MEET MONEY GIRL....

Here is one of my favorite things on the web, MONEY GIRL, QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR A RICHER LIFE. This podcast is part of the QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS series, which are short and informative podcasts that can be downloaded onto your computer or MP3 player via their website or iTunes, FOR FREE! You can also read the transcripts as well as get additional resource information about the topic on the website. Why do I like this so much? Because it is convenient, very informative, and QUICK!

Enjoy the current installment entitled GOOD DEBT VERSUS BAD DEBT: Do you know what distinguishes good debt from bad debt?

THE CREDIT CRISIS...WHAT THE...?

Since the writers strike I have had more time to pay attention to what all the experts are saying about the economy as I wait to get back to my job (as well as go through my piled up issues of Martha Stewart, and learning how to cut my own cuticles). I have watched many hours of CNBC and spent as much time online hearing the opinions of people a lot smarter than me give complicated explanations and totally opposite views on the outcome of it all. In the end I think I get the gist of it, at least enough to know how it is effecting me in the broad strokes so I can manage Eve's personal economy accordingly.

That's why I love articles like this from the New York Times:

Can’t Grasp Credit Crisis? Join the Club

By DAVID LEONHARDT

Published: March 19, 2008

Raise your hand if you don’t quite understand this whole financial crisis.

It has been going on for seven months now, and many people probably feel as if they should understand it. But they don’t, not really. The part about the housing crash seems simple enough. With banks whispering sweet encouragement, people bought homes they couldn’t afford, and now they are falling behind on their mortgages.

But the overwhelming majority of homeowners are doing just fine. So how is it that a mess concentrated in one part of the mortgage business — subprime loans — has frozen the credit markets, sent stock markets gyrating, caused the collapse of Bear Stearns, left the economy on the brink of the worst recession in a generation and forced the Federal Reserve to take its boldest action since the Depression?

I’m here to urge you not to feel sheepish. This may not be entirely comforting, but your confusion is shared by many people who are in the middle of the crisis.

Read More

AGRESSIVLEY WORK THAT INVESTMENT ACOUNT, EVEN AFTER 40...

I have a significant birthday coming up this year. As a result I have become increasingly aware of talk show subjects such as "Love and Dating, EVEN after 40," "Feeling and looking your best EVEN after 40," "Feeling vital and worthwhile, and good for anything EVEN after 40." Ok I made up that last one up, but I actually heard the other two. I am starting to look forward to 40, not a lot, but a little. Maybe I will finally feel like a grown up, or maybe not, EVEN at 40.

Suggestions for those who need to play catch up in their retirement planning after 40.
from O Magazine:

The obvious advice from our panel to anyone who is behind in her savings is to spend less and save more, but John Claghorn has a further suggestion: " If you are going to be working for another two decades, and you are not going to be withdrawing money from your 401(k) or IRAs to buy a home or pay college tuition, invest as aggressilvly as you can tolerate.

IN YOUR 30'S - MAX IT OUT FOR RETIREMENT...

Here's my story. I started contributing to a Roth IRA ten years ago. I thought I was totally on track because I maxed out my allowable contributions each year. Here is where I was clueless... I left it sitting in the Money Market account offered by the Custodian at the time, TD Waterhouse, and didn't invest it for several years. I might have done just as well growing that money if I had put it under my mattress! Bad idea. Money Markets sometimes earn far less interest than a regular Savings Account does. Now I know better, but I wish I would have read this article way back when...


From O Magazine - Amanda Robb
Now's the time to max out your contributions to your retirement accounts (if you haven't already). The easiest way to choose an appropriately aggressive retirement plan in to invest in a "lifecycle" or "lifestyle" fund -- one that automatically adjusts your holdings to less risky investments based on the number of years until you retire, says Suze Orman. For a rough idea of how much you'll need for retirement, Eric Tyson offers three scenarios:

1. You'll need 65 percent of your projected preretirement income if you save 15 percent of you annual income, are a high-income earner (generally more than $100,000), will own your home debt-free when you retire, and plan to live modestly in retirement.

2. You'll need 75 percent if you save 5 to 14 percent of your annual income and want to maintain your preretirement lifestyle.

3. You'll need 85 percent if you save less than 5 percent of your annual income, have to pay a mortgage or rent in retirement, and want to maintain your current lifestyle.

JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GET IT...WHAT TO DO IN YOUR 20'S

JUST in case you didn't get the March 2008 copy of O magazine, or JUST in case you skipped over the money articles starting on pg 162 because you had already read the whole rest of the thing and had dropped it in the tub a few times (that may just be me), I am going to give you the good stuff.

When it comes to retirement, "IS IT EVER TOO EARLY TO START WORRYING ABOUT LATER?"

You've heard it before: The most important thing is to invest in a 401(k) or other retirement account, and if you can't afford to contribute $15,500 to your 401(k) (the 2008 limit), at least set aside enough to maximize the amount your company will match. The challenge is to pick the right funds. "Choose your employer's most aggressive 401(k) fund," says John Claghorn, at RBC Dain Rauscher (Suze Orman's financial adviser). "The biggest mistake people make is being too cautious, especially when they're young." Susan Burke recommends: "Make sure your 401(k) fund has both U.S. and International stocks. The U.S. economy is growing more slowly than others, so you need to be globally diversified."

Two things...Suze Oreman has a financial adviser? Wow, that just goes to show you can never know too much about your money...and second, I wonder why they didn't mention the maximum you can contribute to your IRA in 2008? It's $5000 by the way.

Doesn't the above graph say it all? A better title for the article would have been START EARLY, AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT LATER!

TOMORROW...WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING IN YOUR 30's.