Daily Note: May 2009

Friday, May 29, 2009

Unsecured Check Loans

Consumers can take out unsecured check loans, these loans usually range from $100 to $1500. To gain the amount you desire between the ranges mentioned before, depends on qualifications like monthly income and ability to repay the loan. Getting a check loan that is unsecured means that you are not required to use any of your personal assets as collateral in order to obtain the loan. Many consumers prefer this option over secured loans because of this reason. Apply for unsecured check loans is very easy and can be done online. This also makes getting approved for the loan much easier, as there are not as many requirements to obtain a loan online.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Will Susan Boyle's Meltdown Cost her a Fortune?

Did Susan Boyle have a meltdown?

Susan Boyle

Reports have flooded the news media about what’s being called the “Susan Boyle Meltdown.” According to several sources, Susan Boyle unleashed a tirade of curses at strangers in a hotel lobby in London. The strangers were insulting her, or “trying to wind her up,” as the Brits say.

Sources close to Susan Boyle have said that she has been stressed out since making it into the finals of “Britain’s Got Talent.” However, I don’t know if I’d call chewing out some strangers who were asking for it a “total meltdown,” as many tabloids are calling it.

The price of near-fame

While it may have done her some good to blow off some steam, it might not have been the best financial decision, and could send her back to a life of needing a loan till payday. Susan Boyle is set to compete in the finals on UK television show “Britain’s Got Talent.” A win would ensure her a future filled with financial stability, fame and success.

However, her reputation as a simple, sweet, humble, middle-aged woman is what got her all of this attention in the first place, along with her amazing voice, of course. If this mishap changes her fans’ views of her, all that cash she could have had her hands on may stay a fantasy forever.

Here is some background on Susan Boyle, in case you missed the story:

Suddenly Susan

Word spread quickly about Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle. She appeared on "Britain's Got Talent" in April, and she hasn't left the spotlight since. Shortly after her appearance on the British show, she appeared on CNN's "American Morning,” and reported that she was "absolutely gobsmacked" by her sudden fame. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Will Susan Boyle's Meltdown Cost her a Fortune?"

Credit Union Service Centers Provide Shared Branching

Chris M. sent me e-mail last week to share some thoughts on rewards checking and on credit unions. I’m a fan of both. In his message, Chris offered a handy tip for those of us who use credit unions instead of banks:

In reviewing your past posts, I realized that you might not know about something I use to get around going out of your way to the credit union all the time. I always work during banking hours, so I make all my deposits via ATM. I use a CU Service Center. The one I use has only two-day hold on deposits, like the credit union. Other credit unions may have five-day hold, which is not so nice. Here’s where I found my credit union service center.

Credit unions are a fantastic option for many people. They’re member-owned not-for-profit financial institutions that usually have strong ties to a local community. They tend to cooperate with each other instead of compete.

Despite the great rates and excellent service, credit unions do have drawbacks. Huge national banks provide hundreds (or thousands) of branches around the country, and there are often dozens within a single city. It’s easy to find help when you need it.

However, credit unions tend to be local. You’re not likely to find offices all over your city. I chose my credit union because it has two branches near my home, a branch near the family business, and two additional branches nearby. But if I’m on the other side of Portland and need to do some banking, there’s no office available.

Fortunately, most credit unions in the United States offer shared branching. It’s as if they’re all a member of one enormous banking network. The website Chris M. sent me last week offers a list of shared credit union service centers, making it easy to find a nearby credit union, even when you’re on the road.

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I try and decide if I believe in ghosts sometimes

My grandma once said she saw a ghost. She is also crazy so I don't know if that is valid. I think that there are ghosts. I don't know if they are necessarily bad or not. I think that they are probably nice. They probably help people out rather than haunting them. I bet that there can also be ghosts of people who have died that just want to say goodbye to their family and loved ones. I don't know if ghosts would actually hurt anyone. Maybe if they were evil ghosts they might. All I know is I have never seen one so I don't know anything about them.

Atlantis returns. Spacemen: no change in earthly recession

We saw no signs of the recession in outer space

I know that when I leave town on a 2-day business trip, I expect to find great changes when I return. It's only natural; one leaves one's own environment, flies off to a totally different place, there's a change in the weather, major differences in the food and upheavals in conversation topics. Then you come back and hey! Nothing's changed since I left? Hard to believe-isn’t it?

Now you're an astronaut

So if the effect on a normal earth-bound human is surprising, imagine what an astronaut feels. He's been torn out of earth's gravity for 12 days, he has been in a state of weightlessness, his blood pressure is zero and the blood is probably circulating anti-clockwise, he has lost his connection to the stock exchange and in fact has been worrying that it may not be there and that he will have to start applying for all sorts of Personal Loans to make it through to the end of the month. His arrival has been delayed for 2 days, he was diverted to a different airport and he can't sue the airline.

