Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein
     Zecco Trading just announced a promotion awarding new customers 20 free online stock trades.  Here are the details: 
·         The account must be opened by Sunday, September 13, 2009 using promo code “bonus1” (case sensitive).
·         The 20 free stock trades will be granted on or before September 16th, 2009. 
·         Any [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

Presently, only a couple banks offer a savings account with an annual yield of at least 2%. Several other banks offer an APY of at least 1.75%. In addition to their online savings account rate of 1.70%, Ally Bank offers a No Penalty CD with a slightly higher yield – 1.85%.

* Note: Minimum opening balance required to receive APY.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     I had a thought recently.  If a person walked into a casino with the single goal of winning $5 I think the odds are overwhelmingly in their favor of walking away with the casino’s money.  Fair warning:  I may be wrong so, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. 
     Imagine you walked [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     My girlfriend and I decided to join the 21st century and replace our tube television with a new, 40” LCD television.  After much deliberation and research we settled on a Sumsung 40” LCD television with 1080p and 120 Hz (model #LN40B630). 
     I spent a couple hours attempting to find it [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     Whether you’re looking to create wealth, or just add a few bucks to your bottom line, I’d suggest exploring sources of residual income. 
What is residual income?
     Residual income is money you earn over and over again without performing any work.  A common example of residual income is the interest paid [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     I caught an article by Erin Burt in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune that listed several common money wasters.  I’ve provided the more interesting ones below, along with my thoughts.
1.     Buying a new car instead of used one:  New cars lose a big chunk of their value the moment you drive them [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

Warren Buffett is the Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and consistently one of the three wealthiest men in the world. Less known is Berkshire’s Vice-Chairman, and longtime Buffett friend, Charlie Munger. Although less famous, Munger’s financial insights are on par with Buffett’s. Munger also shares Buffett’s folksy, down-to-earth personality.

Recently, the two of them sat down with Fox Business for an extended interview. I came across a segment in which the two of them address, among other issues, excessive executive compensation. Check it out!

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

This is the 100^th post since FinancialFellow.com was launched in October 2008. In light of the milestone I thought it fitting to call attention to my 5 favorite articles. Some articles offer my perspective on retirement savings, others provide suggestions on how to save, or earn, hundreds of dollars with minimal effort. Enjoy!

10% Annual Return is Unrealistic When discussing how much money you will have at retirement age many financial articles assume that you will attain an average annual return of around 10%. This assumption is misleading for two reasons…

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