Financial Carnival for Young Adults – 4th Edition

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Financial Carnival for Young Adults. My purpose with this carnival is to create an easy-to-find place about finances for young adults. The carnival is hosted here at 20′s Finances each week and features the most recent articles from around the web.

Money

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes How to Get Paid to Be a Better Person - If you miss the days of getting rewarded for being a better person then Dailyfeats.com is definitely a site worth checking out.

Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Michigan Gives Food Stamps to Lottery Winner - The state of Michigan is giving food stamps to Amanda Clayton, the winner of a $1 million lottery prize. Blame Michigan for this blunder, not Amanda.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Rich Are Never Rich Enough - Earning $196K per year is a nice chunk of change and definitely puts you in the so-called One Per Cent—the top one per cent of income earners in Canada according to the latest Statistics Canada numbers. To break down the $196,000 annual income further, it works out to roughly $10,400 a month, after taxes.

Erika @ Newlyweds on a Budget writes How to make money as a mystery shopper - Mystery Shopping has a lot of perks. It may not be a lot of pay, but you can get free groceries, oil changes, restaurant meals and more!

Jason @ Work Save Live writes Money Won’t Make You Happy…But It Will Buy You Stuff! - “Money won’t make you happy …but everybody wants to find out for themselves.” – Zig Ziglar Some people say that ‘MONEY is the root of all evil.’ The problem is that we all need money to live. There are bills to pay and food to put on the table.

Investing

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Roth vs. Traditional IRA: Pros and Cons – Find out the pros and cons of a roth ira and a traditional ira. Which ira is right for you?

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes What March Madness Has In Common With Choosing Investments – It’s march madness time! Who doesn’t love this time of the year? Avoid these pitfalls in picking your investments (and these bracket busters)!

101 Centavos @ 101 Centavos writes Investing in Farmland – So the world is running out of food, water and natural resources. We’re all gonna die. Eventually, sure. But not just yet. In the meantime, the land gets mor scarce.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes Are High Yield Bonds Over or Under Valued?..It Depends - high yield spreads over treasuries are still very attractive, and no where near historical lows.

Dividend Ninja @ The Dividend Ninja writes Building My Portfolio for Retirement, with Dividends and Bonds - In my mid to late 40′s, my focus of late has been more on planning for retirement and how I will generate a consistent monthly income to fund my retirement. I find myself in between the need to increase my portfolio through capital appreciation, but also for the need to generate monthly income in retirement.

LaTisha @ Financial Success for Young Adults writes How Much will My New House Cost? - What are the factors that affect the price of my home? How can I use a mortgage calculator to determine my payments and if I need private mortgage insurance?

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes 10 Costly Mistakes First Time Home Buyers Make - Below are 10 of the most common and costly mistakes first time home buyers can make and how to avoid them.

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes What to Invest in? - Are you wondering what to invest in? Where to invest your money? Find out what you should not be doing.

FG @ Financial God writes Should You Worry About Gold Confiscation? - Are you worried about the government coming in and outlawing private gold possession again? After all, it wouldn’t be the first time they had done so — the same was done by the FDR government, back in the Great Depression.

Kanwal @ Simply Investing writes Are These 3 Investing Statements True or False? - What are the 3 common investing myths? Do you succumb to these myths or chart your own investing path? Don’t let these investing myths prevent you from investing successfully. 1. Investing on your own is very risky. False! Investing on your own is only risky if you don’t know what your are doing. Investing is only risky if you are speculating.

Debt

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Pay off Your Student Loans – Whether you read through magazines or listen to personal finance experts, they all say the same thing: there is no rush to pay off your student loans. They will cite reasons such as tax-deductible interest and higher returns on your money by investing. I disagree with both. You should pay off your student loans as quickly as possible.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Procrastination has Actually Paid Off: Refinancing Our Mortgage – I cannot think of many examples where procrastination has paid off in either my life or in someone else’s life.

Steve @ Money Infant writes How to Quickly Pay Off Your Credit Cards - Do you want a simple formula for paying off your credit cards as quickly as possible? This is what I did to get rid of $60k worth of debt in just 33 months.

