Archive for October, 2007
« Previous EntriesA Question From a Reader: How to Calculate Taxes
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007One of my old tax posts received a comment about how taxes are calculated using tax brackets so here goes:
First off, here’s a look at the 2007 tax brackets:
Married Filing Jointly
TAXRATE
2007 TAXABLEINCOME
2006 TAXABLEINCOME
10%
Not over $15,650
Not over $15,100
15
15,650 – 63,700
15,100 – 61,300
25
63,700 – 128,500
61,300 – 123,700
28
128,500 – 195,850
123,700 – 188,450
33
195,850 – 349,700
188,450 – 336,550
35
Over $349,700
Over $336,550
The [...]
It’s Getting Tougher to Make Money From Blogging
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007Most readers of this blog probably don’t care about this topic.
Most of you probably know that I do make money from blogging. You can see the Adsense column on the left and two banner ads (there’s a third banner ad but I don’t get paid for it). Then, if you scroll all the [...]
How About an Automatic IRA?
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007I read an interesting editorial by Laura Tyson in today’s Wall Street Journal about different ways to get Americans to start saving for retirement. The article mentioned the automatic 401(k) and something new called an automatic IRA, which would work similar to the auto 401(k) but for small companies. From the editorial:
To help [...]
Do You Have a Financial Confidant?
Monday, October 29th, 2007OneFrugalGirl asks: Do you have a financial confidant? In her post, One Frugal Girls wondered why one of her friends was comfortable telling her the price of a home she was thinking about buying while another friend wouldn’t divulge the information. It’s an interesting question. Could modesty play a part? Maybe [...]
Cable vs. Direct TV – Your Thoughts
Monday, October 29th, 2007There’s one bad thing about HD TVs (or at least the one I have): while HD channels look awesome, MOST regular channels look like crap. This is disappointing since Time Warner Cable only offers 12 HD channels (and one of those is off the air most of the time).
Yesterday I was looking through the [...]
Kitchen Remodel Update – More Pictures
Monday, October 29th, 2007The kitchen/family room renovation is basically complete. We’re still waiting on our GE Café Duel-Fuel range, which should be in by next week (at least that’s what they tell me). I bet you guys are getting tired of all these kitchen posts. I’m sorry about that but this has been a significant [...]
JLP’s Weekly Roundup (Week of October 22, 2007)
Monday, October 29th, 2007Nickel has some words of wisdom from Alan Greenspan. – I bet Bernake wishes Greenspan would keep quiet – especially when he talks about the state of the economy.
FMF highlights some mortgage advice from the Mole. – Normally the Mole is on the money. However, I HATE this advice! I like the mole [...]
Millionaires Focus on Freedom
Monday, October 29th, 2007Financial planners and “experts” love to look at people as individuals in a vaccuum. “Get educated!” “Save money!” “Start a business!” they preach, as though everyone is perfectly capable of doing such things but are somehow simply choosing not to.
When Should You Dump a Bad Money Manager?
Friday, October 26th, 2007Check out the latest “The Mole” column in Money, in which the Mole answers a question about dumping a horrible money manager. The question:
After three years of negative returns, I need to find a new money manager. What should I ask and is there anything I can rely on that ranks the quality and [...]
Is Personal Finance Really 80% Behavior and 20% Head Knowledge?
Friday, October 26th, 2007Dave Ramsey is notorious for saying that personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. It’s a neat little soundbite but does it make any sense?
I wonder how he came up with it? I was thinking it was 70% behavior and 30% head knowledge. Or, maybe it’s 40% behavior and 60% [...]