What happened to the recession?

He puts one foot down gingerly onto mother earth and faces the crowd of reporters who have been hanging around the landing strip for 48 hours without sleep, food or cigarettes. "Welcome back to earth, Commander! How were things in outer space?" "All was okay. How's the stock exchange doing?" the reporter looks him as though he has been too near to the sun or the moon. "How did the crew behave, Commander?" "Fine. What's with the swine flu? Have the scientists isolated the guilty bug yet?" "No change. Commander, how was the food on the trip?" "Tasteless, as on all flights. Are there any changes in the housing market?" ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Atlantis returns. Spacemen: no change in earthly recession"

Credit Cards: What Should Be In Your Wallet?

While some companies have jacked up the cost of their credit cards before new legislation goes into effect, others are already making changes that will benefit consumers. Experts give guidelines for figuring out which credit card works best for you.

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Andersons Experiment With Buying Black

Maggie Anderson travels 14 miles to the grocery store, can no longer use her favorite brand of shampoo, and can’t find a toy store. Why? She and her family are conducting an “Empowerment Experiment:” Patronize black-owned businesses only, for a year.

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Swine Flu Symptoms:

One can clearly notice the pandemonium among the public in many countries that have been kept on high alert. Lakhs of people are flocking the Internet to be aware of the symptoms of Swine Flu. It's really difficult to distinguish between the symptoms of normal flu and swine flu. In both cases, the patient may suffer from respiratory disorders, high fever, sore throat, headache and body aches. The only difference though is that, a swine flu patient may also suffer from complications such as diarrhea and vomiting. So don’t forget to gather information about the Swine Flu and undertake precautionary measures. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Myron Rolle Skips NFL to Study at Oxford University

MA over NFL

Florida State Safety Myron Rolle faced a huge decision: a practically guaranteed spot in the NFL or a Rhodes scholarship to study at University of Oxford in England.

Myron Rolle was predicted a first-round NFL draft pick after his team, the Seminoles, finished a 9-4 season. Consensus states Myron Rolle would have been a shoo-in, but he chose Oxford instead.

Jack of all trades

Myron Rolle says he wants to become a neurosurgeon after he finishes his studies at Oxford. So, his football career is done? He won’t join the NFL, right? Wrong. Myron Rolle plans to enter in the 2010 NFL draft.

Furthermore, this summer he’ll be writing a children’s book and doing a wide array of charity work.

The one who came before

So, why would someone pass up the instant money that comes with playing for the NFL to keep hitting the books? I guess you’d have to ask Bill Bradley, who in 1965 skipped out on the NBA to study at Oxford.

The Rhodes scholarship will cover Myron Rolle’s tuition plus “a monthly maintenance stipend to cover accommodation and living expenses,” says Wikipedia. The average NFL starting salary is $3.5 million. Clearly, Myron Rolle isn’t after money.

More on Myron

Bradley, by the way, had a successful career with the New York Nicks, won two NBA title, and later became a longtime New Jersey Senator. Myron Rolle was raised in New Jersey and started playing football in the ninth grade. During his high school football career, Myron Rolle made 112 tackles (14 for a loss) while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Some things never change. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Myron Rolle Skips NFL to Study at Oxford University"

AT&T American Idol Voting Controversy Burns Lambert Fans

Reality bites Adam Lambert?

There’s nothing real about reality television. Most of us know this already, but that doesn’t tend to detract from our enjoyment of the completely fabricated situation. If you buy into the farce and fantasy of television and seek to shut down your brain for a while, you more than likely have at least sampled reality TV. Imagine yourself as a contestant, competing for a big pot of money and fame. It’s easy… sitting back, wanting that money.

You probably want no fax payday loans with no credit check too, don’t you? That’s an easier order to fill, as you don’t have to wait in line for an entire day before having to do your song and dance for judges. Yes, installment loans for bad credit are easier to come by.

But what about Adam Lambert? Many sources predicted he’d win American Idol, but challenger Kris Allen walked away with the coveted crown. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s an American Idol voting controversy to go along with this little mess.

Was American Idol voting fixed?

Going in, I must be honest. I accept that everything on television is rigged, including the news. Everything is an edited, subjective version of reality. This Idol controversy only serves to prove the point to me.

