Personal Finance Archives - Page 17 of 21

Luxury Cars on the Cheap

Lexus Hybrid Models (CTH or ESH only)

Audi A4 or A6 (Smaller Engine only)

BMW 1 or 3 (V-4 version only, with no extras)

Infinity G

Vintage Muscle Cars (Not mint, but close to it)

Acura

These are the cars that if you are out of debt, have a great income, and currently exceed retirement estimates for your age that you might want to get to live a little in the lap of luxury. These are all luxury brands but the cool thing is these models are not too expensive.

All the vehicles I mentioned above will cost you less than 50K for new versions and around 25K for used versions. I am not one to recommend splurging on cars given this is a financially savvy blog, but if you finally achieved a new status with personal finance then I do not see anything wrong with getting any of these models if your income is consistent and above average. One Caveat I recommend is not to do it while adding debt. The right way to buy cars is to save up as much as possible and buy something you can afford.

They all can get you from point A to B, while saving you some gas compared to other equally priced luxury cars. The only exception to the list is the vintage muscle cars as most will be V-8 engines with horrible fuel economy, but boy will you look cool riding around in one of those puppies. Some auction sellers have them at great prices.

Obviously the Lexus Hybrids will get you great fuel efficiency now but later the battery issues might be a problem. In comparison the German cars which include Audi and BMW, their engineers are making great strides with diesel engine options that could one day trump the hybrids class leading MPG records.

First thing to consider is to only buy these if the purchase price consists of less than 25%-50% your annual income. Percentages must play a big role in life and if you learn to apply them to cars you will be well off and be very financially efficient. Do not be like the normal college graduate who goes out and buys a car that equals 75% of their annual income. In addition to this error most of those graduates just landed the job, and thus do not have at least 2 years of job security. This can lead to major issues with finances early on in life. Buying a car that equals 50% or more off annual income is not smart personal finance.

Any other cars not on this list are either priced too high, offer horrible fuel efficiency, have reliability issues, or have extremely expensive 5 year cost to own stats.

Purchase Price = 25K

Annual Income must = 100K or greater

Equals 25% price to income ratio

Purchase price = 25K

Annual income = 50K

Equals 50% price to income ratio

Can you now see the difference in the percentages? One allows you less risk than the other.

Comment if you agree with the luxury cars on the cheap list. Also if you agree with the purchase price to income ratio I recommend above?

Rich Uncle EL

Pic credited to Lexus Co..

Will Cash Retire

PayPal changed the world by offering an online exchange of funds between anybody in the world. Now fast forward a decade later and almost every bank offers electronic money exchanges. Some of you are thinking nah physical money will never go away. But I think one day it just might face a horrific demise. Not that I am a proponent of this happening, I am all for holding those green dead presidents in our hands. I just think the tide will turn one day and there is nothing we can do about it, the government will have the last say in this argument. Have you heard recently about BITCOIN and all the hoopla facing this weird monetary vehicle? Well this is the eventful future and not exactly like those coins, but something similar to it. Thus I keep thinking will cash retire?

Have you ever seen an option to send money online now days by your bank? Well they are all pushing for the end of physical cash because then they will have less operating costs. Is this a shock to all of you? I hope not because as you should know banks always want to decrease expenses while controlling the money with tight-fisted grips. A digital age is becoming more prevalent as wire transfers become just as easy to send as having somebody’s email. Soon there will be an app for that as cell phones are holding more power now than a computer for managing finances on a daily basis. Wait that little white device (Square) that can be attached to your cell can accept a credit card payment for services rendered in a summer garage sale. Guess what that device will eventually assist the final retirement party for good old Benjamin Franklin. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but maybe you will now realize that this could very well be the future of money.

Here are a few facts about; Will Cash Retire:

-Canada got rid of the penny, soon other coins will follow

-USA wants to get rid of all coins

-Direct Deposit is pushed by all employers and government programs. (Social Security/ Disability/ Unemployment)

-Banks only give promotions to new customers when you set up direct deposit

-Retail Companies want you to get their store card (20% off if you do it – One time)

-PayPal money exchanges are growing every day (Be Careful There’s a fee for this service)

-Square is taking over! 6 Billion Yearly in money exchanges- wowzers (It will cost 2.75% of all sales)

-Online Banks like ING offer the same service to send money to others.

-BITCoin ATMs will soon hit a mall near you. (Hopefully a Fad)

-Trillions of dollars are being exchanged everyday by Currency Dealers (Largest Exchange in the world)

-In 1990 Cash and checks consisted of 85% behind all spending; now it is about 39%

-Every day we all are using less and less cash (See a trend)

-In 2010 3.1 billion was paper transactions and 4.8 billion was cards/electronic

What do you think of those facts? If somebody all the way in japan wishes to purchase a product you have listed on EBay, no problem PayPal to the rescue. I feel that one day we will be viewing physical cash in a museum, unless you are a PF blogger and have the foresight to stash a variety of crisp bills in a photo album hoping they will turn into a collectible one day.

