Welcome to the  Edition #195 of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

The Carnival of Financial Planning takes a long-term view of personal financial planning for individuals and families. We focus on efficient and sustainable personal financial planning practices that can lead to lifetime financial security.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor, Editor

Budgeting and Economics

No Debt MBA presents Handling money as a couple posted at No Debt MBA, saying, “Having a smooth day-to-day system for handling finances with your significant other can be a big asset to your financial situation. This post describes our system.”

Moneyedup presents Avoid Going into Debt posted at MoneyedUP, saying, “If you are living paycheck to paycheck, you know that one financial setback can turn into a major money problem. The solution, then, is to stop living paycheck to paycheck.”

Jason Price presents How YNAB and Dropbox Work Great Together! posted at One Money Design, saying, “If you’re a YNAB user you’ll appreciate this great tip on how you can get access to your budget file from any computer.”

David Leeman presents Envelope Budget – One of the Easy Ways to Manage Money with Budget Envelopes posted at Financial Freedom Advantage, saying, “If the thought of making a budget is overwhelming, try using the envelope budget method, which utilizes envelopes containing cash to pay for everyday expenses.”

Money Spending Mommy presents Ways to Make Your Budget Work for You posted at Money Spending Mommy, saying, “Whether it’s for your business or personal finances, there’s very little point in having a budget if it is not tailored to meet your needs. If you are trying to make or stick to a budget and having no luck, it may be that you need to make some changes. Here are some things you can try to help your budget work for you.”

Crystal presents Budgeting in Self-Employment posted at Budgeting In The Fun Stuff, saying, “Budgets aren’t for everyone – just those people that want to actually move ahead in life Self-employed or working for a boss, budgets are important to financial health.”

Dean presents The Ultimate Guide To Cutting Your TV Cable posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff, saying, “How to save over a $1000/year by cutting your cable bill the smart and easy way.”

Estate Planning

Marie@familymoneyvalues.com presents Beneficiary Designation Checkup Time posted at FamilyMoneyValues, saying, “A periodic review of the beneficiaries you have designated on your assets and financial accounts is a necessary estate plan health checkup. Here’s how in 6 easy steps.”

Financial Planning

Janet presents Credit Cards as Part of Your Frugal Lifestyle posted at Credit Cards Canada, saying, “When many of us think of frugal living, credit cards do not immediately come to mind. This is because credit cards are, in many minds, connected with free spending ways and debt. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. It is possible to live a frugal lifestyle and still make use of credit cards.”

Jessica Bosari presents Short and Long Term Financial Planning Strategies posted at Term Life Insurance | Cheap Life Insurance Quotes, saying, “When strategizing both short and long term finances, it is necessary to contemplate the risk of loss and to plan for it in financial terms. For example, life insurance is an investment when considered as an income replacement.”

The Family Wallet presents What Is a Foreclosure? What Is a Short Sale? posted at The Family Wallet, saying, “Neither a foreclosure nor a short sale is desirable. Both result in the homeowner losing his home, and both can have similar effects on one’s credit score. But in some instances, one or the other may be considered the lesser of two evils.”

Frank Vertin presents Index Funds posted at Top Index Funds, saying, “Top ten no load index funds that track the Standard and Poors 500 composite index in terms of lowest costs.”

Glen presents What is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and How Will it Help You? posted at Free From Broke, saying, “There’s a new watchdog to help consumers – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. See what it is and how it can help you.”

Health Care

Darwin presents Is Cord Blood Worth It? How Parents Should Weigh Blood Banking Costs posted at Darwin’s Money, saying, “New parents will inevitably be propositioned to have a company store umbilical cord blood from their child’s delivery. Here’s how to assess whether cord blood banking is worth it.”

Dr. Dean presents Infertility: 30 Facts, Figures, Causes, and Costs! posted at The Millionaire Nurse Blog, saying, “Having a family can be expensive but the cost of not being able to have one when you want to may be even higher. Check out these facts and figures.”

