Be Bold

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary… ” Steve Jobs 2005 commencement speech at Stanford

When I was growing up, getting a job with a good company, staying for an entire career and then retiring was a great option.    People could choose to remain with a company for 30 years or more years.  It was also a safe option.  There wasn't a lot of personal risk to work for a large company. 

By the time I graduated from college, a long term career at a big corporation was not a given any more.  Many of my classmates were working at their third or fourth company by our ten year reunion.  From a career standpoint, it was getting  as risky to work for a large company as for a small company or being self employed.

Nowadays, working for a large company is no longer a safe option.  Jobs at large companies can disappear as easily as those at a small company.  In fact, being self employed may no longer be the most risky option since a person probably won't fire himself :-)

So I fully agree with Steve Jobs for my daughter's generation.  There are no longer safe career options.  No jobs are guaranteed.  The jobs may not even be in the U.S.  I will encourage our daughter to listen to her inner voice, to take risk while she is young, and look for what she truly wants to become.   Especially, since playing it safe is no longer safe :-)

For more on  Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #49

Welcome to the forty-ninth edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized them into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

simond presents Making Money From a Website posted at True to Business, saying, "Article about how to earn revenue from a website"

Marie presents Ways to Earn Extra Money to Put Aside posted at Money Spending Mommy, saying, "Whatever the reason, there are many ways you can earn extra money. Here are some ideas for your consideration."

J.B. presents 100th Post! posted at My University Money, saying, "We're proud to be 6 months old and have completed our 100th post, thanks for all the support everyone!"

Nabil Gulamani presents Why Relationship Based Selling is Very Important For Your Business posted at SuccessAtReach — SuccessAtReach, saying, "Find out why you need to work on your relationships with all your clients for long term business success"

Kyle Taylor presents 5 Weird Ways to Make Money Recycling posted at The Penny Hoarder, saying, "Collecting cans for the recycling center is not the only way to make a buck with your recyclables. Check out these 5 new, very weird ways to make extra money recycling…"

Tarik presents How to be a Lean Mean Operational Machine posted at Success starts today, saying, "3 easy steps to feel wealthier and be able to achieve your goals faster."

John presents College and Future Earnings: What’s the Connection? posted at Wallet Blog, saying, "We've all heard the saying that people with college degrees will earn more throughout their lives than people who only have a high school education -- but does having a framed piece of paper on your wall necessarily mean you are destined for a bigger payday?"

Investing

Hemant Beniwal presents 15 Types of Risk that affect your Investments posted at The Financial Literates, saying, "What comes to your mind when someone says RISK or this investment is risky? Loosing the principal amount. No there are more than 15 types of risks – that you must understand before Investing"

Trent Green presents How do Corporations Work? The Basics Regular People Need to Know posted at Money for Regular People, saying, "If you’re going to invest in corporations through stocks, mutual funds, a 401(k) plan, exchange traded funds (ETFs) or some other means, it’s important to understand the basics of how they work. In keeping with that theme, the purpose of the article below isn’t to provide an exhaustive, technical explanation of what a corporation is and how one works, but to focus on fundamental principles related to corporations that you need to understand so that you can be a more informed, knowledgeable investor (or even a potential business owner!)."

Dividends4Life presents 9 Dividend Stocks With A Low P/B Ratio posted at Dividend Growth Stocks, saying, "A declining market is what value and dividend investors long for. There have been times in the past where I struggled to find stocks worthy of purchasing. Now, the challenge is to pick the best available stocks that will maximize my chances of future success. When looking for value priced stocks, the Price-To-Book (P/B) ratio is one that I like to focus on."

Tyler presents Building Wealth Using Dividend Paying Stocks posted at Debt Reckoning, saying, "A great look at using dividend-paying stocks and a reinvestment strategy to build wealth."

Steve Zussino presents Is Netflix (NFLX) stock headed for the bottom? posted at Canadian Personal Finance, saying, "One of the main reasons I don’t like to invest in technology companies or technology services anymore is that the next ‘big thing’ can come along and convince the consumer to switch brands.An example is Netflix (NFLX).Their Unique Selling Proposition is that they are an easy way to view a huge library of videos and you can watch on a variety of devices and you do not need to buy cable anymore at an affordable price."