Will Cash Retire? Comment below with your point of view on this topic?

For further Reading look here:

Rich Uncle EL

Some facts were found in Fortune Magazine

What Did You Purchase in 2012

Hello I did a what have you purchased post like this before about 1 year ago. Here it is to refresh your memory-Assets. I believe it is time for an update. Annual updates are easier for me to share with all of you as I am busy more often now a days. I will disclose what I have purchased and hopefully you guys can share what you bought as well. If you are shy then do it anonymously. For all of you not scared to share your success stories let me be the first one to congratulate you.

I will begin listing all the assets I have purchased and mostly all of them will go up every quarter as I have them on automatic reinvesting status. I will also list any other major purchases that add value to my life one way or another. I do not wish to share too much info, but I hope you can still get some value out of the post and then can track your own accounts.

What did I purchase in 2012:

1. 100 shares of a risky cheap Bank Stock-One Time (HCBK)
2. 100 Shares of a risky telecom Stock-Dollar Cost Averaging (WIN)
3. 100 Shares of various 401k Funds -Quarterly
4. 50 Shares of various Roth IRA Fund Shares-Quarterly
5. A new computer for my blog business and personal use.
6. A new mattress as back was hurting (Unfortunately New mattress has not helped)

It is really exciting to see the numbers increase from time to time, and I hopefully one day will be able to live off my investments. Did you know that if you owned 1000 shares of Altria Stock (MO) it would cost you about 34K dollars to buy all those shares. The dividend you would receive would be about, $ 450 dollars quarterly and $ 1800 dollars per year. Every quarter my dividends are greater as the number of shares grow. Compounding makes me a happy camper.

Imagine waking up to do what you please without being tied down to achieve other peoples dreams, and can contribute as much or as little towards your own dreams. The point in life is to become independent while accomplishing your passion. I feel we all can do this with the right investment strategy. See below for two great articles one about dividend stocks and the other about a retired blogger who is living his dream.

Article on the highest paying dividend champion stocks- Here

Look at numbers Retire by 40 is posting for his update on income and expenses.

What did you purchase in 2012?

Comment if you keep track of your finance accounts like this?

Rich Uncle EL

The stocks mentioned above are not listed or recommended by moneywatch101.com, do your own research before buying any stocks.

Can You Find Extra Money

The best place to find extra money is to earn it, negotiate it, save it and not to waste it. These simple steps will give you a leg up on your emotional spend thrift self. The not wasting it part is basically allocating funds to the right place month after month, and it is called a budget. The savings part is simple, but will provide you retirement leverage due to the compounding effect. Everyday you’re purchasing power is getting less and less, thus making retirement that much harder. Can you find extra money? Look right at your paycheck first. Then look in the mirror second.

Continue reading Can You Find Extra Money

Portfolio Tracking by CNN Money

portfolio tracking by CNN Money

Would you give up all your investment / retirement account passwords to a website that is known for money and stock market news reporting? They track data from various sources; then report the findings eventually in random posts / articles. So how do you actually know if your portfolio tracking data will be safe? I think for me it is a real issue because I am always hesitant to trust another online entity tracking my accounts. It took me almost a year before I could allow myself to even sign up for Mint a few years back. Mint worked well and has a very respectable firewall and security features in place, but one issue I had all the time was several accounts did not link up correctly aka update when I would log on. The website left me with the wrong account info from time to time. I just got used to it, but maybe this service by CNN will not have the same bugs. (Fingers Crossed if I decide to sign up one day) Handling financial information might be a bit daunting, but Portfolio Tracking by CNN Money will help you keep up with your investments.

Details of the Portfolio Tracking by CNN Money:

– One View of all your Accounts: Sync and Track

– Real Time Quotes: Can help see buy and sell opportunities

– Your Portfolio Insights: Measure performance against Indexes.

Now CNN money wants to get all your passwords and help you keep track of all your investments, with some tools to help you become a better investor in addition to being your online portfolio manager. (They Say) How comfortable would you truthfully be, to allow them access to your precious retirement figures? What if they share your data with competing investment websites, who now continually pester your life with ads by email, hoping you will switch on over to their house of stocks. I appreciate the simplicity of this service, but I still feel some trepidation with releasing all that precious password info.

On another happier note, if they save your information by the last time you logged in, should that be considered another source of backing up people’s data. If an investment company happens to have a major computer meltdown and they were to lose all traces of your accounts, you can hopefully provide proof of the missing funds by asking CNN money to remember the last time you checked your accounts and the figures you held in those accounts. That is one of the positives I can see with this service, besides the stock analysis and stock market research data you can get from this service. It should be noted of course that the CNN service is just a portfolio tracking service (as well as offering stock analysis and research data), if you’re looking to actually trade stocks independently then you will need a stock trading platform such as this one offered by AVA Trade.

