I finally received my federal tax refund, which means I had enough money to fully fund my individual 401k. As of this week, my individual 401k and first goal for 2009 is complete. WOOT. I should be able to fund my Roth IRA prior to the tax deadline as well. It feels great to finally start checking things off the goals list instead of just saying it will happen soon. I’m looking forward to my goals update for March to officially report my success. Links Patrick at Cash Money Life thinks you should leave your money in your retirement account. In this economy, some people have lost 40% of their retirement savings. As hard as it is to lose that much money, I agree with Patrick, you can not start taking money out of your retirement account. Not only are you going to pay early withdrawal penalties, but you won’t be in the market for the market revival. Keep your money where it is. Pinyo at Moolanomy’s company stopped matching 401k contributions. Even with the uptick of the market in the past two weeks, some companies are still hurting. It’s no fun to lose company matches, which amounts to free money, but it is important to continue investing for retirement, whether it be through a Roth IRA or your company’s 401k. Pat at the Smart Passive Income Blog is in the middle of a series about how to publish an ebook. I’ve been looking forward to this series for some time now. I still plan on writing a few ebooks, but that is on hold until I have my passion project (fantasy sports blog) up and running. I should have more time to work on ebooks after tutoring is done for the school year. Only two more months! Kevin at No Debt Plan presents a plan for cutting monthly costs. I haven’t tried to lower any of my monthly costs, since I’m still on introductory rate plans. As soon as those start going away, I will definitely follow Kevin’s plan. I will be in the market for a new auto insurance provider to take advantage of the magical age of 25. Apparently, I’m a much safer driver now. News to me. Jim at Bargaineering explains the safe harbor income tax rule. I’ve covered this topic in a previous post, but it is extremely relevant for people with self-employed income for the first time. For more on the safe harbor rule check out my post on estimated taxes for the self-employed and how to avoid them. My Dollar Plan has a great post about the make working pay tax credit. Obama’s stimulus plan provides for stimulus money to be distributed evenly throughout the year with an increased pay check. I’ll most likely cover this tax credit in the near future, but for now check out this great post. Carnivals I finally got back on the carnival bandwagon this week. I hope to not fall off again. Check out the following carnivals:
Random Thought 24 has been really good this year. SPOILER ALERT. So has Jack Bauer been exposed to the biological weapon, or has the biological weapon been exposed to Jack Bauer? |
My Favorite Articles of the Week
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– March 25, 2009