March 7, 2013
It's tax time again, and again, you need to decide who will prepare your taxes. This isn't a decision to take lightly as the wrong choice can easily cost you thousands of dollars.
Ted’s Blog
Timely updates and reminders on personal money management. Seeing to it that you always have the up-to-the-minute information you need to win the game.
February 20, 2013
Although cars are both necessities and often a pleasure to have, they consume a pretty amazing percent of our hard-earned money every year. The truth is that your approach to cars alone can truly alter your finances. So how do you win when it comes to car buying? Here are some steps to take that can make a huge difference:
February 1, 2013
With the stock markets moving up I felt it would be a good idea to restate my position that stocks continue to pose too great a risk to be a smart investment. I still advise that people stay out of stocks and any funds containing them. The same goes for mid- and long-term bonds and funds relying on them.
December 11, 2012
As you may know, one of my rules for investing successfully is “If it’s too good to be true, then it’s not true.” When it comes to investing that rule always holds true. To my surprise, however, I just found a pretty amazing exception to “too good to be true” when it comes to spending your money.
I’m taking about the game of super-couponing. The game is a lot more than just clipping some coupons, and those that play really love it.
So how much can be saved with super-couponing?
I have a niece on the East Coast that spends about 3 hours per week at it, which is the norm for those that play the game to its fullest. Last year she sent me a detailed spreadsheet listing all of her purchases for the year. It totaled a retail cost of over $10,000 in food, drinks, shampoos, cleaning supplies, drugs and so on for her family of 4. For all of this she paid only $218! Several weeks ago she sent me her 2012 year-to-date spreadsheet. The retail cost for the items she has purchased is $9760, but her cost was negative $9! She got it all for free, and that’s super-couponing at work.
On my radio show recently, I introduced everyone to super-couponing with the help of a terrific national expert,Cindy Livesey of Living Rich with Coupons. You can listen to the podcast (the November 27th show) on my website.
What you’ll learn is that the game involves combining multiple discounts from the retailers and manufacturers so that you end up paying little to nothing. The work is in clipping and organizing coupons and tracking the deals. You’ll also learn that there are loads of terrific websites that do most of the work for you, laying out the discount combinations to go with. Some of these sites specialize in certain chains such as Wal-Mart, Rite Aid or Safeway. Others cover most of the large stores or chains in a given state or metro area. There are many online resources with tips on how to get started, keep it organized and keep it simple.
Think about what $5,000-10,000 a year means to you. Apply these savings to eliminating your credit card debt or take a great vacation. How about a guaranteed great retirement or perhaps financial freedom even sooner than that? $5,000-$10,000 a year added to a tax deferred account becomes $7,500-$15,000. Invested at a 6% return, that is $283,000-$566,000 in 20 years, $609,000-$1,200,000 in 30!
So what are you waiting for? Go check out super-couponing!
November 16, 2012
If you're one of the majority of Americans that are don’t see how to make it to, let alone through, retirement, there are a number of things you can do to change the equation. Here are 10 powerful steps to consider:
November 2, 2012
For decades now, the overriding message from the Financial Services Industry, from Wall Street to your friendly local financial advisor, has been that you need to "put your money in the stock market and always invest for the long run." Well, the economic times we’re in combined with a stock market that’s gone nowhere for the past decade have forced that message to change. They have no choice. Its become apparent to the average investor that the stock market has been and still is a bad bet. As a result, the Financial Services Industry realized that if they didn’t change their sales pitch, they'd end up with less of your money in their pockets. Is the change a good thing? Does it mean they are now investing smarter and selling safer products?