darrenhicks6: mei 2012

donderdag 31 mei 2012

Bargain Shopping Simplified: Is This App the Answer?

Filed under: Technology, Saving Money, Shopping

Comparison shopping is an art to some and an obsession to others. But getting the best price in one way can come at a cost in others -- in the gas you burn while driving to reach that great sale, for example, or the time it may take you to travel from one grocery store to the next to cherry-pick each one's weekly sale items, or the hours spent scouring the Internet for bargains.

NetPlenish, a startup based in Ventura, Calif., aims to help you minimize those hidden costs.

Its app sorts through the various merchants selling the items you want, and bundles them together to get you the best overall deal. It even compares combinations of items to determine whether you'll save more with shipping costs by buying primarily from one merchant, or whether you'll spend the least by using a wider variety of retailers.

And of course, it's all mobile.

Though services like Soap.com, Amazon's Fresh, and Alice.com all serve a similar purpose -- providing one-stop shops for household staples -- NetPlenish distinguishes itself through its mobile app, its price comparison capabilities and its simplified checkout. (A complicated, time-consuming checkout process is one of our biggest peeves about online shopping).

Smaller Purchases, Bigger Savings

People have always been willing to put in the effort to score deals on bigger purchases, like cars and travel, and the Web gave them plenty of tools for that. Kayak.com, for example, tracks multiple sites to get customers the best airfares. But incremental savings can add up quickly on everyday purchases -- trouble is, most folks don't have the patience to look.

"People usually use price comparison for a television but not for diapers," said Dave Compton, CEO and founder of NetPlenish. "If you wanted to do this for everyday items, you'd have to get a big ol' honkin' spreadsheet."

Shopping even without deal searching is a time suck. According to NetPlenish, the average consumer spends 45 minutes nearly twice a week on errands. Compton -- still haunted by the memory of trying to go shopping with his toddler daughter in tow -- wants to harness the power of the Internet to get the whole shopping experience down from 45 minutes to 45 seconds.

A More Powerful Algorithm

At the heart of NetPlenish is its ShopGenius algorithm, which scours vendors' prices to find the best deals for multiple items on a user's shopping list. ShopGenius then lets merchants compete to provide the best overall price, including shipping, sales tax and the lowest possible product price.

"NetPlenish solves a big problem that consumers face every day, which is a single store may not have the best price repeatedly for items you need to buy over and over, like toothpaste, toilet paper, diapers and dog food," Compton said. "With NetPlenish, your items come from a different merchant each delivery, based on who has the lowest price at the time of your purchase."

The app, for both iPhones and Androids, is fairly simple to use: Users can add items to their shopping list manually or by scanning bar codes. After that, they can simply tap the items they need replenished, and they'll receive the products directly from among the more than 20 merchants NetPlenish works with, including Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Drugstore.com and Sephora.

Though you may still pay, say, $15 for shipping after saving $15 by optimizing your deals, NetPlenish views the time saved as a net-positive. And with its painless method for adding regularly purchased items to your shopping list, it turns shopping into practically a wave of the hand.

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No Checkout Checkout

Still, the biggest selling point for NetPlenish may be its ease of check-out. The final step of shopping on an e-commerce site -- especially when using a mobile device -- can be painful: too many hoops to jump through, too many steps, too many numbers to enter and anti-spam codes to type. In fact, anywhere from 25% to 55% of online shopping carts get abandoned before the purchases are completed, in large part because consumers lose patience.

That fact meshes with another recently reported piece of data: 58% of online shoppers said they'd rather safely store their account information once, in a single place that can be easily accessed no matter where they're shopping online, according to a MasterCard survey conducted by Harris Interactive.

Sponsored Links

That's why NetPlenish created what it bills as a mobile commerce first: "No Checkout Checkout," which eliminates the hassle of having to fill out order forms on a tiny phone screen. Shoppers just click one button to order products from NetPlenish's roster of merchants.

Shoppers abandon their online carts, Compton said, because e-commerce has never truly mimicked real commerce.

"You and I go to Safeway -- we get our change, lickity split," Compton said. "E-commerce, you're mired down with two to three pages of checkout. That's why people drop off. The 'No Checkout Checkout' is important: It's hard for me to type. You want me to go through five pages with a fat thumb?"

The Wave of the Future?

Last year, 7 % -- or $202 billion -- of U.S. retail sales were conducted online, according to research firm Forrester, and mobile purchasing is on the rise: In the first quarter of 2011, 13% of U.S. online adults used a smartphone to make a purchase; mobile commerce is expected to grow at 39% a year over the next five years, reaching $31 billion by 2016.

Sellers are adapting: Some 57% of online retailers have developed a mobile commerce strategy, and 48% already have a mobile-optimized site. And 56 of the top 100 retailers in the U.S. have developed Android, iPad, or iPhone m-commerce apps.

Talking about the choices available via NetPlenish, Dave McClure, founding partner at 500 Startups and a NetPlenish investor, noted: "This is a $50 billion bricks-and-mortar market, yet only 5% of these products are currently being sold online."

As e-commerce and m-commerce grow, retailers will either shift their strategies to adapt, or close stores and shrink, a la Best Buy's recent announcement that it would shutter 50 locations. Apps like NetPlenish, with its one-stop shopping and seamless checkout, could accelerate the shopping revolution.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/05/17/bargain-shopping-simplified-is-this-app-the-answer/

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Sell in May and Go Away: Stocks Close Dismal Month

Filed under: Investing, JC Penney, Macy's, Morgan Stanley , Target Corp, Facebook

NEW YORK (AP) - They sold in May and went away, all right.

