Blog Title: Money and Personal Finance Blog In Silicon Valley

I Want To Work Smarter, Not Harder

Don’t you sometimes wish you could clone yourself? How do you work smarter, not harder?

Photo by Tony M.

It seems like lots of folks have the same complaint as I do, which is that they always have a lot of stuff going on that they wish they could accomplish all at once. Or that they don’t have the time but have more than enough inclination to tackle several projects, tasks and errands simultaneously. Don’t we all just wish there were more than 24 hours in a day to do everything we’d like? Yeah, that’s why I’m about to order myself the book, “The 4 Hour Work Week” that everyone in the blogosphere’s been talking about and which I’d also like to chime in on, once I’ve gotten around to reading it .

It’s also the reason I haven’t yet actively gotten aboard Twitter — I can see myself losing many precious minutes / hours to it if I were to dip more than a few toes in this new community. Like a lot of you who live on the internet, I’d love to be able to expand my online networking efforts, but I worry about how much of a “time pit” the internet social gathering holes actually are.

I’m always on the lookout for ways to try to free up more time, which is something that remains elusive to me. I thought that by leaving the workforce, that I’d miraculously be sitting on an additional 8 to 10 hours that I could use any which way I’d like, and I’d have lots of time to relax. Of course, my life’s much more balanced now, so maybe all that extra time is going to more hours of sleep, that’s why I’m not noticing the extra hours during the day!

The issue here is that I’m a great planner, but not a good enough organizer and certainly one who’d like to get better at “working smarter” rather than harder. Hmmmm…. wonder if working on a productivity blog will help me get better at these things? Then again, it may be another “time pit”.

Any other suggestions for increasing one’s productivity levels? Maybe you can tell us what worked for you!

Now to raise your personal finance knowledge quotient, how about going through the following?

Recommended Personal Finance Reads

• Five Cent Nickel tells us how to find a good mechanic.
• Free Money Finance covers a simple bible-based budget that involves a breakdown of 10% to give away, 10% to save and 80% to live on. I’d probably raise the savings portion and reduce the “what to live on” portion.
• Consumerism Commentary relates a few tips for college-bound students.
• Lazy Man and Money objects to the idea that personal finance education is a waste of time. I agree with him.
• Frugal Dad went on a frugal safari! Check out the great animal shots (I mean, pictures)!
• Money Smart Life suggests how you can have a destination wedding for less.
• Gen X Finance: Do majority of corporations skip on paying taxes? “Hogwash!” says Jeremy.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary: While I spread some Google joy by talking about how Google has been voted “best company to work for“, Sun tells us how Google’s been celebrating the Beijing Olympics.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter: We gain much pleasure from watching our portfolios soar, but when they’re down in the dumps, we avoid looking at them. Here are ways to get over the fear of our portfolios.
• No Credit Needed suggests strategies to remain debt free.
• Million Dollar Journey answers a reader’s question about withholding taxes on U.S. securities (for non-residents).
• Brip Blap: Google’s gone to Beijing with its logos, and your money will too, according to Steve, if you don’t take into account the effect of inflation on your money.
• My Dollar Plan lists some things that your health benefits can cover for you.
• Roth 401k brings us an intro to the Roth 401k. It’s a great read!

Additional Financial Articles I Enjoyed

• Rich Credit Debt Loan: Untapped Riches: Never Pay Off Your Mortgage…
• Counting My Pennies: Disappearing Grocery Budget
• My Daily Dollars: The Beauty of Savings
• One Snarky Chica With Issues: Are Small Towns Really Cheaper Than Cities?
• The Dough Roller: Do You Believe In Financial Miracles?

Recent Carnivals

• The Olympics is at the Carnivals!
• Carnival of the Vanities
• Working At Home Blog Carnival
• Money Hacks Carnival
• Carnival of Financial Learning
• Carnival of Financial Planning
• Carnival of Fraud
• Carnival of Money Stories
• Finance Fiesta

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• Refinancing A Mortgage, IRS Audit Triggers @ The Carnivals
• Blog Carnivals of Money For December 15, 2006
• Who Let The Dogs Out? @ The Roundup
• A Sudden Resignation, Collection Agency Calls, and Blog Action Day! @ The Roundup
• Money Articles and Personal Finance Picks: Baby Boomers And The Real Estate Market

No Bank Account? Big Problem

A look at people living outside our financial system.

Photo by diaper

We already know that we have between 10 and 15 million people who work in the U.S. illegally. Do they have a bank account? Very few do. Most fear without reason that banks will report them to the authorities. Many don’t speak English and don’t understand the intricacies of the banking system. We also have another 10 to 15 million Americans who simply don’t believe a bank account will help them. And here’s a revelation: it’s believed that the population without a bank account earns more than 500 billion dollars annually.

