tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987Sat, 14 Sep 2024 06:26:24 +0000taxescredit cardsroth irastock holdingscarnival of personal financemutual fundspersonal rate of returnpromosretirementsavingstraditional iratravel rewardsbuy and holdcalculationsfidelityindex fundsinvesting strategieslife insurancenet worthannuitiesbasicsdollar cost averagingetfexpected returnsfundamental indexingmindsetmorningstarmotley foolprivacyshoppingstock awardsstock quotestarget date fundstotal returnsa personally written blog about personal financehttp://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (David Gong)Blogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-5353740006313166955Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:19:00 +00002007-08-03T22:53:58.447-05:00calculationsretirementroth irataxesI'm trying to do some forecasting (related to job search activity) and came across an AWESOME financial site -- MoneyChimp.Here are some quick and easy calculators I recommend from the site:Roth IRA contribution limitsRoth IRA retirement calculatorCompound interest calculatorFederal tax bracketsI definitely recommend clicking around the site to learn more. Pretty cool. (Caveat -- I just hope http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/08/friday-night-at-fights.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6580974366662393556Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:42:00 +00002007-07-16T20:53:00.132-05:00credit cardspromosI received a solicitation letter from First National Bank Omaha today. The offer was 1.99% APR on balance transfers in the first three billing cycles, for life.Almost immediately, I thought about doing some more arbitrage. Meaning, I envisioned getting a high credit limit on this card, getting that amount transferred to another card, withdrawing the credit balance, and then investing that money http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/07/arbitrage-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-2810365061218841829Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:53:00 +00002007-07-15T18:56:07.241-05:00shoppingVery interesting article on the best days to make certain purchases. Honestly, I'm not sure how accurate this, given that the suggestion is to buy clothes on Thursdays, before retailers stock their shelves for the weekend. Last I heard from my friends in the fashion and retail businesses, seasonal collections stay out for more than a week, so shopping every Thursday seems unnecessary.http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/07/when-to-buy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-7377993204832534264Sat, 14 Jul 2007 17:55:00 +00002007-07-14T13:04:57.622-05:00buy and holdinvesting strategiesnet worthpersonal rate of returnsavingsstock holdingsWhen I first started reading about personal finance as a young pup (aka fresh out of college), one of the things that seemed to echo throughout was the importance of saving. Sure, investment gains are great, but a big key to growing wealth was to save.Circumstances (low income, student loans, bad spending habits) prevented me from saving much in the first half of my post-college life, but since (http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/07/steady-she-goes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-2869821336996263978Sat, 14 Jul 2007 17:50:00 +00002007-07-14T13:05:30.873-05:00personal rate of returnstock holdingsIt's been a long hiatus, with some soul-searching in between, but for now, I'm back. Here's an update (primarily because I'm feeling so good about how things have been turning out):Not counting my mutual fund holdings, which totals a number of contributions since the start of the year, below is a table that shows my stocks and ETFs, with performance from when I purchased them this year.http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/07/back-kinda.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6442900716457467820Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:22:00 +00002007-02-20T23:29:46.211-05:00Flipping through the current issue of Money magazine. The focus is on Baby Boomers, and to reinforce some of the attributes of that generation, there's a feature story on how to look younger.There's stuff about hair transplants, teeth whitening, Botox, etc. What caught my eye was the part about fat and, particularly, abdominal etching. I had never heard of this but there's now a procedure where ahttp://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/washboard-abs-is-only-call-away.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-4755606048128542350Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:09:00 +00002007-02-19T20:17:51.314-05:00promosThis past Friday, I went up to Boston to meet a client for dinner and a show (he's a comedian and part of an improv group). I got up there in mid-afternoon, and after checking in, called down to the hotel's concierge to arrange for a cab.When I went downstairs at the pre-arranged time to meet my cab, no one was there. I asked the concierge if the cab had been confirmed and while she said it was, http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/speak-up-get-free-hotel-night-or.