Kanwal Sarai presents Watch Out! A High Payout Ratio Could Get You in Trouble posted at Simply Investing Blog, saying, "Smart investors always check the payout ratio, it only takes 5 seconds and it could save you lots of money in the long run. The Payout Ratio is the ratio of money a company gives out to shareholders compared to how much money the company keeps for itself. This ratio is very important because it can be a good indicator of how much you as an investor can expect to receive in the future."

Mutual Fund presents What is a Mutual Fund? posted at Mutual Fund, saying, "Here is an article that explains in simple terms what is a mutual fund. If you have no idea about mutual funds, this article will explain that."

MoneyCone presents Vanguard’s Most Expensive Funds posted at Money Cone, saying, "The most expensive funds are not necessarily the best performing ones."

Ken Faulkenberry presents Top Global Investment Trends to Invest In – 2011 posted at Arbor Asset Allocation Model Portfolio (AAAMP) Blog, saying, "Included are some of the top global investment trends that should be included in your portfolio asset allocation in 2011 and beyond."

jared h presents Behavioral Economics posted at RICH AS CHOCOLATE, saying, "Investing in the stock market can stress your emotions. Learn the science of behavioral economics, and you will better handle the ups and downs of an unstable market."

Living Frugally

Jon Elder presents Why a 15 Year Mortgage is a Smart Move posted at Free Money Wisdom, saying, "Here are some things to consider when trying to choose between a 15 year and a 30 year option on your mortgage:"

Steve Ryan presents The Frugal Bubble; How Long Will It Last? posted at Smart Wealth, saying, "A sense of fear has returned to households around the world. People are once again worried about losing their jobs, their houses, and their businesses. For many, being frugal is not an option, it’s a survival tactic."

James presents Learning How to Shop for Food posted at Why am I Bleeding Money?!?, saying, "I hope you enjoy!"

Marie presents Pros and Cons of Selling Your Car to Settle Debts posted at Money Spending Mommy, saying, "If you own a car, you might consider selling it and using the proceeds to pay off debts. That is certainly an option, but it’s one that should not be taken lightly. Here are some of the pros and cons of selling your vehicle to settle debt."

DJ presents 6 Tips For Setting Your Budget Priorities posted at The Family Wallet, saying, "Setting priorities makes budgeting much simpler. But even this is difficult for many household money managers. Here are some ways that you can make priority setting a little easier:"

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents 3 Delightful Benefits of Giving Up Television posted at Frugal Living, saying, "With time and money being needlessly squandered on something that is not known to be a productive pastime, you may want to look into getting rid of your television service. Not so sure about that? Check out the amazing benefits you can gain from this simple move:"

Retiring

DJ presents Are You Saving Enough For Retirement? posted at The Family Wallet, saying, "The earlier you start saving for retirement, the more painless it will be. For each year you postpone saving, you’ll have to save a little more each month to reach your goal."

Carlos Sera presents A Required Rate Tale posted at Financial Tales, saying, "The real question that should be asked is—How much stock should investors hold? Old or young has nothing to do with it. So, how much stock should investors hold? The answer is—as much as required to earn the returns necessary to achieve your goals and is why I call this tale A Required Rate Tale."

James Bush presents Withdrawing from Your 401k Early (If You Absolutely Have To) posted at 401k Calculator, saying, "It's often not a good idea to tap into your 401K but if you have made the decision to do so here are some things to consider."

Taxes

Mike Piper presents 2012 Tax Brackets and Standard Deduction (Projected) posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, "Now that the relevant CPI figures have come out, we can calculate the tax brackets for next year (provided no new legislation is passed)."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: the wealth builder carnival, blog carnival.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wait and See Strategy

For now, I'm sitting on the sidelines and waiting to see how the European sovereign debt crisis unfolds. Two technical analysis blogs that I follow posted SPY -- at best still bottoming, worse to come?  and S&P 500 Chart – Do or Die Moment.  I agree, the direction is not very clear and there will be a lot of volatility.   To me, it's not worth the risk to be in the market.  The downside risk is higher than the upside potential.