Check Cashing Businesses

People who do not have a bank account take their checks to a specialized institution. They use check cashing businesses and must pay a fee between 3% and 5% of the total amount. As they walk out the store, somebody may be waiting to rob them of the hard-earned cash. Still other fast growing businesses offer to loan them money — normally no more than $500 — in advance of payday. In this case, the fees are exorbitant; it can reach over 500% the annual rate. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives this definition of usury: “an unconscionable or exorbitant rate or amount of interest.” Unfortunately, no authority has offered to curb these abusive practices, which are just some of the many other traps that financially vulnerable people fall into (along with predatory loan schemes such as creative mortgage loans and subprime borrowing activities).

New Ideas To Capture the Illegal Immigrant Market

USA Today recently reported that Bank of America is planning to issue credit cards to illegal immigrants. According to Ruben Navarrete, editorial writer for the San Diego Union Tribune, the bank has already started a program called SafeSend to allow illegal immigrants to open checking accounts and send money safely to Mexico. All this created quite an uproar among those who believe that we should not encourage undocumented workers to stay in the United States. Of course, the motive for the program is not altruistic; it is simply an effort to cash in on this previously untapped resource. The credit card charges over 21% a year, a rate that is considered high by most standards.

Efforts To Bring People Into the Banking System

“We know that many of these individuals live from paycheck to paycheck and remain unbanked for reasons ranging from problem credit histories and debt burdens, to distrust of financial institutions, to the lack of financial education.”

~Chairman Donald E. Powell Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, March 2003.

Then FDIC chairman Donald Powell added that it would be quite profitable for banking institutions to penetrate that market with tools designed specifically for customers living in fringe financial services. Some employers have solved the problem of delivering checks by creating direct deposits in debit cards that the workers may use in restaurants, supermarkets and other places. Many of these employees don’t have Social Security numbers.

A nonprofit organization in Southern California has created SiGo Money MasterCard, a reloadable prepaid card affiliated with MasterCard which allows people who don’t have bank accounts to pay bills, to call and text message family, and to perform money remittances to other countries; it promises to be a step up from check cashing schemes. It’s not a credit card, but one you load with cash (for the convenience). All well and good, but as The Consumerist points out, it’s also loaded with fees and gives away your private information for marketing, research and so forth. Here’s a taste of the fees you’ll pay for the privilege to use SiGo:

What a deal!

Finally, Wal-Mart announced recently that it will sell a card for $8.94, a prepaid Visa debit card, targeted specifically at those who don’t have a bank account.

We may or may not agree with those who facilitate financial services for illegal aliens, But what’s appalling here may be some of the types of financial products made available to them and others outside our financial system. We should also realize that those outside our financial system include millions of Americans who run considerable risks by stashing hoards of cash under the mattress or slipping banknotes between book pages. Their financial resources are not protected from criminal elements. Sure, the banking system and private enterprises are making huge efforts to bring them some degree of safety, but it’s also done in the name of more profit. And as we’ve seen in some cases, that too, can be just as scary as the risks some people make with their hard-earned money, as they take matters in their own hands.

 
Jacques Sprenger is a contributing writer to The Digerati Life.

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• How ING Direct Checking and Savings Accounts Save Me Money
• WaMu Free Checking: The High 3.75% APY May Be Worth A Look
• Bad Ways To Use Credit: A List of 21 Credit Card Mistakes
• 9 Reasons Why I Love My Credit Card
• Open A WTDirect Savings Account and Earn Up To $250

Open A WTDirect Savings Account and Earn Up To $250

If you’ve got a good amount of savings built up, a WTDirect Savings Account is one high yield savings option.

WTDirect is the new online division of the publicly traded bank and trust that is Wilmington Trust. It’s a new online bank that’s offering a high yield savings account with an APY of 3.31%.

The rate was just recently adjusted (from 3.1% to 3.31%) this month, the second increase they’ve had in the last month and a half. So, they’re staying competitive in this economy…a good thing!

They’re also offering a sign on bonus right now till September 5 (use promotion code “WTF3SOB” upon applying), which is based on your deposits and balance kept over 60 days. As a customer, you’ll receive a bonus ranging from $100 to $250 depending on the size of your account, if you maintain a designated balance for 60 days.

