Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     I came across a video recently that registered with me.  Glenn Beck, formerly of CNN and now with Fox News, put together a piece on how much money the U.S. government is issuing. Check it out!

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     When shopping for groceries you’ll often need to decide between different product sizes.  How do you determine which size is the best deal? Take a look at the unit price.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Ally Bank (formerly GMAC bank) recently launched a 9-month CD with an APY of 2.50%. Two and a half percent on a 9 month CD is one of the best rates you’ll find. The kicker is that the Ally CD is penalty-free. Ally (short for Allied) Bank will not charge you any fees for withdrawing the funds early. The lack of an early withdrawal penalty makes the CD the same as an online savings account - with a 2.50% APY. You’d be hard pressed to find an online savings account that offers an APY greater than 2.50%. Here are the details on Ally Bank’s offer:

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                                  Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Last month I wrote an article about peer-to-peer lending in which borrowers apply for loans ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. The loans are made by individual investors, with Lending Club (the peer-to-peer lending company) acting as a middle man. Investors earn an average of 9% annually. Intrigued, I signed up as an investor last month. That wasn’t the first time I’d encountered peer-to-peer lending, though.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Periodically I surf other personal finance sites to find interesting and useful articles.  Here are the five best articles I’ve come across recently:

1. Pinyo at Moolanomy brings us 1,001 Money Saving Tips and Ideas. One of my favorite tips he provides is negotiating. An example of negotiating that I highly recommend is asking for 10% off the next time you take your car in for service. Pinyo highlights hundreds of other examples.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats are working on the final details of the government’s plan to give you up to $4,500 toward the purchase of a new car – when you trade in a qualifying, used car. Here’s how you can qualify under the current plan:

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     I don’t eat fast food too often but when I do I usually choose Wendy’s and I almost always get the Spicy Chicken Sandwich Combo (#6). A couple weeks ago I got Wendy’s coupons in the mail. That was the first time I’d ever seen coupons for a fast food restaurant. I used one of the coupons, $1 off a combo meal, a short time later. Curious if I could get more coupons, I did a little investigation.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     I’m a big fan of Warren Buffett and an avid reader of his biographies.  I find the combination of his investing genius and folksy, down-to-earth personality fascinating.  Recently, I came across an interview he gave to Fox Business. In the interview Warren shares his insight on how to determine if a stock is worth buying. Check it out!

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

Chances are you’ve seen a TV advertisement offering a free copy of your credit report. Often, though, you’ll be required to purchase something (such as credit monitoring) to receive it for “free”. There’s only one way to receive a free copy of your credit report with no strings attached. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) every consumer is entitled to receive a free copy of their credit report from each credit bureau (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax) once a year.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Recently I received a couple questions from readers about how I invest my retirement funds. I thought it would be useful to share my answer with everyone. Don’t view my approach as advice on how to invest your retirement money. When investing you need to weigh factors such as your age and level of risk tolerance. As such, what’s best for me, may not work for you. Hopefully, though, reading about my approach will help you to consider some things when determining how to allocate your retirement dollars. Here’s how my retirement asset allocation shakes out:

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