Yes, I may miss a big short term advance.  However, I am avoiding the gut wrenching declines like last week.  To me, trade off is worth it:  I sleep better at nights.   Besides, with interest rates so low, the U.S. may risk the issue that Japan is experiencing-- deflation.   So being in cash feels pretty good right now.
 
For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.
This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Will Stock Dividends Increase Signficantly?

Today, I read an interesting article comparing the S&P composite dividend yield to corporate bond and Treasury yields.  Historically, until the 1950s, dividend yields have been higher than bond yields.  Since the fifties the reverse has been true.  With record profits, it seems to me that companies may start paying higher dividends again.  They probably won't get as high as corporate bond yield, but still higher than than the current level.

Of course, an alternative for dividend yields to increase is for stock prices to decline significantly.  While not a pleasant thought, this is also a likely scenario given the current economic situation.   My guess is a both scenarios are likely to take place: dividend increases and a decline in stock prices.  So I will continue to wait before putting funds back into stocks.  And when I start buying, I will purchase primarily dividend paying stocks.
 
For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.
This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Keeping My Mind Off the Stock Market

Besides getting paid regularly, working a temporary full time job had one other major benefit.  It kept my mind off the stock market during the summer gyrations. I haven't had much time to follow the stock market, the debt crisis or the President's new job plan.    My strategy of selling most of our stock holdings in June 2011 probably also helped :-)

Now that there is little over a month left in my job,  I have more time for current events reading.  So I'm paying more attention to the stock market.   However, I'm still going to avoid worrying about the stock market volatility.  After all, there isn't much I can do about the stock market, the economy or the political situation. 

So I'm going to continue not worrying about the stock market even after I retire again.  
 
For more on  Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.
This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Protected Our Daughter's College Accounts

In early June 2011, I cashed out 2/3's of our daughter's mutual funds in her college accounts.   At my spouse's request, we kept 1/3 of the accounts fully invested in the mutual funds.  As it turned out, I sold off too soon.  The invested account gained enough in July to be 7% higher than the cash accounts.    It's too bad that we didn't sell the account invested  mutual funds at that point.   In August, the mutual fund account lost its 7% advantage and then some.  The invested account is now about 15% below the cash account.

The college accounts have a one time per year reallocation restriction.  So I won't be able to move back into mutual funds until 2012.  But given the current performance of the stock market, I think I can wait that long before reinvesting funds in the stock market.
 
For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.
This is not financial  or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Getting Ready for Opportunity

"Good things come to those that wait." ~ Proverb

I've been patiently waiting for the Dow to hit my "start buying slowly" signal of 10,200.   There have been times that I've thought I made mistake and have been tempted to get back into the market.  However, I'm still convinced that the reasons that made me worried still exist.   For now it's still an easy decision to stay out of the market.

I don't think the economy and stock market will be bad long term .  So I'm looking for the opportunity to get back into the market.  However, I will continue to be patient and wait for my buy points to be crossed.
 
For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.
This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

You Can Learn A Lot by Just Asking

Today's experience with my corporate credit card company reminded the importance of checking multiple times if the answer doesn't seem to make sense.  After four calls, I finally think I got what is the right answer.  In my experience, the correct answer will be offered more times which lets me know it is the likely right answer.
 
I find this strategy of checking multiple times with different knowledgeable people also works for financial strategies.  By talking to several different people and comparing answers, I get a better idea of what may work better for my specific situation.   So I ask a lot, listen a lot and then determine what I will do.
 
For reference, this approach does not work well with specific stock tips :-)
 
For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday  for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

2012 - Taking the Summer Off

After a couple years of losing my summer vacation, I've decided to keep June, July and August of 2012 open and free from work commitments.   In the summers of 2008 and 2009, I was relatively free from any work commitments.   In the summer of 2010, I over committed to working four part time jobs, including one nearly full time job.   In the summer of 2011, I worked a  temporary full time job which caused me to pass on a summer vacation due to work demands.

In both years, the money was good which is why I accepted the positions.  In 2010, I earned about 50% of our annual expenses.  In 2011, I will earn about 78% of our annual expenses.  However, the money wasn't worth the trade off of time lost during the summer.

