How Much Are Credit Card Issuers Charging Merchants?

Do you know why some small businesses refuse to take credit cards, and do you know why credit card companies can afford giving away 1% cash-back or even more when you swipe your card? Yes, your card issuers will charge any business you pay by credit card. But by how ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

100 Best Companies to Work For (2009 Edition)

Fortune magazine just released its 2009 installment of "100 Best Companies to Work For". Here are the top ten companies. 1. NetApp 2. Edward Jones 3. Boston Consulting 4. Google 5. Wegmans 6. Cisco 7. Genentech 8. Methodist Hospital 9. Goldman Sachs 10. Nugget Market And the link to the ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

What You Should Know About 2008 Individual Income Tax Returns

The cliché goes that there are only two things remain constant in this world: death and taxes. With this year's April 15 deadline approach, do you know some important tax law changes that might affect your individual income tax return? Below is a ">concise compilation from CCH CompleteTax of what ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Monthly Update - January 2009 ($796,679, -$11,654)

We continued to live below our means and save a huge portion of our income. But even though our portfolio is only mildly exposed to equity investments, we still took a hit from worst market performance in any January since 1928. As a result, our net worth retreated 1.4% and ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

How A Year Is Lost

As a farewell bid to 2008, I compiled a full reconciliation table of the investment gains and losses in the unfortunate year of 2008. Technical Notes: - Purchase = Total money paid to acquire additional stock or mutual fund shares, including commission. - Sale = Net proceeds from selling stock ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Investment Plan 2009, Part 1: The Macroeconomic Assessments

For a long time, I had been rather sporadic in managing my investments, picking up a fancy stock today, and jumping into another mutual fund the next day. Obviously the approach was proven wrong in 2008. So my new year's wish: more rigor in managing my financials. After all, although ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

What Is the White House Worth In the Market?

Can you put a price tag on the White House? Of course, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will never be put to the market, but the online real estate site Zillow.com decides to make some timely noise now that the new First Family only needs to wait for another 10 days to ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Why Did I Sell All My Stock? (And Not)

My stock picking days are finally over, for now. Back in April 2003, I bought my first stock -- Pre Paid Legal Service (PPD). Over the six and half years since, I bought a total of 33 stocks. As late as May, I was sitting on almost quarter-a-million portfolio of ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Best and Worst Performing Stock Markets of 2008

How bad did the worldwide stock markets perform in 2008? Too bad that there is only one country with some positive gains. And comparing to the 94% plunge of Iceland stock market, we are truly blessed to "only" sustain 30%-plus loss in the States. Via BBC: The Best Performing Stock ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Free Credit Score for Everyone

Isn't it good that when you wake up from hibernation, everything in the world is better? A good portion of personal finance planning is about credit management, and that usually involves you keep track of your credit report and credit score, so as to maintain a good credit record that ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

The $1M Goal Revisited: Should I Take Risk?

One of the few things that are long-lived at PFBlog is the $1M goal stated in the tag line. When I started PFBlog in 2003, my intention is to use the blog to track my progress to become a millionaire by the age of 40. It doesn't take long for ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Annual Update 2008 ($808,333)

It's time to face the moment of truth. After a lapse of six months (which all of us want to forget), let's pick up again the monthly ritual of reporting my net worth. Here comes our balance sheet at the end of the year: The worst market performance since 1930s ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Bye Bye 2008

2008 is finally around the corner now. What a busy year! Now 2008 will soon be a memory, I took the chance to write a final annual summary so the year will be remembered when I looked back decades from now. Family What's Good: My wife, my son and I ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

Monthly Update - May 2008 ($885,297, +$12,932)

While our portfolio barely made an inch, we continued to save a substantial part of our take-home pay and this ultimately drove home a 1.5% net worth addition in May. Should I feel good that Our net worth winning streak is finally extended to the third months? For the four ...

This post comes from PFBlog.com, The Best Personal Finance Blog .

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