personal finance

Personal Finance Roundup

Personal Finance Roundup

By FMF 8.18.10

Three Myths About Earning More Money [Free Money Finance] “If you want to really start earning more money, you’ll need to be able to identify and overcome three big myths of entrepreneurship.”

Win With Low-Cost Mutual Funds [Kiplinger] “A new study by Morningstar found that low-cost funds beat high-cost funds in every time period and data point tested.”

The New Rules of Movie Rentals [Smart Money] “Choosing where to rent movies may soon depend in part on what gadgets you own.”

A Guide to Becoming a Part-Time Bicycle Commuter [Wise Bread] “I was able to make the car to bike transition due to a few variables that I was able to control.”

Toys of the ultra rich: what they cost [CNN Money] “Sure, it’s expensive to buy the toys of the rich and famous. But buying them is just the start – once you have them they cost a small fortune to keep.”

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

Subtract Your Age From 110 To Figure Out How Much Of Your Portfolio Should Be In Stocks Vs Bonds

Subtract Your Age From 110 To Figure Out How Much Of Your Portfolio Should Be In Stocks Vs Bonds

By Ben Popken 8.17.10

With the Feds buying up more Treasuries, bonds are looking attractive. But how much of my portfolio should I have invested in bonds? What’s the proper asset allocation between stocks and bonds? Well, an old-school rule of thumb is that you subtract your age from 110. [More]

Remember: Checks Can Still Overdraft

Remember: Checks Can Still Overdraft

By Ben Popken 8.17.10

Just remember, even though starting this week banks can’t charge you overdrafts unless you opted into their overdraft program, they can still authorize overdrafted checks, ATM withdrawals, and automatic bill payments at their discretion and charge you a fee for it. [More]

Self-Styled Robin Hood Banker Pleads Guilty

Self-Styled Robin Hood Banker Pleads Guilty

By Ben Popken 8.16.10

An ex-vp at a bank plead guilty last week to modifying over 100 loans to make it look like the customers were still current on their loans instead of overdue. This was not a money-making scheme, he was trying to help them. Nevertheless, it was fraud, and he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. [More]

Why Can't All Credit Card Agreements Look Like This One-Page Piece Of Beauty?

Why Can't All Credit Card Agreements Look Like This One-Page Piece Of Beauty?

By Ben Popken 8.16.10

Branding expert Alan Siegel has designed a model credit card agreement that is only one page long, is written in English, and communicates everything you need to know about your credit card. It therefore has no chance of coming to life. So let’s gaze upon it and dream about a better tomorrow that will never come: [More]

$150 Bonus For New BBVA Compass Bank Accounts

$150 Bonus For New BBVA Compass Bank Accounts

By Ben Popken 8.16.10

Savings site Smartypig’s banking partner BBVA Compass Bank is giving away up to $150 in bonus money if you open a new account with them. Of course, there are a few caveats to make sure you’re using the account and not just doing it for the money, like: [More]

Schools Asking Kids To Bring Basic Cleaning Supplies

Schools Asking Kids To Bring Basic Cleaning Supplies

By Ben Popken 8.16.10

New items on the back-to-school lists this year include cleaning spray, baby wipes, and cotton balls. It’s not for making a diorama or some kind of cheap puppet. Rather, with budgets slashed all over, schools have had to resort to asking the kids to pick up basic cleaning supplies for the school along with their usual TrapperKeepers and notebooks. [More]

Does The "S. Larson" Who Always Signs Citibank Customer Letters Really Exist?

Does The "S. Larson" Who Always Signs Citibank Customer Letters Really Exist?

By Ben Popken 8.13.10

For decades, “S. Larson” has been the named that signed the bottom of Citibank’s letters to customers. But does this person actually exist or are they a construct? [More]

Branch Manager Quits Rather Than Trick Bank Customers Into Signing Up For Overdrafts

Branch Manager Quits Rather Than Trick Bank Customers Into Signing Up For Overdrafts

By Ben Popken 8.13.10

The bank branch manager who felt uncomfortable that his bank was making him choose between misleading customers into signing up for overdraft protection and keeping his job has decided to quit. [More]

Which Credit Cards Will Help Me Meet My Goals?

