Hello and welcome to My Money Design! This is a blog about helping you with your money and your life – everything from wealth creation and finance to simply saving more money!

In an effort to help you get the most out of its content, we have organized some of the more helpful investment how to posts below. Please feel free to browse through your topic of interest and enjoy!

Personal Finance Basics:

Are you new to financial planning? Want to know more about some of the principal concepts? Then read these posts to learn more about them!

Investing:

• Why Compound Interest Makes You Rich!

Mutual Funds:

• What are Mutual Funds and How Do I Invest in Them?

Stocks:

• What Is A Stock?
• What Does “Stocks Return 8 Percent Each Year” Actually Mean?
• How to Read and Evaluate Basic Stock Metrics

IRA’s (Individual Retirement Accounts):

• Traditional vs. Roth IRA – Part 1: The Basics
• Traditional vs. Roth IRA – Part 2: Which One is Better?
• Traditional vs. Roth IRA – Part 3: Why I Prefer a Roth IRA
• More resources: IRA vs 401k

Good Books to Get You Started:

• Top Money Book Recommendations

Growing Your Retirement Savings:

One of the first options you should consider for building your personal fortune should be any of the various retirement plan options. Not only do they provide tax sheltering and may include employer matching, but they can also help you build a pattern of disciplined saving. Over time due to the power of compound returns, this means your money could grow far beyond anything you would have stashed away on your own!

Getting Started:

• Help! I Just Got My 401k Packet At Work! What Do I Do?
• Six Easy Steps to Figuring Out Your Retirement
• How to Pick Good Mutual Funds for Your 401k or Retirement Plan
• How to Buy an Index Fund
• A Strategy for Maxing Out Your Retirement Savings

Model Investment Strategies:

• Tips from “The Big Secret for the Small Investor” by Joel Greenblatt
• Tips from “Higher Returns from Safe Investments” by Marvin Appel

Stock Picking Strategies:

• Using the Dogs of the Dow to Buy the Best Dividend Paying Stocks
• Using Dividends as an indicator from the book Dividends Still Don’t Lie

How Much Should I Plan to Take Out (So I Know How Much to Save Up For)?

When Can I Start Using My Retirement Money?

• When Can I Get My Retirement Savings?

Early Retirement Strategies:

• Retire Early Using a 72(t)
• Will Dividend Stocks Help Me Retire Early?
• Before Retirement, Eliminate Your Biggest Expense

How Does MyMoneyDesign Plan to Get There?

Creating Additional Income Streams:

In addition to planning for retirement, you can really take your finances to the next level by adding additional, multiple income streams. Not only can extra income streams reduce how much you’ll need to save for retirement, but then can also help you retire earlier and add stability to your income portfolio. Plus, who doesn’t want more money?

• What is Passive Income?

Dividend Income:

• The Little Book of Big Dividends
• Protecting Yourself with Dividend Stocks

Blogging:

• ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
• How I Got My Alexa Ranking Below 200,000

Real Estate:

• How Much Money Would I Make If I Rented Out A House?
• Which Is Better – Rental Income or a Stock Market Index Fund?

More Ideas for Passive Income:

• More Passive Income Ideas

Reducing Your Lifestyle Costs:

Don’t want to have to save so much for retirement? Try NOT needing so much money by cutting back on your expenses.

• How to Budget
• 10 Tips for Saving More Money
• Your Bills Are Negotiable
• What Should Be in Your Safety Net?

Mortgage:

• Which is Better – Paying Off Your Mortgage or Investing the Money?
• Which Is Better – Paying Down Your Auto Loan or Mortgage?
• Which is Better – Points or No Points on Your Mortgage?

Insurance:

• Which is Better – Term or Permanent Life Insurance?

College Savings for Your Kids:

• Adding Your Children’s College Savings to the Budget

Motivation and Guidance:

Sometimes personal finance is more “mental” than it is “technical”. We all get lost along the way and need some help getting our priorities straight. Please enjoy these posts as they help you reflect on your goals and needs.

• Why Care About Money?
• Why Do You Want to Retire?
• Let Curiosity Guide You, But Common Sense Protect You
• Don’t Quit Your Day Job Yet
• The Value of What You Know
• Embrace That You ARE in Sales
• Do You Fake It?
• Don’t Forget About One of Your Biggest Investments – Your Marriage
• Go Ahead and Buy Yourself a Coffee – You Deserve It

Photo Credits: Microsoft Clip Art, freedigitalphotos.net