Here’s a table that shows you what you’ll get for your balance:

The Fine Print On The Bonus

WTDirect states that this bonus is pegged to your initial deposit. This means that you’ll need to deposit at least $10,000 right off the bat to be eligible for the bonus. In addition, your account must remain open, be in good standing and have a balance level that does not go below the initial funding balance for a span of 60 days; after this point, your account will be credited with the bonus by early November. A little stringent, in my opinion, but if you already maintain a savings account with a high balance, then this combination 3.31% return plus the bonus may be an attractive alternative.

How To Apply

If you’re interested in this offer, here’s where to apply. You can use the promotion code “WTF3SOB” when you submit your application.

A Few Notes about the WTDirect Savings Account

• WTDirect rates are consistently in the top 5% of U.S. banks.
• No fees.
• FDIC insured.
• High transfer limits.
• Transfers to and from WTDirect are straightforward and can be done electronically.
• No need for a checking account to receive the high rate.
• You don’t have to deposit the full amount in order to qualify or earn their 3.31% rate but you’ll need the full amount to qualify for the bonus. You’ll have 60 days to deposit enough funds to reach the balance of $10,000 required to maintain the 3.31% yield. If you are unable to reach that target balance, then your APY will readjust to 0.50%.

WTDirect’s current rate table, as of August 1, 2008

My take: This account may not be for you unless you have at least $10,000 to deposit since the 0.50% simply isn’t much of a return (for lower balances). Even if they say there is no minimum deposit required, I don’t see why you’d want to open and maintain an account for 2 months just to move your money out again, if you’re unable to hit a target balance of $10,000. On the other hand, the electronic transfers make it easy to move that money around.

Note as well that WTDirect’s APY is higher than the ING Direct Orange Savings Account at the moment which is lingering at 3.00%, but still lower than the top dog of high yield savings accounts that I’ve come across: WaMu Free Checking, which is holding the lead at 3.75%.

But hey, at least WT Direct is giving out those bonuses!

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• WaMu Free Checking: The High 3.75% APY May Be Worth A Look
• Save and Invest Enough For Your Retirement: Are You On Track?
• Tax Brackets For 2007 and 2008: How Much Tax Do I Owe?
• How ING Direct Checking and Savings Accounts Save Me Money
• Saving Money: Frequently Asked Questions

Best Company To Work For: Money and Perks Like No Other

Profiling the best company in the world.

I’ve had the fortune to work at some great companies, which offered perks that were almost as good as the salaries they gave out. What’s it like at these places? For successful, top-notch companies, rewards abound (to keep employees loyal); and here are some of the extras that can round out one’s compensation package:

• Free gym and pool
• Stock options (a piece of the equity pie)
• Bonus plans
• Referral bonuses
• 401K with matching
• Educational plan
• Child care services on work campus
• ESPP
• Health Reimbursement Plans
• Flexible Spending Plans
• Matching donations to charities and schools
• Relocation assistance
• Life and disability insurance

These benefits are awesome and can make many hours of toiling away in a cubicle much more palatable. But great as these benefits are, they’re just the tip of the iceberg for a company that has regularly captured the #1 title as “Best Company” in the nation. In Silicon Valley, this is where everyone (from accountants to engineers to web designers) wishes they could work, so I was curious to find out what it really was like to work at a place where nerds rule .

Profile of A Top Company

Fortune’s number one company to work for “sets the standard for Silicon Valley: free meals, swimming spa, and free doctors onsite. Engineers can spend 20% of time on independent projects. Their company is so stinking rich that it continues to ooze cash even while lavishing benefits on its staff. ” They’re also responsible for a good portion of California’s tax dollars.

These are the reasons why Google takes the title as the best place to work:

What’s it like?
Life for Google employees at the Mountain View campus is like college. It feels like the brainiest university imaginable - one in which every kid can afford a sports car (though geeky hybrids are cooler here than hot rods).

Fun, healthful activites
At Google you can work out in the gym; attend subsidized exercise classes; get a massage (by a masseuse or fancy massage chairs); study Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish and French and ask a personal concierge to arrange dinner reservations. Too many amenities to count, including lap pool, rock climbing wall, pool table. Or how about beach volleyball, Foosball, videogames, ping pong and roller hockey twice a week in the parking lot. Oh yeah, dogs allowed.

So you’re no longer just a wealthy geek, you’re also a wealthy buffed geek!

Fantastic food
Google runs 11 free gourmet cafeterias and offers all its employees free gourmet meals. Company lore has it that Brin and co-founder Larry Page believe no worker should be more than 150 feet from a food source.

Transportation benefits
How about free Wi-fi shuttle coaches to ferry you from train stations to your work campus? Onsite car washes and oil changes are among the numerous perks Google offers to all its workers. Want to buy a hybrid car? The company will give you $5,000 toward that environmentally friendly end. Oh yeah, get free scooters to travel around campus.