So in 2012, I will cut back the part time work to around  5-6 hours a week during most of the year and 15 hours a week during the winter seasonal financial services part time job.  Thus, I will likely only earn about 10% of our annual expenses.   But I will get my summer back :-)
 
For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.
This is not financial  or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The New Economic Normal

I haven't seen much written on the topic, but I think the U.S. economy experienced the bursting of a lifestyle and wage bubble during the great recession.  Americans can no longer expect to have the same lifestyle and wages as before the recession.   Until people realize the old wage and old lifestyle are not coming back quickly, we will continue to be in an economic rut. Unfortunately, some people are holding out from the workforce until they can achieve the previous wage levels. 
 
I know some people blame the issue on exporting jobs overseas.  That may be a contributing factor.    I think the bigger issue was that the increasing demand for higher lifestyles over the last two decades (housing and goods) kept wages high.  When the mortgage crisis eliminated demand for housing and goods,  the lifestyle bubble popped.    That was followed by a pop of the wage bubble since demand was down.   Now people who have lost jobs are unlikely to find new jobs at wages close to what they used to make.

It appears to me the next bubble to pop will be the retirement bubble.  Many public pensions are underfunded and require increases in tax revenue to make payments.  Many private retirement accounts are down due to the stock market decline.   Social Securtiy will be unable to cover full payments within 20 years. 

Is the U.S. doomed?  I don't think so yet.   We just have to get over the denial, recognize the reality and focus on what is needed to get back on track.  The U.S. and its economy can be very resilient, if they are allowed to do so. 
 
For more on  New Beginnings/New Realities, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Unsolicited Job Offers

A retired friend seems to have no trouble getting a job.  Since retiring, I think he has received an offer every time he has applied. 

He even gets offers for job for which he didn't apply.  Recently, I offered him a part time position with the non-profit in which I work.  (To note, I let the Board know of the potential conflict of interest and got their agreement before making the offer.)   I knew that he would be able to do the job with little training.   He has been a great asset to the organization.   I think he accepted the job partly as a favor to me, since he plans to resign when my employment term ends.

Today, my retired friend received another job offer from one of his other friends.    This time it's for a startup company.   His friend met him for lunch and made the offer.   My friend is thinking about accepting, even though he doesn't quite know exactly what the job is nor the pay rate yet.  He just knows it's flexible in hours and location of work.
 
I can understand why.   Every employer gets a great deal when they hire him.    My friend is smart, does excellent work and requires little supervision.  I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to receive unsolicited job offers :-)
 
For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday  for a new segment.

This is not financial or career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Regain Competitiveness

When I was in elementary school, classes were assigned by capability. There clearly was a fast learner class, an average class, and a slow learner class.  The teachers knew, the parents knew and the students knew.    When I was in high school, an A in AP classes was assigned a 4.0.  There was no bonus for taking an AP class.  However, the top students still  took the AP courses.

Nowadays, it seems schools no longer segregate students by learning capability and now teach to the lowest ability in the class.   Also, AP classes now give an extra point for each grade (A=5.0) so students are not discouraged from taking a tougher class. My seven year old daughter even recognizes the problem.  Her observation of first grade is that they are just reviewing what they learned in kindergarten and pre-school.

To me, it's no wonder that the U.S. is losing competitiveness in the global business world.   We no longer have high expectations of ourselves.   We no longer challenge ourselves to be the best.   We don't want any child to fail because of the impact on their self esteem.

We need to better prepare our children for the global competition they will face.  Let's go back to ranking them.  Give them incentives to be better.   And challenge them to excel.  Building competitiveness and resiliency early in their lives will make them stronger for future adult challenges.
 
For more on  Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

 Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Wealth Builder Carnival #48

Welcome to the forty-eighth edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to collect articles from the blogosphere on building, preserving and keeping enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. For reference, I have tried to keep the carnival content tightly focused on wealth building and did not include submissions that were off topic. For reading convenience, the posts are listed with a brief summary or comment by the submitter and organized them into seven categories: Earning, Insuring and Protecting, Investing, Living Frugally, Retiring, Saving and Taxes.

