Money: 2012 Year in Review January 9, 2013

Happy New Year!  It’s 2013! I’ve been posting my yearly changes in assets and debts for the past few years now.  One thing I noticed this time around is that the changes in my liquid assets and my student loans are just about the same as they were last time around. How much did my assets and debts change this past year?  Check it out:

Assets:

• Liquid assets (checking and savings accounts, including my new AbleBanking account ):  +$15,522

• Retirement (401(k), Roth IRA, Rollover IRA):  +$28,369

• Car (edmunds.com private sale value): -$938 (I know there’s a lot of debate over including cars in net worth calculations.  I initially included it to make myself feel better about my auto loan, to balance out the ugly dip in my net worth).

Debts:

• Student Loans: Reduced  payoff balance by $11,528 (It helps that I paid off my entire Sallie Mae loan)

• Credit cards: I pay them off every month, but if I want to be exact, I have $713 less to pay off as of the same time last year.

Change in net worth since last year:  +$55,194. Booya!

It turns out, I didn’t post very often.  Only 26 posts!  And quite a few of them talked about fitness.  That became quite a focus for me this year.  (More on that in a separate post).  Though I definitely thought about money and fitness together!

Looking back at my old personal finance related posts….remember the Approved Card from Suze Orman?  I wasn’t a fan.

I shared my story about getting into and (partially) out of student debt.

I confessed that I have a strange relationship with shopping, especially when it comes to Kohls.

I’m trying not to sweat the small stuff, and keep thinking about the big picture.

My nagging tendency was in full force when I told you that there were NO EXCUSES when it comes to opening an IRA.

I tackled the yearly concern of Benefits Open Enrollment.

I converted my traditional IRA into my Roth IRA.  Which also means that the networth numbers will be lowered in the next few months when I have to pay taxes on the converted amount.  Shhhhh.  Don’t worry, I have the money saved to pay the taxes, but we’ll recalculate things later.

And, even though this is more in the fitness than the personal finance category, I’m really glad I did the Walk For Hunger last year.  I look forward to doing it again in 2013!

I mused on twitter that I might try to pay off my entire student loan balance by the end of the year.  Not sure yet if I’ll actually do it, but I do have a plan in mind.  The cool part about that tweet?  The amazing, personal finance queen Gail Vaz-Oxlade replied to my tweet asking how I would do it!  So that might become a 2013 personal finance goal.

Happy New Year! How was your 2012?  What were your big events (positive or negative) for 2012?  What are your big plans for 2013!  Please share your own blog posts (if you have them) in the comments, I want to make sure I read all of your year-end wrap ups and your 2013 goals!

Getting Back On Track September 19, 2012

Sometimes I find myself falling off the wagon.  And I have a lot of wagons to fall off of.  Exercise, eating right, blogging, and personal finance, to name a few.

While I exercised like crazy on my little vacation to Maine over Labor Day weekend (lots of biking and hiking) I also ate quite  a bit.  You know, vacation, where you can eat like crazy.  And then followed that with a business trip where I ate way too much and didn’t go to the hotel gym even once!

And, I haven’t blogged in, well, way too long.  Haven’t posted in over a month!.  Sorry about that!

And personal finance-wise, I feel like I’ve been spending a bit willy nilly.  Including last month when I bought a new TV.  It was technically a birthday present for my boyfriend, but of course, it kind of was also for me.  I researched our options, and found a pretty good deal.  And we’ve been thinking about getting  a new TV for over a year.  So, I don’t regret it!  You know I love buying gifts for others.  But still.  You know.  Spendy spendy.

The good news is, even when you fall of the wagon, you can get right back on!

Specifically, I’m glad to be getting back on the exercise and smart eating wagon.  I’ve been inspired by both a fitness competition at work (tracking exercise, steps, and weight) as well as the Hometown Wellness Showdown from  LoseIt.com and Boston.com (and the local YMCAs).  I started using Lose It awhile back and made some good progress on weight loss and getting in shape.  I became more mindful of what I ate and started working out a lot.  But like I said, I sort of fell off the wagon.  But these challenges are helping me get going.

So, I’m back!  Back on the healthy living wagon, and back to watching what I spend, and hopefully back to blogging.

Have you fallen off any wagons recently?  Or gotten back on track?  What keeps you focused?  Any ideas for blog posts so that I can keep on the blogging wagon?  What do you want to hear from me?

