Friday Reading: Securities In An Insecure World
A Rediscovered Graham Masterpiece from Jason Zweig
Mr. Richard A. Rigg of San Francisco saved a typewritten copy of a 1963 Benjamin Graham speech. Jason Zweig posted it online for everyone to read.
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How To Buy I Bonds On a Future Date in TreasuryDirect
It’s time to buy I Bonds!
I waited until now because I wanted to earn a little more interest on the money in my checking account at Alliant Credit Union. I Bonds will still pay interest for the full month if you buy on any day during the month. Therefore if your own bank account pays interest, it’s better to buy near the end of the month. Money will stay in your own account longer earning more interest, although these days it isn’t much.
Actually you can schedule your purchases ahead of time. That way you don’t have to remember to log in near the end of the month. Here’s how:
Log In
Consistently Dependable Hotels: Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Holiday Inn, La Quinta, Best Western, Or Hampton Inn
Today’s post relates to my vacation in December when I observed so many other people seem to have more money. Thank you so much for your comments on that one. I need your inputs again.
It was a road trip. We flew into Arizona and then drove around. We didn’t have a fixed itinerary except for the arriving and returning flights. Every night, we would figure out the the place to go for the next day. This also involves finding a hotel for the next night.
Over the course of about two weeks, we stayed at more than 10 hotels of different brands: Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Holiday Inn, La Quinta, Best Western, and Hampton Inn. They were really a hit-or-miss. A Comfort Inn in one town was good but the Comfort Inn in the next town was really bad. We looked up reviews on Trip Advisor before we booked. Even that didn’t help.
Saver’s Credit Plays Hard to Get
Are you a saver? I bet you are. Did you know there’s a tax credit called Saver’s Credit that reduces your federal income tax if you save for retirement in an employer sponsored retirement plan (401k, 403b, etc.) or in an IRA? If you knew, did you ever receive it? I bet you didn’t.
I mentioned Saver’s Credit in one of my Friday roundups. I said it’s one of the most elusive tax credits.
I call it the "feel-good credit" because Congress created it to make itself feel good about helping low-income people save when in reality very few get it. When they get it, they get far less than what the credit first appears to offer.
Friday Reading: Credit Unions Are Not The Solution
Related to what I wrote about prepaid debit cards for the unbanked and underbanked, I read this discussion on The Atlantic about whether credit unions can replace payday lenders:
Round 2 on Predatory Lending: What Are Credit Unions Good For?
The author is skeptical. So am I.
Experiment: Buying On A Dip
I said in a previous post in December that I would do a small experiment on my IRA contribution for 2012. See Lump Sum, Dollar Cost Average, Or Wait for Dip? Instead of contributing $5,000 at the first opportunity (January 3 this year because January 2 was a holiday), I would wait for a small dip because prices almost always go down during the year.
Being chicken little, I didn’t want to wait too long. So I set my limit at 2%. I took a note of the closing price that I would’ve got had I done what I always did in previous years: go all-in on day one. I set an alert based on that closing price minus 2%. If I could get in at a price 2% lower than I otherwise would have, I would be satisfied and call it a day.
Who Use Prepaid Debit Cards
Suze Orman got into some hot water for her exchanges with bloggers on Twitter. Suze Orman launched a prepaid debit card. Bloggers correctly pointed out it’s not good. Suze defended herself by calling a blogger idiot. She later had to apologize. If you haven’t heard abut this saga, you can get a recap from A Sorry Suze Roundup at JoeTaxpayer.
I think bloggers are too worried about the success of Suze Orman’s The Approved Card. If Suze markets this card to the mainstream, who have access to free debit cards from their bank accounts, she won’t be successful. People are not that gullible. Well if people are, that’s a different problem.
Of course Suze Orman’s prepaid debit card isn’t a good product for most people. It’s too obvious a prepaid debit card doesn’t come close to what you get from a bank account. Some may use it occasionally for gifting but that’s about it. People are not going to replace their bank accounts with Suze Orman’s The Approved Card no matter how hard she pushes it.
How To Report Backdoor Roth In TurboTax
I did a Backdoor Roth in 2011. This involves contributing to a non-deductible traditional IRA and immediately converting it to a Roth IRA. I received a 1099-R from the mutual fund company. Now I need to report this in the tax software.
If you did the Backdoor Roth for the first time in 2011, you may also be wondering how to enter it in your tax software. Although I use the software H&R Block At Home myself, I know most people still use TurboTax. It will probably be more helpful if I show you how to enter it in TurboTax.
The screenshots below are from TurboTax Online. If you use TurboTax installed on your computer, the screens may be similar.
Friday Reading: Happy to Be An Introvert
This first article is off-topic. A family member emailed me a link to this article and said "that’s you." I read it and I replied back "You are right. That’s me."
10 Myths About Introverts from CarlKingdom
In this world where extroverts get more attention, I’m happy to be an introvert. It’s amazing they have me work with salespeople and those salespeople tell me they love me to death. Go figure. It’s either opposites attract or they just love everyone or say they love everyone. Now I have to get that book the article talked about and read what it says.
Why Others Seem to Have More Money Than You Do
Have you ever wondered why so many others seem to have more money than you do?
Over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays I took some time off for a vacation in Arizona. We went to Sedona, AZ, which is famous for red rocks canyons. We saw ads for helicopter rides in tourist brochures. “That sounds nice.” But at $200 per person, we thought it was too expensive.
As we walked down the canyons, we heard helicopters and other small planes buzzing overhead all day long. Enough number of others must have more money than we do.
Prior to arriving at Sedona, we looked for hotels. We narrowed down our choices to two hotels, one at $85 a night, the other at $120 a night. Not sure whether the more expensive one would be any better, we booked the $85 one.
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