And now onto the Carnival:

Earning

Kyle Taylor presents How to Make $750 a Month Selling Used Books posted at The Penny Hoarder, saying, "You can make a nice side hustle by buying books on Ebay and then selling the same used books to buyback companies. Here's how I do it..."

misst presents Five Career Killer Moves posted at Prairie Eco-Thrifter, saying, "As a hiring (and firing) manager for a mid-cap financial services company I saw plenty of ways otherwise competent people messed up their career chances for advance. Here are five of my favorites."

Tim Fraticelli presents 33+ Side Job Ideas posted at Faith and Finance, saying, "If you're looking for a side job to make extra money, explore a few of these ideas to get your mind working. Ignite the entrepreneur inside of you!"

Insuring and Protecting

None

Investing

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents 5 Useful Steps to Manage Your Windfall posted at Frugal Living, saying, "Have you received an inheritance, lotto money or work bonus recently? Think of how you can stretch the money by generating passive income for yourself from your windfall through sound investment methods."

Dividend Growth Investor presents Why I am a dividend growth investor? posted at Dividend Growth Investor, saying, "My research shows that a portfolio of carefully selected dividend stocks will provide a sufficient income stream for me to live on, without having to touch principal. The fact that the companies I purchase also grow earnings to pay growing distributions each year means that over time stock prices would go higher, thus providing some protection to my capital from inflation."

Will presents The End of an Era? Apple CEO Steve Jobs Steps Down posted at Money Mastered, saying, "When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, it was close to bankruptcy. When he stepped down, he left it with a market capitalization of over $350 billion. What will happen after him?"

MoneyCone presents Following Buffett Blindly Can Be Injurious To Your Wealth posted at Money Cone, saying, "An individual investor is not in the same boat as Mr. Buffett. It is hard to predict in which direction BofA’s stock price will swing, but either way, Buffett will make money, not so for the individual investor who follows Buffett blindly"

Dividends4Life presents 5 Higher-Yielding Healthcare Stocks With Increasing Dividends posted at Dividend Growth Stocks, saying, "As we age, our need for medical services, devices and medications seems to increase as each year passes. This week week, I screened my dividend growth stocks database for healthcare companies with a yield at or above 2.8% and have increased their dividends for at least 10 consecutive years. The results are presented below:"

Mike Piper presents You Call This an Efficient Market? posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, "Is the extreme volatility of the stock market a sign that it's not an efficient market?"

Living Frugally

Andy Boyd presents The Mac App Store’s Best Budgeting Apps posted at Tricks Machine – Mobile Apps | Blogging Tips | WordPress Tips | Freewares | Gadgets | Social Media, saying, "Keeping track of your budgets has never been easier with the myriad of financial planning apps available in the iTunes store. Whether you are budgeting for a specific event, the future or just simply trying to spend smarter, there’s an app for you. Here is a list of ten budgeting apps to get you started on your way to financial freedom (all prices in USD)."

Kevin presents Five Personal Finance, Economic and Life Lessons Learned from “The Lion King” posted at Invest It Wisely, saying, "Here are five lessons based on my own personal interpretation of The Lion King."

Jon Elder presents 12 Free Summer Activities for Your Family posted at Free Money Wisdom, saying, "Here are 12 of our favorite activities you can enjoy with your family this summer:"

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Give the Gift of Financial Finesse: Your Young Child posted at Wallet Watcher, saying, "Money is, for better or for worse, one of those things people learn about early in life. If a child learns the wrong things and gets the wrong impression, a multitude of adult financial woes can be the result. Parents, here are some money concepts to teach your young children, and tips on how to make them work in your family."

Nathan Richardson presents Credit Score Needed To Buy a House (and get a Mortgage) in 2011 posted at Deals & Tips, saying, "Lenders like to work with consumers who maintain a credit score of 730 or higher in order to offer the best interest rates on a mortgage. Find out what it takes to get a home and a mortgage in 2011."

Joe Morgan presents Stop Acting Rich! Introducing The Frugal Rich. posted at Simple Debt-Free Finance, saying, "How the frugal people can become wealthy by following the frugal rich and not acting rich."

Linda Rodriguez presents How has credit grown? posted at Credit Cards for Fair Credit, saying, "The growth in the debt burdened carried by American households began to accelerate in the 90s. Adjusted for inflation, the average family in the 1990s had a debt to income ratio of 85%."

