I closed my Scottrade account in July. As usual, Scottrade have provided great service so the process was painless. I went into one of the branch office, told them I want to close the account. They made a call to my ‘home’ branch, they confirmed my name and address, and that’s it. Two days later, I received my check. No questions asked! Easy!

However, the fact Scottrade didn’t even asked for my driver’s license did made me a bit worry about their privacy and security policy. If say someone that knows my name and where I live, s/he could close the account and I wouldn’t know it till I received a check.

Mastering all things money isn’t as simple as it sounds. Sure, saving a lot and spending a little is ideal, but that isn’t always realistic. As a general rule of thumb: make money, save money, and avoid payday loans if at all possible. But sometimes, a financial emergency happens, and what then?

The best way to avoid resorting to a loan is to save, save, save. With every paycheck and other source of income that comes your way, a portion should be put into a savings account (preferably one that accumulates interest over time). This way you have prepared for the unexpected, at least to some degree. Sometimes though, an unexpected expense goes beyond your realm of control, and there really are no other options. Now and only now should a payday loan come into consideration.  

Payday loans should only be considered in desperate times; like when an unexpected cost goes beyond your financial capability. Even then, money should only be borrowed if you are responsible enough to pay it back in a timely matter, and don’t make borrowing into a constant pattern. While payday loans can be life savors, using them for the wrong reasons can end up hurting you rather than helping you. The moral of the story: always weigh your options, and think ahead with your money.

Do you want to know how to turn $10,000 into $10 millions?

If you have a lot of money and want to make sure your heirs are taken care of when you leave, Paul Merriman’s estate plan can be a good reference. I really like the plan he has for his grandson. If I have the money, I’ll use his plan.

If you have 30 or 15 years fix mortgage, should you try to pay it off faster?

 According to this article, it pays to NOT prepay.

Why do so many people choose to put extra money into a mortgage when other options would likely increase their wealth? “This is really remnant of Depression mentality that has persisted from generation to generation,” says Amromin. At the time, most mortgages had one- to five-year terms, with a lump sum payment due at the end.

I want to retire when I am 55, assuming I’ll live till I am 90 and still maintain the same lifestyle as now, according to this retirement calculator, I need ~4.2 Millions to retire at 55. If I want to retire now, I need ~2.3 Millions.

Unless someone wants to give me 2.3 mil, the 4.2 mil seem to be a goal I can work toward. Assuming annual raise of 4% and annual average return of 14% (higher than average) during working year and 8% return during retirement, I would need to contribute ~16% of my income to retirement.

Seem a bit far reach but still doable.

I just did my tax and totally overlooked the significance of social security tax until I read about it in San Diego Tribune’s Sunday paper.  In 2006, the maximum social security tax (FICA) the government could be collecting is $5,840.40. For 2007, maximum FICA would be $6,045.

Luckily, my 2006 tax situation was very simple so I didn’t overpay (not sure about 2005 though. Is it too late to reclaim?).

Did you overpay? If so, here’s an article on how to recover excess payment.

I used payscale.com when I was looking for job 2 years ago and found it useful. Since I already had an account, I plucked in my current position to see how my salary measured up. Turned out my pay is right smack in the middle, maybe the HR in my company used payscale.com as well.

I also inputted information for a position that I would have if I were to work in Gas & Energy industry per my college degree. Well, if I had stick with my college degree, I would be earning 15% more than my current salary.

What is your market value?

Do you buy travel insurance when you go on vacation?

I met people from all over the world while traveling through south east Asia last month. The topic of travel insurance came up when the English girl I met on a bus (on Jan. 1) told me about the time she lost everything during one of her backpacking vacation but because she had travel insurance, she could continue her trip. Just out of curiosity, I asked almost everyone I met after her if they bought travel insurance.

Surprisingly, all the Americans I met did not bought insurance butall the non-Americans (European, Australian, Kiwi….) bought travel insurance. A Kiwi told me it’s pretty much a standard for them to always buy travel insurance for vacation that’s one week or longer. However, it is rare for Americans to buy travel insurance.

I did not bought travel insurance because my medical insurance is covered world wide, plus I used credit card for the international flight and the credit card provided travel insurance. Thus , I thought I am cover for most disaster. I suppose that give me enough security to feel invincible. But is that enough?

I wonder why we never really consider travel insurance. Are Americans feel more invincible than others? Or do we just like to save a few bucks?

Do you buy travel insurance?

Do you ever wonder what others spend their money on? I found this NYTimes article, via LA Money Guy, where five New Yorkers revealed how they spent their money.

Their spendings did not seem much until the grand total. It’s surprising how much little expenses added up. Just from the top of my head, here’s my spending for this week (Dec. 18 - 24, 2006).

Monday

• Happy hour at Mediterraneo (for 2 tapas & wine) - $12

Tuesday

• Dinner at King’s Hawaiian (Chicken with Macadamian nuts) - $12

Wednesday

• Overnight bus in Thailand - $25
• Medicine for traveling - $50

Thursday

• Lunch at The Bottle Inn (Pasta and split a bottle of wine with 3 others) - $20
• Parking at The Bridge - $2
• Dinner (Garlic Sausage) from some store at The Bridge - $6

Friday

• Lunch at Little Sheep Cafe (Hot Pot) - $17
• Gas - $35

Saturday

• Bought more stuff for the trip (toothpaste, Imodium AD and other medicines for just in case, anti-bacterial wipes, etc…) - $35
• Parking in downtown LA - $5

Sunday

• Spending quality time with family on Christmas Eve, at home - Priceless

Total spending for week of 12/18: $219

Wow! Assuming I did not forget any expense (and added up right), I’m frugual!

However, if I was to do the spending diary for the week of 12/4 (when all my bills and mortgage payment were due), then the expense for that week would be in THOUSANDS. I think monthly (or annual) spending diary is much more representative than a weekly spending diary.

Anyone wants to share his/her monthly spending diary?

Soon after I bought my house, I was flooded with junk mails offering me new loans, life insurance, equity lines….and all the letter contains very accurate information of my financial situation. It was scary!

Here is a very good write up on how these companies get your information.

To decrease the amount of junk mail,  go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ or call 1-888-567-8688 to opt out of trigger lists.  To stop telemarketer calling you at dinner time, add your phone number to the National Do-Not-Call Registry (https://www.donotcall.gov/) .