Matt @ Living in Financial Excellence writes Your Debt Free Date - Whether you realize it or not, you already have a debt free date. Whether you are already on a plan to pay everything off or you aren’t even paying attention, you are already on a path to becoming debt free someday. Even if you don’t pay extra on your debts, if you stop borrowing money for cars or college or dinner on your credit card you will automatically become debt free.

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes American Debt Levels Back on The Rise - The New York Post recently posted a story about Americans deb levels. After the financial meltdown of 2008, Americans were on a tear paying down their debt levels and saving money. Sadly, the trend looks as though it is ending

General Finance

Dana @ Not Made of Money writes Understanding How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft - Identity theft has become a huge problem today. Your personal and financial information can be stolen and used by another person, ruining your credit for years.

Jeremy Waller @ Personal Finance Whiz writes Carpooling Etiquette: 10 Ground Rules To Keep Your Sanity - Get carpooling off to a good start by establishing ground rules. Here are 10 carpooling tips to help you iron out all the details, including necessary vehicle insurance, carpool etiquette and logistics.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes The Ghosts of my Financial Past & Where I am Today - I’ve never hidden the fact that I used to completely SUCK with money, but I thought it might be helpful for myself as well as others to revisit the ghosts…

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Financial Protection: Pretending You’re Broke - Protecting yourself financially by pretending you have no money, even if you do.

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes We May be House Hunting Soon - Yep, hell has frozen over and pigs are flying, Mr. BFS and I are thinking about house hunting soon for a larger home. The prices are just so low!

krantcents @ KrantCents writes The 3 H’s of Success - The 3 H’s of Success is the eighth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal What are your goals? I know you thought about it! You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made! Before you can get to where you want to be, you need to know where you have been.

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes Some Jobs Pay More Than You Think - The other day I overheard a conversation in the park while waiting for my pug to sniff a dry bush on the curb. Two girls were power walking, passing by me, discussing something animatedly.

KT @ Personal Finance Journey writes How to Save on Living Expenses When You Live Alone - In the United States, 11 percent of people under the age of 30 live alone (U.S. News). I lived alone for two years when I was in graduate school, and I loved the experience. However, living alone, especially in an urban area, can be expensive.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes What Location Independence Would Mean for Me - Have you ever wondered what location independence or the ability to work from anywhere would offer you? Find out what it means for me.

Ryan @ Early Retirement Investments writes Is It Better to Bank With a Credit Union? - Read my view on which is the better option.

Mike @ Rewards Cards USA writes Common Non-Reward Credit Card Perks - When we think of credit card perks, we often immediately think of rewards programs. However, it is worth noting that even non-reward credit cards come with perks.

Boomer @ Boomer & Echo writes The Best Time To Start Saving Is Now - This story demonstrates an important lesson in building wealth – the sooner you start saving, the more you will accumulate:

AverageJoe @ Average Joe’s Money Blog writes 5 Good Reasons to Hire a Financial Advisor and 2 Bad Ones - As a former financial advisor, I was lucky that many people hired me. Sometimes it was for good reasons and others…not so much. Here are some of the best and worst.

Pam Whitlock @ The MoneyTrail Blog writes Teaching Your Kids about Money: March Edition - This month we look at using short term and long term savings to develop delayed gratification skills with your kids. Studies have shown that kids who can delay gratification have a higher chance of being financially successful as adults.

Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes Saving Money with a Digital Wallet – Google Wallet vs Isis - A digital wallet is an electronic packet that contains information such as credit card numbers and shipping addresses that can be used when purchasing goods and services. This digital information is kept at a central vault if you will, and in theory will make it much more difficult for hackers to steal digital information. This technology allows consumers to make online purchases without ever entering personal information.

Ken Faulkenberry @ AAAMP Blog writes How to Protect Yourself From Investment Fraud, Scams, and Schemes - Avoid investment fraud, scams, and schemes by being cognizant, watching for warning signs, and implementing principles and solutions to protect yourself.

