Thomas

Variable Annuities: Friend or Foe?

Posted on by Thomas

Arguably, no investing product receives more bad press than variable annuities. Many individuals have horror stories to share about unscrupulous brokers who pushed them into complex annuity plans without adequately explaining fee structures and provisions. Some individuals may have thought they were getting an IRA and instead ended up in an annuity. In this article, I will explain the facts related variable annuities and give you some information to help you decide if variable annuities are right for you.

Kevin

Stepping it up with CDs

Posted on by Kevin

Certificates of Deposit are not for everyone but if you live long enough you will probably be considering them at some point. If you are going to invest with what banks currently call CDs then you should be smart about it. Using a technique called "laddering" or "stepping" you can improve your liquidity and maximize your returns over the long run by protecting yourself from downturns in market interest rates.

Dan

A Buck, A Yen, A Mark or A Pound

Posted on by Dan

Devaluation of currency is not uncommon in other countries, but so far has been moderate in the U.S (in part because the dollar is the world’s currency). I recently discussed this in an article titled Speculating on the Future of the Dollar. But given our massive debt, budget deficit and trade deficit, a significant drop of the dollar against other world currencies (and corresponding increase in inflation as all types of imports become more expensive) becomes a possibility.

How can you protect your portfolio from a significant slide in the dollar?

Dan

The End of Retirement

Posted on by Dan

The best way to learn is to teach – or so they say. I believe it, which is why I’m delighted to join InvesterGeeks as a contributer. While it could hardly make me geekier (as a long time software developer, my geek credentials are as solid as they come), I do hope to become a better investor as I share what I’ve learned (and am learning) here as well as my home site www.ThinkingAboutMoney.com.

And now, for my first tale….

Once upon a time, people would work for 40 years or so then retire. But nowadays for many there will be no happily ever afters. For those of you who have not or are not saving enough, there are other options which I’ll get to later.

Chris

TD Ameritrade Has Most Mutual Funds Available

Posted on by Chris

I was recently disappointed because I couldn’t purchase the Mairs & Power Growth Fund (MPGFX) or Artisan International Fund (ARTIX) through my T. Rowe Price Roth IRA. After doing some sleuthing on Morningstar I discovered I could purchase both of these funds through TD Ameritrade, from whom I have a standard brokerage account.

I was ready to transfer all my assets over from TRP to TD Ameritrade and it turned out that transferring a Roth IRA was extremely bothersome. So instead of jumping into anything I thought I had better check to see if there was another discount broker that offered more funds, because I didn’t want to have to do this again. I spent some time at it, and put together a screen using the Morningstar Premium Fund Screener (more info) that would show the number of funds each major discount broker had available, and which funds were covered by all of them. The results were fascinating.

Chris

How Much Should You Spend on a Home?

Posted on by Chris

In my previous article, Misconception: Renting is for Suckers, I wrote that there comes a point when it makes more sense to rent an apartment than buy a home. For myself, I have a rule of thumb that for every $1 dollars I spend in rent a month I can afford to buy up to $125 in property. Right now I pay $1000 in rent, so using my rule I shouldn’t spend more than $125,000 on a home. This created a surprising amount of controversy; some exclaiming me a heretic, and some accusing me of house-hating. For those of you who wanted to know where that number came from, wait no longer — and I’ve put together a calculator for you to figure out how much you should spend on a home.

Chris

Misconception: Renting is for Suckers

Posted on by Chris

You’ve heard all the reasons that people want to stop renting. “I don’t want to waste my money.” Heck, you may have even said them yourself. Many of my friends are reaching that point in their lives where they’re considering buying a home. However it’s unfortunate that so many choose to buy over rent, especially in this expensive market, because many well-intentioned people are buying homes that are actually damaging their finances.

Despite the fact that many people disagree with me that the real estate market is going to deflate, there is a rule of thumb that I use that should give you an idea about how much you should spend on a home no matter what the market looks like.

Frank

Credit Cards: A new bag of tricks…

Posted on by Frank

Today I got an offer for a new Visa credit card. Now, most credit cards offer you incentives for signing up, a low introductory APR, low interest rate balance transfers, gift cards, and the like. But this offer was different, by signing up for this card. I could get a free Dell laptop.

Jason

Optimal Strategy for State Lotteries

Posted on by Jason

Investing can be tough some times. Wouldn’t it be great if you just won the lottery? Man, that would set you for life. Seriously.

Now, we’re not suggesting you run to the closest mini-mart with your life savings. The odds of winning the Big Game (a multi-state lottery open to adults in Massachusetts, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia) are roughly 70 Million to 1. That is only slightly better than your chances of making money going long on Overstock.com. However, there are some reasons to play. And if you are going to play, there are some strategies to follow. Read on for more.