My Money Blog

Energy Savings: Investing In Energy Efficient Devices vs. Cutting Back

Posted on September 29, 2010 // 12 Comments

Environment Magazine has an detailed article about how the average household can conserve energy and thus reduce carbon emissions. An integral part of the discussion is about increasing efficiency (investing in equipment that lowers energy costs … [Read the rest]

AT&T Wireless Class Action Settlement

Posted on September 29, 2010 // 2 Comments

I received a notice about a class action settlement for AT&T Wireless Customers after March 1, 1999. This is the AT&T Wireless was that was merged out of existence in 2004, before it became Cingular Wireless and then "Wireless from AT&T". To … [Read the rest]

ChoiceTrade: Free Options Trades During Expiration Week

Posted on September 28, 2010 // Leave a Comment

Online broker ChoiceTrade recently announced that they are now offering equity and ETF options trades for zero commission during options expiration week. Expiration week is the week ending with expiration Friday -- the week before the third Saturday … [Read the rest]

Blink: Don’t Think Without Thinking When It’s About Money

Posted on September 28, 2010 // 1 Comment

Thanks to the discovery of free eBook rentals at the library, I finally read Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell over the weekend. It's a short book and an easy read, which probably helped create its great … [Read the rest]

Variable Annuity Fee Breakdown

Posted on September 27, 2010 // 8 Comments

Variable annuities (VAs) are deferred annuities that allow you to hold stocks and bonds inside their annuity wrapper. Since the investments are allowed to grow in a tax-deferred manner, it's often marketed as "like a Roth IRA". In reality, they … [Read the rest]

Chase Commuter Cash – New York Metro & California San Francisco Bay Area

Posted on September 24, 2010 // 6 Comments

Chase Bank has some potentially helpful offers for users of public transportation and taxi cabs in New York City and the California San Francisco Bay Area - a potential savings of 7-10% cash back, up to $50 total. You must enroll your Chase debit … [Read the rest]

Bank of America Small Business Checking $200 Bonus

Posted on September 24, 2010 // 2 Comments

I logged out of my Bank of America business account and saw this $200 bonus for new business customers with relatively achievable requirements. (New means you don't have an existing business account, and must have closed your old account at least … [Read the rest]

Take Comfort in Rituals – Starbucks Propaganda

Posted on September 23, 2010 // 20 Comments

If you've walked by your neighborhood Starbucks recently, you may have noticed this new sign on the door: I guess I was cranky - coffee withdrawal? - but I immediately blurted out: "Translation: Even though you probably can't afford it … [Read the rest]

How Do You Spend Your Day? And Why College Is Expensive

Posted on September 22, 2010 // 10 Comments

Here's an interactive chart from the NY Times of how various groups of people spend their time over the course of a day. Like many of you, I have fond memories of college. Here's one reason why; The pie chart below shows the average … [Read the rest]

Missing the Best & Worst Days of the S&P 500

Posted on September 20, 2010 // 27 Comments

(Click to enlarge.) Using the SPDR S&P 500 ETF to represent the S&P 500 stock market since the ETF inception in 1993, the chart above shows the effect of: Blue: Holding the entire time. "Buy & Hold" Red: Missing the 10 best days … [Read the rest]

Behind The Scenes: No Transaction Fee (NTF) Fund Supermarkets

Posted on September 20, 2010 // 3 Comments

After the Bogle/Hennessy squabble (here's the latest), I've been digging for more details about mutual fund "supermarkets" where you can buy funds from various managers all with no transaction fee (NTF)... but at a cost. Charles Schwab introduced … [Read the rest]

Mutual Fund Supermarkets Charge 40 Basis Points?

Posted on September 16, 2010 // 13 Comments

In a recent Wall Street Journal Op-Ed article by Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, he reaffirmed studies like the one from Morningstar showing that one of the strongest predictors of mutual fund performance is how low their annual expense ratios are. … [Read the rest]