Hello new blog readers! April 14, 2012

Well, this was quite the surprise.  There I was, minding my own business, when I see a tweet mentioning me and a bunch of other Boston bloggers.  Apparently, TNGG loves our blogs?!  I had no clue what that meant.  So naturally, I clicked the link.  Which brought me to a post on Boston.com, written from the group The Next Great Generation.  The post listed a bunch of blogs written by 20-something Bostonians.  The instructions?  Subscribe to these blogs.  NOW!

You can see the whole post here.

I felt honored!  And of course I immediately told all my friends.

So, new readers.  What can you expect from me?

Like the article said, I’m usually talking about personal finance.  I often write about financial decisions I’m trying to make, new financial websites I’ve tried, or career/personal finance books I’ve read.  I’ve recently started branching out a bit beyond finance to fitness.  I’m also hoping to start writing about Boston events and places a bit more.

I always welcome questions, comments, and suggestions!

So, are you one of the new readers?  Or have you been reading my blog for a while?  Either way, I hope you stick around!

Opening an IRA: No Excuses March 28, 2012

When I was younger and didn’t feel like doing the dishes, I’d make excuses.  The top excuse usually was “I don’t know how to do it!”  Of course we know that’s a ridiculous lie.  And I’d still have to do the dishes.

We all make excuses.  It’s too hard!  I don’t know how to do it!

No.  No more excuses.

I’ve talked before about how it’s a good idea to open an IRA.  And I’m especially keen on the Roth IRA as a good way to diversify my tax liabilities when I retire.

So, I’m here to show you that there are NO EXCUSES.

Disclaimer:  I’m not a financial advisor or other money professional.  I’m just a blogger.  But I want you to pay attention to what I say anyway.  You don’t have to.  But that’s all I can offer.

Excuse number 1:  I don’t have any money to do it!

No.  You do.  You just don’t realize it yet.  Depending on what company you end up opening an IRA with, you’ll have a certain minimum initial or repeating investment.  If you don’t have enough for the initial investment, start stashing away $10 or $20 in a savings account.  Maybe you’re getting a tax refund this year?  There’s some money you can use!  When you build up enough, go for it.  As I said, it depends who you open an account with, which leads me to excuse number 2…

Excuse number 2:  I don’t know how!

As I mentioned before, that’s a lame excuse.  And if you honestly don’t know how, guess what?  It’s easy.  You pick a discount brokerage or bank (I’ve used Fidelity, I know Vanguard is highly recommended, I welcome other good suggestions in the comments).  Check out their website to find out minimum investment requirements, fees, benefits, etc.  If you’re still confused, call them up.  Tell them what you want to do, find out what is required of you to avoid fees, taxes, etc.  Then do it!

Excuse number 3:  I don’t want to lose money!

Guess what?  NOBODY DOES!  You don’t go to Las Vegas hoping to “strike it poor”.  Yes, investing in the stock market (and in bonds, ETFs, etc.) has risks.  There’s no guarantees.  That ridiculous 2008 downturn?  I remember it too!  But here’s the thing.  An IRA is a really good idea.  You’re putting money away for your retirement.  There are tax benefits to having an IRA.  And if you follow the theories of John Bogle, buying low-cost index funds and invest over the long-term, you’re pretty likely to come out ahead over the long run.  And if you consider that keeping money in a regular savings account doesn’t really keep up with inflation, the market is a good way to go.  Which leads me to:

Excuse number 4:  I don’t know what to invest in!

As I said before, I’m not a financial advisor.  As they said in this Marketplace Money interview, the most important part is just starting that account.  You can start by contributing whatever you can (up to $5k, or $6k if you’re over 50 years old) each year.  Your best bet to start is to invest in a low-cost index fund or life cycle fund.  As you build your account, you can start learning more about investing (by reading books, magazines, blogs, listening to podcasts/radio shows), and diversify as you see fit.  If you want, you can always talk to a fee-only certified financial planner or advisor to get some advice.

So.  What do you think?  Any other excuses you can come up with?  Anything I got wrong here or left out?  Where do you find your investment advice?  Let me know!

Lose weight or lose debt: which would you choose? February 9, 2012

I know that getting in physical shape and financial shape have some similarities.  You need to practice self-control, avoid giving into impulses.  And a big part of getting in shape (physically or financially) is balancing money (or calories) in vs. out.

Back in January, I asked a question of my twitter followers:

If you could wave a magic wand and either be at your ideal weight/fitness level or be debt free, which would you pick?

