Let’s start this week with an exciting milestone in my life. My first radio interview has now made it to a Podcast. My daughter thinks this makes me famous, but I told her I’m famous only in my own mind. Last September, I attended the annual Financial Bloggers’ Conference, and one day at lunch I happened to be sitting next to Gerri Detweiler, She is an author, speaker, credit expert, and radio host of Talk Credit Radio. She asked me all the right questions, inviting me to tell her about my most recent accomplishment, helping a reader avoid $90K in taxes due to some very bad advice she received regarding an inherited IRA. I wrote about the situation at my Rothmania site in an article “Let’s Kill All the Lawyers” and this story prompted an invitation to her show soon after. The podcast Inherited IRA Tax Tips is available through her web site, and while the subject is, admittedly, a bit dry, the lessons you learn might save you a nice chunk of money down the road.

Michael Kitces brought an older article of his to my attention, Why Saving In A Roth (Or Any) IRA Might Be A Bad Idea For Young People After All. I’m keeping an open mind, and appreciate when some very intelligent bloggers offer a completely differ spin that makes me stop and think a bit.

Five Cent Nickel hosted a guest post from William Cowie, Meet Jim, my millionaire next door. The title is a reference of course to Dr Thomas Stanley’s series of books which included The Millionaire Next Door, and my favorite, Stop Acting Rich. Some of us have neighbors that are just that, millionaires next door, others are simply keeping up with the Joneses.

The Free Financial Advisor took a bit of a shot at others in Bad Advice? Here’s Some From Top Money Gurus. In this article we’re shown five bits of advice that seem to fall a bit short. The classic ‘bad advice’ I’ve disagreed with for years is the David’s debt snowball. Paying off that stack of $1000 card with the 6% rate so you feel better about finally getting to the 24% card that you owe $10K on. Not the advice I’d offer.

Strangely, the One Percenter tells us, “I Don’t Recognize U.S. Coins.” And then I saw the image of the nickel he posted, and I’m not sure I’ve seen one myself. I was aware of the quarters showing scenes from each state. Those seem to have started a decade ago. But I do get the point, I agree, we use less and less cash, favoring a charge card for even small, quick purchases.

On a personal note, I finished our taxes today. They were nearly done a month or so ago, but no rush, there was a chance some form would come to me late, or my wife would find a receipt from a charity tucked away (instead of handing it to me to put in the tax folder!) Are your taxes all done? If not, will you be finished by Monday night? If you need extra time, you can file for a six month extension with the IRS. Remember, this is just an extension to get the final return sent in, not extra time to pay what’s due. Take your best shot at the return with the information you have, and pay at least what you expect the bill will be.

written by Joe \\ tags: IRA, Ramsey, Retirement, suze

We’ll start this week’s roundup with If Everyone Jumped Off a Cliff … from Paula Pant at Afford Anything. You see, in response to one of Paula’s articles, she received a note, “If everyone did that, society would collapse.” Now, the funny thing is, that’s true. If everybody went in one direction, whether it be savings, investing, or any spending habit, there would be consequences. As much as the financial blogging community promotes frugality, the truth is, if everybody turned frugal, spending would slow us right into another recession. An interesting thing to ponder.

Lazy Man tell us about his One More Refinance. He’ll be at 2.75% 15 years, and saves from both the lower rate as well as the extended time on the loan, from the remaining 13 years left on the prior mortgage. The key thing is that he knows the difference. What’s remarkable is the comment suggesting that he continue to make the same payment to retire this loan even faster. This rate is below the rate of inflation. Even ignoring taxes, this rate is as low as it gets.

Next, Len Penzo offered A Simple Trick for Getting Credit Card Interest Charges Waived. And I’m not one to ruin the punchline, well, not since I told my sister Soylent Green is people, so you’ll have to read Len’s full article to understand how it’s done.

Cash Flow Mantra discussed Apple vs PC — What Should You Buy? The decision isn’t simple, it’s a chunk of change and a decision you’re likely to live with for a few years. What will your next computer be?

At The Hill an article caught my attention this week. Obama budget to take aim at wealthy IRAs. The devil is in the details which are a bit thin in the article, but the one line is what got me – Under the plan, a taxpayer’s tax-preferred retirement account, like an IRA, could not finance more than $205,000 per year of retirement – or right around $3 million this year.  What will be the method to cap the accounts? Forced withdrawals? Taxation of the excess? I suppose if a cap is coming, this figure is tough to argue with, it’s almost an anti-Mitt-Romney bill from where I sit.

