA and promote the cause on twitter with hash tag #RothIRAMovement. It was quite a success, and Jeff got some well deserved recognition, from Reuters Can Twitter make Roth IRAs trendy for young? The Huffington Post Roth IRA Movement Takes To Twitter, and The Wall Street Journal’s Happy Roth IRA Day! Wow, what great press, congrats, Jeff. My own effort went to the launch of RothMania, where I’ll focus on this particular flavor of retirement account.

At Enemy of Debt, Ashley guest posted, 10 Things on Which to Never Spend Money. With everyone trying to get us to part with our money, this is a great list of things to avoid. My favorite on the list? “Anything a telemarketer is selling.”

Financial Samurai asks What Would You Do If A Major Income Source Went To Zero? and explains the importance of income diversification. Not too many people have more than their day job as income, I imagine. It’s never too late to start thinking about this important topic.

At Out Of Your Rut, Kevin tries to understand how someone can be Struggling on a Six-Figure Income. The media has offered stories of those earning far more than this ($350K, anyone?) yet they manage to burn through every cent. Sympathy? Not too much from me.

Remember how Al Capone was finally caught by the law? Tax evasion! Even if you are in an illegal business, you are not exempt from paying taxes. So my frugal tweep, Sandy at Yes I am Cheap shared Nine Tax Deductions That Prostitutes Can Claim. I’m not judging, just passing along what appears to be good tax advice.

And to wrap up a great week, Why I Played the Lottery Even Though I Know It Is Such a Horrible Idea, from Kevin at No Debt Plan.  By the way, the lottery was worth $640 million dollars, I played too. I didn’t win.

written by JOE \\ tags: Debt, Frugal, lottery, Roth

This week we start with the remarkably prolific Miranda Marquit’s article How to Rollover Your 401k to an IRA, an excellent overview of this tricky process.  The only minor point I’d add the her article – if you wish to convert from the 401(k) to a Roth IRA, it’s preferable to first transfer to a traditional IRA. This lets you accomplish two things. First, a controlled transfer, the ability to convert just enough to keep from getting into the next bracket. And second, you will have the ability to recharacterize should your investments tank, or your income increase enough that you are above the bracket change.

Mr Money Mustache tells us Why I am SO Not Buying an iPad 3. While my high school English teacher would cringe at the use of “so” to mean something like “really,” I understand why the Mustachian is not getting the latest iPad. He had enough gadgetry in his life. I have it on my wish list. By the way, Apple has rebranded this product line. The latest iPad is not being called iPad 3 or iPad HD. It’s simply being called “iPad.” Me? I’m waiting for the Apple store to have it in stock, no lines, no waiting.

At Money Help For Christians Craig Ford answers the questions Is Credit Card Usage a Sin? Are Credit Cards Unbiblical? Craig offers a fair look at this topic, and reaches the same conclusion as I do when it comes to card usage.

At Darwin’s Money, a discussion of What’s Your REAL Inflation Rate? Everyday Price Index. Darwin looks beyond the numbers our government announces and instead, analyzes his person CPI. Let’s just say that a 42% jump in his health care costs really impact his numbers.

We’ll wrap this week up with Hank Coleman’s Top Ten Reasons To Own A Roth IRA. I love this top ten list. With one minor correction I left in a comment, this was a great list and if you don’t yet know what a Roth IRA is, here are ten reasons to learn.

Tune in this week, on Tuesday March 27th, the Roth Movement takes place across over 150 financial blogs.

written by JOE \\ tags: 401(k), inflation, Roth

Let’s start this week with a recurring question -Does It Pay to Pay Off My Mortgage Early? Scott on Money addresses this question, offering discussion on what you should consider in making this decision.

The Time Management Ninja offered up a great list of 50 Things You’re Putting Off That You’ll Regret Later. Some of the list may seem obvious, but it’s a great list, and the theme for me was that these things just pile up, and by adopting a “just do it” approach you’ll have a heavy burden lifted off your shoulders.

This week Jeff Rose spoke to a group of college seniors at his alma mater, and was a bit taken aback when of the 50 or so in the room none raised his hand when asked if he knew what a Roth IRA was. To me, this raises new and troubling questions. Jeff’s response? Let’s Start a Movement (Roth IRA Style) And what a movement it will be. If I can quote Jeff – “On March 27, 2012, we’re going to have over 50 bloggers talk about why the Roth IRA is important, why they love it, and why every young investor needs to know more about it. ” 50? The movement is over 123 as I write this. The Roth can be a great tool to manage your lifetime tax bill, stay tuned and be part of the movement.

As the Roth conversation continues, Neal Frankle explains Roth IRA Recharacterization – What Your CPA Doesn’t Know. If Roth isn’t universally known, then the ability to convert from the traditional IRA to a Roth is even more obscure, and the concept of being able to reverse this through a recharacterization even less so. While we might forgive these CPAs, but we can also educate ourselves and potentially save a nice bit of money.

At Fabulously Broke, The Financial Blogger guest posted Early Retirement Extreme Idea or Reality? TFB has really worked out the numbers and is planning on retiring at 55. A nice goal. I wonder how many had a similar goal but the decade that just past changed their plans a bit. That would make an interesting research project.

I don’t usually include the major online papers in these roundups, but today, I’ll make an exception. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote Saving the Street From Itself, a reaction to the news that Greg Smith left Goldman Sachs and wrote a letter to the Times explaining his departure. After 12 years of raking in the big bucks he was sickened by how GS treated its customers. Without going into further detail, these two pieces are good reading and the Reich article has a comment of mine in the “NYT picks” tab, just one of a dozen chosen of the near 100 comments.

I guest posted at Best Rates In this week about how I am Taking Advantage of a Cash-Back Deal. There are some deals that are bit fringe, but I still had the urge to write about it, and was due to guest post elsewhere. A bit crazy, but the bucks add up fast on this one.