Well, what did my twitter friends have to say to this magic wish? Well, Brad (@bradkindercoach), Jenn (@payingmyself), Kristen(@thriftyandfit), Life Money Center (@lifemoneycenter) and Joe Taxpayer (@joetaxpayerblog) all said they’d want to be debt free (either because they had a mortgage, or because without debt they could pay for someone to whip them into shape!).  Jesse (@pffirewall) wanted to know how long the fitness would last, and only two respondents (@Metz77 and @FinancialSamura) opted to be magically made the perfect human specimen (Financial Samurai said “I’d rather be fit with debt”).

My “wish” was to magically be the perfect weight, in great shape, with toned muscles, and a decent running pace.  Wouldn’t that be great?

Why did I pick the physical over financial fitness?  Mostly because I already have a plan for how to eliminate my debt (eventually), and it’s definitely easier for me to prevent overspending than it is to prevent overeating.

We know how to be debt free:  pay off the debt, don’t incur more debt.  But at least for me, the answers for getting in shape seem a bit more elusive.  I know the basics:  eat healthy, don’t eat too much, exercise.  I understand that.  But it’s a lot easier (and less dangerous) to have a no-spend day than a no-eat day!  It just seems easier to “set it and forget it” with auto pay and making good money decisions.  So, even though the healthy body would be more difficult to maintain than a healthy net worth, I would love to have a good starting point (already at ideal fitness) and work from there.

I still owe over $33k on my student loans.  Would that mean I’d pay $33k to get into peak physical shape?  No.  I also know that wishing wont eliminate my debt or my flab overnight.  But I’m trying to get in shape, eat right, and exercise.  I’m actually starting to get in the habit of adding exercise to my day.  So that’s a start!

What about you?  Would you wish to rid yourself of debt or of fat?  Which do you think is easier to achieve and maintain?

The Approved Card? More like the DIS-Approved Card! January 11, 2012

Yes, I resorted to a Billy Madison pseudo-insult.  I do that sometimes.  But really, it’s the only way to start off this post. With a little bit of humor, before I tear into what may be my “meanest” blog post ever. Maybe.

On January 5, I got an email from Suze Orman. I don’t remember when I signed up to get emails from her, but that’s not the point. She alerted me (and all her other email subscribers) to her People First Movement, set to kick off on January 9th. Well, I can’t say I marked my calendar, but I was curious about what “new financial product” she was excited to tell us about.  I figured she was referring to another financial tracking website.  You know how much I love those

January 9th rolls around, and my inbox is blessed with another note from Suze.  She was offering a new pre-paid debit card.  I remember reading that email, and I’m pretty sure I said something to the effect of “HELL NO!” before closing the entire web browser in anger and disgust.

But seriously, I was kind of taken aback.  Suze Orman’s offering a pre-paid debit card.  On the one hand, I think it’s good that she’s making a pre-paid card that, on the surface, seems to have fewer fees than other pre-paid cards, assuming you know exactly how to get around most of them (http://theapprovedcard.com/fees/ for reference), but I still haven’t accepted the basic premise that some individuals can’t get even the simplest bank account, and must resort to using a pre-paid debit card.  I might be out of touch, but shouldn’t a credit union or bank be willing to offer a no-frills bank account?

Then there are the three ways to re-load the card: direct deposit, transferring from another account, or paying Western Union or MoneyGram $3.50 to add cash to the card.  All three of those seem like perfect reasons to NOT get the pre-paid debit card:  If you get direct deposit (from a paycheck), you can probably get a bank account.  That’s usually what banks like to see when opening accounts.  If you have another bank account, couldn’t you use that instead of a pre-paid, fee-laden card? And if you’re using cash, why pay $3.50 to load the cash then a $3 fee per month to use it? (except perhaps if you wanted to keep your cash safe in the non-bank account).

Ron Lieber posted a follow-up about the card, having asked readers for possible good reasons to get the card.  The three he lists here include: being unwilling or unable to get a bank account (for any number of reasons), as a budgeting tool to limit your spending to a set amount, or as a pseudo-checking account for kids.  I guess the other option is if you need to do online transactions or rent a car/book a hotel/flight etc., you’d need either a credit or debit card for payment.

