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“The Twelve Days of Christmas” Tab Costs $27,393
  • December 23, 2013/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Economy

12daysAThe collective cost of items featured in the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” rose 7.7% over last year, according to PNC Financial, to $27,393.

For 30 years PNC has compiled the Christmas Price Index. Since the index was first compiled in 1983, year-over-year inflation increases have averaged 2.9%.

For this year, the price to hire nine ladies dancing rose the most, 20%, while 10 lords a-leaping jumped 10%.

Here’s a breakdown of the cost of the twelve gifts:

  • One partridge in a pear tree: $200
  • Two turtledoves: $125
  • Three French hens: $165
  • Four calling birds: $600
  • Five gold rings: $750
  • Six geese: $210
  • Seven swans: $7,000
  • Eight milking maids: $58 (if they’re paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour)
  • Nine ladies dancing: $7,553
  • Ten leaping lords: $5,243
  • Eleven pipers piping: $2,635
  • Twelve drummers: $2,855

Note: The drummers, dancing ladies, leaping lords, piping pipers are rented, not bought.

12daysbSource: PNC


The Pitfalls of Investing
  • December 19, 2013/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Seeking Prudent Advice
pitfall

Pitfall? Get it? I couldn’t resist.

Ben Carlson has a great piece on how avoiding the crippling mistakes of investing will greatly improve your results.

Here is Carlson’s list of the biggest mistakes to avoid:

  • Making investment decisions based on your political views.
  • Confusing your risk profile and time horizon with someone else’s.
  • Consistently trying to time the market.
  • Losing site of your long term financial goals.
  • Paying high fees on investments.
  • Having high trading activity.
  • Letting fear and greed take over at the extremes in market sentiment.
  • Having the majority of your investments tied up in one asset (company stock, your house, etc.).
  • Basing your decisions on what you heard on CNBC or Fox Business News.
  • Following every tick in the market and constantly checking the value of your portfolio.
  • Making too many short term moves with long term capital.
  • Basing your investments on the most recent performance.
  • Not saving enough.

For the ultimate backstop, Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal has a piece of advice most investors would be wise to follow:

Approximately 99% of the time, the single most important thing investors should do is absolutely nothing.

Be safe out there!


University of North Carolina Rated Best Value in the United States
  • December 12, 2013/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Personal Finance , Seeking Prudent Advice

UNCThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been rated the top value in U.S. public higher education for the 13th straight year by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

Kiplinger’s rates universities on quality and cost including metrics around admission rates, retention rates, graduate rates, sticker price, financial aid and graduation debt level.

UNC is the only school that meets 100% of students’ demonstrated financial need.  UNC students graduate with an average debt of less than $17,000, far below the national average of $29,400 according to Kiplinger’s.

Other UNC system school that made Kiplinger’s top 100 include:

  • NC State University — 16th
  • UNC School of the Arts — 24th
  • UNC Wilmington — 28th
  • Appalachian State University — 30th
  • UNC Asheville — 58th

Source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance; Charlotte Observer


Code Red! 8 Ways to Permanently Wipe Out Your Retirement Savings
  • December 5, 2013/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Behavior , Personal Finance , Retirement , Saving Money , Scams & Schemes , Seeking Prudent Advice

code-redDana Anspach at MarketWatch recently wrote about 8 financially devastating mistakes (aka “Code Reds”) that must be avoided:

1. Believe in a stock
The company you work for is doing well. You understand the potential of the business. You should own a lot of company stock. After all, it shows your level of commitment, right? 
WRONG! CODE RED!
You can lock in lifestyle by taking risk off the table. If trusted advisers are telling you to reduce risk, listen. You can’t take your “belief” in your company stock to the bank. Owning a lot of company stock doesn’t demonstrate a commitment to your company; it demonstrates a lack of commitment to your own personal financial planning.

2. Get reeled into real estate
Rental real estate is a good way to build wealth with someone else’s money, isn’t it? I mean, that’s what the infomercials say.
WRONG! CODE RED!
Investing in real estate is a profession in and of itself. With real estate prices on the rise again, don’t get reeled in with the lure of easy passive income. It isn’t as easy as it looks.

3. Follow a Tip
An opportunity to double your money is an investment opportunity worth pursuing. It could change your life, right?
WRONG! CODE RED!
Tips are great for your waiter or waitress. But where you family’s future is concerned, avoid the tips, and stick with a disciplined and diversified approach.

4. Change lanes — every year
Smart investors watch the market and frequently move money into the latest high performing investment, right?
WRONG! CODE RED!
You’ve probably noticed if you constantly changes lanes on a backed up highway, always trying to inch ahead, you usually end up farther behind. Driving this way isn’t effective; investing this way isn’t effective either. Pick a disciplined strategy and stick to it. Jumping from investment to investment is only going to slow you down.

5. Play the currency cards
Experts can deliver higher returns, right? Find someone who knows how to trade, and you’ll be set.
WRONG! CODE RED!
If experts could generate such high returns, why would they need your business? Don’t play the currency cards, the expert cards, or fall for any kind of outlandish promises. I’ve yet to see one of these programs work the way it was marketed.

6. Follow your ego
Better investments are available to those with more money, right? If you get the opportunity to participate in something exclusive, it is likely to deliver better returns.
WRONG! CODE RED!
If someone appeals to your ego, walk away. When it comes to investing, the only thing I’ve seen egos do is help someone lose money.

7. Follow their ego
You can trust prestigious people in your community. That’s why you should do business with them, right?
WRONG! CODE RED!
Checks and balances are good in government and in investing. One way to make sure checks and balances are in place is to work with an investment adviser that uses a third party custodian. The third party custodian sends account statements directly to you. The investment adviser can make changes in your account, but the transactions are reported to you directly by the custodian, who isn’t and should not be affiliated with the investment adviser.

8. Leverage up
Borrowing at low interest rates and investing in high growth assets is an excellent way to accumulate wealth, isn’t it?
WRONG! CODE RED!
Think twice before borrowing to invest. It causes ruin more often than it causes riches.

Visit MarketWatch to read Anspach’s full article.


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