sense rules

Economies develop and move forward under almost any conditions. Mankind can adapt, survive and even make a living in the totalitarian economies of Chavez and Castro to the laissez-faire, free market economies of Canada and Hong Kong. In a manner of speaking, free market is alive and well wherever people live. Sometimes it is a [...]

Prior to 2010, individuals were permitted to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA under the tax law for Roth IRA conversion.  There were only two stipulations that governs the conversion: (1) you have to pay taxes on the converted money and (2) you must be within the income limit which determined your eligibility [...]

Just like a runner must run, I believe those who are financially fit must budget. Your budget might look different than another person’s budget.  Someone might have a complex computer system and another might use a simple pen and paper system.  But, to thrive financially you must have a sense of what you want to [...]

If you’re responsible for dealing with your own taxes, it can be beneficial to hire an accountant to make sure that you’re deducting everything that you’re entitled to. In most cases, whether you need to use a tax professional depends on your situation. If you are a regular employee who fills in W-2 forms and [...]

Many of us were not taught the importance of personal money management when we were young. We did not learn to save, invest, allocate, or how to make our money work for us. Many of us are in debt, have no idea how we got here and do not know how to start digging ourselves [...]

With the recent stock market crash, many people are understandably wary about investing. Concerns about the volatility of the stock market, and the prospect of losses during downturn, have convinced many that stock investing is not for them. However, “safer” investments like cash and bonds may not provide the needed returns for your portfolio to [...]

In this Ask The Expert With Larry Swedroe article, Glblguy from Gather Little By Little asked Larry how he can identify the best individual stocks to invest in. Here’s the question from Glblguy:
When deciding to purchase individual stocks, what process do you go through to determine if the stock is a good buy or not?
Answer [...]

Last night, I switched Moolanomy over from the custom theme I wrote to a magazine-style theme based on Mimbo by Darren Hoyt. The most significant changes occur on the front page where you’ll now see magazine layout with Lead Story and Featured section. You can also see most recent articles with a quick glance (in [...]

It’s hard to believe that I have been blogging about personal finance for one full year. Overall, I have to say that it’s a success in many ways. Specifically, I was able to meet the three goals I had set for myself at the beginning:

To learn more about financial concepts and improve my finances
To supplement [...]

My family is going on a vacation for a few days. We’re going as far south as Virginia Beach on this trip and I look forward to see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and neighboring area. I will be resuming my normal schedule by July 14th. I wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July [...]