Monthly Archives: January 2012

I Joined the Yakezie Challenge

Posted on by
 
I bet you are wondering what theYakezie Challenge is.  You may just be thinking, what’s a Yakezie? Yakezie is a network of the web’s largest personal finance and lifestyle blogs. It is a very close and committed group of bloggers that helps fellow writers within the community.  The Yakezie Challenge is a goal to achieve an Alexa Rank of 200,000 or better.  Alexa is a website traffic ranking company that is dedicated to creating a better web experience.  When someone downloads the Alexa Toolbar, they are able to see a ranking for every site they visit as well as reviews and other information.  I encourage you to download this toolbar; it makes browsing the web more fun.  The other requirement is to write at least 2 posts every week.  This is the best way to gain visitors and achieve a better Alexa Rank.…

Taxes: Do Them Yourself Or Hire A Specialist

Posted on by

It’s that wonderful time of the year again, Tax Season. It is filled with Americans hoping for a juicy check from the Government, and fearing the wrath of having to dish up more cash. Have you ever wondered if you could do your taxes yourself? Well I am here to tell you most likely, you SHOULD be doing your own taxes. Filing your taxes has never been easier. The online software such as TurboTax® Online Federal Free Edition lets you file federal taxes online – FREE! and E-File make filing your taxes a breeze.

Deciding If You Can Do It

DO NOT file your own taxes if you are someone who stresses night and day about things.…

$10 Amazon Gift Card Contest

Posted on by

Win a $10 Amazon gift card! All you have to do to enter the raffle is:
  1. Tweet this contest post            +1 Entry
  2. Tweet another post on my blog              +1 Entry
  3. Like or share a post on my blog on Facebook            +1 Entry
  4. Share a post on my blog on Digg, Delicious, Tumblr, Technorati, OR Stumble Upon.        +1 Entry
Bonus Entry: If you link to my blog on your page and I can verify it, I will give you a fifth entry into the raffle.

…

Diversification, It Works

Posted on by

Have you ever made a bad investment? Most people will answer yes to that question, even if it only happened one time.  You don’t always know how things will turnout, even after doing your due diligence in research.  The best way to avoid losing all of your money when investing in the market is to diversify. 
 
What is Diversification?
 
Diversification is a form of risk management that combines a broad variety of investments within a portfolio.  When you diversify your portfolio, you have a better chance of yielding higher returns and creating lower risk due to the mix of investments.  Mutual funds are a great example of diversification.  Mutual funds are basically a wide array of stocks and bonds. These range from large, mid, and small cap stocks, international stocks, bonds, real estate stocks, and can contain any type of investment. 
 
Understanding What Diversification Protects Against
 
Diversification protects against unsystematic risk.  Unsystematic risk is risk that is associated with a specific stock.  An example of unsystematic risk would be news of a strike, or if the company misses expectations for the quarter.  Unsystematicrisk can also affect a certain type or class of stock.  An example could be if Europe announced unsettling news that affected their banks, causing international bank stocks to be affected. 
 
Changing Diversification
 
As you get older, it is important to change the type of investments you are in.  That means altering the investments that are in your portfolio.  Here are some example portfolios that show the allocation of assets. 
 
30-year-old portfolio
 
  • 90% stocks
  • 10% bonds
           50-year-old portfolio
 
  • 75% stocks
  • 25% stocks
60-year-old plus portfolio
 
  • 60% stocks
  • 40% bonds
·         As you get closer to retirement, it is important to preserve your investment.  It took your life time to build those funds, and you don’t want a drop in the market to take all that hard-earned investment. 
 
 
It is important to understand there are certain types of risk that diversification cannot protect against.  If the entire market is falling, diversification will not save your portfolio. Diversification has been proven to be effective, therefore is a way to invest in the market in order to lower the risks involved.  …

Why Emergency Reserve Funds Are Vital

Posted on by
Preparing for the unexpected is a vital part of life.  What if your car needs repairs, or your roof starts leaking, what if you lose your job?  What do you have in place for these unexpected events?  The answer should be an emergency fund.  Emergency funds provide a solution for the unexpected events that can unfold in your life. 
How Much?
The most common question with an emergency fund is how much you should have in it.  Most experts agree that six months of your living expenses should be parked in their at all times.

…