Multi-task with lots of help, on site
You can get your errands done at work. Get a haircut while doing your laundry. Exercise at a workout room with weights and rowing machine, keep stuff at locker rooms, have your kid in child care, get your paperwork done with onsite notaries, your car serviced on site and get checkups with five onsite doctors available, free of charge.

More money, more rewards for top employees
Refer a friend and you’ll get a $2,000 reward. New parents get $500 in takeout food to ease their first four weeks at home. And what about the 27-year-old engineer who received a million-dollar founders’ award (Google bonus) for her work on a program that searches computer desktops. Then there are those who are coasting, waiting for their stock options to kick in, said to be “resting and vesting.” And despite this all, Google needs to worry about retention! They’re considering starting a sabbatical program and get this — thinking of new career opportunities for the restless (you mean invent new jobs?). It has also institutionalized, among other things, a bevy of compensation incentives, founders’ awards than can run into millions of dollars, and special bonuses.

Get your ideas heard and executed
The Google shuttle bus exists today because an employee got sick of driving to work and scouted out a bus company, then plotted out the routes a shuttle might take. She brought the idea to senior management only after she’d done all the research. Any other company would’ve formed a cross-divisional transportation feasibility committee to study the issue. Google just did it.

Now what could possibly beat working for a rich company in Silicon Valley? Well how about working for a rich company anywhere in the world — including in your OWN native country? From the following examples, you can see that you no longer have to go outside of your country to work at Google. If you have the skills such a hot shot employer is looking for, you could be eligible for a golden ticket. And this is why capitalism rules, it affords the ability for massive wealth generation that can be spread to far flung places.

Case in point: these Google employees in India share the culture of the mother company.

Top Company In Bangalore, India

Google’s corporate strategy in India has been described as a “brain drain in reverse.”

A turbaned Sikh relaxes in a massage chair, eyes closed. Interspersed among the cubicles are a foosball table, billiards, darts, a chessboard, and a board game called carrom. A tent-shrouded chair sports a sign, FORTUNES TOLD HERE.

A great side benefit to being part of an elite work force? Landing a job at Google is said to increase marriage prospects in a culture where title and income are critical to the practice of arranged matchmaking.

I also really like this logo .

Random Philosophical Ramblings On Wealth and Success

Just like a company that has such far reaching tentacles, I think of individuals as influencing their own space, with certain people more able to reach out than others (also in various ways beyond the financial). Companies like Google enable its employees to be in such a fortuitous and influential position.

How loud does money talk? Well let’s look where money and success can take you: if you’ve done well financially, just think of all the influence and power you’ve got in your hands. Though the great majority of us won’t be facing something like the “Google effect”, even some money can exert influence, albeit at a smaller scale. For those of us luckier than others, I wish that good fortune and prosperity will offer a positive effect that extends beyond our own lives.

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• Rate Your Job, Company and Salary At Glassdoor.com: Compare Work and Pay
• Do You Go To Work Sick?
• Analyzing Web Traffic Sources And Statistics
• 5 Of The Youngest Entrepreneurs On Their Path To Success And Riches
• Increase Your Salary Without Increasing Your Work

The Olympics Is @ The Carnivals!

Have you been watching the Olympics?

I haven’t been following it that much, and only do so when I surf the channels during a break. But I did hear about this guy who won a ton of gold medals (was it up to 8 now?), whom the Festival of Frugality #139 was celebrating in its current edition.

I was happy to have had my post (Lost Money: How Money Drains Add Up) make it as an Editor’s Pick at this festival. I also didn’t realize that I had accidentally submitted this same post this week to the Carnival of Personal Finance, which is actually against the CoPF’s rules. This post also made it there as one of the Editor’s Choices, but now I feel guilty having made the boo-boo with the submissions. Unlike how it would be at the Olympics, I wasn’t disqualified. I hope the carnival “powers that be” will forgive me for this error this one time!

But back to the Festival of Frugality, hosted at Our Fourpence Worth. Here are some of my faves for this edition:

• Is The Layoff Boom about to Fall? @ Funny About Money
• Frugally and Happily Back To School 9 Different Ways @ MoneyNing
• 13 Tips On How To Maximize Grocery Shopping @ We Like Money

While at the Carnival of Personal Finance #166 presented by Everyday Finance, I was drawn to these posts:

• The Lady Who Wouldn’t Pay Her Mortgage @ Can I Get Rich On A Salary?
• Dow 370,000 @ Dividend Growth Investor
• If You Want To Be Wealthy, You Need To Know This @ Millionaire Mommy Next Door

Also, I won a place in the hard to enter Real Estate Blog Carnival this time around! Yay! I got the “Inverted Elbow” award (warning: this Olympic moment is ugly) for my post about big houses entering foreclosure via the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show.