We’ll close this week with two posts regarding Costco, at Bargaineering,  Why We Think Costco is Worth the Membership Fee, written in response to The Wealthy Turtle’s Is the Costco Membership Fee a Bargain or a Scam? My take on this? Know your prices. There are three groups Costco prices fit, (a) the items are always better than any supermarket price, (b) Costco is usually better, except for a good sale at the supermarket, and (c) the price really isn’t good, the supermarket usually better. For me, it’s that simple.

written by Joe \\ tags: computer, Credit, Mortgage

This week Michael Kitces wrote about The Taxation Of Social Security Benefits As A Marginal Tax Rate Increase? A great take on the Phantom Tax Rate Zone I discussed at Rothmania. It’s great to see this discussed by others as I believe it’s one of the financial timebombs waiting to catch people who are unaware how it will affect them.

At Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, Barb tells us why we should not be Victims of Mental Accounting. You know what it is, it’s when you treat that Christmas bonus as found money, or perhaps when we treat found money as any less important than money we’ve earned.

Don’t Just Complain. At I Pick Up Pennies, a bit of advice on looking at the positive customer service experiences you might have and stopping to acknowledge it now and then.

Financial Finesse Blog broke the news of Another Celebrity Bankruptcy… It’s a shame when anyone’s finances are so bad they need to file bankruptcy, but when it’s a celebrity who had a great career, it’s doubly sad, years of bad money management.

Neal Frankle wrote What is the Average Retirement Age….and a Surprise. It’s more than just an answer to this average, Neil offers advice on the four questions you must answer to know what your retirement goals are.

Last – a look ahead – Stephanie the Blogger is raising money in the annual Walk for Hunger, and tomorrow, I’ll introduce it with a special guest post and matching challenge.

written by Joe \\ tags: Social Security, tax, tax rate, walk for hunger

We start this week with Young Cheap Living’s Open a Roth IRA and Buy a House? Um, No Thanks. It seems that Kraig doesn’t care to tie his money up long term, not in a house nor in retirement accounts. I never minded the tied up factor, but agree it can be a bit off-putting to some investors.

At Afford Anything, Paula Pant discussed whether to Pay Down Your Mortgage or Invest the Cash? It’s not a simple decision, in fact, there’s no ‘right’ answer, only what’s right for you.

The Amateur Asset Allocator asked Dave Ramsey Investment Advice: Is It Really THAT Bad? Kyle’s concerns included David’s suggestion that investors can expect 12% annual returns, and plan for 8% per year withdrawals at retirement. I’m in agreement, neither of these expectations are sound advice.

The Investor tells readers Why you probably shouldn’t be picking stocks (again). A great read on why individual stock picking is a losing battle, and the average investor lags the market by a huge margin.

We’ll end this week with Donna Freedman’s In which I cop to some odd habits. Sorry, Donna, you are 100% normal, an interesting look at what you may think odd, but a list of quirks that most of us probably can relate to.

Spring is here, but we still have 6 foot piles of snow out back, global warming, I know.

written by Joe \\ tags: Finance, Investing, Mortgage

Let’s start this week with Donna Freedman’s Does frugality have to hurt? Is it “no pain, no gain” or is there more to frugality than depriving yourself?

At Free From Broke, Miranda wrote a comprehensive What Are Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and How Do They Affect Your Retirement?

Next, we have a money saving tip from Mr Money Mustache -A Side Dish of Free Data for your Cheap iPhone Plan. If you’re a low usage customer, a few hundred minutes, and little data needs, this tip can save you up to $50 compared to your current phone plan.

3 Reasons Saving For Retirement Should Be Legally Mandatory – The Amateur Asset Allocator think we are a nation that’s not saving enough, and I agree whole heartedly. Kyle offers us three reason to force our saving rate to a reasonable level.

At Budgets are Sexy, my friend J Money wrote How Rich People Think (vs Middle class.) One great example – “Middle class sees money through the eyes of emotion. The wealthy see money through the eyes of logic.”  This line reminded me of a recent dialogue I had with a fellow blogger and will set the stage for a post of its own, soon.

And we’ll rap it up this week with The Investor’s Know your own risk tolerance, post at Monevator.  A fascinating discussion of risk, with examples of risk aversion.

written by Joe \\ tags: Finance, Frugal