As featured in The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and more!

April 2007

Financial Documents For Young Families

by Luke Landes

Have you recently welcomed your first child into your family? If so, it may be time to get some of your financial documents in order. These are some things you may not have considered before having a baby. This video from SmartMoney TV quickly runs down the basics: which documents are necessary and why. 1. ... Continue reading this article…

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This Week in the Archives: Gas Price Spikes, Financial Advisors, Looks

by Luke Landes

As you might know, I’ve been spending some time looking back at what I’ve written on Consumerism Commentary in previous years just in case any new readers happen to come by. Here are a few from April 8-15, 2006: Apr. 8: Where is My SEP IRA? (5 comments) Apr. 10: Coming Soon: Gas Shortages or ... Continue reading this article…

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Should High Schools Require Money Management Classes?

by Luke Landes

USA Today reported earlier this year that teens are not getting a decent financial education. High school students failed a 2006 quiz from the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, correctly answering an average of only 52.4 percent of questions about credit cards, insurance, retirement and savings. This is well below high school students’ average 57.3 percent ... Continue reading this article…

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Consumerist Roundup

by Luke Landes

* Avoid Big Name Tax Places * How Banks Flag Ordinary Customers as Terrorists * It’s Science: Diets Don’t Work * 19 Banking Dos and Don’ts Hanging around Consumerism Commentary? Why not put your name in the hat for a 256MB Flash Drive with Tax Cut?

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Giveaway: Five USB Flash Drives With Tax Cut Software

by Luke Landes

Realizing that it’s a little late for sending these out and filing taxes in time for the standard deadline, I’d still like to give these away. I have five USB Flash Drives with 256MB storage space. You can find these almost anywhere, and they are inexpensive. These flash drives come with Tax Cut Premium Federal ... Continue reading this article…

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Citi Will Lay Off 10,000 and Expects 14,000 More to Go

by Luke Landes

I had an appointment at my dentist for my semi-annual cleaning this morning, and the hygienist tuned the television to MSNBC and Don Imus, who is having some sort of problem with the Rutgers basketball team. It was the topic for the entire morning. I noticed on the crawl on the bottom of the screen ... Continue reading this article…

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Workers Adapting Slowly to Changing Retirement

by Luke Landes

The Employee Benefit Research Institute recently published their results from their 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey [pdf]. It casts a dark cloud over the state of retirement savings. Here’s a summary of some of the findings. Half of workers less confident about pension benefits. While half of all workers have less confidence in pension, they do ... Continue reading this article…

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TurboTax Fixed a Security Leak

by Luke Landes

This year, rather than going to a tax professional as I originally planned, I rolled my own return by using TurboTax Online. Apparently, there was a security leak last week. One woman was able to view tax returns from two other people with the same last night, presumably by tweaking a URL and guessing the ... Continue reading this article…

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Rats All, Folks!

by Luke Landes

One of the several things I like about Consumerist is they follow up with stories most people forgot about long ago. Remember the story about the KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City infested by rats? Consumerist has been following the story over the past two months, and they are now reporting that the NYC ... Continue reading this article…

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Start Your Morning With the Top

by Luke Landes

As of 10:00pm last night, two of my posts, ING Direct Threatened to Close My Account and Why Do I Share My Finances Every Month?, were in the top five on the pfblogs.org popular page. Here are some others. * Preparing for Life Without a Credit Card. I’ve considered trying this for a month to ... Continue reading this article…

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Men: Do You Like Electric Razors?

by Luke Landes

I enjoyed Matthew’s guest post last week, Cutting Down on the Cost of Razor Blades. Several commenters, including MillionDollarJourney and Dimes, pointed out the cost advantage of opting to use a decent quality electric razor. Here’s what (a different?) Matthew had to say: I’d agree with the above comments about electric razors. I’ve had two ... Continue reading this article…

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ING Direct Threatened to Close My Account

by Luke Landes

For the second time this year, I received a nasty letter from ING Direct. I haven’t been diligent enough with watching my withdrawals. FDIC, the government organization that ensures that I can’t lose money my leaving cash in a bank account up to $100,000, also limits savings accounts to six withdrawals per month. For ING ... Continue reading this article…

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Why Do I Share My Finances Every Month?

by Luke Landes

I’ve been asked this question several times over the past few years, by strangers and friends, most who don’t approve of my openness for one reason or another. Each month, I write with excruciating detail about my expenses and income, assets and liabilities, and my net worth. For example, here is my latest net worth ... Continue reading this article…

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Start Your Morning With The Top From pfblogs.org and More

by Luke Landes

* Should Married Couples Combine Finances? Simple answer: yes and no. * 8 Secrets of the Naturally Slim (Wealthy), part 1 of 2. Great analogies. * How to Use Leverage to Make Money on eBay. It’s all about the credit card. * Over 300 Miles – Rent a Car. It depends. Not going to sell ... Continue reading this article…

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This Week in the Archives: Verizon FiOS, Classes for Teens, and Auto Maintenance

by Luke Landes

I didn’t get a chance to do this while on vacation, so I’m catching up now. This is just a retrospective, looking back at some posts from the past you may have missed. Today, we’re focusing on articles posted April 1-7, starting with 2006: * Apr. 2: Tuition Reimbursement: Save, Spend or Repay? (3 comments) ... Continue reading this article…

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Personal Finance Blog RSS Feeds

by Luke Landes

If you like getting your personal finance blog fix in your own newsreader like BlogLines or Google Reader, you should check out some of these options. * Today’s Popular Personal Finance Posts at pfblogs.org. Ranked by how often someone clicks to read an article from the ad-free aggregator, pfblogs.org. There are feeds for Real Estate ... Continue reading this article…

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11 Best Deals for Spring Shopping

by Luke Landes

Spring is obviously not the best time to shop for shorts, swimwear, and sandals. Retailers know that they can sell these items for much more than they could other times of the year. Other items can be found at great prices, according to Smart Money Magazine. These products aren’t for everyone, and some seem to ... Continue reading this article…

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links for 2007-04-08

by Luke Landes

The Perfect Place: Retiring Overseas Retiring overseas may be a good idea right now, but in 30-35 years when I retire, even places like these may be too costly. (tags: retirement wsj) The Evader Next Door These real tax evaders make up the “tax gap,” and it’s not due to complicated tax shelters. Contractors, plumbers, ... Continue reading this article…

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Three Books for Perfect Negotiation Skills

by Luke Landes

If you’re looking to hone your negotiation skills, whether in business life or family life, you may want to considering starting with these three new books, recommended by the New York Times. The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes, by William L. Ury. “Mr. Ury believes that ... Continue reading this article…

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Weekly Blog Roundup, Easter Edition

by Luke Landes

Today is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, known to many as Easter. For those who celebrate this holiday, I wish you have a great day. After arriving home last night, I’ve been catching up on posts from around the blogosphere. Here are a few that caught my eye. ... Continue reading this article…

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