Scott Sabatini blogs for the Examiner that the latest American Idol election is currently under scrutiny. An Arkansas news station reported that the population of Kris Allen’s home state voted for their Idol 38 million times, pushing him past the heavily favored Lambert. Not long after, the story was retracted. Further, AT&T (an official American Idol sponsor) admitted that some of their employees may have taught fans at parties in Arkansas on election night how to blast 3,000 to 5,000 votes apiece via a special AT&T power texting technique. It is also clear that no such information was released to Adam Lambert backers in California that night. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "AT&T American Idol Voting Controversy Burns Lambert Fans"

How Much of Your Portfolio Should Be in Stocks When You Enter Retirement?

March 9, 2009 was a bad day to retire. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its bottom of 6,547, a low not seen since 1997. If you followed mass-market retirement investing advice, you may have entered retirement with a portfolio 100% invested in a stock market index, like the S&P 500, whose pattern is similar to the Dow.

If you began formally planning a year in advance on March 9, 2008 with a portfolio worth $1,000,000, by the time you retired one year later, that portfolio may have only been worth $600,000. This market drop has left investors feeling betrayed by the long-term promises of a diversified portfolio stocks, usually touting an eight to twelve percent return over long periods of time, depending on whom you ask.

This is no consolation to new retirees who lost 40% or more of their portfolio and have had to change their plans. Unless you cash out your entire investment portfolio on the day you retire, the market drop won’t have a permanent effect on your finances. If you are healthy, you can expect to live several decades in retirement. Your portfolio must be aggressive enough, even in retirement, to last as long as you need it. Stocks might still be an important part of your portfolio in order to achieve the growth necessary for your income from investments to last at least as long as you continue live.

The recent downturn has forced people re-evaluate the level of risk they are willing to accept in their portfolios. When the market experiences a multi-year rally, investors are more likely to say they are willing to accept risk if it will increase the chances of long-term growth, while economic recessions frighten investors away from the riskier choices. While these are human instincts, the more you can separate your emotions from your finances, the better you will be off in the long run.

This is a difficult task thanks to the exabytes of information we can access about our own money with the click of a button. We receive quarterly statements from our investment accounts in the mail explaining in plain text how much money we have lost on paper, and these statements do not apologize nor do they include just one frowning emoticon to make us feel better.

While stocks are the best bet for long-term growth, a balanced portfolio should include some bonds to cover retirement funds you may need within ten years. On the date you retire, you should know how much money you’ll need to draw from your investments each year. Your bonds should cover that amount, leaving room for some growth. But that needs to be balanced by your long-term needs in retirement. Having too much invested in bonds runs the risk that your investments will not last throughout the remainder of your life. If your nest egg is small, keeping ten years’ worth of income in bonds may not leave enough of your portfolio left for stocks, if any.

This difficulty is one of the primary reasons people often choose annuities for retirement. You can take a part of your retirement nest egg and buy an insurance product that “promises” a certain absolute return for a set period of time or the remainder of your life. Buying an annuity when you’ve all ready lost 40% of your account value can result in a smaller benefit than you were planning to live on, and that could be a problem.

There is no easy solution to this problem. Even if you don’t retire on the day the stock market hits its lowest point, chances are good the stock market will be significantly down during some point during the next few decades. Here is what I plan on doing:

Approaching retirement with an investment allocation among stocks and bonds that matches by true level of risk tolerance. It’s best to measure your risk tolerance during a period in which you are experiencing neither high or low returns on your investments to keep emotions and short-term memory out of the equation.
Rebalancing my portfolio periodically to ensure I’m not more exposed to any investment type. As stocks experience a boom, it’s natural to keep money in stocks to ride the wave. Avoid a crash by keeping an eye on the percentages and move money around when the portfolio is unbalanced.
Adjusting my asset allocation using the lowest risk investments that will provide the needed returns. Suze Orman, with a portfolio value of $25 million, keeps $24 million invested in bonds. These investments results likely approach $1 million each year. She also investments another $1 million in stocks, an amount she can afford to lose. If annual needs are provided for by an investment offering a lower but more stable return, stick with the lower-risk investments rather than accepting unneeded risks.

What will your portfolio look like when you entire retirement?

Photo credit: Scubabix

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How Much of Your Portfolio Should Be in Stocks When You Enter Retirement?

Tracking the Economy By Looking at Underwear

According to Alan Greenspan, this is of the first types of spending that consumers give up when a recession is felt personally. When men come to the point at which they need to save more money than usual and decide to cut bank their spending, underwear is at the top of the list of possible reductions. Because underwear is invisible to the public, man apparently have no shame in letting the fabric deteriorate more than they would when a flush bank account would allow them to replace tattered undergarments when necessary.