Emily @ Evolving Personal Finance writes My Biggest Financial Mistake and Why I’m Glad I Made It - I thought I had the retirement stuff on set-and-forget. So why was my IRA balance linearly increasing while the stock market tanked?

Shaun @ Smart Family Finance writes When Should You Rent and Not Buy? – Renting can save you money if you follow the rules and understand when you should rent instead of buy.

Linsey @ 1099 Mom writes How Do I Become a Virtual Assistant? – With the rise in businesses seeking to have an Internet presence as well as the success of bloggers, the field of virtual assistant work continues to rise. Working as a virtual assistant is a convenient job for a WAHM to have because the schedule is often flexible; you can work around your family’s schedule as long as you get the work done by the designated deadline.

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes How To Activate Your Score Gains Thinking – This Post was Originally published at How To Activate Your Score Gains Thinking on Start Investing Money. You’ll never score a goal if you aren’t charging for the end zone.

Busy Exec @ The “Busy Executive” Money Blog writes Can you retire on non-traditional assets like personal collections? – One of the things rarely discussed in PF blogs are non-traditional assets in the form of “personal collections”. The fact of the matter is that any item can take on greater value. Usually that value increase comes from age, historical significance or limited availability of the item in the future.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes How Has Your Childhood Affected Your Money Habits? – Think back on your childhood and choose one word to describe the feelings you had about money as a child.

Jeffrey @ Money Spruce writes Can a Personal MBA be just as good as the real thing? – MBAs are expensive, but a cheaper and more effective alternative may be the Personal MBA that you can get nearly for free.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes The Rule of 100 – Who doesn’t love rules of thumb? They are typically an oversimplified solution to a complex question. The only problem with them is that everyone is different. It’s difficult to dish out such broad applications to such unique situations. There is one rule of thumb that I do like. It’s the rule of 100.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes How Much Time Do You Waste? – Find out the two biggest places that people waste their time and what you can do to avoid it.

Justin @ Budget Snob writes How to Lower Your Life Insurance Premiums – Fortunately, there are simple ways you can help keep your life insurance costs under control.

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Sole Proprietorship Tax Deductions You Need to Know About – You won’t want to miss these sole proprietorship tax deductions if you file as a sole proprietorship for your business. Tax deductions are key.

Kevin @ Viaticus writes Getting Organized – A budget is little more than a tool we use help us control our financial lives. But what good is such a tool if we have no idea what’s going on in our lives? An essential, but often overlooked, first step of financial freedom is organizing your life.

MR @ Money Reasons writes A Small Startup Business Should Pay No Taxes For Two Years! – With the odds against small business startups, doesn’t it make sense to help them as much as possible by delaying the taxes collected on them for two years?

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes Want to go to Harvard for Free? – I was checking my email at my defined period of time ( shout out to 4 hour work week) and came across the following email. Man, was I surprised. Below you will find 7 opportunities to turn your life around.

ETZ25 @ Entertainment Timez writes Megamind – A Lesson Of Personal Development – Instead of good versus evil, the movie Megamind is really about personal development and becoming a beneficial member of society. Funny!

John @ Married (with Debt) writes Frugal Living: Easy Ways to Save Money – Frugal living is about strength in numbers. While you should focus on big money-savers when making a budget, there are little ways to save money that can add up.

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes I Hate Tax Prep Time – I Hate Tax Prep Time is a post from: Broke Professionals if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Feed. Now that the first round of tax documents are out (notwithstanding the corrected tax forms), it is time to get ready for that lovely spring time task – income taxes.

Hank @ Money Q&A writes The Unintended Costs Of Becoming A Landlord – Now that we are becoming a landlord I have found a few expenses that have cropped up. These unintended expenses for the most part could have been trouble if we didn’t have an emergency fund set aside.

Kari @ Small Budget Big Dreams writes 7 Items to Splurge On – Personal finance is all about spending and splurging. Dave Ramsey’s blog has a list of 7 things to “splurge” on, but I don’t completely agree.