Archive for December, 2009

December 2009: Net Worth Report and Financial Plans For Year 2010


31 Dec 2009

$641,395 $44,863 7.52 %

Allocating Cash Savings For The Closing Of My New Home Purchase

Back in August 2009, I signed a contract for the purchase of a brand new construction 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom cottage style single family colonial home. For several months now, I’ve been patiently monitoring the construction progress of my first home purchase ever – swinging by the home lot to take photos of the inside and outside at least once every week. Most recently, the transformation from a pile of dirt to a free standing wood and concrete structure has been nothing been dramatic. With the roof tiles now in place and the windows having been installed, the home is starting to really take shape. While the housing construction is proceeding rapidly and steadily, there have been a few slow downs due in large part to the recent snow storm activity that we’ve been experiencing in the D.C. Baltimore area the last few weeks. Coupl

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Tags: 2009 2009 Net

2009, year in review.


30 Dec 2009

What a year it’s been!

As the history books close on 2009, I thought it might be nice to take a look back on the topics that were hot on Simple Debt-Free Finance over the past year.

401(k) Plans.

2009 saw a lot of talk about the future of the 401(k). It seems only natural, given that it is one of the major means of saving for retirement for many American workers who had just seen those savings drop like a stone in the 2008 stock market crash. A lot of the talk was centered around ways to “fix” the 401(k) when it isn’t broken. This bothered me enough to blog about it in that post as well as Fixing What Isn’t Broken and Why 401K Retirement Plans Really Don’t Work And How To Fix Them

Many workers, like myself, saw their company contributions to 401(k) plans cut or “temporarily” suspended. My response to that was to give my 401(k) some TLC, a move which paid off when my balance returned to pre-crash levels in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Bank Failures.

Another hot topic of the beginning of the year was bank failures. So many failure

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Tags: Year Year Review

Bonus fury ‘may fuel demand for Tesco Bank loans’


30 Dec 2009

Personal loan customers may increasingly shun traditional banks. Full Article…

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Tags: Bank Bank Loans

AGGRESSIVE REPRESENTATION BY FRANKEL & NEWFIELD GETS HARTFORD DISABILITY BENEFITS REINSTATED AND BACK BENEFITS PAID IN FULL


30 Dec 2009

Our client, a Global Product Manager with a large international bank, suffers from a painful orthopedic condition that makes it impossible for him to perform in his job. Hartford went after his disability insurance benefits on several fronts, and we fought back and won.

They started with a peer review, where an outside company hired by the insurance company engages one of its repeat offending paper reviewing doctors to perform a selective review our client’s medical records. We had worked with our client’s doctors to make sure that their files properly and specifically documented not just his condition, but the severe limitations that his condition created. Our doctors swiftly and thoroughly rebutted the insurance company doctors’ claims.

We followed with an aggressive attack on the peer reviewing doctor’s opinions, which was clearly falsifying his diagnosis and failing to accurately review medical records.

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Tags: Gets Hartford Hartford

Do Canadians Have enough Life Coverage?


28 Dec 2009

2009 has definitely been a financial roller coaster ride for many Canadians. Many experienced financial stress; all the uncertainty did make many Canadians review their financial planning.

RBC recently did a survey through Ipsos Reid to assess how Canadians felt about their existing life insurance coverage. Out of more than 1000 Canadians polled, only 68% said that they felt confident that they had enough coverage for them and their family’s needs. Adults who have children were more concerned about life insurance coverage in regards to the death and/or disability of a parent. 75% of parents polled said this is one of their biggest financial concerns.

As well, those polled showed that more than half of Canadians felt that they suffer from too much stress in their lives; parents felt particularly vulnerable to stress. 7 out of 10 Canadian households that have children admitted they experience too much stress; 51% of households without children reported these unhealthy levels of stress. Full Article…

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Tags: Canadians Canadians Enough

Shopping around for personal loans ‘may harm record’


27 Dec 2009

Consumers may be penalised for shopping around for personal loans. Full Article…

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Tags: Loans May May Personal Loans Personal Loans May

Why The Tax Credit For First Time Home Buyers May Be A Bad Deal For You.


27 Dec 2009

Many people who have been waiting to trade up to a bigger house have used the $6,500 homebuyer tax credit as a reason to finally make the move, but that may not be the best idea.

On the surface, it seems like a perfect time to buy a new home – Despite a recent rise, mortgage rates are still historically low, and you could qualify for a $6,500 tax credit.

You’d be crazy not to buy a bigger house, right?

Well, that’s the conventional wisdom, and sometimes conventional wisdom is little more than herd mentality.

In reality, the tax credit is little more than an artificial stimulus meant to prop up a deflating housing bubble. You

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Tags: May Tax Credit

To Recruit the Best, Admit Weaknesses


27 Dec 2009

The Entrepreneur: Andy Dunn, 30

Background: In 2003, Dunn, then a consultant with Bain & Co., worked in a Lands’ End (SHLD) call center in Dodgeville, Wis. He was impressed by customers’ notes on the wall that paid tribute to the retailer’s service. Two years later, while working as a private equity analyst, Dunn learned how consumer brands can profit from a direct-to-consumer distribution model. In 2007, when he was a second-year student at Stanford Business School, Dunn went into business with housemate Brian Spaly, who had been selling out of the back of his car a line of men’s pants designed to fit well. Their plan was to sell the pants online, enticing customers with superlative service.

The Company: Dunn spent the summer of 2007 developing Bonobos Web site with another Stanford classmate in a tent in Palo Alto, Calif. In the fall Dunn moved to New York with 400 pairs of pants in tow. The site was launched that October, backed by $50,000 from Spaly, $30,000 from Dunn, and $750,000 from angel investors.

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