Which Credit Cards Will Help Me Meet My Goals?

By Phil Villarreal 8.12.10

Credit cards mean different things to different people. For some they’re a lifeline to get by from month to month, while others use them to streamline their cash flow and reap rewards. [More]

Robot Traders Leaving Behind Bizarre "Crop Circles" In Market Data

Robot Traders Leaving Behind Bizarre "Crop Circles" In Market Data

By Ben Popken 8.11.10

Following the May 6 “flash crash” in which the market plunged 1,000 points in just a few minutes, a data firm started looking at the trades being made by the high-frequency computerized trading bots that have come to loom over over the stock market. By zooming into the trades being placed by the millisecond the firm spotted several strange algorithmic patterns. Plotted on a chart, they look like the freakin’ the stock market equivalent of crop circles. [More]

Wells Fargo Ordered To Pay $203 Million For Processing Transactions High To Low, Maximizing Overdraft Fees

Wells Fargo Ordered To Pay $203 Million For Processing Transactions High To Low, Maximizing Overdraft Fees

By Ben Popken 8.11.10

A California judge ordered Wells Fargo to pay California customers $203 after finding that the bank had deliberately manipulated the way it processed transactions in a way that turned one overdraft fee into as many as 10, at $35 a pop. [More]

Personal Finance Roundup

Personal Finance Roundup

By FMF 8.11.10

Trying to time the market has cost investors big-time [The Washington Post] “A groundbreaking study by Morningstar shows what a terrible price investors pay for market timing.”

How to Tame College Costs–It’s Not Just Tuition [Wall Street Journal] “Here are five areas where you can cut college costs.”

Three Steps to Break a Car Lease Without Getting Rear-Ended [Money Talks News] “These days you can go to any number of websites that will help you find someone who can assume your lease.”

Investment Psychology: Top 5 Ways Investors Go Broke [The Digerati Life] “Have you committed any of these?”

How rich is rich? [CNN Money] “Experts peg the figure to be somewhere around $2 million to $12 million in savings.”

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

Citibank Yanks Your 87,000 Rewards Points And Closes Account Without Warning

Citibank Yanks Your 87,000 Rewards Points And Closes Account Without Warning

By Ben Popken 8.10.10

Andy and his wife were just about to use their 87,000 accumulated rewards points to take a vacation when all of a sudden Citibank closed the account and took away all their points. According to customer service, there’s nothing that can be done. [More]

Banks Told To Target Financially Unsavvy For Overdraft Reup

Banks Told To Target Financially Unsavvy For Overdraft Reup

By Ben Popken 8.10.10

Consulting firms are telling banks to hone in on the financially precarious to sign back up for costly overdraft protection that will only further erode their bank account. Here are some quotes from their strategies: [More]

Woman Quits Job By Outing Boss's Farmville Addiction To Staff

Woman Quits Job By Outing Boss's Farmville Addiction To Staff

By cwalters 8.10.10

UPDATE: It appears that this was all a hoax perpetrated by the editors over at thechive.com. [More]

Before I Strategically Default, Can I Get A New House? Pwease?

Before I Strategically Default, Can I Get A New House? Pwease?

By Ben Popken 8.10.10

Old news: homeowners strategically defaulting on their loans. New news: They first want to get financing for a new house. [More]

Chase Scare-Calling Customers To ReUp For Overdraft "Protection"

Chase Scare-Calling Customers To ReUp For Overdraft "Protection"

By Ben Popken 8.10.10

Jen said Chase left a message on her phone asking her to call back. Thinking it was about fraud, she did three times, and when she finally reached the person who called her, she got a creepy and misleading pitch for overdraft protection. They wanted her to come into her local branch and “go over her overdraft protection choices.” Who has time for this crap? [More]

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