With a disappointing finish on Thursday, the stock market closed what was by some measures its worst month in two years. Over five dismal weeks, Facebook (FB) fizzled, a debt crisis in Europe loomed, and nobody was in the mood to buy.

When May was mercifully over, the Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes had erased most of the strong gains they built up through March and held on to in April.

"The sentiment has changed," said Craig Callahan, co-founder and president of ICON Advisers in Denver. "Any time the market dips like this, it erodes some confidence. It scares people out of the market. All of the above, May has done that."

The Wall Street adage that investors should "sell in May and go away" may not be sound strategy all the time - many financial advisers say it's foolish - but this year it looked like good advice.

The Dow lost 820 points for the month, its worst showing since May 2010. That month, investors were spooked by a one-day "flash crash" in stocks when a large trade overwhelmed computer servers.

This May, stocks limped to the finish. The Dow closed down 26.41 points on Thursday to end the month at 12,393.45. It declined on all but five of 22 trading sessions.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 2.99 points to close at 1,310.33. It fell 6.3 percent in May, its worst month since September. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10.02 points to 2,827.34, and had its worst month in two years.

On Thursday, investors latched on to a sliver of good news in the morning: May sales from retailers like Target (TGT) and Macy's (M) looked healthy, and sent stock futures higher.

Then the government offered two unpleasant pieces of economic data. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to a five-week high, and economic growth from January through March was slower than first thought.

Bailout Talk Sparks Rally Off Lows

Markets love bailouts, but the story behind today’s story paints a concerning picture. From the Wall Street Journal:
The European department of the International Monetary Fund has started discussing contingency plans for a rescue loan to Spain in the event that the country fails to find the funds needed to bail out its third-largest bank [...]

Source: http://ciovaccocapital.com/wordpress/index.php/currencies/bailout-talk-sparks-rally-off-lows/

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Driving Around with Madhur Jaffrey

I have several driving companions these days — sometimes I ride around with Madhur Jaffrey, the guru of Indian cooking. At other times I’ve got Martha Stewart riding shotgun, always on hand with recipes and ideas for dinner. They’re not exactly next to me in the passenger seat; they’re in the trunk – well, their books are at any rate. ► MORE

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GetSmarterAboutMoney/~3/KD3ew3a1g0I/driving-around-with-madhur-jaffrey

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The Models Are Broken—But Indexing Still Works

If you’ve researched the theoretical foundations of index investing, you’ve no doubt come across Modern Portfolio Theory and the Efficient Markets Hypothesis. And if you read the commentaries of active money managers and the financial media, you’ve probably seen countless articles that dismiss both as obsolete. Modern Portfolio Theory is declared dead after every market [...]

Source: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/04/30/the-models-are-broken-but-indexing-still-works/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-models-are-broken-but-indexing-still-works

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Six Ways to Avoid Common Retirement Planning Pitfalls

Filed under: Retirement, Investing, Investing Basics

Despite the endless drumbeat of advice to "save, save, save for retirement," most Americans are saying "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow." Then tomorrow turns into today, and more immediate priorities keep pushing long-term planning off into the future.

In the latest Employment Benefit Research Institute survey, 56 percent of workers reported that the total value of their household's savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans, was less than $25,000, and about 29 percent said they have less than $1,000. Those numbers are hardly enough to fund even the most modest of retirement dreams.

Truth is, with savings so slim, there's precious little room for error when planning for retirement, because people's nest eggs aren't much of a safety net. But failing to save enough is just one of many mistakes people make when planning for the twilight years. There are a host of retirement planning missteps that can make an already less-than-ideal situation even worse.

Here's a look at where people commonly go wrong, and how they can adjust course to reach retirement in good financial shape.

1. Rethink Retirement

"The retirement message doesn't work. Most people don't have the willpower or the financial ability to forgo spending today for a hazy benefit tomorrow," says Sol Nasisi, chief economist at www.BestCashCow.com, which provides information on banks and credit unions. "Instead, people should think about building personal wealth, a process that it is ongoing and has immediate benefits, but also provides for people when they decide to stop working. Building and accumulating wealth is a much more powerful, immediate message than saving for retirement.

Changing the message changes how one thinks about saving and investing. "Building wealth is a much more active process than saving for retirement, and its benefits can be realized much quicker," Nasisi adds. While this may seem top be just a shift of semantics, "Building wealth is largely a matter of outlook and philosophy. Saving for retirement is a chore, building wealth is a challenge," he says.

Also, forget about the idea of retirement as a permanent vacation.

"The old idea of retire at 65, move somewhere warm, play golf, no longer works," points out Matthew Tuttle, a certified financial planner with Tuttle Wealth Management. "With life expectancies increasing, playing golf and going to early bird dinners every day can get old [after] 35 years. Rethink what retirement means: It could be working fewer hours or changing jobs to something you like more."

Know too, that you may not have as much control over your retirement date as you imagine. "Most people assume they will retire at a certain age, but two in five people retire earlier than planned," warns Katie Libbe, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life. "This could be due to layoffs, illness, or any number of factors. The key is to start saving early."

2. Anticipate the Unexpected

When you're young and healthy, you'll spend very little time in the doctor's office, but for most of us, that will change later in life. According to a Fidelity Investments study, a 65-year-old couple who retired in 2010 will need $250,000 to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement, not including nursing-home care. The study found that health care costs average $535 a month, or about one-fifth of an average couple's total monthly expenses of $2,842.

