http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com Spending, debt, savings, and taxes working together to make financial mastery possible. info@savingadvice.com Kinchan en-us http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/11/07/2000-birthday-party-isnt-wrong_31870/ Commenting on the blogger who recently wrote in about his or her friend spending $2,000 on a 2-year-old's birthday party. Of course this amount is absurd...except if you're the parent throwing the party and feel justified in doing it. It seems glutunous and immoral in some way to... Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:29:13 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/26/savings-a-bust-for-boomers_31484/ According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the national savings rate is the lowest since the Great Depression, at just under 0%. That means that people are spending more than they're making, or at the very least have debt interest rates that cannot keep up with savings rates. Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:31:21 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/26/do-you-know-your-401k-fees_31482/ Most people don't know how much they are being charged in sponsor fees for their 401(k)s. That's because current retirement savings law, pased in 1974, doesn't explicitly require plan sponsors to disclose comprehensive information on fees. But even small fees can add up. Say a 45... Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:43:01 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/16/getting-a-tax-refund-is-silly_31207/ A friend of mine is getting a divorce and having trouble paying the bills. She mentioned that she should be getting about $6,000 from her tax refund this coming year, and is anxiously waiting for January to roll around so she can file. She said before the divorce she had normally... Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:52:49 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/16/the-lure-of-technology_31206/ I've been hearing about some new programs on the Internet that entirely monitor your finances for you. There's a program called "Mint" or at least there was. Does anyone know? And other such Web-apps. You enter your bank account and credit card details and these programs import... Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:38:32 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/15/lets-look-at-the-bigger-picture_31171/ We kind of got off on the soda thing, which is fine, but my point in bringing up soda on the blog was not so much about drinking pop and worrying about our health. I used it as an example of consumerism (and after all aren't we on financial blogs to get insight about money, not... Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:29:08 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/12/its-nice-that-we-all-agree-soda-is-a-tre_31091/ The last blog on soda pop being a treat churned up a bunch of interesting comments. Most people agree that there's too much pop drinking going on! But if we all agree, then what can we do about our kids and their expectations? <br /> <br /> I think one of the most important ways to curb the... Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:08:29 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/12/beating-the-401k-horse-to-death_31090/ Okay, we've beaten this to death for now, but I still want to add a few more thoughts on the subject, after reading some comments from Peter Jeppson on the subject. There are two potential problems with 401(k)s: First, your money is tied up. Usually the 401(k) has a trustee who has... Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:00:03 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/10/when-soda-was-a-treat_31025/ When I was a child, a can of soda pop was something we enjoyed on special occasions, maybe on the 4th of July or our birthdays. It was a treat. I was at dinner the other night at a friend's house and was surprised by the behavior of her children when they asked for a certain kind... Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:00:09 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/10/savings-isnt-savings-if-it-cant-keep-up-_31024/ While I don't discount 401(k) programs and believe people should contribute as much as their employer will match, if people are in debt and thinking they can fall back on such programs and have enough for retirement, they are sadly mistaken. Real savings of at least 10% (which most... Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:44:42 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/10/controlling-my-own-money_31023/ Again, on the subject of IRAs and 401(k)s...yes, they're great for the "Average Joe", nice retirement foundation, and all that. But I think the biggest frustration I have with them and that many of the people I deal with have is the lack of control they feel about their investments... Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:39:03 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/09/why-start-a-home-based-business_30981/ Here's something to think about when it comes to the idea of starting a small business or not: Corporations pay approximately 6% to the federal government in tax, but W-2 employees on average are paying 39%. <br /> <br /> The government encourages the creation of small business because the... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:19:06 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/09/missing-the-point-about-bistro-chairs_30976/ Retirement funds...always an emotional argument. I think most people missed the point of my last blog on the value of 401(k)s. As I said in the last post, they do have their value, but they seem to carry more weight in terms of making serious retirement money that can out-earn what... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:39:44 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/09/401ks-not-a-bad-ideabut_30969/ I think my last few blogs have probably given the impression that I think 401(k) programs and other auto savings plans are a bad idea. Of course, anything that helps people save and can be contributed to by an employee is a perk that we all ought to take advantage of (to the maximum).... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:38:27 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/09/tracking-spending-using-a-cell-phone_30967/ Through my contacts, I've just heard about a way to keep track of all your spending using your cell phone. (I want it now!) Apparently, after you make a purchase, you just call up a number, a voice prompts you to note which category you spent money in, how much you spent, and then... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:59:33 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/09/whats-the-real-worth-of-a-dollar_30966/ Most people take for granted that when they earn a dollar, they have most of that dollar to spend (most people do consider that they've lost some of it to taxes). <br /> <br /> But how much of a dollar do we really have to spend?<br /> <br /> 1. 40 cents of every dollar gets eaten up in taxes (federal,... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:50:27 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/09/comments-on-auto-savings-joke_30965/ I knew my blog slamming auto savings would garner some reactionary comments from those who are successful at saving money on such programs. And I guess I should give such programs the credit they deserve. They can be VERY helpful, but only for a few. Of course such programs have... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:35:45 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan) http://thefinancialpuzzle.savingadvice.com/2007/10/08/auto-savings-programs-are-a-joke-for-mos_30942/ I've been reading a lot about automatic savings programs lately, but the idea is ludicrous for most people since having one dollar automatically deposited to your savings, only to have to withdraw it the next day because spending is out of control is not really savings.<br /> <br /> If your... Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:16:20 PST suzkimball@sfcn.org (Kinchan)