Kevin presents What My Dysfunctional Aunt Taught Me About Wealth and Finances posted at Invest It Wisely, saying, "This is a story by someone who is close to me, and is about how fortune, easily gained, can also be easily lost."

DJ presents Pros and Cons of Buying Foreclosure Properties posted at The Family Wallet, saying, "The foreclosure game is one that can get you properties for less. But if you’re not careful, it’s easy to get burned. Doing your homework is essential if you want to come out a winner."

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Cure Common Ills Without Spending a Fortune posted at Money Mum, saying, "Feeling under the weather? If so, you might like to try some of the following tricks to cure common ills. Rather than buying commercial remedies, which can be expensive, these home remedies use ingredients that you’ll find in the kitchen – and allow you to stay within a budget."

Retiring

Justin Tops presents Making 401k Withdrawals posted at 401k Calculator, saying, "With the economy doing badly, you may be thinking of making a 401k withdrawal. This post outlines some of the things to consider before you do."

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Why Should You Retire Abroad? posted at Frugal Living, saying, "If you’re considering making a big move when it comes time to retire but you’re not absolutely sure yet, then check out the following tips. They’ll almost certainly convince you."

Saving

Marie presents How to Calculate Your Net Worth posted at Money Spending Mommy, saying, "Figure up your net worth today, then do it again in a year. This will tell you whether or not you’re moving in the right financial direction."

Investor Junkie presents How to Become Wealthy posted at Investor Junkie, saying, "This post isn’t about how to get rich quick, but how to get rich slowly via savings and investing. In my opinion, over 20 – 30 years everyone should be able to at least achieve some level of financial independence, but most don’t. A recent survey showed 64% of Americans don’t have $1,000 in savings. Which means many are living pay check to pay check."

Taxes

John presents Hurricane Recovery Tax Benefits Explained posted at Wallet Blog, saying, "Hurricane Irene has done an estimated $7 -13 billion in damage over 10 East Coast states. Given the widespread devastation, many of you were likely affected in one way or another, so here are five steps that will help you to minimize financial loss and expedite recovery."

Chloe Simpson presents Make IRS Pay Your Moving Expenses posted at Tax Brackets, saying, "If you are moving because of a new job you could get the IRS to pay your moving expenses."

Jeff Canon presents What You Need To Know About Child Benefit posted at Tax Credit Calculator, saying, "If you have children you may be eligible for child tax credits. This post provides answers to some of the common questions about child tax credits."

My Journey presents Income Tax Planning for Savings Bonds posted at My Journey to Millions, saying, "There are various tax strategies when dealing with your Savings bonds. The first has to do when you should “choose” to pay tax on the interest gained and the second has to do with a possible way to eliminate the tax totally."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Wealth Builder Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: the wealth builder carnival, blog carnival.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, earning, insuring, investing, living, retiring, saving, tax, or wealth building advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Where was I Ten Years Ago - 9/11/01

On September 11, 2001, we were living in Japan on an expat assignment for my company.

It was late evening in Japan, and I was sitting in front of our computer. I was up getting ready to make some trades in our U.S. brokerage account. As I was preparing for the open of the stock market, the news section on the brokerage web page announced that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center building. I assumed that it was a small plane and that it was an accident.

Then the news flashed that a second plane had crashed into the World Trade Center building.  I knew immediately that the crashes were not an accident.  The probability of two planes crashing into buildings next to each other was extremely small.  I told my spouse, "This can't be an accident."  Little did I know how bad it really was.

I turned on the TV and watched the news.  It was clear something bad was happening.  There were images of the World Trade Center burning.  There was a replay of the second plane crashing into the tower.   I stayed glued to the TV until 3 AM  (3 PM Eastern Time).

When I went to work on September 12, 2001, it was clear the world had changed.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Why Vote for Obama

Now that Obama's campaign  is underway, I've been thinking of reasons that I should vote for him since "Hope and Change" will probably not be the reason.

Experience.   Being President is very difficult.  The country needs a person with the highest executive experience in the office.  No other candidate has comparable experience.  Look what happened the last time an inexperienced candidate was elected in 2008.

