In 2004, I started publishing the JoeTaxpayer website. It was before I heard anything about blogs, and was organized as a static web page which created issues of its own. I wrote a monthly article, and started to find other writers who started blogs on finance.
It was August 2007 when I dropped the static page layout and started using blogging software (WordPress) to run the site. Going from a monthly article to a site where I try to publish at least a half dozen original articles per month, along with the popular weekly roundup was a struggle. Admittedly, I get writers’ block now and then, but the economy offers so much to discuss, the topics will never run dry.
M is the Roman Numeral for 1,000 and today is my 1000th post. It’s been a remarkable time, I’ve commented on Stocks, Real Estate, different aspects of the Tax Code, Social Security, and more. I’ve launched a second site, RothMania which is a niche site focusing on the single topic of retirement accounts and the Roth IRA and 401(k). I’ve made many friends, both regular readers as well as fellow finance bloggers. Last October, I had the privilege to meet over a hundred of those bloggers at the first Financial Blogger Conference held in Chicago. This year’s conference is in Denver, and it’s on track to sell out with 250 attendees. In September, 2008 Tracy Coenen, a fraud examiner with nearly two decades of experience in accounting and investigations, invited me to write my first ever guest post for her site Fraud Files, an article titled, The UFF Money Merge Account Money Shuffle Explained, On my blog I went on to write a total of 35 articles proving that this mortgage acceleration product was a scam, plain and simple.
In early January, 2010, I met a woman on line (through Twitter, actually) who was responsible for TurboTax’ blog section of their website. I was honored to be invited to guest post, still under the pen name JoeTaxpayer. The people there are a good bunch, and it’s no coincidence that I’ve used their software since filing my first tax return for 1985.
I look forward to the next 1000, and to meeting more nice folk along the way toward that goal. Thank you for being part of my journey so far.