And to wrap it up, at My Money Blog – The Ethics of Credit Card Rewards and Bonuses. There are those who are concerned that signing up for a store card to get 10% off that day, but soon after, canceling, are being unethical. I can’t tell someone else how to feel, but I draw the line elsewhere. Doing so will hurt your credit score, but not your relationship with The Big Guy(tm).

Today’s roundup is named for the fact that J2′s basketball team made it to the finals, winning today’s game with the score above, and final game later today. Great to watch the kid’s get this far.

written by JOE \\ tags: Credit, fico, Retirement, Roth

I suppose they could think less of the customers they’ve fleeced all these years. At least the Muppets are cute.

written by JOE \\ tags: goldman

I’m surprised that Social Security isn’t a more widely discussed topic than it seems to be. All kinds of investing advice, retirement planning with 401(k) or IRAs, but not as much focus on Social Security. Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough? Either way, it my pleasure to start this week’s roundup with 7 Secrets Social Security Won’t Tell You, an article by Maggie at Square Pennies. One of the ways i judge whether an article is worth a mention is to decide if I learned something new from it. In this case, I learned quite a bit. For example, I didn’t know that one needs to be married for 10 years to collect a benefit on the spouses earnings if they divorce. Nice job, Maggie, and a worthwhile read.

At Money Rates, I read Is inflation making a comeback? I wonder about any premature sightings of inflation. Inflation is measured by rising prices, of course, but its true momentum has to be demand driven. In other words, “too much money chasing too few goods” as classic definition is what I subscribe to.
The rise in oil prices is actually deflationary, as it throttles other activity. Less vacation travel, less pleasure driving, etc. In fact, Walmart statistics show that rising gas costs reduce their store activity. A drop in gas prices to sub-$3 levels could actually be the catalyst for improving consumer confidence that actually does spur more spending and demand driven inflation.

My Money Design asks Is 2 Percent the New Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate? If so, we are all in some serious financial trouble. Most of us who actually do a bit of planning have used 4% as the safe withdrawal rate when determining our “number.” That number is tough to reach and doubling it means retirement is even further off.

Miranda answers the important question Can You Still Do a Roth IRA Conversion in 2012? And I won’t ruin the punchline, you’ll have to head over and read her article for yourself. The use of IRAs and Roth can help you save quite a bit on your total lifetime taxes, great to understand these accounts.

Ginger at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds (Ha! I love that blog name) wrote 3 Reasons Why Your Home Is A Crappy Investment. I think she got it right, and more so, summarized it in a brief article. I think it would take a book of analysis, 295 pages at least, to come to the same conclusion. Save the $24.95 and read this article.

In the oddest post I read this week, Shawanda Greene discusses the License to…Steal? It’s a strange series of how people rationalize that stealing is okay in certain situations. Me, I’d rather earn every cent, but to each his own. An interesting insight into what others are thinking as they steal.

After looking at all the restrictions there are on the use of your home and property. Kevin at Out of Your Rut asks Do You Ever REALLY Own Your Home? His point is well taken, there are many things you can’t do due to zoning issues, and you still have property tax to pay. In many cases, the property tax alone is over $10,000 per year. So in a sense, sure I own it, but it’s still not ‘free and clear,’ it will always be an expense.

Today’s roundup title come from the fact that in the US, we move the clocks forward an hour during the night (2am to be precise). We lose an hour of sleep, they say, but not me, I’ll sleep an hour later. We do gain an hour of light at night but give it up in the morning. By the way, it’s daylight saving time, not “savings” even though everyone seems to say that.

written by JOE \\ tags: Finance, IRA, real estate. retirement, roth ira

An article Arrested for breaking the law of large numbers caught my eye this week. Have you heard the financial talking heads go on about how large companies’ growth must slow due to the Law of Large Numbers? It’s a complete misuse of this phrase and this article does a great job to explain why.

As we get closer to tax day in the US, April 17th, it’s only appropriate to share Kay Bell’s Wild, wacky and illegal tax deductions. Now that Jane 2.0 (my daughter) has convinced us to buy a dog, it’s timely to find out he doesn’t come with a tax deduction for us. Too bad.

Nelson Smith guest posted at Canadian Finance Blog about The 9 Biggest Rip-Offs Ever. I don’t know if it should count as ‘biggest’ but I agree with Nelson that the movie popcorn is up there. I know what the signs say, but I still pack my own snack to go see a show on the big screen.

Reuters asked the rhetorical question, Who could be against Obama’s tax break on RMDs? Last month, congress was going to tinker with the beneficiary rules on IRAs (not good), but the 2013 budget had this buried perk in there.  Retirees with less than $75,000 in their IRAs might be able to void a required distribution.

Clever Dude wrote Don’t let your kids grow up to…work from home. An interesting take on why the office cube might be missed if you’re working from home.

My Friend Neal Frankle asks (and answers) Should You Create an IRA Trust? Of course, it depends. The trust is a great way to throttle the withdrawals if the beneficiary is bad with money, and an even better way to avoid the tragic mistakes an uninformed beneficiary can make.

At Couple Money, Elle explained the difference between Tax Brackets (Marginal Rate) and Effective Tax Rates. Many still don’t understand the difference, and Elle explains it in a way that should leave no doubt.

A personal note on today’s post title – a few weeks back, our daughter presented a Keynote Slide Show, multimedia style, on why she deserved a dog. Part of my agreeing to it was that she write a few posts for me, first describing her approach and, after we pick up the dog, an update on how the first weeks go. So, in few weeks, we will be a dog family. And I don’t even get a tax break for it.

written by JOE \\ tags: IRA, law of large numbers, marginal rate, Retirement, tax rate