Investing

Maxim Kazawy presents Highest Dividend Paying Aristocrat Stocks in Beverage Industry posted at Highest Dividend Paying Stocks, saying, “The market value of top 3 beverage companies in the world exceeds $280 billion. These dividend paying aristocrats are PepsiCo, Coca Cola & Brown Forman. All 3 companies are in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index meaning they have consistently raised their dividends every year for the last 25 years, without missing a single year.”

Nicholas Jackson presents Finding a buyer of structured settlement payments posted at Sovereign Funding Group, saying, “Not every buyer of structured settlement payments is the same. As in any business, you need to check the competition. Don’t be pressured to buy quick, from the biggest brokers of structured settlements. The biggest companies do not always give the best quotes. Don’t be fooled. There are plenty of fine companies out there. Find someone you can trust, someone you feel really cares. The business of buying structured settlement payments is a business just like anything else. However, it’s a business that can help you get a nice-size lump sum settlement for your structured settlement payments and annuities. If you are compelled to sell your structured settlement and need to locate a buyer of structured settlement payments, do some research.”

Barb Friedberg presents The Myth of Covered Call Conservatism posted at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, saying, “Learn a bit about the popular call option investing strategy. Find out if it might be a tactic for you.”

Steve presents Investment Strategies for Women posted at FastSwings, saying, “Woman today need to understand and control their money investments including stocks, funds, real estate and possibly Forex.”

My Journey presents Dividend Investment Portfolio July 2011 Update posted at My Journey to Millions, saying, “I recently had to change the way my dividend investment portfolio operated and I realized that while I came to the logistics of how I would actively invest in it I didn’t actually pick the new stocks I would be investing in for the next couple months. I used to narrow down the Dividend Aristocrat list using the metrics described below and invest in each twice a month for a set amount using Sharebuilder, however, since the change my dividend investment portfolio will have 2 equal parts: Three ETFs that cost nothing to buy through my new broker Fidelity and Random purchases of “the watch list” which is created using the same exact metrics”

Dividends4Life presents 13 Dividend Stocks Delivering Good News With Higher Dividends posted at Dividend Growth Stocks, saying, “I couldn’t begin to estimate how many different stocks are traded around the world on the various exchanges. Like everything else, there are many participants, but few players. Though the population of stocks may be large, there are only a precious few that are worthy dividend stocks. Increasing dividends is one attribute that separates the good dividend stocks from the rest.”

FMF presents Why Do We All Hate Annuities? posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Annuities have a useful purpose for certain types of investors. So why do we all hate them so much?”

Adam presents Why I Am Not In a SIPP and It’s Unlikely You Should Have One Either posted at Magical Penny, saying, “In summary, I’m looking forward to opening a SIPP when the time is right, but it’s not the right time for me at this stage, and if you are in your 20s it’s unlikely the right time for you. But don’t let that stop you from saving and investing in other ways.”

Nelson Smith presents The Basics On Bonds posted at Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “What is a bond? Bonds typically move inversely to stocks. If stocks are down, bonds will be up. During stock market weakness, bonds will lessen portfolio damage.”

Frank Knight presents Investment Asset Allocation posted at Retirement Planning Software, saying, “When you are already there and invested in an asset class, you are following a passive asset allocation strategy. Tactical asset allocation strategy advocates suggest that you can anticipate the crowd, but flow-of-funds studies show that almost all tactical asset allocation fund flows are late money flows that chase performance after valuations have already moved.”

Jim Yih presents Predictions for Gas, Gold and Oil posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying, “Natural Gas, Oil and Gold are popular commodities these days are very topical headline stories in the investment world.”

Hemant Beniwal presents Indian ETF Guide posted at The Financial Literates, saying, “ETF as an investment concept has failed in India. The introductory stride has been lost. Even with 10 years of existence in Indian markets they have not able to make any space in investor’s portfolio.”

FMF presents Simple and Effective Investment Advice posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A short and sweet post on why index funds are so great.”

Pasadena Financial Planner presents Vanguard Index Funds posted at Top Investment Funds, saying, “Compares Vanguard’s actively managed mutual funds and Vanguard’s passively managed index mutual funds. Vanguard investors should read and understand this study.”

