Moneysmartz Personal Finance Guide and Blog http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/ Moneysmartz helps individuals easily navigate through the chaos and clutter of the Web to the information and advice they need to make smarter financial decisions. en Copyright 2008 personal+finance money Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:32:59 -0600 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.21-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Saving Your Tax Rebate The Moneysherpa Pages: 2008 Tax RebateA recent CNN/Opinion Research poll of American taxpayers found that 32% of respondents will save their tax rebate, 41% will use the windfall to pay bills, 3% will contribute the money to charity, and only 21% of those polled plan to spend the money.

Checks should range from $300 to $1,200 and even more if you have kids under age 17. For the full details of the tax rebate, visit the Kiplinger Tax Rebate page.

Whether you plan to spend or save, consider the value of a $1,000 investment today, earning 8% annually over 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years. Your $1,000 investment would be worth $2,200, $4,927, $10,936, $24,273, and $53,878 respectively.

Looking at how the numbers grow, it is easy to understand how saving early and often makes sense and is perhaps the only sure route to building a sufficient nest egg for your golden years.]]> http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2008/04/saving_your_tax_rebate.php http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2008/04/saving_your_tax_rebate.php Investing Net Worth The Moneysherpa Pages Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:32:59 -0600 Tracking Your Financial Goals The Moneysherpa PagesTracking Your Financial GoalsDuring the holiday season, the gap between Christmas and the New Year is usually a good time for quiet reflection and planning, allowing us to step back from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and take in the big picture.

If you are in the mood for a financial assessment, then the December issue of Money Magazine offers tools and advice for tracking your financial goals and comparing where you stand to your peers.

For extra motivation to get you started, see how your net worth stacks up with others. Results are by age and income, with the median net worth for youngsters around $400 and for seniors around $175,000.

Additional tools and advice include:

How to Be a Millionaire

How to Own Your Dream Home

How to Afford an Expensive College for Your Children

How to Retire Early

How to Launch Your Own Business

If you don't start now, then it may be another year before you catch your breath and have a chance to plan again.

]]> http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/12/tracking_your_financial_goals_1.php http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/12/tracking_your_financial_goals_1.php Moneysmartz Editor Net Worth The Moneysherpa Pages Fri, 29 Dec 2006 13:03:08 -0600 How Are You Doing Financially? The Moneysherpa PagesFinancial Fitness TestWith almost 9 million millionaire households in the United States and a steady stream of net worth lists including the Forbes 400 Richest Americans, we are constantly reminded where we stand in the financial pecking order.

If you are interested in seeing how your are doing, not only your net worth, but in all aspects of financial planning, like college savings, asset protection, retirement planning, and budgeting, then the December 2006 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine offers a financial fitness test to compare where you are.

The test will show you where you stand compared to others taking the test including a small group of Kiplinger's readers. Tips for staying and getting ahead will help you improve your long-term financial health.

Not surprisingly, the test shows that the meaning of millionaire is changing, with the majority of respondents saying they need to be at least a millionaire to meet their long-term financial objectives.

]]> http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/how_are_you_doing_financially_1.php http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/how_are_you_doing_financially_1.php Moneysmartz Editor Net Worth The Moneysherpa Pages Mon, 20 Nov 2006 09:16:28 -0600 Net Worth IQ New and Notable Personal Finance SitesNet Worth IQSite Name: Net Worth IQ
Description: The foundation of a solid financial plan usually begins with an understanding of where you are. Net Worth IQ offers tools to help you track, share, and compare your net worth. Net Worth IQ calls their site a social personal finance tool. Another way of saying you can post your public profile, link to your blog, and compare your performance by category.
Features: The foundation of Net Worth IQ is a simple to use net worth profile consisting of basic asset and liability information. Once this process is completed, you can generate code, through a Net Worth IQ Badge, allowing you to display your net worth on your blog. Since many personal finance blogs are anonymous, the badge option makes it easy to show the world your financial progress. If you are not into Web 2.0 social networking, then you can choose a private profile for your eyes only.
Bottom Line: If you already use tools like Quicken or Microsoft Money, then Net Worth IQ may be overkill. However, for the rest of us, Net Worth IQ is easy to use and a painless starting point in the financial planning process. For the hyper-competitive, the comparison tools offer a way to compare your financial position across a wide-array of categories, including age, income, and profession.

]]> http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/09/net_worth_iq.php http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/09/net_worth_iq.php Financial Planning Net Worth New and Notable Mon, 25 Sep 2006 09:28:45 -0600 Personal Finance Bloggers' Net Worth Index (BNWI): February 2006 Moneysmartz Directory UpdatesThe Bloggers' Net Worth Index (BNWI), sponsored by the Moneysmartz Personal Finance Blog, produces monthly data on changes in the net worth of personal financial bloggers.

The February BNWI increased 3.4 percent, comparing favorably with the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and S&P stock indices.

Personal finance bloggers of note include Done Dirt Cheap , with a 39.8 percent increase over January and Samerwriter , with the largest dollar increase of $28,752 and largest reported net worth of $613,210.

For the full year, the BNWI increased 7.6 percent, handily beating the major stock indices.

Personal finance bloggers of note include Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge , with a 221 percent increase over December and Samerwriter , with the largest dollar increase of $60,996.

Selection criteria for the BNWI includes financially oriented blog content, recent posting activity, and self-reported net worth.

February additions to the BNWI include Jack's Cash, My Financial Journey, Samewriter, Fire…by 2018, Moomin Valley, The Financial Ladder, Financial Freedumb, and Make Love, Not Debt.

Personal financial bloggers interested in the BNWI program should send an email to the Moneysmartz Editor.

]]> http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/03/personal_financ_2.php http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/03/personal_financ_2.php Net Worth Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:32:03 -0600 Personal Finance Bloggers' Net Worth Index (BNWI) Moneysmartz Directory UpdatesThe Bloggers' Net Worth Index (BNWI), sponsored by the Moneysmartz Personal Finance Blog, produces monthly data on changes in the net worth of personal financial bloggers.

The January BNWI increased 4.7 percent, comparing favorably with the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and S&P stock indices.

Personal finance bloggers of note include Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge , with a 208 percent increase over December; NYC Money, with the largest reported net worth of $743,636; and Seattle Simplicity , with the largest dollar increase of $38,701.

Fueled by easy-to-use blogging tools and online net worth tracking tools such as Net Worth IQ, the popularity of individual personal financial blogging continues to grow.

Selection criteria for the BNWI includes financially oriented blog content, recent posting activity, and self-reported net worth.

Personal financial bloggers interested in the BNWI program should send an email to the Moneysmartz Editor.

]]> http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/02/personal_finance_bloggers_net_worth_inde.php http://www.moneysmartz.com/weblog/archives/2006/02/personal_finance_bloggers_net_worth_inde.php Net Worth Sun, 12 Feb 2006 03:22:42 -0600