The Finance Buff

Carnival of Personal Finance #120 is up at My Retirement Blog. My favorite blogger Shadox at Money and Such won the Editor’s Choice with his article Rent is Not Waste which I commented on and totally agree with. Congratulations Shadox!

My entry in this week’s carnival was Cascading Asset Allocation Method. I posted a follow-up today about Investments I Don’t Have. There will be another follow-up on Wednesday about rebalancing.

This week’s carnival didn’t have as many articles as before. Perhaps the host exercised some editorial judgement. Here are a few articles I’d like to comment on.

There Are no Needs for an Emergency Fund at The Financial Blogger. The author said a (home equity?) line of credit can serve as an emergency fund. Yes, it can but only homeowners can have a HELOC. If you don’t own a home, tough luck. Personal line of credit is pretty expensive. It’s like saying your credit cards are your emergency funds. Also, depending on the amount of home equity you have, the line may not be enough.

It’s Hard to Eat Your House at Boulevard to Retirement. I know many house-rich, cash-poor people. You have no idea they are millionaires.

How much should you contribute to a Flexible Spending Account? at Chief Family Officer. This is very timely. Open enrollment is coming up in October or November. I’ve always been way too conservative in my estimates. I’m thinking of doubling my contributions for next year.

Home Mortgage Tax Deduction Snake Oil: Housing Myths Part 7 at Home Finance Freedom. Buy a house if you want to live in one, not because it’s an investment, not because you get a tax deduction (not as much as most people think).