The whole FICO score aspect of this is confusing, too.  It’s unclear (at least to me).  It sounds like she’s offering a free year of credit monitoring/scores/etc. from TransUnion.  Which is basically what you get from CreditKarma, but without having to use her pre-paid card.  Then there’s The Credit Project, where you can volunteer to have your transaction data sent to TransUnion, so they can decide if they maybe in the future want to include pre-paid debit cards in credit scores/reports.  I don’t have much faith that a credit agency is going to change any time soon.

Anyway, that’s a long enough rant. I just am always wary of these pre-paid cards, they seem to take advantage of people who already have trouble with money.  And it seems like Suze Orman is abusing her power as a “personal finance expert” in getting people to sign onto something that may not be in their best interest.  I know a lot of other people have posted their (negative) reviews of the Approved Card.  Let me know if you wrote one, and I’ll link to it!

I want to just finish this by saying that, usually, I’m okay with Suze Orman.  One of the books I read when I was first figuring out this whole personal finance thing was her book Young, Fabulous, and Broke.  And I enjoyed her keynote speech at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in 2009.  I just think that this is a bad move on her part, using her fans’ trust for financial gain.

2011 Year in Review: Networth Update, Looking Back, Looking Forward January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!  It’s 2012!

A year ago today, I posted some numbers.  The changes in my finances in 2010.  So it’s time to see how I did in 2011!

How much did my assets and debts change this past year?  Check it out:

Assets:

• Liquid assets (checking and savings accounts):
  +$15,101 (would have been ~$4k higher…see student loans below)

• Retirement (401(k), Roth IRA, Rollover IRA):
  +$12,235 (the stock market is still a little crummy.  But I did increase my 401(k) contributions to 7% as of the end of November)

• Car (edmunds.com private sale value):
  -$626 (I know there’s a lot of debate over including cars in net worth calculations.  I initially included it to make myself feel better about my auto loan, to balance out the ugly dip in my net worth)

Debts:

• Student Loans:
  Reduced  payoff balance by $11,142 (it definitely helped to throw $4k at one of them!)

• Car Loan:
  Still $0!  It felt so awesome paying off my car loan 3 years early.

• Credit cards:
  I pay them off every month, but if I want to be exact, I have $446 more to pay off as of December 31, 2011 than I did on January 1, 2011.

Change in net worth since last year:  +$37,386

Not as high as last year’s change of +$43,140.  But I’m still pretty impressed.

Let’s review this year!

I read a bunch of personal finance books, including Generation Earn by Kimberly Palmer and Get A Financial Life by Beth Kobliner  I did read the Personal Finance Book Club book, Shortchanged: Why Women Have Less Wealth and What Can Be Done About It by Mariko Chang, but never got around to reviewing it.  You can check out reviews from Savvy Working Gal and Little Miss Moneybags.  I am also halfway through John C. Bogle’s The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.  Spoiler alert of anything you’ll read by Bogle:  Buy low cost index funds and hold them forever.

We moved!  We used to live in a 4 bedroom apartment with roommates.  Now we live in a smaller apartment, just the two of us!  It costs a bit more to live in the new place, but it was time for a change, and we love our new apartment!

I’ve checked out a few personal finance websites.  Though I’ve tried more, I only reviewed Payoff.com and Credit Karma.  I’m a fan of both!

I tried again to get Take Control of Your Finances Day up and running.  Hope to get even more support this year to help spread it!

I started a blogging series:  My Friends are Buying Houses.  So far I just have 2 posts, but I welcome more!  Let me know if you’re interested in posting about your homebuying experience (or why you’re not buying a house yet!)

I guess there were a lot of other things that happened on my blog (and in my life) this year. You know, like paying $4k towards a student loan.  But you’ve heard about that a few times now

Reading last year’s post is funny because I realize not much has changed when it comes to my personal finance tendencies.  I’m still wishy washy about my decisions (personal finance or otherwise).  And still paying down my loans with occasional lump sums in addition to the monthly payments.  I also thought it was funny that I debated doing a $4k lump sum payment.  Which I ended up doing!  I didn’t even remember that part of the post!

So looking ahead.  Should I make the same goal I made last year?  Take the gains in my liquid assets and apply them towards my loans?  $15k would eliminate a few of my loans!  Hmmm.

I don’t have any big plans for this year (as of yet).  Maybe we’ll finally go on a big vacation (we’ve been talking about taking one for years).  That would cut into the liquid assets a bit.  But we haven’t gone on a big trip since Nicaragua in 2007 (unless you count all the weddings we’ve gone to).  We’ll see.  For now, I’m just going to relax for the last few days of my vacation, and meditate on my future goals.  I’ll try to make (and actually meet) some resolutions/goals soon!