Failing to prepare for the reality that eventually, your young bones will be old is a critical mistake. "Medicare is not free and it doesn't cover everything, including prescription drugs," says Ross Blair, CEO of www.PlanPrescriber.com. "Not planning ahead in retirement for catastrophic medical expenses as well as prescription drug costs and supplemental insurance plans could potentially be devastating to a retiree."

The good news is, there are some tax-free ways to compensate for those expenses. You can contribute to a Health Savings Account. Individuals can contribute $3,050 in 2011, while a family can contribute $6,150 a year tax free. If you're over 55, you can add an extra $1,000 as a catch-up contribution. "When someone turns 65 and ages into Medicare they can use these funds for prescription drugs, certain Medicare plans and other health coverage other than premiums for a Medicare supplement policy, such as Medigap," says Blair. Proper protection is key, be it health, disability, life, or long term care insurance.

3. Forget Tradition

Conventional wisdom may not apply to you. "Following standard industry advice that you should get real conservative, meaning investing heavily in bonds, by the time you are 65 is a recipe for having to find a job in your 70s and 80s when you run out of money," says Tuttle.

Likewise, you shouldn't count on history repeating itself. "You can't assume you'll always get the same return on your investments," cautions David Spader, a financial analyst with www.SavingsAccount.org, which provides information on savings, money market and CD rates. "Don't think you'll be able to beat the market for 30 years."

4. Handle Your 401(k) Wisely

A 401(k) is not a piggy bank. Sure, it's your money, and good for you for participating in your employer's plan -- a surprising number of people don't even do that, believing that they can't afford to. Hopefully, you're contributing enough to get the maximum amount of free money from the company's match, if yours offers it. But borrowing from yourself is a bad idea.

"Taking a loan from a retirement plan can look appealing as a way to get out of a hole, but it can actually create more problems," says Scott Halliwell, a certified financial planner with USAA. "This tactic removes the growth potential on those funds, and, if you lose your job and can't repay the funds, the loan will be treated as a distribution and subject to taxes and penalties."

While it may be convenient, think twice about leaving retirement funds in an employer plan after you leave that job. "The employer plan has limited investment options. The employer makes all the decisions. As soon as possible, most people should roll their employer retirement funds into an IRA," advises Radon Stancil, a certified financial planner with Diversified Estate Services. You can do this tax-free and once the funds are in an IRA, you the owner, have all the control.

5. Redefine Investing

Investing has increasingly become synonymous with putting money in stocks, bonds or mutual funds. While this should be one facet of building wealth, it should not be the only investment vehicle, nor should it necessarily be the primary investment vehicle, says Nasisi. To be truly diversified, an investor should look to real estate, an investment in a business, or starting a side business, he adds.

"Take the initiative and invest some money in yourself and things you can control instead of forking over all your savings to others," says Nasisi. "Look for ways to build income streams that will generate reliable cash well into the future."

6. Set Priorities

You have to put your hard earned money in the right places. "Forget the shiny new BMW or the latest iPhone, save the money and put it to work for you," says Nasisi. While it's a very admirable goal to save money for your children's college education, truth is, there are many ways to pay for college. "But go into the bank on the day you retire and ask to take out a 'retirement loan," says Charlie Long, a financial adviser with Exemplar Financial Network. You get the point.

It can also be a mistake, especially in this low-interest-rate environment, says Long, to pay off a low-interest mortgage, when those funds could be used elsewhere.

Realize that when it comes to retirement you can't "wing it." Stephen Cunha, a certified financial planner with Baystate Financial Services says to remember the five P's: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. You want a written plan that includes an analysis of all financial goals, retirement income needs, insurance, tax, investment and an estate plan, he adds. However, your plan can't be engraved in stone, and should be monitored periodically. You need some tangible evidence of what you want and why, and and idea of how you plan to achieve it -- otherwise, how can you expect to reach your goals?

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/04/06/six-ways-to-avoid-common-retirement-planning-pitfalls/

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How Young Adults Can Still Thrive Financially

Much has been written recently about the financial state of young Canadians. The Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick thinks today’s young adults have it tougher than ever, and financial expert Kurt Rosentreter thinks Canadian 30 year olds are screwed because we spend too much time on the internet. I get it. We’ve just experience a...

Source: http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-young-adults-can-still-thrive-financially/

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Lessons for Retirement from Kodak

It could be argued that in the past, company pensions were the backbone of retirement planning. It wasn't long ago that every father and grandfather worked at steel mills or other large corporations, and had their future already figured out thanks to the guaranteed income that a pension would provide. In other words, they had it good.

Unfortunately, company pensions aren't nearly as secure as they once were. More employees than ever before are now finding themselves on the receiving end of bad news concerning their company pensions. If you'd like to know more about this phenomenon, and what retirement advice you should follow if you become one of these unfortunate pension holders, read on...

Pay attention to what happened with Kodak.

Like many companies before it, the Kodak Corporation recently announced that they had filed for bankruptcy. As usual, a huge focus has been on the number of jobs that may be in jeopardy, depending on what ultimately happens with the company. While this is obviously a huge concern for many people and their families, what typically isn't discussed is what happens to employee pensions. Many employees may find themselves not receiving the full pensions that they have been promised after years of dedicated work.

Kodak employees are not alone.

As previously stated, many employees over the years have lost their jobs and/or their company pensions due to businesses going under. Judging from experts in the field, they are not alone and more will very possibly follow. Between 2010 and 2011, approximately 300 underfunded company pensions from the private sector shut down. This doesn't bode well for the future, as this trend is expected to continue.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can help.