And to round out this Olympic themed week, I was very thrilled to accept a bronze medal from the Carnival of Debt Reduction for my vintage article on how we can borrow, barter and buy used as ways to embrace a frugal lifestyle.

Recent Carnivals

• Investing Carnival #8
• Festival of Stocks
• Carnival of the Green
• Reviews Carnival
• Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival 63
• Parents Helping Parents
• Best of Me Symphony

 
Image Credit: Getty Images

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• Saving Money Series, Organize Your Records, Cost of Raising Kids @ The Carnivals
• Cheap Gas, Simple Living and Personal Finance Blogs @ The Carnivals
• Eat a Cheaper Breakfast, Dress Your Kids On Less @ The Carnivals
• Raise Your Credit Score, Real Estate Woes @ The Carnivals
• Stop Checking Your Stocks, The Frugality Habit, Subprime Thoughts @ The Carnivals

Investment Management Tips To Help You Stay The Course With Your Portfolio

Some thoughts on how to manage your investments through any stock market climate.

So far, the prediction that the stock market wasn’t going to close on a good note this year seems to be unfolding as expected. Remember the saying which suggests that “however January turns out, so shall the rest of the year?” Well just as expected, our stock portfolio (along with the investment portfolios of countless investors out there) is suffering through the rough patch brought about by the credit and subprime lending crisis.

But before we all bemoan the decline of our net worth, I’d like to offer some words of encouragement and supply you with information that should alleviate some of this worry:

Investment Management Tips For An Iffy Stock Market

#1 Are you going to act? Then go against the crowd.

Should you sell, buy or trade? If I had the extra money to invest, I would dollar cost average or invest in a lump sum at these lower market levels.

We’re often told that the best time to buy into the stock market is while it’s languishing. If you’re wondering when to “jump” into the market, now may be a reasonable time, although if you’re nervous about committing all your cash into the market right now, you can do so gradually, using dollar cost averaging methods or you can stay cautious by reviewing these ways to invest defensively with new monies.

If you don’t have any additional savings to make investment purchases, then hang on. By reading the rest of this article, you’ll see why staying put in this market (though against our natural inclinations) may be a sensible strategy. Find out more about how investing in down markets can be a good move.

#2 Do nothing or at least, don’t overreact.

My spouse is the type of person who feels he needs to do something when the market moves. We discuss our options then ultimately end up doing nothing much. This is because we’re already pretty much diversified according to the asset allocation parameters we’ve adopted for ourselves. I don’t feel we need to “change the rules” in the middle of the game. If we did that, we’re just “cheating ourselves”, while shifting our asset allocation as a reaction to market developments.

The only shifting we should be doing needs to be driven by regular investment portfolio reviews and rebalancing efforts that we take to keep our asset allocation stable, regardless of what the market is doing.

#3 Wait it out. Do you have a long investment time horizon?

Too much issue is made of short-term returns, and it’s easy to feel depressed about the returns we’re seeing over the last few years. But when you look at the big picture, those losses aren’t as gargantuan as they seem.

This data table from T. Rowe Price illustrates how stock market returns “smooth out” over time and how time in the market reduces variability in investment returns. That is, the longer you stay in the market the less likely it is for you to receive extreme rates of return. More on this on my discussion about long term investing. Here are some real numbers to support this reality:

Historical Stock Market Performance 1926-2006

Now let’s go through an example showing how a hypothetical portfolio would have fared through different stock market periods and time horizons. Suppose you had invested $100,000 in stocks at the start of each highest returning and lowest returning time period, how much would this investment be worth by the end of each designated period?

Conclusion: The longer you stay invested in the stock market, the less likely your investment returns will be negative; facts that should motivate us to stay the course and remain patient with our investments.

#4 Review these general rules for asset allocation.

Over the course of my writings here about investing, I’ve focused quite a bit on the topic of diversification and asset allocation. These were some of the best lessons I learned as I researched these topics in detail.

• I found that the optimal foreign investment allocation is 30% of your total equity portfolio. That is, an ideal international vs domestic investment allocation is 30% / 70% (foreign/U.S.) for those funds of yours invested in equities.
• Stock market diversification is best achieved with asset classes that have low correlations. Asset classes with low correlations are those whose returns aren’t “in-synch” during a given period of time.
• You can achieve great diversification with a very simple portfolio.
• Know yourself well before you invest. Use your risk tolerance, financial goals and age to determine the right amount of money you should risk in the markets.
  