Happy New Year!

How was your 2011?  What were your main successes?  What are your top resolutions for 2012?

Personal Finance Confessions: I want to buy lots of new gadgets! October 18, 2011

It’s quite possible the electronics I use are cursed.  First our Xbox 360 got the “red ring of death“.  Then my iPod classic (I’ve had it or an Apple-Care replacement since 2005 or so) decided it was tired of playing my podcasts (it may have jumped to its doom…accidentally).  So, now I’m in the market for new electronics.

Here’s the thing.  I just want to buy the new stuff.  And some other new stuff!  We’ve been thinking about getting an HD TV since we moved, and then of course we’d need a Blu-Ray player (or, more likely, a Playstation 3).  This is not really what personal finance savvy people are supposed to do.  I don’t NEED any of these electronics.  I just want them.

But I think I’ve already decided I’m going to get a replacement for my iPod.  I used it pretty much every day:  working in the lab, commuting or traveling when there’s nothing good on the radio, and when I’m cleaning around the house moving from room to room.  At this point, I just have to decide between the different models.  I like the FM tuner and accelerometer/fitness part of the iPod nano.  Then, I’m a bit attached to the good old-fashioned iPod classic, though I don’t think I’ll ever have enough data to put on there!  My old one is/was 30GB…the new one is 160GB!  What?  Then there’s the iPod touch, which is basically like an iPhone but without the phone…and the monthly fee.  And of course, I would only be able to use it when I’m near available Wi-Fi, but it sounds like their maps might be pretty accurate even without constant connectivity. And of course, I’m thinking there’s a lot of apps I’d like to try out!  And I could still do a lot with it even if I’m only connecting to Wi-Fi.

Yes, I’m bad at deciding.  Any recommendations?

As for the Xbox, the one we have may or may not be repairable (we haven’t tried yet).  It’s also 6 years old, which means there’s probably been a lot of upgrades since then.  So we’re thinking we might want to replace it.  Then we have to decide between the 4GB model and the 250GB model (we’re leaning towards the 250GB).  And do we get a Kinect with it?  It’s cheaper to buy it with the console rather than buy it separtely…but do we “need” it?  Each upgrade (more memory, Kinect) is another $100 tacked on to the price.

The other expensive electronics will probably have to wait.  We’ll hold out until we see a really good deal on a new TV, and we probably wouldn’t get a Blu-Ray/Playstation 3 until we had the fancy TV to go with it.

I know I don’t need any of these things.  I could look into repairing the items.  I could continue to save my money until…someday.  But, like I said, I’d use the iPod every day, the cost per use (assuming I don’t break this one…) will be pretty low over time.  I’m also shopping around for the best prices.

Do you ever feel bad buying new gadgets?  Is that your personal finance weakness?  Should I just be a good little personal finance blogger and try to repair (or trade in) the old items?

Payoff.com: The Foursquare of Personal Finance September 26, 2011

I’m a big fan of trying out personal finance tools (please don’t call me a personal finance tool).

Most of you know about mint.com.  That seems to be one of the top sites among personal finance people (and “normal” people ).  But there are A LOT account aggregators out there that let you import your accounts and track things.  They’re all a little different, and each have their own features and flaws.

Of all those sites, I’ve tried quite a few.  There’s Mint.com, of course.  More recently, I’ve been trying out LearnVest‘s new My Money Center.  And I’m also testing out Adaptu.  I’ll try to fully review those sites at a later time.

So, let’s get to the main topic of this post:  Payoff.com.

Like most of these account aggregators, once you sign up, you can enter your login info for your assorted accounts:  Credit cards, checking/saving accounts, loans (auto, student, mortgage, personal).  Don’t worry, like most other aggregators, they are very serious about security of your data.

A big part of Payoff’s system is setting goals.  You can set any number of goals, big or small.  Then link an account with that goal.   By working towards those goals, and doing other financially smart things, like finding out your credit score and saving up an emergency fun, you earn badges.  And for every badge you earn, you get an entry into their weekly Sur-prize drawing.  It’s a chance to win $15-25, just for being smart with your money!

So, what do I like about Payoff.com?

