By 2 Cents on October 4th, 2010 | Category: Planning | Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.
~Author Unknown
If you’re new to Balance Junkie, I outlined our annual financial plan for 2010 back in January. I update the plan each quarter so that readers can have an idea of how one family handles their finances. I don’t claim that the way we do it is the right way, but offer it as a sample for beginners who may not know where to start. I also use it as a way to make sure I actually review our finances every quarter!
Budgets and financial plans should be as unique as the lives that define them. Our life has included some very fortunate years followed by a recent period of tumult. Things have settled down and Mr. Cents likes his new job. Still, as I mentioned last quarter, we continue to worry [...]
Read on and enjoy … 2010 Financial Plan: Q3 Update
By 2 Cents on June 1st, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | It’s time for the next monthly installment of 20 Cents. Is it just me or did it seem like May was only 12 days long? Here are 10 of my favourite articles from around the web for May, 2010.
I try to include a fairly well-rounded selection each month, but 10 slots is just not enough to cover all of the great writing that gets served up each month. I highlight a lot of great articles each day on Twitter. You can follow me @BalanceJunkie.
1. Political Calculations spelled out Three Signs of Economic Trouble in the Modern World. Read the article and find out how many you recognize in today’s economy.
2. Jabulani Lefall wrote about Financial Fear Factors at Wise Bread. The author laments the disappearance of the middle ground along with the middle [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from May 2010
By 2 Cents on May 13th, 2010 | Category: Debt | Who recalls when folks got along without something if it cost too much?
~ Kin Hubbard
Update: This article is included in the Carnival of Personal Finance #257 – Canadian Bank Notes Edition posted at Canadian Finance Blog. Thanks!
The sovereign debt crisis has been front and centre lately in light of the recent market earthquakes emanating from the European Union. Sunday’s EU bailout seems to have settled markets for now. But the problems have not gone away and if you look at the U.S. Debt Clock , the U.K. Debt Clock, or even the Canadian Debt Clock, you’ll notice that they are all still ticking higher by the second. There is even a debt clock that contends that the true U.S. debt is more than 6 times the reported number if [...]
Read on and enjoy … Debt Clock: What Does Yours Look Like?
By 2 Cents on May 4th, 2010 | Category: Budgets | If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don’t embrace trouble; that’s as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.
~ Olliver Wendell Holmes
Update: Thanks to My Dollar Plan for including this article in the Carnival of Personal Finance #256 : Market Crash Edition.
If your income is commission-based or you are self-employed, you may find budgeting to be more of a challenge. We have lived on various types of irregular income for the past 10 years or so. It’s tempting to avoid budgeting altogether since you really don’t know what your income might be from one month or year [...]
Read on and enjoy … How to Budget Irregular Income
By 2 Cents on March 29th, 2010 | Category: Planning | Who can hope to be safe? who sufficiently cautious? Guard himself as he may, every moment’s an ambush.
~ Horace
Update: Thanks to the Mighty Bargain Hunter for including this article in the Carnival of Personal Finance: Unanswered Questions Edition.
You’re at a fork in the road. Which way do you go? We face decisions every moment of the day. Some are more important than others. Should I invest in stocks? How much of my money should I invest? Where will interest rates be this time next year? Where will they be in 5, 10, or 20 years? Should I buy or sell? Should I allow my child to do X? Should I stay or should I go? (Cue The Clashtune.)
Unless you are clairvoyant, there’s no way to know for sure whether your decision will be the right one. [...]
Read on and enjoy … Risk vs. Reward: The Ultimate Calculation
By 2 Cents on March 9th, 2010 | Category: Planning |  Retirement: It’s nice to get out of the rat race, but you have to learn to get along with less cheese.
~ Gene Perret
Update: This article was featured in the Money Hackers Carnival #108 – Dare or Truth! at Eliminate the Muda. Thanks. I love that theme! It was also included in the Carnival of Financial Planning Edition #133 by The Skilled Investor. Thank you!
I’ve had a lot of inquiries about this lately, so I thought I would address it today. I’ve written about RRSP Basics and RRSPs vs. Paying Down Debt, but these articles dealt mainly with general issues and new contribution money. I haven’t directly addressed the question of whether or not you should actually withdraw money from existing Resgistered Retirement Savings Plans in order to pay down credit card or mortgage [...]
Read on and enjoy … Should You Take Money Out of RRSPs to Pay Off Debt?
By 2 Cents on February 25th, 2010 | Category: Financial Literacy | Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses.
~ Proverb
On February 22, the Task Force on Financial Literacy released a public consultation document called Leveraging Excellence. The task force was established by the Canadian Minister of Finance in 2009 to examine ways to boost the financial literacy of Canadians. I thought that the title of the report was interesting in light of the fact that I (and others) believe that excess leverage is the single greatest personal finance challenge facing us today. But the Task Force wasn’t referring to that kind of leverage. They simply want to look at ways to use existing resources in order to improve financial literacy among Canadians. I’m all for that.
My local newspaper carried an opinion piece by Jay Bryan on the Task Force report. Mr. Bryan is in [...]
Read on and enjoy … Task Force on Financial Literacy: Gold Medal
By 2 Cents on February 1st, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | This is a list of 10 articles from January of 2010 that I thought you might find interesting. Go ahead and browse some of these websites if they are new to you and you’re certain to find a lot more great information. Enjoy!
Pop Economics had a great post asking What Investment Return Should You Plan For? I very much agree with the analysis here, as I think the conventional wisdom of 7% – 10% returns is way too optimistic, especially given the challenges we face in the near term with global debt levels where they are. Manage your risk, control what you can, and be careful what numbers you enter in those retirement calculators! Byron Wien is a seasoned expert who is often tagged with the “legendary” moniker, so a lot of people listen to what he has to say. The fact that he’s [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from January 2010
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