This has been one of those weeks where it feels like extra days got mixed in there somehow. Mrs. MMD and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day early on Saturday night by going out to a local comedy club. If anyone is ever stumped on what to give someone as a gift, I highly recommend taking them to a comedy club. As long as you get a good comedian (which most of them are), it’s non-stop laughing for an hour and a half. On the real Valentine’s Day, we celebrated with our kids by having “Love Day” meal (which is a phrase they came up with). It consists of having spaghetti and meat sauce (I believe this is a Lady and the Tramp inspired cuisine). I’m also happy to report that we booked our annual family vacation. This year is Playa del … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 2/18/2012
Are We Fools for Saving Our Money?
What would be the point of a blog if we didn’t explore an idea that may be slightly controversial? Anyone who reads this blog knows that my quest for financial freedom heavily relies upon disciplined saving and planning for retirement. Like many people, I am using my employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRA’s, and personal savings to build up a fortune that I can one day live off of. All of that is fine and good in theory, but what if everything I just said was ALL WRONG! What if all the money I’m saving will one day be worthless? It sounds crazy, that’s exactly what one famous author is promoting in one of his new books. … [Read more...] about Are We Fools for Saving Our Money?
Don’t Quit Your Day Job Yet
Congratulations if you are an entrepreneur. Congratulations if you have already amassed great wealth. Congratulations if you have an early exit strategy all planned out for one day retiring from your job. As I read through many other personal finance blogs, there seems to be a great deal of people on the path to success. Some of our fellow bloggers are bringing in hundreds, if not thousands of extra dollars every month. That’s pretty impressive for simply finding new ways to share opinions and information, and through selling virtual real-estate to advertisers. Way to go! But whether its blogging, E-Products, real estate, investing, or anything else you’ve found some small success with, I think it’s very important to put things into … [Read more...] about Don’t Quit Your Day Job Yet
Weekend Wind Down 2/11/2012
Ah, the end of the week. How I look forward to it! Monday started off with something I’ve both waited for and feared at the same time – getting my home estimated. The estimator came and did whatever magic it is he does. I won’t know what he thinks until at least next week, but I’m hoping its good news for me. Mid-week was also pretty exciting. My daughter had her first slow dance with a boy. Later on at the same dance, my son stole the spotlight with his “break-dance” moves. Mrs MMD had the pictures up on Facebook the second we got home! Carnivals: This week, MyMoneyDesign was featured in 3 personal finance carnivals: • Personal Financial Management Articles from Personal Finance Blogs – 2 Articles • Carnival of Retirement – 5th … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 2/11/2012
Guess What – You Might Be Richer Than You Think!
Do you feel like you’re rich? When you talk to your friends or neighbors, do you feel like you’re at the same level? Or do you feel like you’re barely keeping up? This might sound crazy, but when you see all those “Occupy Wall-Street” demonstrations and other copy-cat protests on the News demanding equality against the privileged “1%”, there’s a good chance they might be talking about you! Okay, maybe not YOU directly. But it might surprise you to find out how close to the top 1% percentile you really are! Here’s how: … [Read more...] about Guess What – You Might Be Richer Than You Think!
Which is Better – Points or No Points on Your Mortgage?
As if understanding all the basics of a mortgage like interest rates, amortization, escrow, and PMI weren’t complex enough, there comes one more product that really convolutes the entire process even further: points. Like all of the items mentioned above, knowing whether or not to purchase points can have significant long-term implications on how much money you may actually save or lose throughout the life of the mortgage. This post is going to explain how all that works and I’ll even give you a Microsoft Excel worksheet to try it out yourself. … [Read more...] about Which is Better – Points or No Points on Your Mortgage?
The Now or Later Tax Refund
Yea! I got my income taxes done. Any day now I should be expecting both my Federal and State return to direct deposit into my bank account. I’m not getting back as much this year as I had hoped, but it will still be quite a handsome amount. Just like back-to-school signs and Christmas decorations, you can almost pin-point the time from December on when a swarm of tax-filing hysteria starts to show up in our lives. But among the tax software and lists of documents we’re told to dig out of our file cabinets, financial advisors also like to argue one age-old debate: • Should you wait to get your big tax refund check or take it throughout the year? … [Read more...] about The Now or Later Tax Refund
What Does the Future Hold for Facebook?
It’s the real life “Revenge of the Nerds” triumph story: Facebook will finally be announcing an IPO (initial public offering) making everyone involved unimaginably rich! For anyone who doesn’t know what an IPO is, it’s when a company sells its stock to the public for the first time. It’s usually a big deal because it gives the company the chance to raise a ton of money while it gives the public a chance to own a part of the company and capitalize of their success. For example, I could kick myself back in 2004 when Google first went public and sold for $85 a share. This week it closed trading around $596. But does that mean we should all run out and buy Facebook stock? Even a Goliath-valued company such as that still has its critics … [Read more...] about What Does the Future Hold for Facebook?