The good news is that private companies are insured by the PBGC. What this means is that, in the event that a company fails to meet its pension obligations, insurance coverage will kick in. In other words, your pension will still be in effect; it will simply be from a different source.

However, there is a cap to what the PBGC will cover.

Although the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can help in the event that a company's pension dissolves, there is a cap to what will be paid out. So while you would still receive a guaranteed income during your retirement, that amount may be sizably cut. While it should be noted that most pension plans are below the maximum amount dictated by the PBGC, many individuals will be affected by the cap.

Much worse if you're several years away from retirement.

If you're still several years away from retirement and your company pension shuts down, you may find a drastic reduction in your benefits, since you won't have those extra years to accrue more income. For example, if your company pension was to shut down 15 years before your expected retirement, you could lose nearly two-thirds of your yearly expected retirement income.

Retirement advice for those affected.

If you have a company pension, it doesn't matter whether you think you're safe or not. This is your future we're talking about. The best course of action is to prepare for a worst-case scenario. This means that you should create a greater savings by way of other types of retirement accounts. If you have access to a company-sponsored 401k, that would be a great choice. Or you might want to invest in CD's, IRA's, or a variety of other products. For the best retirement advice that will allow you to prepare for such an event, it would be wise to seek the help of a financial expert.

Source: http://firstsecurityfinancialshow.com/blog/bid/115028/Lessons-for-Retirement-from-Kodak

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Waiting for Godot… and kids to grow up…

Welcome New York Times readers! For regular readers, here’s the NYT article that talks about the Person Under the Stairs (aka my son who lives in the basement):
Rules for When Your Child Moves Home
Here’s the stages of learning myself and my kid had to go through to learn about money since it wasn’t a talent [...]

Source: http://singlemomrichmom.com/waiting-for-gdt-kids-to-grow-up/

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What’s New Around The Blogosphere: May 11th, 2012

Do 20-something’s have it tougher today than they did 25-30 years ago? Rob Carrick wrote a column in the Globe and Mail looking at the economic situation of today’s young adults compared to back in 1984, when he graduated. He notes that tuition, cars and house prices have increased far beyond the typical 2% annual...

Source: http://www.boomerandecho.com/whats-new-around-the-blogosphere-may-11th-2012/

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Does Wall Street Have Your Best Interest At Heart?

It's no secret that Wall Street is an essential part of the United States' overall economy. Without it, the infrastructure would be severely threatened. Knowing how important it is, you would think that Wall Street investors would have the public's best interest at heart, seeing as how if the system falls apart, the economy might not be too far behind.

Unfortunately, it has become clear in recent years that Wall Street definitely doesn't "have our backs," which makes it hard to know who to trust as you attempt to strengthen your retirement plan.

An Ongoing Issue

Investors defrauding their clients is a tale as old as time. Or, at least, almost. Although some clients have become more astute concerning certain practices and warning signs, a great number of them simply go about their daily business, unaware that a problem might be lurking around the next financial corner.

The problem seems to have gotten worse over the past few years. If not the frequency, at least the severity. Take the case of Bernie Madoff, for example. He defrauded millions out of investors, even the more savvy ones. Yet most people haven't taken any steps to protect themselves, because they trust the people they're working with. Arguably, so did Madoff's clientele.

If you want to protect yourself, now is the time, and no financial advisor worth his or her weight in gold will question your motives for doing so. After all, it is your retirement we're talking about here.

A Public Resignation

The financial world can be a cutthroat business. Just ask Greg Smith.

Greg started out as a summer intern for Goldman Sachs. He worked for the company for nearly two decades, and the job took him from New York to London, and he moved all the way up to an executive position. His growth with the company is what many employees would kill for. And what did he do? He quit.

The reason why he quit was covered in an op-ed piece he wrote for the New York Times. He used it as a letter of resignation and laid it all out very candidly. He explained that he had been given the opportunity to witness the inner workings of a large financial company and he didn't like what he had seen. He recounted how Goldman Sachs had once been a great company, but in recent years, he had witnessed a number of events where the focus had been taken off of client satisfaction and placed onto the company's bottom line. He also indicated that the financial giant could become what it was once again, but as long as they continued down the path they was currently on, he wanted no part of it.

Who Can You Trust?

Seeing as how companies like Goldman Sachs and investors like Bernie Madoff haven't had the clients' best interest at heart (in the case of Madoff, that is a gross understatement), it is important that you take steps to protect yourself. Don't simply choose a financial company to advise you in your retirement plans because of name recognition. Get a feel for how they do business and how they treat you. If you're especially skittish, start with a small investment and grow your portfolio as you gain confidence in their ability. And don't be afraid to get a second opinion from an outside source who can analyze your financial strategy and make sure that the course your advisor has set up is a wise one.

Source: http://firstsecurityfinancialshow.com/blog/bid/136348/Does-Wall-Street-Have-Your-Best-Interest-At-Heart

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woensdag 30 mei 2012

An Investment Puzzle: How to Put Your Assets in the Right Places

Filed under: Investing

Investment choices Obviously, what you invest in can mean the difference between getting rich and losing your shirt. But where you invest can be even more important -- especially if you end up picking winners.

Most people have several different ways to put their money to work. If you have a 401(k) or other retirement plan at work, you can have deductions pulled directly out of your paycheck and put toward your long-term savings. Opening an IRA can give you many of the same benefits with even more flexibility. For goals other than retirement, regular brokerage or mutual fund accounts let you have complete control over your money, and you can take it out or move it without any penalties.

But if you have a diversified investment portfolio with a variety of assets -- such as stocks, mutual funds, bank CDs or other fixed-income investments, and alternative investments -- you may not spend much time figuring out where each investment fits best across all the accounts you have. As a result, you could be missing out on big tax savings.

