By 2 Cents on January 24th, 2012 | Category: Planning | I’ve been using Quicken for over a decade to manage our personal finances, so when the folks at Intuit asked me to review Quicken Home and Business 2012, I was happy to do so. I’ll have a chance for one lucky Canadian to download a free copy of Quicken Home and Business 2012 (for Canadians) at the end of this review.
Quicken Home & Business vs. Cash Manager
There are a few different versions of Quicken personal finance software available. To be clear, the Home & Business edition I’m reviewing here offers a little more than the basic Quicken Cash Manager. You can compare the two at Intuit’s website, but the main difference is that you can track investments and business transactions in Home and Business, whereas Cash Manager just allows you to track spending, saving and budgeting.
Both are [...]
Read on and enjoy … Quicken Home and Business 2012 Review
By 2 Cents on January 19th, 2012 | Category: Investing |  The following is a guest post by Rob Bennett. I’m pleased to announce that Rob will be sharing his thoughts with us here in a monthly column. Thanks Rob!
Gene Mauch was the manager of the Phillies baseball team when I was a boy growing up in Philadelphia. He once said something in an interview that has stuck with me ever since.
Mauch said that, when his team was on a winning streak, his job was to pop holes in the inflated egos of his players. When players are winning, they start thinking that they are so awesome that they can never be beat. They get sloppy. They stop doing sit-ups. They stop backing up throws. They’ve got it. They’re hot. Mauch would yell at the Phillies at such times. It was his job to bring them back to earth.
His job changed when the team [...]
Read on and enjoy … The Gene Mauch Rule for Investing Success
By 2 Cents on January 16th, 2012 | Category: Planning |  We are rapidly coming to the point where we can no longer stuff the dirty clothes and toys under the bed. There is no more room. We are going to be forced to actually deal with the mess.
~ John Mauldin, 2012: A Year of Choices
Just a few weeks into 2012, markets have been mostly positive – until Friday’s European credit rating downgrades and JP Morgan’s disappointing earnings results derailed the enthusiasm. The warm holiday glow of optimism seems to be fading and 2012 is already starting to feel a lot like 2011, with all of the queasiness that went with it. Today we take a look at some of the themes I think will dominate the financial news this year as well as some 2012 insights from folks who are a lot smarter than I am.
2012 Overview: Volatility & Whiplash [...]
Read on and enjoy … Financial Outlook for 2012
By 2 Cents on January 13th, 2012 | Category: Spending | The following is a guest post. I’ll have my 2012 outlook up on Monday. Have a great weekend! ~ 2 Cents
Looking for a credit card can be difficult because there are so many different types of cards that offer their holders different advantages. Some credit cards have rewards for making purchases from certain stores, but others will offer people cash back when they spend a set amount of money with their cards. Finding the one that is perfect for them has gotten easier because of the credit card comparison sites that have begun to make their way to the Internet.
Credit Cards for People with Excellent Credit
The comparison sites cater to different types of people and cards. For example, some people are looking for a card that will give them a 0 percent interest rate, and these comparison sites will have several examples of credit cards that [...]
Read on and enjoy … Use Price Comparison Sites to Get the Best Deal
By 2 Cents on January 6th, 2012 | Category: Saving | The following is a guest post with some good advice to kick off 2012. Enjoy!
The New Year is upon us, and for many, this time of the year signifies a time of new beginnings. People strive to better themselves by creating New Year’s resolutions, many of which are focused on health. While trying to be a better person in the new year is nothing to scoff at, there are a few New Year’s resolutions that are good for you both physically and mentally, as well as financially.
Losing Weight
Obesity is one of the greatest epidemics plaguing America today, making losing weight one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions this year. However, losing weight isn’t just ideal for your health, it is also highly beneficial to your wallet. In addition to saving money with reduced eating out and grocery bills, losing weight will also [...]
Read on and enjoy … 5 New Year’s Resolutions that are Good for Your Wallet
By 2 Cents on January 4th, 2012 | Category: Investing |  Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.
~Bill Vaughn
2011 has now passed into the annals of history. How did the financial world fare? What did we learn in the process?
2011 By the Numbers
Let’s start with a short report card on the 2011 performance of a few key indices: (You can click on each index to see the chart.)
TSX: -11.1%
S&P 500: No Change
CRB Commodity Index: -8.3%
Gold: +13.9%
Oil: +6.4%
Canadian Financials (XFN): -4.4%
U.S. Financials (XLF): -17.1%
Bonds (XBB): +9.3%
Canadian Dollar: -2.1%
Shanghai Composite: -22.6%
You can see that, although commodities in general were down for the year, gold and oil still rose. Copper was down [...]
Read on and enjoy … Post Cards from 2011
By 2 Cents on January 1st, 2012 | Category: 20 Cents |  I missed posting the November 2011 edition of 20 Cents due to my short blogging sabbatical, so I’m combining some highlights from November and December here. There are a few bonus links in there too. Enjoy!
1. Let’s get things started with 3 great articles courtesy of Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture. Barry calls out Cognitive Dissidents, says the U.S. Is a Corporate Monarchy, and highlights 29 Systemically Dangerous Global Banks. All are well worth your time.
2. Million Dollar Journey posted an excellent article on Why Cash Is King. In a volatile marketplace, cash provides a much-needed, if low-yielding, margin of safety.
3. Global investors watched Eurozone leaders make unequivocal statements followed by very equivocal retractions for most of 2011. John Hussman did his best to sort out this economic Hokey [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from November and December 2011
By 2 Cents on December 30th, 2011 | Category: BJ News |  This indecision’s bugging me … Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble An’ if I stay it will be double So come on and let me know!
~ The Clash
OK, so quoting a vintage Clash song from the 80s gives away my Gen X affiliation – and could easily be considered a little cheesy to boot. Still, I couldn’t think of any better way to frame this article. I wrote in November that I was taking a little time off to ponder the future of Balance Junkie and work on a new business venture. Today, I’d like to outline some of the thought processes I went through over the past 6 weeks or so and offer some tentative conclusions.
So far, things are going decently with the business and we’ve accomplished a lot of the [...]
Read on and enjoy … Should I Stay or Should I Go?
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