  Subtract your age from 100 (some guidelines have it at 120) to get some idea of how much stock you should be owning at this time. For example, a 30 year old is expected to own a portfolio consisting of 70% stock (100 minus 30) and 30% cash and bonds.

• How much you should invest for your financial goals should take into consideration withdrawal rates and drawdown guidelines for that money.

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• How We’re Rebalancing Our Investment Portfolio: Modifying Our Asset Allocation
• Financial Bloggers Reveal Their Stock Portfolio Returns (Mid-Year 2008)
• Stock Market Diversification Works! The Proof
• Our Investment Portfolio Update: Strong Gains Due To Stock Market Record Performance
• When Beating The Stock Market Is Really An Illusion

Upromise Survey: Saving For College, Getting Tougher?

Saving for your child’s college education is slipping in priority, according to a Upromise survey.

Saving for college is one of our bigger long-term savings and investment goals, second only to funding our retirement. Given that I was born and raised outside of the United States, the biggest gifts my parents have granted me and my siblings were the opportunities to study abroad — in particular, we received the chance to pursue our higher education in the United States as foreign students. Unlike the way things are structured and handled in the U.S., my parents saved for our college education the old-fashioned way and did not have the benefit of using 529 accounts or UTMAs to shelter those savings.

That need to save for college is universal.

Lately though, parents everywhere are feeling the pressure from this current economic climate, and many are putting the financial goal of saving for college lower in their priority list. We’re seeing some indication of this through a survey that Upromise just put together, which showed some concerning results:

Out of 1,000 parents who were involved in the survey,

• 80% didn’t believe they were saving enough for college.
• 58% attributed their lack of savings to escalating gas prices, groceries and utilites.
• Greater than 75% thought that the government should do more to make college more affordable.
• 67% admitted that this issue (and the positions of our presidential candidates on this matter) will influence the way the survey participants will vote this November.
• 82% are concerned with the growing cost of college.
• 88% believe that a college education is needed to compete in a global economy.
• 79% think that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in terms of quality of education.
• 67% think that the U.S. is falling behind in terms of access to education.

And more telling points — check out the following table that demonstrates the comparison between financial situations faced by parents in 2007 vs 2008. Survey takers were asked a few questions:

Interestingly, back-to-school purchases have increased over the last year, for the average family. So people aren’t necessarily cutting back on spending for the near term, they’re just not saving as much for the long term.

In addition, this Upromise survey graphic shows just how parents intended to save a windfall for various financial goals. A quick look at how the typical savings plan (for new savings) has evolved over the last year reveals a shift in financial resources from longer term financial goals (like retirement and college savings programs) towards shorter term financial goals and obligations such as bill payments and saving for vacations. That is, if people received a boost in their savings, the charts below show how they planned to use it.

These changes may be a response to our present economic conditions rather than a true shift in priorities. But what do you think? Do you think the economy is to blame for why Americans are saving less for college and retirement? I see the economy being the usual scapegoat for all the negative financial stresses and events that people are experiencing today. But are people just making excuses to justify the drop in their household savings rate?

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• Got Kids? Open a 529 College Savings Account!
• Finance Carnival Picks: Should a Personal Finance Education Be Offered in High School?
• How Would You Grade Your Money Management Skills?
• Force Yourself To Save! 15 Painless Ways To Pay Yourself First
• Don’t Want To Work Forever? Retire On Time With These 10 Tips!

Frugal Dad Joins The Money Writers! @ The Roundup

Before I start with what I’ve been dealing with lately, I’d like to give you some happy news that hit The Money Writers network last week: Frugal Dad has joined the group! We’re very thrilled to have him on board and very impressed with the growth and success of his blog. I’ve been a big fan of his site for quite sometime now, and thus, I’m very glad to see him as one of The Money Writers. Welcome aboard Jason!

As for me….I closed a long and eventful week yesterday that included many blog-related activities. I’ve been multi-tasking heavily and now my fingers are pretty worn from all the typing I’ve been doing over the last several days. Among some of the stuff I was working on: transitioning out of my interim blog editor post at Mint.com’s blog. Mint.com has hired a new full-time editor, Lee Sherman, who will now take care of growing and managing the Mint blog. He’s got a lot of plans for their finance blog so I highly anticipate great things from them in the coming months.

I also had a fun and fabulous time with the Wise Bread Q & A “Women Bloggers’ Spotlight” last week. Lots of people dropped by, asked questions and were so kind with their feedback! Thank you to all of you who came by for a read, a visit, a question and comment. I hope you had as much fun as I did, discussing the world of personal finance and blogging and some of my favorite things!