What should go where?

The right answer depends on your individual situation, but some general rules of thumb apply to many people.

1. Interest-bearing assets belong in IRAs. If you have bank CDs, bonds, or other investments that produce interest income, the best place for them is in a Traditional IRA. The reason is that these assets benefit the most from the tax savings that IRAs provide. Unlike income from stock dividends and capital gains, interest income gets taxed at your higher ordinary rate. Given how low the rates on these investments are right now anyway, the last thing you can afford is to lose a big share of that meager income to the tax man.

2. Save your best ideas for a Roth IRA. A Roth IRA is a special type of retirement account that let's you withdraw all the income it generates tax-free. Therefore, you should put the investments that have the best chance of soaring in value inside a Roth.

Sponsored Links

High-growth stocks fit that bill. Think about some of the blockbuster gainers over the years -- stocks like priceline.com (PCLN) and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) that have made a bundle for their longtime shareholders. If you'd put those investments in a Roth IRA, you could've enjoyed all those profits without paying a penny in tax. That's why Roth IRAs are so valuable -- but since you can only contribute limited amounts to a Roth, you have to use your Roth money wisely.

3. Invest long-term in taxable accounts. Even though stocks give you the best chance to make significant money over the long haul, that doesn't mean that they aren't suitable for taxable accounts. Until you actually sell a stock you own, you don't pay tax on any gains. So plenty of people are still sitting on big gains from stocks like Amazon.com (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) that they've held for years, letting their profits ride -- and they haven't had to pay a dime in tax along the way.

Moreover, as long as you hold onto investments for more than a year, any gains qualify for a tax break. Currently, the maximum tax rate for long-term capital gains is 15%, compared to up to 35% for regular income. So putting stocks and stock mutual funds or ETFs in taxable accounts can be a smart idea -- especially when you can't afford to lock up that money until you retire.

Think Smart

Figuring out what investments to buy may seem hard enough without worrying about which account to use to buy them. But in your constant fight with the IRS, it can make a huge difference -- and it's worth the effort.

For more on smart tax moves:

Motley Fool contributor Dan Caplinger learned a lot of tax lessons the hard way. You can follow him on Twitter here. He doesn't own shares of the companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com and Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Amazon.com, priceline.com, Green Mountain, and Apple, as well as creating a lurking gator position in Green Mountain and a bull call spread position in Apple.

NEXT:

Gallery: The Big Retirement Myth: You'll Spend Less

Get info on stocks mentioned in this article:

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/02/an-investment-puzzle-how-to-put-your-assets-in-the-right-places/

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What’s New Around The Blogosphere: May 11th, 2012

Source: http://www.boomerandecho.com/whats-new-around-the-blogosphere-may-11th-2012/

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The maxed out CPP/EI “raise” is here!!!

There’s few things quite as exciting as seeing an automatic payroll deposit in your account that’s higher than you expected. I haven’t been on a traditional payroll for a few years so had forgotten how awesome it is to get a ~ 7% raise mid-year.
If you’re wondering when you’ll reach the the max annual employee [...]

Source: http://singlemomrichmom.com/the-maxed-out-cppei-raise-is-here/

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My struggle with GDSR and TDSR

I’ve heard these terms thrown around by a few financial institutions from time to time. Here is a quick look and my quick take on them: Gross Debt Service Ratio (GDSR) – % income required to pay basic housing costs. Under the “basic” banner: mortgage payments (including principal and interest), condo fees (if you [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/myownadvisor/CsCc/~3/B_rJgskuDZ4/

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Payout or Pension?

Shortly after I moved to my current residence, I switched jobs. My previous line of work was slowly coming to a close, and I needed to make sure that I wasn’t left jobless, so I kept my eyes open for new employment. When the opportunity came, I took another job that offered longer term employment. While...
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Source: http://canadianfinanceblog.com/payout-or-pension/

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Why I Have No Faith in Market Timing

Earlier this week I described the market timing strategy outlined in Mebane Faber’s book The Ivy Portfolio. I chose not to editorialize too much, preferring instead to simply explain the strategy to readers who may have been unfamiliar with it. So let me make my opinion on this clear now: I do not recommend this [...]

Source: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/05/17/why-i-have-no-faith-in-market-timing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-i-have-no-faith-in-market-timing

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Affluent Investor Confidence Drops for Second Consecutive Month

The Spectrem Affluent Investor Confidence Index (SAICI)SM dropped seven points to a neutral reading of -5, the second consecutive monthly decline. The Spectrem Millionaire Investor Confidence Index (SMICI)SM dropped five points to a neutral reading of 3, the lowest reading in four months.
The declines are reflected in Affluent investors’ investment preferences in May. There was anincrease of those who invested in cash, while more Millionaire and Non-Millionaire households than last month opted to “Not Invest.” While Millionaire investment in stocks did rise in May, it was not enough to compensate for declines in other investment options.
The Affluent Household Outlook, a survey of attitudes toward financial factors that impact their daily lives, dropped dramatically after five consecutive months of gains. Though each of the four components remained in positive territory overall, each posted losses over the previous month.
Millionaire and Non-Millionaire households expressed a decline in confidence in household income, household assets, company health, and the economy. The Millionaire Outlook was more positive than in Non-Millionaire households, which posted a reading that was almost 20 points less.
We asked Affluent investors this month which news story is having the most impact on their economic outlook. International problems, particularly the ongoing European Union economic crisis, and its impact on the global economy, topped the list, followed by unemployment and the political environment.