Not the other candidate.   The economy, the unemployment, the two, oops three wars.  They are all Bush's fault.  This worked last time.  Why not do it again?  Obama can be not Perry, not Bachmann, not Paul etc.  Blame all the economic problems on them, especially Perry for limiting economic growth to only Texas instead of helping the entire country.   Better yet, he can blame the third person incumbent.

Predictable.  After 2 -1/2 years in office, it's a lot easier to predict what Obama might do:  blame dysfunctional politics, scold those that don't agree with him, propose the same policies over and over.   A new President might do something different.

At this point, I can't vote for Obama based on results so I may have to justify a vote for Obama with  other reasons. 

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Friday  for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

 Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Still Looking for my Inner Voice

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary… ” ~ from Steve Jobs 2005 commencement speech at Stanford

Turning Tragedy Into Triumph by Kitt Walsh of CNN Money shares the story of seven people directly affected by the 9/11 and how it changed their careers.  Some left high paying jobs to pursue their dreams.  Others found a new calling through their personal healing.  All appear to be happier.

I found their stories inspirational.   Although I didn't have an  traumatic event of 9/11 magnitude in my life,  I decided to retire from a high paying job at the age of 49 in 2007.  While the economy hasn't cooperated, I still believe I made the right decision.  I've enjoyed trying different part time jobs in which my skills match or in which I have a strong interest.  I've enjoyed being around our six year old daughter as she grows up.  I enjoyed having more family time.  I enjoyed having more fun and less stress.  The only thing I haven't enjoyed is the volatility of the stock market since 2007.

I thought the temporary full time job I accepted earlier this year would be my last hurrah.   Although it had potential, it didn't sufficiently match the calling of my inner voice.  However, I think the experience has gotten me closer to some ideas that will be a better match.
For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Neighborhood Cycle

When I bought my first house, I moved into into a neighborhood with lots of kids under 10 years old. When I moved out 16 years later, many of the kids were in college or had graduated.   In our new neighborhood, the kids were mostly over 12 when we moved in 8 years ago.    So we have already watched many of the kids go to college and graduate. 

For a past five years, there have been no young children (4-8 years old) to play with our six year old daughter.  Last year, she was only one of two children at the bus stop.  Then, despite the poor housing market there was a influx of families with young children.  This year, there six children at our K-4 bus stop with five of them being in K-2.  Add the parents waiting with the kids and there is quite a large crowd.  My daughter is ecstatic.

Our plan is to stay in our current house until our daughter graduate from high school.  We have paid off the mortgage.  We live in a good school district.  We like the neighborhood.  
We'll likely be part of the next neighborhood turnover in 12 years as the K-2 children go to college.  Hopefully, housing will have recovered sufficiently to enable us to sell at a profit :-) 
 
For more on  Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday  for a new segment.
This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Still Sitting on the Sidelines

For now I'm keeping most of the funds in our savings and retirement accounts on the sidelines.  I'm going to wait it out until there is more clear positive direction.  So the market volatility of the past month hasn't been of much concern.  I don't care if Ben Bernanke says the economy is getting better or worse.  I don't care if Greece defaults or makes its debt payments.  I don't care if President Obama makes a great or poor jobs speech.   Our portfolio doesn't change by much.
 
Selling until I wouldn't worry about our portfolio was a good move.   I no longer worry about potential daily 4-5 % drops.
 
I can sleep at night.
 
For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday  for a new segment.
This is not financial or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Significantly Increased My Network

One outcome of my temporary full time job has been a big increase in my network of contacts.  Working for a non-profit requires a significantly different and broader set of contacts than working for a private company.  During my working years, my contacts were primarily my business organization, with focus on my functional organization.  There were limited contacts with outside companies.  In my retirement part time jobs, I had a similar and different network experience. Most of company contacts were limited to my own office.  However, I had a wide range of interactions with a diverse group of customers, up to 99 different people a year.

For the non-profit, I've had the same experience with a limited company network of primarily the board members.   However, I also interact with a broad network of volunteers, members and corporate sponsors.  The diversity and breadth of the network is larger than any I have ever dealt with before.  I work with HR departments of major corporations, volunteers from these same corporations, and college students from over 30 schools from around the country. In addition, I think I will maintain contact with parts of the network, even after leaving the organization.   
 