Furthermore, an increase in underwear purchases could signal the beginning of a recovery. If this is true, it’s bad news for the economy in the next few years. Underwear industry experts are predicting no growth in sales until 2013.

I have not noticed any decline in my own undergarment purchases. My overall spending on clothing has remained strong as I have been replacing some of the clothing I’ve owned for ten years or more, some of which no longer fits anyway. My underwear doesn’t necessarily last as long before I replace the old clothing with something new.

Tracking the economy by looking at underwear

Purchases of women’s underwear does not correlate to the recession. Any time is a good time for buying lingerie.

Have you reduced your clothing purchases, particularly underwear, to save money this past year?

If you can’t answer this question because you don’t know how much you spend on clothing, consider tracking your expenses for a period of time. You might find you have some opportunities to save money across your entire budget.

How your undies track the recession, Michael Brush, MSN Money, May 27, 2009
Photo credit: williamnyk

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Tracking the Economy By Looking at Underwear

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream

The eyes are the reflectors of the mind. Eyes are also the ventilator to the soul. Therefore watching the eyes, it can be said easily whether the guy is healthy or not. A person's age can be guessed to watch the fine lines and wrinkles on the skin of the eyes. A good and much qualitative anti wrinkle eye cream will help persons to remove the deep scratches and wrinkles from the skin around the eyes. In addition, algae is a natural anti-wrinkle component which can also remove the wrinkles from the skin texture of the eyes. Nano-lipid component can also be applied to the skin. However creams which contain adequate amount of the CoQ10 are much efficient and effective to the betterment of the condition of the skin texture. Coenzyme 10 which is a well known antioxidant can bring charisma and luster to the skin surface around the eyes. Eyederma™, Z. Bigatti ReStoration Eye Return™ including Okusil™ are much standard and qualitative medications for the removal of the wrin kles from the skin of eyes.

AcaiBurn-Weight Loss Medication

An obese can regain the luster and elegance of the body by shrugging the excessive weight. Frankly speaking, there are a number of the weight loss medications in the market but all these medications are not effective to serve the purpose. AcaiBurn is such a weight loss medicine which will remove 12.54 to 14.99 pounds whereas the placebo has the capability to lose 3.06-3.53 pounds on average basis. However, to get the positive and quick result, one should take the proper dietary program along with the consumption of this weight loss pills on regular basis. Frankly speaking AcaiBurn loaded with the antioxidant and appetite suppressants like the extracts of Garcinia, cambogia chromium polyniconate, Gymnema sylvestre , green tea and 100% qualitative and pure Acai berry essence. These berries are laden with the antioxidants and fiber which are helpful to cleanse the body improving the health condition of human beings. Therefore, through the regular intake of the AcaiBurn medica tion, an obese can lose the additional weight and he will be elegant and smart.

Roller coasters scare me so much

My worst fear is that I will be on a wooden roller coaster when it decides to catch on fire. I developed this fear when I was at a theme park one time. I was riding on one of those old car rides where you drive the old car around the park. I saw the legs of one of the wooden roller coasters and it had a fire extinguisher. This of course made no sense to me. I'm pretty sure that if the wooden roller coaster caught on fire, a fire extinguisher that was pretty far away wouldn't be much help. Now I will forever be afraid of wooden roller coasters.

Frogs are so cool

Along with frogs come lily pads which are also just as cool. When I was a kid there was this little pond in a field next to our house. There used to be a ton of frogs out there. I would play with those frogs all day long. I brought one home once in a box. It leaped out into my yard and I lost it. It was so sad for me. To this day I still love frogs. In our pond in our yard we have a few frogs. My kids love playing with them. I hope they reproduce and are there for a long time.

Daily Links: Health, Investing, and Disasters

I had a colonoscopy today. Though 40 is young to elect to have this procedure, my family has a history of cancer (including some colon cancer). The older I get, the more I come to understand how important my health is. I used to say that your career is your most important asset. It’s not. Your health is. And so I’m becoming more concerned with preventative measures. They’ll save me money in the long run — and they’ll keep me alive!

Now that this procedure is out of the way, I’m ready to return to this blog full-time. I feel like I’ve been out of the loop lately, and that’s no fun. To begin with, here are some interesting stories from around the web:

First up, check out the latest episode of the Consumerism Commentary podast from my pal Flexo. He and Tom Dziubek interviewed me recently about pursuing passions. It was a fun conversation. (Also, the second part of my interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is up. Part one here.)