• It’s free!  Always a good start when you’re trying to take control of your finances!  (As with many free sites, they have recommendations of accounts and websites to check out, but you’re not obligated to click on anything.  They’re just suggestions)
• The gamification of personal finance encourages users to be smart with their money and achieve their goals
• There’s a page for every badge.  Each page provides advice and guidance for how you can earn that badge, including next steps and links to related posts on the Payoff Blog.
• The website is very playful and fun:
• It’s fun to earn the badges, and the badges themselves have fun names, descriptions, and icons.    Look how many badges I’ve earned so far!
•  The Sur-prizes are an awesome…well, surprise!  I actually won one a week or so ago!  It felt really good to be rewarded for doing good things with my money!
• When there’s an error message, they show the background image upside down.  And when the site is down for maintenance, they show a night-time version of the background scene, with the message “Ssshhh! We’re taking a nap! Don’t worry. We should be awake and ready to play again in a little bit.”  That being said, I’ve only seen the down for maintenance page once at an ungodly hour when I shouldn’t have been awake.
• They are very responsive to feedback.  I have tweeted @payoff a lot, and they respond really quickly!
• They’ll categorize your expenses for you.  At first, I was wary of this, but so far, they seem to be doing pretty well with it.

So, are there any downsides?

• Because the focus is on building up your savings and paying off your debt, there’s not as much of an emphasis on retirement accounts.  In fact, it looks like they don’t currently support retirement accounts in their account managers (they don’t have companies like Fidelity or Vanguard).
• The expenses categorization isn’t always right.  And there currently isn’t a way to edit the categories (that I know of).
• While it does show where you spend the most money, there aren’t a lot of budgeting tools.

Overall?  I don’t think I’d make it my only account manager.  I like the fuller capabilities of Mint.  But I do find myself more motivated to payoff my loans when I know I could get a badge for it!  And I think that it is really great for people just starting out on their personal finance journey.  It’s a simple site to use, and it provides positive reinforcement!

What about you?  Have you tried out Payoff.com?  What do you think of it?

p.s. I was not compensated for this post.  While I did win a Sur-Prize a few weeks back, that was unrelated to my decision to write about Payoff.com.  In fact, I’d been thinking about writing this for a while, but I wanted to spend some time fully checking it out.

Reading Books: Get a Financial Life June 19, 2011

No matter how much I think I know about personal finance, I’m always willing to learn more.  So when I heard about Beth Kobliner‘s updated edition of Get A Financial Life:  Personal finance in your twenties and thirties, I knew I had a book to add to my reading list.

My overall impression of this book:  READ THIS BOOK!  I think it’s a great book, both for the recent grads as well as people still trying to take control of their finances.  Plus, the updated version reflects the current economic situation as well as newer tax codes, so you won’t hear the old general advice that has since been debunked.  The book is divided into sections that guide you how to get your financial life in order by examining your budget, managing/paying off your debt, finding the right banks for your checking AND saving needs, and other steps and decisions like investing, setting up and contributing to retirement funds, buying vs. renting, selecting insurance (health, disability, life, car, homeowners/renters, etc.), and filing your taxes.

The thing I really liked about these different sections was that they had actual information and resources included.  It wasn’t merely things like “make a budget”, “open a 401(k)”, and “check out mutual funds”.  There were actual explanations about the benefits and drawbacks of a lot of financial choices, as well as in-depth information and examples of the consequences if these decisions.  I definitely learned some things I didn’t know before!  I learned a lot about the different income limits for different retirement funds, and the amount of coverage I should be buying for my car insurance.  I got a better idea about all the different investment options, and the difference between mutual funds, bond funds, and the tax implications of investing in these different funds.  She includes lots of information that, had it been my personal copy (and not a library copy) I would have gotten out highlighters and post-its to remind myself of the important information.  Throughout, she provides links to websites and calculators (which would be even more handy in an ebook format where you could click-through to the sites), as well as recommended books for further reading on each subject.

So, I’ll reiterate:  Read this book.  I took a lot of notes for myself while reading this book.  It got me thinking about my current financial setup and how I can improve it.  And maybe I might even buy myself a copy so I can highlight the important points that I will want to come back to (there was a lot of useful information for homebuyers that I don’t need right now, but will need in the future). Plus there’s a great list of resources at the end of the book (more books, magazines, blogs, websites, etc.) that will help me add to my to-read list.

Have you read the book?  What do you think?  I’d recommend it to pretty much anyone!  Buy it for recent grads!  They’ll grumble at being told what to do, but they’ll appreciate it