Many of you have already signed up with CNN money to track your stock and mutual fund accounts in 1 place, but if you have not, what other features might get you to sign up for a similar portfolio management service?

What additional concerns might you have that you can share?

Leave info about how Portfolio Tracking by CNN Money might benefit you?

Rich Uncle EL

Pic credited to: CNN

Who are you really?

This question was asked in a Oprah interview I saw on TV over the weekend. Who are you really? I know what your thinking, but keep those crazy thoughts to yourself. Oprah asked this question to a famous celebrity, because they live life partly open and mostly secretive. So I get why she asked this question because this person has millions of fans and you guessed it fans are curious. Furthermore I still think it is very important for everybody to answer this question so here it goes.

I feel it is my obligation to share a little bit of myself from time to time to let you in to my world. I am doing this blogging thing and started it without disclosing everything 100%. I do not feel comfortable sharing my income and my net worth yet because a lot of family and friends read this blog.

Because of this I can still share with you some of my goals and what I want out of this life in greater detail. Hopefully you can read it as a way to help me along the way if you enjoy the website and care to give some support or maybe you don’t give a rats @ss and will never read my blog again. Either way I respect your decision, but I do feel I add some value to my readers lives.

Who are you really? : A Family man who wishes to provide for his family all the things necessary in life with a few luxuries from time to time in order to enjoy life. I want to do these things year after year while decreasing my currently restricted time given towards work and increasing my free time to spend on the things I want to do. (Family time, hobbies, volunteering, and personal goals) I want recognition for the things I do,(PF Blogger and Financial Professional), but I do not want or expect full-blown fame at this point in my life. Kind of daunting to fathom blowing up from one day to the next, like MJ. I want success but in the financial aspect of it. Meaning I want my efforts to pay me more than my bills and lifestyle while allowing me to save for a secure future. I want to get the things that I need first and foremost, then my wants, without having to worry if the income will be their next month or if a layoff is around the corner. Meaning I want to take matters everyday more into my hands and work for myself and less for somebody else.

Goals prompted by asking myself: Who are you really?:

– Increase twitter followers to 500, Facebook to 200, and email readers to 100.

– Increase income by 25% by getting a better paying career, side income, or business income.

– Become Certified in financial planning and also become certified in personal training.

– Double Family Net Worth in two years and every two years after that.

– Eliminate school loan debt in two / three years.

– Travel to new places and learn different cultures with the family.

Article on finding yourself: Link

Comment if you agree or disagree that knowing who you are really will help you achieve goals?

Rich Uncle EL

Money Lessons I

I believe money lessons are very important aspects of life to help anyone be great with money management. The lessons we learn can come from random places within life and at random moments. What I am hoping to accomplish with this post is to make all of you aware of the mistakes you should avoid, this will solidify, if you finish the post, the important message you will receive below.

Money Lessons:

Never take out a pay-day loan, interest is about 359%. (Just not smart)

Do not ever pay a debt consolidation company to help you get out of debt.

Avoid missing or being late on a loan payment

Owe the IRS, pay them off ASAP to avoid penalties and interest fees

Never borrow from the 401K as a loan (Unless you will avoid bankruptcy/foreclosure)

Do not get your pay garnished by being irresponsible and not making payments

Avoid bankruptcies and Foreclosures as it will damage your life for 10 years

These are some of the worse money mistakes you could make with personal finance. I think with information many money decisions and or mistakes can be avoided before a serious issue may arise. On the other hand if you do not care and are living life by always yelling out YOLO then one of these issues might hit your doorstep if you are not careful. Digest all of these lessons to make you an efficient and powerful decision maker when it comes to handling your paper.

I hope you all have never experienced the mistakes above because they are a total bummer. It can take you years to recover from getting your Money mojo back on track. On the other hand if you are struggling with one or a few of the issues listed above, you can get help from a financially responsible family member or read more personal finance books to improve your situation.

Comment if you agree to avoiding the money lessons listed above?

Rich Uncle EL

The Money Mojo

What is the money mojo you ask? Well it is the point in your life when money is flowing like an open faucet. When you experience a day, a month, or maybe a year in this stage you will feel tempted to increase spending and ball out. If you are smart you could make your money work harder for you while in this stage. How do you ask? By continuing to live life as if you did not have a money mojo going on at the moment. Lifestyle inflation is something that creeps up on most people and spending takes over their lives. Many strategies can be utilized to assist you and will prevent wasting your money mojo and the future earning power of that mojo.

Continue reading The Money Mojo