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-637081085872238791Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:57:00 +00002007-02-19T20:05:46.895-05:00taxesTis the season to do your taxes, or find an accountant. Thanks to two moves last year, working in three different states and pure joy at the thought of having a professional wade through the mess that is our tax code, I'll be going the latter route.Whether you're hiring someone or doing it yourself, here is a list of deductions to remember (courtesy of the March issue of Money):Phone tax credit: http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/obligatory-post-on-tax-deductions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-3787550751571614258Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:35:00 +00002007-02-19T10:42:30.536-05:00carnival of personal financeHappy Chinese New Year!The latest Carnival of Personal Finance is hosted by Stock Market Beat.Some cool articles include another on credit card arbitrage and a warning on the perils of penny stocks. My own how to guide on opening an IRA is also listed.http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/chinese-new-year-brings-new-carnival.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-9091440495880266590Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:05:00 +00002007-02-15T10:12:07.237-05:00stock holdingsCame in to work today and when I saw my stock ticker, I almost had a heart attack. Baidu had dropped 10%. I looked up news of the company, fearing that the world was falling apart (at least in China).Appropriately enough, the headline of the first article I read said something along the lines of "Baidu collapses." I read further, and found out that Baidu reported soaring profits. In fact, the http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/bai-boo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6755302552002260701Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:25:00 +00002007-02-14T10:27:47.324-05:00index fundsmutual fundsJLP over at AllFinancialMatters has posted some great information on how not all index funds are equal. This is a good read because everyone, myself included, usually assumes that throwing your money into an index fund makes the most sense. The research shows that you need to be mindful of the expense ratios because even among mutual funds that are supposed to easy/passive, some are more http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/index-funds-are-not-same.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-549060476504588310Wed, 14 Feb 2007 02:40:00 +00002007-02-13T22:05:40.125-05:00fidelityroth iratraditional iraTo facilitate the recharacterization of my Roth IRA contribution from last year, I had to open up a traditional IRA at Fidelity. Even though I had four separate accounts with Fidelity at that time, I actually never went through their online account opening process. I was surprised and pleased just how easy it was (disclaimer: I'm not getting paid for this endorsement, though I wouldn't mind ).Thehttp://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/step-by-step-guide-to-opening-fidelity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-4598557153644525688Mon, 12 Feb 2007 15:10:00 +00002007-02-12T09:57:59.530-05:00roth iraI had mentioned this earlier, but here's a great write-up in Fidelity's Investor Weekly newsletter about putting money into a non-deductible traditional IRA, and then converting that into a Roth in 2010. This is great for people who find themselves currently unqualified for a Roth.http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/prepare-for-roth-iras-in-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6385697881929234028Mon, 12 Feb 2007 14:52:00 +00002007-02-10T03:12:29.566-05:00carnival of personal financetaxesThe latest Carnival of Personal Finance is up at 2 million's blog. There are a couple of good tax-related posts ('tis the season), including one on overlooked deductions and relief of tax headaches. My post about going over my IRA limit was also included, though buried deep down. =)Definitely check it out !http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/carnival-of-personal-finance-87-is-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6853846050692653024Fri, 09 Feb 2007 17:45:00 +00002007-02-08T16:19:59.779-05:00taxesThanks to my friend's recommendation, I went to see an accountant today for help on my 2006 taxes. Man, was the wait long. It was actually the second time I went to see the guy, but the first time was around lunch time, and there really was no hope to get in within a reasonable time period.Today, I thought I'd be smart and get there by 10. I was smart, as it only took an hour before I got in http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/good-tax-help-hard-to-find.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-7462258288959991184Thu, 08 Feb 2007 21:16:00 +00002007-02-08T09:22:37.573-05:00roth irataxestraditional iraDue to my need to recharacterize my 2006 Roth IRA, I had sent Fidelity an email asking how to go about that. Below is their response:Yes, you can recharacterize the $4,000 Roth IRA contribution to a non-deductible Traditional IRA.There are no tax implications for recharacterizing to a Traditional IRA before April 17, 2007. With a recharacterization, Fidelity would transfer your 2006 Roth IRA http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/recharacterizing-my-roth-ira.