Source: http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/affluent-investor-confidence-drops-second-consecutive-month

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Preparing For A Greek Exit, In 3 Easy Steps

What if your job were to protect your country's financial system in case Greece quit the eurozone?

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/24/153616457/preparing-for-a-greek-exit-in-3-easy-steps?ft=1&f=127413671

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A Breakout Is Likely -- but in Which Direction?

Filed under: Economy, Investing, Market News

A variety of technical signals are suggesting we're at a crucial decision point for the stock market: Either the bull recovers from its recent swoon and moves decisively up toward new highs, or the market reverses trend dramatically and moves down.

Although many market observers dismiss technical analysis as unscientific speculation more akin to astrology than math-based quantitative analysis, those skeptics are missing the point: Technical analysis isn't rooted in brute-force matching of curve sets, it's rooted in human psychology. Levels of resistance and support are not mathematical certainties -- they reflect the human psychological tendencies toward greed and fear.

When the market finally recovers a key level, for example, those investors who have grown weary of being underwater simply want their initial capital back, so they sell. This creates resistance. When the market declines, those who have reaped gains from buying during previous dips will jump in and buy more stock at what they perceive as "bargain" prices. This creates support.

And proponents of number-crunching quantitative analysis shouldn't be too cocky about their tool of choice: Quant analysis is based on past price action and patterns just like technical analysis. Just because a math-derived curve set matches recent price action does not preclude the unexpected from happening. This is why quant-based funds such as Long-Term Capital Management tend to self-destruct when markets trend strongly in unpredictable ways.

There are a lot of crosswinds in the market right now. Gains in retail sales and jobs are trends that support a bullish stance, while rising oil prices, food inflation and geopolitical uncertainty are giving credibility to a more cautious or even bearish perspective.

Warnings from Carl Icahn and Bill Gross

Small investors often look to highly successful "superstar" investors for hints on where the market is heading, and two recent news items about such big names have provided solid support for the bear camp: Legendary investor Carl Icahn has dissolved his hedge fund and is returning its capital to shareholders, citing the risk of another financial crisis. And famed bond manager Bill Gross has reduced the Treasury bond holdings of the world's largest bond fund, Pimco's Total Return Fund, to zero. The amount of cash the fund holds has swollen from $11 billion to more than $54 billion, its largest cash position ever.

There isn't any other way to interpret this except as a multibillion-dollar bet against the Federal Reserve's reassuring stance that inflation will remain tame for years to come. If you fear inflation might accelerate, the last investments you want to own are long-term, low-yield bonds that will instantly lose money if interest rates start rising.

Some analysts also interpret this move as an expression of doubt that the Fed will launch a massive third round of quantitative easing in June when the current QE2 campaign is scheduled to end. The Fed's ongoing $600 billion quantitative easing program is widely regarded as having strongly supported the rising equity markets.

As for the rising retail sales numbers, part of those "gains" can be attributed to rising costs: People and businesses are paying more than before for the same goods. If households are spending borrowed money again, that's not a sign of strength -- it's a sign of weakness in the household balance sheet. Consumers turned on the credit card spigot again in December, and they've loaded up on car loan debt this year.

What analysts should be looking at is whether household incomes are rising. Unfortunately, the answer is clear: Wage earners aren't benefiting much from the recent strong gains in productivity.

In an economy based on consumer spending, stagnant household incomes don't provide a strong foundation for future spending increases.

As for stock valuations, by at least one analyst's reckoning, many stocks are at all-time highs. Does the underlying economy support sky-high stock valuations? That's an open question, and one the market is obviously pondering.

To round out the backdrop for the market's current indecision, let's look at these two log-term charts of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq has retreated from the highs last reached in 2007, following a pattern that looks a lot like a classic "double top."

The S&P 500, meanwhile, traced out a massive double top pattern earlier in the decade. Its rapid ascent from the 2009 lows has been far more robust than the recovery in the overall economy, a disconnect that the current market queasiness reflects.

Now let's look at the daily chart of the broad-based S&P 500 (SPX).

The push and pull of hope and doubt is visible in the wedge (also called a flag or pennant) that has been traced out over the past three weeks. This is a classic wedge of lower highs and higher lows as prices are squeezed into a narrowing band of volatile swings.

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Wedges are typically broken by big moves either up or down. A collapse in oil prices or a strong jobs report might provide the catalyst for an upside breakout, while accelerating inflation, a further rise in oil prices or a weaker-than-anticipated jobs report might trigger a breakdown and a trend reversal.

The 1,300 level offers both a psychological and technical support -- a round number and the 50-day moving average. Any sustained break below 1,300 would signal a possible trend reversal.

The bull has stumbled recently. For it regain its footing, the market would need to climb above the 20-day moving average (MA) and then retest recent highs around 1,343.

The two-month chart of the Nasdaq offers an interesting technical snapshot of indecision: As fear that the rally is over takes hold, the market drops significantly. Then as "bargain-hunting" and hopefulness return, it moves back up to the 2,800 level. But then by day four or five, doubt returns with a vengeance, and the market plummets again only to retrace back up to the 2,800 zone of resistance a few days later.

Now that pattern is breaking down: Price has failed to climb back above the critical 20-day moving average even as it has turned down, and is now clinging precariously to the key 50-day moving average. A break through the 50-day MA would be technically significant.

Nobody knows what the market will do tomorrow, much less three months or three years from now. But to the degree that markets reflect the emotions and calculations of its human participants, the current indicators of doubt and indecision deserve careful watching.