Earlier today I published a guest post that encouraged you to be more involved in your financial planning. I think this is great advice, but all the same, there are circumstances for which it makes sense to hire a professional. A recent Forbes article makes the argument (that I don’t agree with, by the way) that most investors should hire professionals to run their portfolios: “The average investor shouldn’t be managing their own money but, instead, farming it out to professionals who are going to be focused 100% of the time.” My advice? Do what works for you.

Elsewhere, a recent issue of Time featured an interview with Martin Lindstrom about how shoppers make decisions in a recession. “Consumers still do have money — at least many do — but the reason that they’re not spending it is because they’re afraid they may lose the money in the future,” Lindstrom says. “So companies are trying to find the triggers they have to pull on in order to make people feel comfortable about spending money.” You know how much I like stories about the psychology of money! I’ll have to read Lindstrom’s book.

Finally, Trent at The Simple Dollar has pulled together a great post on a subject I’ve been meaning to write about for months: preparing your information for disaster. What info do you need to gather and why? What about an emergency plan? And how should you store it? Trent’s system is similar to the one I’ve devised for myself.

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I wish we had a swimming pool in our back yard

I would give my nieces and nephews swimming lessons and go swimming every day. When I was a kid, I went to this place and would go swimming once a month with other girls around the same age as us. There was a deep side and a shallow side. You had to pass a swimming test in order to go to the deep side by swimming all the way across the pool and back. I tried to do it even though I didn't know how to swim. I am pretty sure that is the closest I have ever come to drowning before. Now I love swimming and wish I could teach my nieces and nephews to love it too.

Sotomayor | Obama's Pick For Supreme Court Justice

Sotomayor choice blasted by conservatives

Judge Sonia Sotomayor could go all the way to the Supreme Court. But this time, it isn’t because one of her decisions is being overturned by the conservative justices. And it isn’t because she was involved in a ruling on consumer finance products like installment loans or quick cash loans. President Obama has named Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

Kris Alingod reports for All Headline News that Sonia Sotomayor is the president’s pick to fill the soon-to-be-vacant slot that retiring Justice David Souter will leave. Sotomayor must still receive Senate approval, but sweet sassy mollassy, is Fox News already up in arms. It’s no surprise. Griping over the liberal wave is all that keeps them from drowning.

Sonia Sotomayor: the empathy judge?

This is President Obama’s first appointment to the Supreme Court, one that he has come by after due consultation with bipartisan lawmakers. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) were in the committee. Justice Souter is retiring in the summer of 2009, so the time is now to seek confirmation. The court’s next term begins October 5. Will the Senate (which is predominantly liberal) confirm Obama’s choice of Sotomayor? ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Sotomayor | Obama's Pick For Supreme Court Justice"

Sotomayor | Obama's Pick For Supreme Court Justice

Sotomayor choice blasted by conservatives

Sonia Sotomayor: the empathy judge?

What You Need to Know About the Thrift Savings Plan

Q I invested in my former employer’s 401(k) plan for years, then lost my job. I now work for the federal government and have the opportunity to invest in the Thrift Savings Plan. How does this plan work, and can I roll my 401(k) money into it?

Avoid the Financial Headache in Retirement

Especially during the first morning after a long weekend, the alarm clock ranks first in the most hated invention of all time. That irritating buzz signals that yes, the sweet days off the 9-5 are over. There’s no more sleeping in, no more watching TV all day and no more time to look for the latest and greatest movie to enjoy this afternoon. There’s work, work and more work.

Most of us look for remedies to feel better in the morning. Perhaps it’s a cup of extra strong coffee to awaken our senses or a healthy dose of Tylenol to cure our hangover. Yet, these are all bandits and not cures to the problem. Listen carefully folks. Our wakeupphobia has nothing to do with today but everything to do with yesterday.

We don’t want to wake up because we slept too late.
We don’t want to go to work because we are still tired.
And we are tired because we never gave our bodies a chance to recover.

If we prepared ourselves to fail, how can we blame the alarm clock for doing its job?

From the Morning of a Long Weekend to 7am of the First Day of Retirement

Now imagine that it’s 7am of the first day of retirement:

Are you looking forward to the rest of your years without work or are you going to be sweating from your financial hangover?
Are you going to hate the alarm clock because it’s yelling at you for not having enough money to retire comfortably?

Those trying to find a Tylenol for their finances are not going to be very happy to hear that there’s no such pill. The yester-years was fun. In fact, all parties are amazing during the moment, but most of them leave a nasty headache in the morning after.

If you want to begin the day with energy, then start thinking about how you spend the weekend.
If you want to start your retirement feeling positive, then start thinking about how you spend the working years.

The choice is yours. Enjoy the coffee this morning, because your company is still paying for it.

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