Investor Junkie presents OptionsHouse Promotional Code posted at Investor Junkie, saying, “OptionsHouse is currently offering two great offers. For other offers, you may want to visit our best stock brokers section of our web site. In 2011, Barron’s has rated OptionsHouse one of the best options trader three years in a row.”

Managing Credit and Debt

Steve Rhode presents Out of Money and In Debt: Tips, Tricks and Traps posted at Get Out of Debt, saying, “Sometimes the easiest thing to do is save money rather than make money. Here are some simple and easy things you can do when you want to know [how to get out of debt.] [indicates link keywords]”

Tim Chen presents Bank Credit Cards: Explained posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch, saying, “Many different companies issue credit cards. Here’s our rundown on how the credit card ecosystem works, how transactions are processed, and how everyone makes money along the way.”

Andrew Boyd presents 9 Tips for Using Your Credit Card Abroad posted at Credit Cave, saying, “Using your credit card abroad has many benefits, but there are downsides too. This post illustrates the costs of using your card when abroad.”

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey presents A Simple Way to Banish Credit Card Interest posted at My Personal Finance Journey, saying, “Simply put – it’s very difficult to accumulate wealth if you have to pay high interest credit card debt. This post takes a look at the strategy involving the use of 0% balance transfer offers to eliminate your credit card debt balances.”

Jill presents 7 Credit Card Commandments posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, “These commandments are a great way to learn to use credit wisely or to make your credit cards benefit you even further!”

Miscellaneous

Joe Plemon presents How to Help Your Child Purchase That First Car posted at Personal Finance By The Book, saying, “That first car purchase can set a lifetime precedent, so use your parental influence to help your teen do it right.”

Tom presents 3 Common Sense Ways to Grow Wealth posted at Stupid Cents, saying, “In order to grow wealth, the secret is to spend less and save more. Why do so many Americans have trouble doing it? Start changing your financial life.”

jared h presents Avoid Being Scammed posted at RICH AS CHOCOLATE, saying, “This is an article about how to avoid being financially scammed.”

Money Cone presents Sending Money to Family and Friends: My Search for a Pay Pal Alternative Ends Here posted at Money Cone, saying, “My search for the perfect money transfer solution ended when I found this service called PopMoney.”

The Skilled Investor presents Market Timing Does Not Work posted at Personal Financial Management, saying, “Always stay invested to earn risk premiums. You must have your money invested and at risk to get risk premium returns. Jumping out and in or “timing the markets” doesn’t work.”

Bob presents 11 Steps To Starting An Online Business posted at ChristianPF, saying, “These were the steps I took to start my online business and they will vary depending on the type of business you are wanting to start. Hopefully they will give you some ideas of some things you need to keep in mind…”

Retirement Planning

Daniel presents Government Could Lower Social Security Benefits Without Anyone Noticing posted at Sweating The Big Stuff, saying, “Did you know that there is a Social Security proposal that would cost the average retiree about $18,000 over 25 years.”

Jim Wilkerson presents No Load Index Funds posted at No Load Funds, saying, “Very young stock and bond mutual funds are more likely to put you into the position of being an experimental guinea pig of mutual fund companies and the ETF industry.”

Savings

Walter W. Fouse presents Large Cap Mutual Funds posted at Mutual Funds, saying, “This table of low cost top 10 S&P 500 mutual funds has been organized with the lowest cost index fund first. Nevertheless, each of these S & P 500 index funds is among the least costly on the market.”

Taxes

Richard Walker presents Your Tax Code and Your State Pension posted at Tax Codes, saying, “Learn how your tax code is affected by your pension and other benefits.”

Mike Piper presents Types of Income Tax Deductions posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “Many taxpayers are unaware that some types of deductions are more valuable than others.”

Financial Freedom presents Roth Contributions, posted at Retirement Spreadsheet , saying, “The Roth tax optimization puzzle for asset conversions, as well as for annual Roth contributions during working years, is one of the most complex decisions that the ridiculously complex US taxation and retirement planning system forces upon individuals.”

Miranda presents Short Term vs Long Term Capital Gains posted at Outlaw Finance: Investing Blog, saying, “It is important to understand the difference between short and long term capital gains as a tax payer and investor.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Financial Planning using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of financial planning, blog carnival.