My Favorite Articles of the Week

My second blog is up and running now! Well, sort of. I have a domain registered and I have Wordpress installed. However, my only post so far is the Hello World post that comes standard with Wordpress. This is very exciting for me because it means I’m making good on my desire to expand my online ventures and follow my passion. I promise this won’t stop me from delivering quality posts on this site. On to the links…

Links

I wrote my first guest post over at Passive Family Income. The post was about passively investing through index funds or the couch potato portfolio. I highly recommend checking out this site.

Patrick at Cash Money Life compiled a list of some great free investment resources and tools. This list is very comprehensive, but to the list I would morningstar’s investing classroom, investopedia and the motley fool.

SVB at the Digerati Life discussed the 2009 stimulus tax credit. Basically, this isn’t really as stimulus check. Everybody will be getting a little extra cash each month (to the tune of $35). I would be much more likely to spend this money to stimulate the economy if it a windfall rather than a little extra money a month. In this form, I am much more likely to save the money as I will barely notice the increase in my paycheck.

Kevin at No Debt Plan writes about the risks with peer-to-peer lending during a recession. I agree that there are risks, but you have to think about what money you will be investing in peer-to-peer lending. I wouldn’t invest long-term retirement money in peer-to-peer lending. I wouldn’t invest emergency fund money in peer-to-peer lending. That leaves me with money that I would put in a CD. Money that I have earmarked for spending in a 3-5ish year time range. CDs are barely getting above 4.0% if you’re lucky. At lending club you can have numerous defaults and still get a better return than with CDs.

Carnivals

I managed to participate in two carnivals this week. My article about Frugal Splurging was accepted to the 166th edition of the Festival of Frugality, hosted by Student Scrooge. I also participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance #193 hosted by Broke Grad Student with my article 11 Reasons to be Lazy and Average when Investing.

Random Thought

We are on the eve of football free agency. Free agency is almost like Christmas for me. I absolutely love reading the rumors about where all the big time free agents are going to wind up. As a Chicago Bears fan I would love to see a Marvin Harrison signing. Other than a veteran WR, a decent FS, pass rusher and O-line help are on my wish list.