Disclosure: The writer has a small position in ProShares UltraShort QQQ (QID), an inverse ETF on the NASDAQ 100.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/03/10/stock-market-breakout-likely-but-in-which-direction/

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Property Tax: Housing Bubble’s Lamprey

After yesterday’s post on Financial Psychology of Money, there was a good comment on how Property Taxes can add an interesting twist in my statement: ” … the only time the price of your house matters is when you sell it … “. Property Taxes (or millage tax), is the only tax where you have to pay a [...]

Property Tax: Housing Bubble’s Lamprey is a post from: Canadian Personal Finance Blog and follow me on twitter as well: Big Cajun Man, daily updates from all over the Blogosphere. Subscribe to my comments feed as well!

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Obama's Wasteful Spending: Lessons From Solyndra

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/29/obama039s_wasteful_spending_lessons_from_solyndra_281005.html

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JPMorgan Outsmarted: The Hunch, the Pounce & Kill

Azam Ahmed, NYT
One beneficiary was Boaz Weinstein, a hedge fund manager who saw a price anomaly that signaled an opportunity. At a conference, he advised betting against it.It was last November, and Mr. Weinstein, a wunderkind of the New York hedge fund world, had spied something strange across the Atlantic. In an obscure corner of the financial markets, prices seemed out of whack. It didn’t make sense.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/29/jpmorgan_outsmarted_the_hunch_the_pounce_amp_kill_281073.html

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dinsdag 29 mei 2012

Tales of usury

Did you know that usury was actually illegal at one point?
My son is charging interest… to his coworkers… like a payday loan. That’s better than anything I could make in the market.
According to wikipedia, back in the day (and we’re talking another century):
Moneylending during this period was largely a matter of private loans advanced to [...]

Source: http://singlemomrichmom.com/tales-of-usury/

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Facebook's IPO Debacle, Day 3: Un-Friended and Dis-Liked on Wall Street

Filed under: Technology, Morgan Stanley , Facebook, Market News

It's day three of the Facebook (FB) valuation debate and the world is, once again, falling apart.

As the stock's value continues to drop -- it closed Tuesday at $31, down 8.9% on the day, and down 19% from the IPO price of $38 -- lead underwriter Morgan Stanley (MS) is being attacked for its 11th-hour cut in estimates of Facebook's revenue forecasts. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, has claimed that "we need to look at" issues related to the IPO, and analysts are criticizing everyone from Nasdaq to Facebook itself, desperate to find someone to blame.

In a particularly poignant vignette, one outraged hedge fund manager, a self-described "blue collar Wall Street guy" is livid because his $100 million investment in the company has headed south.

The Problems of Valuation

While there's ample evidence to suggest that Morgan Stanley may have colored outside the lines, the bigger problem is that, as the market is trying to determine the actual value of Facebook, it's becoming increasingly clear that many of the traditional valuation rules don't apply. The company has minimal infrastructure, doesn't produce a tangible product, and is still groping its way toward a solid monetization strategy. When it comes to advertising, a standard valuation question for a media stock, Facebook is disappointing: As the economic bloviators have endlessly pointed out, the site's advertising revenues are unimpressive. And, to make things worse, there's Facebook's claim that the move to portable devices has made it even harder to create a stable revenue stream.

(Of course, it's almost impossible to find a website with a good advertising-based business model, but those kinds of big-picture, systemic flaws aren't really interesting to the jittery buy/sell crowd that is currently complaining about Facebook.)

When it comes to determining the actual worth of Facebook, value investors will have to focus their attention on two somewhat intangible factors: the website's CEO and its place in the social media market.

The Big Boss

Regarding the first, there are the image problems faced by Mark Zuckerberg himself, a somewhat self-conscious 28-year-old college dropout who has been far from impressive in his few public appearances. The Facebook valuation problems don't seem to have hit him too closely, although his worth -- on paper -- has dropped by $3 billion since Friday. In fact, some finance writers are trying to coin the word "Zucked" to describe a paper billionaire who loses a huge chunk of his supposed wealth. Personally, I prefer "Fulded"; then again, my long-term memory stretches all the way back to 2008.

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But, as any student of Zuckerberg's tenure can attest, the young man in question has a firm vision for the future of Facebook, coupled with a willingness to learn, a strong eye for talent and an iron grip on the wheel. In eight years, he has transformed a college project into a social network that connects more than one-seventh of the world's population. And, when it comes to Facebook's unimpressive revenues, it's worth remembering that "unimpressive" in this context means a mere $1 billion in profit last year.

Regarding the second factor, Facebook's place in the social media market, few analysts noted that, even as GM announced plans to stop paying the site for advertising, it was doubling down on its use of Facebook's fan pages. In fact, counting its distributors, dealers, factories, suppliers, and other associates, GM operates hundreds of fan pages, without paying Facebook a penny.

This factor suggests a clear revenue route to revenue for the site. Facebook currently has over 900 million users, and is on track to hit a billion later this year. Millions of companies, institutions, and artists use the site to create fan pages that they use to connect to customers. In fact, fan pages are on track to become a cottage industry of their own, with an ever-growing cadre of marketers offering to build pages, maintain pages, and advise customers on how to use pages. As yet, Facebook hasn't monetized this feature, but it isn't hard to imagine how they could.

How Much Is It Really Worth (Again)

So, to recap, Facebook's paper value dropped from $104 billion to $93 billion in three days.

This didn't happen because of any major moves on the part of the company and wasn't a response to any big market forces. The site's founder and CEO, the guy who built it and has a vision for its growth, is still in the driver's seat -- what's more, with 57% of the company's voting stock under his control, he isn't going anywhere.

