My Money Blog

Does Your Income Vary? Get Around Roth IRA Income Limits

Posted on January 3, 2007 // 8 Comments

In my post about Roth IRA conversions, commenter JT pointed out a good way to get around the Roth IRA income limits if your income varies from year to year. Simply put contribute to a non-deductible Traditional IRA, and wait until your modified AGI … [Read the rest]

Redeemed Savings Bond Online

Posted on January 3, 2007 // 6 Comments

As suggested by my When Should You Redeem I Savings Bonds Calculator, I redeemed a $5,000 I-Bond purchased in October 2005 on Tuesday. I ended up receiving $298 in interest over a holding period of 14 months (I bought at the very end of October). … [Read the rest]

Taking Advantage of After Christmas Clearance Sales

Posted on January 3, 2007 // 8 Comments

We just cleaned up at the After-Christmas sale at a local drugstore chain (Longs Drugs). They had everything marked down for 10 cents each! We stocked up on enough tissue paper, holiday gift bags, and rolls of wrapping paper to last us for years … [Read the rest]

My Traditional to Roth IRA Conversion Decision Process

Posted on January 1, 2007 // 25 Comments

For the best site that I've found to the Traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion process (and more clear than the IRS instructions), see the Fairmark guide. Reading through it, you can see there are a ton of variables to consider, including evaluating … [Read the rest]

2006 Financial Goals Final Recap – How Did I Do?

Posted on December 31, 2006 // 4 Comments

A year ago I set myself some specific financial goals to reach in 2006. Let's see what I managed to accomplish: Separate business and personal financial worlds. Done, I have separate business checking accounts and credit cards, and I run all of … [Read the rest]

Pentagon Federal Offering 3-Year CDs at 6.25% APY

Posted on December 28, 2006 // 22 Comments

Pentagon Federal Credit Union is now offering a generous 6.25% APY rate on it's 3, 4, 5, and 7-year CDs (they call it a Money Market Certificate). These rates probably won't last, so if this looks good to you you may want to jump in now. These … [Read the rest]

Guest Post on Preventing Lifestyle Inflation

Posted on December 28, 2006 // 2 Comments

J.D. of GetRichSlowly was looking for some guest authors during his break, so I submitted a short piece on How To Prevent Lifestyle Inflation, or the vicious cycle of Earn More, Spend More. We are successfully living on one income right now, but … [Read the rest]

Myths About Marginal Tax Rates Explained

Posted on December 28, 2006 // 19 Comments

Taxes are always confusing, and marginal tax rates are no exception. Although I am no accountant, here are some clarifications on how to use the 2006 tax bracket table I just posted. First, it should be noted that it is for taxable income, not … [Read the rest]

What’s My Marginal Tax Rate Bracket For 2006?

Posted on December 27, 2006 // 10 Comments

I keep having to look these up, so here are the tax brackets for 2006. Marginal Tax Rate [Taxable Income] Single Married Filing Jointly 10% $0-$7,550 $0-$15,100 … [Read the rest]

Deadline for Traditional to Roth IRA Conversions is December 31st

Posted on December 27, 2006 // 7 Comments

If you've been considering converting your Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA in 2006, you'll want to pretty much do it now, as the money has to leave your Traditional IRA by December 31st. Given that Friday is that last business day available, you … [Read the rest]

MySurvey – Another Survey Site That Pays

Posted on December 26, 2006 // 11 Comments

Another survey company that I've gotten paid out for and that I have heard other positive experiences about is MySurvey.com. Like other programs, they offer you rewards points for taking surveys. They let you redeem the points for cash, which is … [Read the rest]

Difference Between Mortgage Loan Rate and APR?

Posted on December 25, 2006 // 13 Comments

I'm starting to pay attention to mortgage loan advertisements now. Most of them include both a Rate and and APR. But what's the difference? The mortgage rate is the amount of actual interest charged. It's usually a round number like 5.75% or … [Read the rest]