Earlier this month, I wrote a detailed article about the Tax Breaks for Higher Education Expenses over at FiLife (a joint venture between The Wall Street Journal and IAC).
Did you know that the Hope credit, once limited to the first two years of college expenses, is now significantly more widely available? Less important, but still [...]

Continue reading about Are you (still) paying for college education? Share the pain with your uncle

Much has been written about the deceiving practices of credit card issuers and our government’s newfound desire to closely regulate them. make it harder for them to continue.  In my opinion, some banks and bankers (like some politicians) are bad, greedy, and in need of some adult supervision. Most, however, play reasonably fairly, especially when [...]

Continue reading about Top Five Lies We Tell Ourselves About Using Credit Card Usage

Michael on May 26th, 2009
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My wife and I took a “staycation” this weekend.  I’ll admit we didn’t plan it that way.  We had a busy Saturday planned but aside from a brief visit by family Sunday, little else scheduled for the weekend.
But sometimes you really can enjoy the place you live.
The weather in New Hampshire was stunning all weekend [...]

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Michael on May 22nd, 2009
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It’s Friday, so it’s time for this week’s reader-submitted Q & A. If you’d like to submit a question, click here for more information or simply email a question. The questions about the first time home buyer tax credit keep coming so this week we’re including two on the topic.  If you have your [...]

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Michael on May 20th, 2009
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I recently wrote More Than the 10% Penalty – The Dangers of Early Retirement Account Withdrawals for FiLife, a joint venture between The Wall Street Journal and IAC.  The dangers are real, starting with taxes, ending with lost growth and a bunch of other financial pain in between. Before you ask for that distribution check [...]

Continue reading about Five dangers of tapping your retirement money early

Michael on May 19th, 2009
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I recently began working with LifeTuner a financial education web site run by folks at an international non-profit who simply “get it.”  Earlier this month, LifeTuner left private beta and is now open to everyone.  Put visiting LifeTuner atop your to-do list.
What you’ll see should you visit is that LifeTuner is hosting a live chat [...]

Continue reading about Chat with me live June 10 at Lifetuner

One of the best parts of the weekly personal finance carnivals, including this week’s carnival hosted by WiseBread, it the wide variety of personal finance topics covered.  In addition, I always take the time to enjoy an article or two that I’ve been meaning to write myself but just haven’t gotten to.  This week was [...]

Continue reading about What do extra loan payments, toilet paper, and Monopoly have in common?

Michael on May 15th, 2009
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A recent Time magazine cover story, Thrift Nation, demonstrates “The New Frugality” of Americans.  Nearly everyone will recognize someone familiar, be it an ER doctor, a blackjack dealer, an autoworker, restaurant owner, or the unemployed; each is profiled in this thought-provoking piece that attempts to demonstrate how truly broad the impact is of our current [...]

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Michael on May 13th, 2009
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This is a guest post from the blogger behind Studenomics a personal finance blog that offers common sense advice for college students and recent graduates. Studenomics is the ultimate resource for young people looking for advice on how to survive this current recession, grow their careers, manage their
finances, and still be able to enjoy the [...]

Continue reading about Summer of George: Learn a New Language

Michael on May 11th, 2009
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Besides this blog, where else do you go for financial information?   If you visit other financial blogs, which ones?  For non-blog sites, where do you go?  Do you stick with those that have been around for many years, like Yahoo! and MSN Money?  Do you choose those that you knew first from their off-line existence, [...]

Continue reading about What are your favorite financial web sites?