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6423012525793302355Thu, 08 Feb 2007 01:23:00 +00002007-02-07T20:27:53.182-05:00annuitiesThanks to a post by AllFinancialMatters, I was reminded of an article I read recently about annuities. The article came in handy, as it helped me resist falling into the tangled web a financial advisor was weaving to bring me into his lair.Anyway, the gist of the article, by Kiplinger, is that annuities are a rip off. Given that some of my friends are/have been/will be talking to the same advisorhttp://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/annuities-bad.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-6083565791234653662Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:10:00 +00002007-02-07T17:12:43.543-05:00taxesWho wants to have their tax returns audited? I do!Just kidding.Anyway, a nice article on CNN Money about tax audit red flags.On an side note, it's getting really depressing to know that I've exceeded the income threshold that'll increase the odds of my getting audited -- depressing because I didn't even really make that much in 2006. Stupid relocation costs! =Phttp://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/five-things-to-get-audited-on-your.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-4262161637838884119Wed, 07 Feb 2007 02:01:00 +00002007-02-06T21:25:11.089-05:00retirementroth iraThanks to two relocations in 2006, as well as a signing bonus, a merit bonus, a raise and a salary adjustment, I was in for a shocker when I received my W-2 a week and a half ago.Since I'm single (woe), my ability to contribute the full amount allowed ($4k) for a Roth IRA begins to phase out when my "modified adjusted gross income" reaches $95k. Don't ask me what modified adjusted means, but the http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/over-my-roth-ira-income-limit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-4510905383021773473Tue, 06 Feb 2007 21:25:00 +00002007-02-06T16:28:41.161-05:00mutual fundsretirementtraditional iraHere are a couple of links worth reading:The first is a quick recap of the traditional IRA. This has come up with me recently because, due to two relocations in 2006 being imputed to me as income, I realized I was disqualified from making a Roth IRA contribution (which I already did). Hopefully, recharacterization would be too much of a hassle.The second is a write-up on life cycle funds. Many ofhttp://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/retirement-on-my-mind.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-5276585781221869498Mon, 05 Feb 2007 22:27:00 +00002007-02-05T17:45:36.964-05:00credit cardsCutting-to-the-chase-moral: Keep PDFs of your credit card applications!I recently started to do an app-o-rama with credit cards, aka credit card arbitrage (aka get a bunch of cards with 0% apr, do a balance transfer and put the money into a savings account to earn interest). There are some good "deals" out there in terms of cards with balance transfer fees waived. One such deal I found was for http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/shady-citibank-practices.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-2570310667355359740Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:51:00 +00002007-02-05T16:57:47.591-05:00life insuranceI've recently sat through a pitch for variable life, and so have some of my friends. The advisors that sell this stuff are like snake oil salesmen. When you're in the middle of the pitch, you can't help but think everything they say makes total sense.--------------------------------------Now, I suspect that part of the sales pitch for this VUL policy was the promise of tax-free returns down the http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/beware-variable-universal-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-3159643459474939381Sat, 03 Feb 2007 05:58:00 +00002007-02-03T01:04:21.241-05:00privacyIn its attempt to get more user data and make their search results more personalized, Google has launched a few new services -- most notably, Search History. I definitely recommend reading this post on Search Engine Land for more details.Basically, the company that claims to do no evil will be defaulting new users to have their search history saved with Google (anyone remember the AOL fiasco?). http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/google-now-saves-your-search-history.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-2647428331005833003Sat, 03 Feb 2007 05:54:00 +00002007-02-03T00:58:21.700-05:00travel rewardsWith all the recent changes to mileage programs, where airlines are taking away your miles earlier, its nice to see the increase in articles with advice on how to combat that. Here's a free article from the Wall Street Journal on how to save those miles.The one thing the reporter didn't mention is that if you have an airline credit card, you can keep your account active by making a charge and http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/wall-street-journal-article-on-keeping.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5692663643777296987.post-7627953870817753084Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:40:00 +00002007-02-02T10:41:40.504-05:00travel rewardsFor all my recent enthusiasm on earning points in Starwood's Preferred Guest program, this forum thread is a bit of a downer.http://greenislooksick.blogspot.com/2007/02/starwood-devaluation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Gong)0