Gallery: 5 Companies Getting Burned By Facebook

As for the future, Facebook still has big plans, and now has a very fat war chest that will make some of them possible. Admittedly, it has a somewhat questionable advertising-based revenue stream, but it is sitting on a potential gold mine. In other words, for the long-term investor, it looks like a great deal. The only question now is how much of a drop should we wait for before buying in?

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/05/22/facebooks-ipo-debacle-day-3-un-friended-and-dis-liked-on-wall/

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Inside the DFA Global Balanced Fund

Long-time readers will know that I’ve written before about Dimensional Fund Advisors, an innovative investment firm that builds low-cost, widely diversified funds. I enjoy keeping an eye DFA, because their strategies are based on academic research (there are a few Nobel laureates in the family) that all investors can learn from. The one downside of [...]

Source: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/05/29/inside-the-dfa-global-balanced-fund/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=inside-the-dfa-global-balanced-fund

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Why People Do Bad Things

We talk to a guy who started out as an upstanding businessman, and went on to commit bank fraud involving millions of dollars.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/04/17/150815268/why-people-do-bad-things?ft=1&f=127413671

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Why You Need to Update Your Beneficiaries

Estate planning issues aren’t a lot of fun, but they are necessary if you don’t want to cause a great deal of stress and expense for those you leave behind. Whether you are trying to figure out who should get that great collection of stamps, or whether you want the contents of your RRSP to...
Related Posts:

Source: http://canadianfinanceblog.com/why-you-need-to-update-your-beneficiaries/

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May 29, 2012 Fact of the Day

Seventy-three percent of investors with $5-25 million in net worth (not including primary residence) use an advisor to some extent.

Source: http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/may-29-2012-fact-day

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Lessons for Retirement from Kodak

Pay attention to what happened with Kodak.

Kodak employees are not alone.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can help.

However, there is a cap to what the PBGC will cover.

Much worse if you're several years away from retirement.

Retirement advice for those affected.

Source: http://firstsecurityfinancialshow.com/blog/bid/115028/Lessons-for-Retirement-from-Kodak

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April Summary

While April wasn't the best health month for me, it had some greate things happen financially.

DS did a great job of not overspending on his Europe trip. As promised, I let him keep half of what he came home with. He now has his $300 for his vehicle plates (insurance) which is due Mid July. Now mom needs to get her part done.

I didn't add anything to savings, but I did kick debt's butt quite well, IMHO. My loan was at $2842 at start of April and I brought it down to $1372. It was great to see it fall so wonderfully and know that the end of that was near.

I read a bit but not tons. I need to curl up and figure out my new plan of action and my budget for when the loan is paid off on June 5th. Kind of exciting to be able to :-)

Source: http://shakingthemoneytree.blogspot.com/2012/05/april-summary.html

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Affluent Say 'Raise Social Security Age'

Earlier this year, Bank of America conducted a study entitled the Merrill Lynch Affluent Insights Survey. This study, which began in 2009, focuses on a variety of subjects each year, with an overall goal to provide a bit of insight into the financial and retirement needs of the American public. For 2012's survey, they asked questions regarding the current state of retirement and Social Security.

Mark 2022 on Your Calendars

One focus of the survey conducted by Bank of America was regarding Social Security. As you may have heard, the Social Security is currently being threatened. This is because the gap separating the amounts being collected and the amounts being paid out is widening. At some point, the collected amounts will overcome the checks being sent out. According to estimates, this will happen in the year 2022. Once that happens, it is possible that the amounts that people receive (which are already very low) will decrease. This is why many people believe that changes must be made to the system.

An Older Workforce

Statistics from 1993 show that 29% of the United States' workforce was older than 55, according to the Labor Department. Last year, their newest survey showed that the number had risen to 40%. These results demonstrate that an increasing number are not retiring simply because they reach a certain birthday. Yes, this is how things worked in the past, but the American sentiment has changed. Now people are retiring not because of their age, but simply because they are ready and/or feel that it is the right time.

Survey Backs Up Older Workforce

Bank of America's survey backed up the above sentiment. The results show that, of the individuals surveyed who were under 62 years of age and had not yet retired, 62% were not planning to retire early. Instead, a number of them planned to put off their retirement for as long as possible, both for financial and personal reasons. In addition to this, the survey also showed that not quite 15% of those over 50 stated that age would be a main reason concerning their decision of when to retire. These results show that, for one reason or another, the average American worker is more than willing to keep working, and that number is likely to continue increasing.

Affluent People Say "Raise the Retirement Age"

The study from Bank of America shows that affluent individuals believe that the retirement age should be raised in order to affect change to the current Social Security outlook. In fact, of those with at least $250,000 in assets, 59% felt this way. If the retirement age was increased to match our increased life expectancy, it could fix the problem of the widening gap between the amount being collected and the amount being paid to retirees, at least for quite a number of years. The only thing missing from the survey was a specific age that respondents would consider having the retirement age raised to, though adding on at least a few years would probably be acceptable.

Different Study Shows Concern For the Deficit

Toward the end of last year, Wells Fargo had its own survey completed. The results showed that 47% of respondents with assets totaling at least $100,000 believe that a cut in benefits, whether from Social Security or Medicare, would help lower the U.S. debt. However, the study also indicated that only 23% of a person's retirement funds would come from Social Security. This indicates that other sources of continuing income during retirement are necessary, despite concerns of the deficit.

Source: http://firstsecurityfinancialshow.com/blog/bid/154640/Affluent-Say-Raise-Social-Security-Age

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donderdag 31 mei 2012

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