At this point, I'm not sure how this increase network will benefit me.  However, in the next couple weeks, I will try to engage the network with a proposal to hire me for one of my dream jobs :-)

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday  for a new segment.

This is not financial or career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Shorting Europe and Obama

I'm expecting another down week in the stock market.  Already, the European markets are down significantly.  And President Obama is scheduled to give his jobs speech on Thursday, September 8, 2011.   Personally, I don't expect anything new to be said.   In fact, I expect more of the same old, same old.  Recall, the Obama administration has stated that their policies are correct and on track.  After all, President Obama has been "laser focused" on jobs for the past two years, hasn't he?
 
If there is a stock market run up to President Obama's speech,  I will be selling the few stocks I have left into the rally.   I may even short a few stocks.   If there is a decline, I'm still mostly in cash and will wait for a break below 10,200 before putting money back in the market.

Here's why I think this will be a down week:

Europe is looking uglier.  To me, it feels a lot like 2008 when key U.S. investment banks were on the verge of failing for most the year.  Then Lehman failed and the crisis began.  A European country, such as Greece or Italy, defaulting would probably have the same effect.

Talk big, deliver small.   Obama's hallmark is to speak using platitudes that sound insightful.  However, when it comes to specifics, the actions are small, almost meaningless.   While this approach worked well for candidate Obama,  President Obama's  talk big, deliver small speeches have not given the markets, businesses, or individuals much confidence.    To me, Obama's jobs address will be another talk big and deliver small speech, with the appropriate decline in the market on Friday.

For now, I think the only thing that matters to the stock market is results.  And the results aren't looking very good for either Europe or President Obama's policies.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.
This is not financial  or investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Honeybee Hive

A cool thing happened in our yard this summer.

While looking at our trees one day, I saw something strange in the upper branches. It looked like a yellow fungus growing out of the branches. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a bunch of bees. For a moment, I thought is was a wasps nests. I was about to get the wasp spray and then I decided to look a little closer. The comb wasn't made of the paper material of a wasp's nest. It definitely appeared to be a wax comb and the bees appeared to honey bees.

I've never seen honeybees in the wild.  I've seen wasps and hornets' nests.  I've seen bumble bees and yellow jackets, but not their nests.  We've decided to leave the honey bees alone since honeybees seem to be mysteriously dying off.  For now, they aren't bothering us and no one is bothering them.  

We'll see how the hive survives through the winter.
For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial or nature advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

 Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Why I'm Re-retiring

In a couple months, I will return to my retirement life.  I've learned a lot from unretiring and doing a temporary full time job.  However, in June, I turned down an offer to make it a permanent full time job.  Although the economy is still poor, I'm pretty sure I made the right decision.  Here are my reasons:

It wasn't fun enough.  The great thing about retirement is that I can work jobs that I consider fun.  Like most real jobs, this one had good days and bad days.  There just weren't enough fun days :-)  

I lost my summer, again. Last summer, I was over committed due to multiple part time jobs.  As a result, I worked too many hours over the summer.  I don't plan to lose another summer to work.

Money wasn't sufficient motivation.  The pay will cover about 110% of our annual budget.  Even if the pay covered 200% of our annual budget, I wouldn't keep the job.  Even if I was paid $1 million per year,  I would probably only work about 6 - 9 months and then retire again :-)

Become used to stock market volatility.   I used to do work as a hedge against the stock market volatility.  However, after two years of working hard to reduce our withdrawal rate, I realized a $2 increase in my company stock will exceed any annual salary, including the current job.  I've modified our savings and retirement portfolio to mitigate the effects of volatility.

Not enough work that leveraged my strengths.  I enjoy jobs where I can leverage my strengths and not deal with my weaknesses.  I have that option with most of my part time jobs.  In this full time job, I needed to do work in areas where I wasn't particularly strong.   While I the experience was good, I am no longer am interested personal development plans to improve my work skills.

For now, I plan to return to the three part time seasonal jobs I've been doing.  However, I will probably drop at least one of these jobs in the next couple years. 
 
For more on Reaping the Rewards , check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2011 Achievement Catalyst, LLC