As for my other favorite things… my preschooler just ended his stint at summer school last Friday, where they have daily projects. Well, he came home with this neat art project, which I just find so adorable. I’ve been quite impressed with the crafts they have the little kids do at schools these days — like turning these bunch of boring stones into a family of lady bugs!

Well, we weren’t the only ones who were busy: so was the rest of the blogosphere! Here’s the latest buzz around the financial web:

Recommended Personal Finance Reads

• Blueprint For Financial Prosperity: Jim warns us about card arbitrage and also comes up with an informative guide about handling 0% balance transfers.
• All Financial Matters shares some nutty ways to be frugal. If that’s crazy, what about these *really* extreme ways to save money or these outrageous ways to save?
• Lazy Man and Money shares with us how to get wealthy right now!
• Money Smart Life covers student health insurance and tells us how to find the best health insurance rates for college students.
• Gen X Finance takes a poll: how has the value of your home held up over the past couple of years?
• The Sun’s Financial Diary admits that it’s not easy to live in New Jersey when you’re thinking about taxes! I have the same complaint about the taxes in California!
• Mighty Bargain Hunter asks how feverishly are you working towards your financial goals?
• No Credit Needed lists some sites that help you discover personal financial blogs! There are some great resources here.
• Million Dollar Journey gives us the basics of estate planning and the reasons why we all need wills.
• Brip Blap wonders out loud: should a country or society be happy to create wealth by investment or should it create wealth by work?
• My Dollar Plan shares with us 12 ways the Olympics can impact your finances.
• Weight Loss Journal suggests how we can lose weight without losing our minds!
• Prosper Blog releases market survey results for July 2008. The survey reveals how borrowers in the Prosper marketplace intend to use their funded loans.
• The Wisdom Journal encourages us to try out his stress test. So are you stressed? Here’s how researchers rate the most stressful financial events.
• The Financial Blogger talks about how to invest while taking taxes into consideration.
• Clever Dude claims he’s old. Well I was almost in high school when he was born, so I guess I’m ancient.
• Don’t Mess With Taxes discusses Obama’s tax plan.

Recent Carnivals

• Cheap Gas, Simple Living and Personal Finance Blogs
• Cavalcade of Risk: Thank you Joe, for featuring my post about “beating the stock market” in the carnival.
• Carnival of Debt Reduction
• Carnival of Financial Learning
• Carnival of Financial Planning
• Working At Home Blog Carnival
• Investing Carnival
• Kids and Money
• Finance Fiesta
• Carnival of the Vanities

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

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• Mint and Motley Fool Get Together @ The Roundup
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• Can You Become A Millionaire In The Next 5 Years? Here’s Someone On Track!
• Career Advice, Student Debt Strategies and How To Save Money: My Carnival Picks

Discover More Card Offers $50 Cash Back Bonus

In my article on best cash back credit cards, I had included the Discover More credit card as one option, for it stood out as having some of the highest cash back offers I’ve come across. I wanted to provide you an update on this card. If you’re in the market for a credit card and are interested in bonuses and rewards, Discover just sweetened their products further with the following details:

 
Their consumer card, the Discover More Card, has a new version out that has a cash back component. You can now get the More card with an additional $50 cash back bonus. Here’s a reminder why this card is such a popular choice:

• It provides a full 5% cash back bonus in spending categories like travel, gas, groceries, restaurants, etc.
• You’ll receive 5% to 20% cash back bonus once you become a member on ShopDiscover, Discover’s online shopping site. You’ll be linked to top retailers and be able to receive rewards by making your purchases through this site.
• You’ll get up to 1% cash back bonus on all your other purchases.
• 0% APR for 6 months, 0% balance transfer APR for 12 months.
• Over 150 card designs, for those who care about it .
• No annual fee.
• New: $50 cash back bonus when you spend at least $500 during the first 3 months.

I just recently discovered this card (pun intended), and from what I see, it’s definitely tops for the rewards and the designs . If you like what you read, you can sign up for the card here.

Moreover, Discover’s card for small business owners — the aptly named Discover Business Card — now comes with an additional $100 cash back bonus, given some terms. Their details:

• Receive 5% cash back bonus on office supplies and 2% on gas.
• Earn 5% to 20% cash back bonus by making purchases at top retailers through their ShopDiscover site.
• Up to 1% cash back bonus on all other card purchases.
• 0% intro APR for 12 months.
• No annual fee.
• New: $100 cash back bonus when you spend at least $1,000 during the first 3 months.

