It’s not every day that we have a giveaway here on Beating Broke, let alone one that’s this good! I’ve teamed up with Measuring Flower who is the coordinator of the Tablet Time giveaways and with Mom With a Dot Com, and Mama Nibbles who are the hosts of this Tablet Time giveaway, and several [...]

The commonly used rate of inflation, 3%-4%, is used in so many formulas for retirement, investing, and “cost-of-living” increases.  But, is that the right number?  A recent news story released by the American Institute for Economic Research claims that the real rate of inflation is closer to 8%. I won’t pretend to understand all of [...]

I’ll be the first to admit, here and elsewhere, that I’m not an investing savvy person.  I know just enough to get myself into trouble.  One of the new terms that I’ve learned just recently is Spread Betting.  Now, most anything that I’ve ever dealt with that involved the words spread and betting involved bookies, [...]

Reader David left a comment with the following question in it: Every other mutual fund I have ever owned has at one time or another paid out dividend distributions.This includes funds that I have held on my own, and some that were held in Traditional and Roth IRA’S. Not so with any funds I have [...]

A recent Gallup poll puts my fair state, North Dakota, at the top of list for job creation for the third straight year.  Another poll, released earlier this week placed it as the second happiest state in the union, losing only to Hawaii.  (How can you be unhappy in Hawaii?)  The next closest “state” to [...]

People use the term all the time when making purchases.  “I can afford it, so why not?”  they say as they sign the paper work for a new car, a new house, or swipe their credit cards for that fancy new television.  But, can they really afford it?  How do you define affordability? Like many [...]

There are, undeniably, some benefits to being married.  Both financially, and otherwise.  But, are there benefits to being single as well?  Would you be better off single? One of the biggest financial benefits to being married is the ability to have two full-time incomes coming into the household.  Using both incomes, we have the ability [...]

Welcome to the February 24, 2012 Edition #225 of the Carnival of Financial Planning. The Carnival of Financial Planning takes a long-term view of personal financial planning for individuals and families. We focus on efficient and sustainable personal financial planning practices that can lead to lifetime financial security. This edition is arranged by subject heading, [...]

First, this is a personal finance blog.  As such, I try very hard to not comment too much on politics and keep them out of my articles.  But, should I?  Do politics have a place in personal finance?  Do our financial beliefs have any bearing on who and how we vote?  Should they? I think [...]

The Millionaire Fastlane By: MJ Demarco If there was ever a case for a little less “hype-y” title for a book, this is it.  I’m not sure what else I would have named it, but the title just seems like a whole bunch of get-rich-quick hype, and it kept me from reading the book sooner [...]