To sign up for the Business card, you can go here.

I didn’t note this before but you can also increase or double your rewards if you redeem them for gift cards from Discover’s retail partners. I explored it a bit and found that one of my favorite retailers, where I buy all my house-related materials (Bed Bath and Beyond), is on the list — so on top of those Bed Bath and Beyond coupons I already use, I’m thinking I could get the stuff I buy there further discounted.

This card sizes up better than the current cards I have right now, to be honest. I’m also currently researching gas cards at the moment, so I plan to compare Discover More to other rewards cards I’m reviewing to see which gives us the best savings based on our spending patterns.

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

• Today, I Returned, I Exchanged and I Bought
• Sales Tax Breaks For Back-To-School Shopping, American Express Rewards: The Roundup
• 9 Reasons Why I Love My Credit Card
• A Credit Card Survey, Passive Income, Car Payments @ The Carnival
• Managing Credit And Debt, My Credit Mistakes and Lessons

Replaced Our Old Car, Got The Best Deal On A Volvo Sports Wagon!

We wanted to drive our old car to the ground….but something happened.

Photo by Sneezl

We’ve got a couple of cars on the older side, both having logged over 100,000 miles each. They still have a lot of life in them and are very well maintained, and this 100K milestone would’ve normally been the time to trade them for new cars. But something about the story of a guy who only owned ONE car in his lifetime rang true to me, and with cash flow tight for us over the last couple of years (and the next few years ahead), we’ve decided to reevaluate our car buying habits recently based on the many voices around the blogosphere that I’ve heard on the subject.

Our car buying plan is now as follows:

• As much as possible, we plan to drive our cars “to death”, after reading about how much money you can save by doing this: $31,000, according to CNN Money!
• We’ll be turning to used cars to replace the vehicles we have when the time comes.

For the most part, our cars are in fairly good shape to last a couple more years. But very recently, something unexpected happened. With a relative of mine having just moved to Singapore at the end of July, we received first dibs at his family’s estate sale.

There was something in that estate sale we just couldn’t refuse: A 2006 Volvo V50 Sports Wagon for an awesome price (because we were family, the price was further discounted from the Blue Book value). We’re your typical Japanese auto fans, so a Volvo wasn’t even in our sights. But we know a good deal when we see it. With my spouse’s car beginning to show some wear, the opportunity to replace it for an almost brand-spanking new sports wagon was highly tempting.

So even though we weren’t expecting to buy a new car anytime soon, this opportunity made us reconsider. We had to make a fairly quick decision about buying the car or the sweet offer would find its way listed on Craigslist instead. It wasn’t much of a no-brainer, following our thought process:

Pros: BUY!

• Buy the car, it’s barely used!
• It’s a safe model and perfect for a young family.
• It’s in perfect condition, with the original car owners being people we know.
• We’re getting an excellent deal given the value. The previous owners opted for top-of-the-line features (the rest of my family isn’t as frugal as I am).
• The car is fully loaded and contains cosmetic improvements for that sporty look.
• Even as 2nd owners, I see ourselves getting pretty good resale value.
• It’s a roomier and much more attractive car than the one we’re thinking of replacing.

Cons: DON’T BUY

• We’re not ready to spend money right now.
• Say bye-bye to a good chunk of change.
• We didn’t choose the car, it chose us.

The Decision? We took the car for a test run and just fell in love with it. So we ended up buying it. After we sell my husband’s car, we’ll only be out $12,000.

Some sample photos of the car we’ll be “inheriting”:

It goes to show that even if we weren’t proactively looking for a car replacement at this time, sometimes fate intervenes and changes things up. We justified our decision by asking ourselves: what’s a few years? We’ll be spending the same money (or more) for a replacement car in a few years anyway. And deals like this come once in a blue moon. Not to mention that we won’t be dealing with a middleman (dealer) and spending all that extra time and energy shopping around. For the value and minimal hassle, it was just worth spending the money today. My shopping philosophy has always been this:

Cost and price are not everything. Spend the money when it’s good value.

Even if something strikes you as expensive, it may still be a wise move to buy it if the timing is right, it offers good value and it’s a financial move you can afford (without breaking your bank or causing you to go into a spiral of debt doom).

The only one thing I regret from all this is that I will be missing my relative very much. He and his family have been part of our extended family in the Bay Area for over 20 years, and I’d much rather keep our entire family local than anything else. This just means more excuses to travel I suppose!

 
Image Credit: Thank you to The Family Car Web Magazine for such lovely pictures of the Volvo V50 Sportswagon.

This is a post from The Digerati Life.

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