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Feb 08, 2012: A common notion is that if we work hard at our jobs, save diligently and then invest our hard earned money in a well diversified portfolio which promises an average return of at least 8% on the long run, our financial future would be safe and secure. There are many real life stories that have proven the viability of this concept. But the current economic downturn does not guarantee

Jan 19, 2011: Vanguard's chairman and CEO Jack Brennan has nearly three decades of valuable experience in investing at this great firm. He has observed that successful long term investors share some common traits. Here is our spin to his observations.
Plan Ahead: Successful retirees planned well ahead of time to meet their retirement's financial needs and they walked the talk triumphantly. This

Sep 22, 2011: Many of us have multiple investment accounts in numerous brokerage firms. We know we all love our brokers. Now here is a nightmarish question: What to do if the brokerage firm holding our cash or securities goes bankrupt or loses its records?"

It is a real world out there and things happen. However, in this case there are some rays of hope. Sleep well dear friends as long as your

Sep 14, 2011: Unemployment has been a rising concern since the US economy went into recession. At present, our president is trying to boost employment by providing tax cuts and tax credits to encourage businesses to hire.

In most reports concerning the US economy, the unemployment rate is frequently mentioned. But many are at a loss for understanding what this number really means. Let's take a

Sep 01, 2011: Inflation is one of the perennial pests which eats away the purchasing power of your hard earned dollars. For those of you who are thinking about reaching FIRE need to keep a constant eye on inflation. So the next question is how do you find the current rate of inflation in USA?



Let's take a quick look at the data for inflation (via InflationData.com) for the past couple of

Jun 28, 2011: The big debate these days is whether home ownership is still everything it's cracked up to be. Yes, we still get a tax deduction on the amount of interest we pay, but the building of equity is no longer a given with a home mortgage.

There are many areas around the United States with falling home prices, causing some people to be upside-down on their loans and leaving them unable to

Jun 07, 2011: Astounding Fact - It may seem unbelievable but the state in which we reside has made provisions for the distribution of our assets in the event we have not exercised our privilege of getting our own will drawn.

Why do I need a Will?

Failure to make a will can result in a legacy of heart break, family dissension, injustice and a substantial reduction of our assets because of

Feb 24, 2011: We can learn some basic tenets of investing from Anne Scheiber, who was an auditor at IRS and went on to become a multi-millionaire. Scheiber had a law degree, but because she was a woman, she believed that she had been thwarted in her desire to move up to a better job position at the IRS. She decided to get back by saving until she had a fortune and never give a penny of her

Feb 09, 2011: Have you ever wondered about the fact that even after a decade long relationship, sometimes it seems that we hardly know the other person! Sounds familiar isn't it? If the behavior of a single human being can be so unpredictable then what is our take about the cumulative behavior of millions of investors all over the world? Our observation is that such behavior is utterly

Dec 20, 2010: Most astute investors are aware of municipal mutual funds also known as MUNIs. These funds invest in term debts issued by various state and local governments. In general dividends and gains from muni funds are exempt from federal as well as state taxes.

One has to be a domicile of a particular state to invest in a state specific money market fund. Thus muni funds provide a way to

Feb 04, 2011: We found a very pithy article (at fool.com) by Robert Brokamp about Dilbert's views on personal finance. The essence of the article is quoted as: In his book Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel, Adams offered his one-page personal finance book. Here it is:Make a will.
Pay off your credit cards.
Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
Fund your 401(k) to the

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 07, 2010: With each passing day the cost of college education is rising. It is becoming increasingly difficult for middle class families to put their children through college without borrowing.

One of the golden rules for breezing through college funding is to start saving early. But now a days even

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 05, 2010: Most of us want to be millionaires. And if we can be one while we are young, it's a double whammy! After all, the best time to enjoy our wealth is while we are young and healthy. In the process of chasing wealth, if we run out of time, the "millionaire" tag is not that attractive, isn't it?

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 30, 2010: We all dream of possessing the visionary power of Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha and one of the world's greatest stock market investors. What is it that makes him so successful?

Journalist Roger Lowenstein, author of "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist," makes the case that

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Jun 28, 2010: While studying the performance of a stock or mutual fund we invariably come across these two terms - Total (also called Cumulative) and Annual return. If we are not aware of their definitions and what they represent, we may get unduly excited by looking at the wrong figures.

Annual Return -

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

June 21, 2010: Writing a will, and that too an effective one, may not be an easy task. For most people it is best to get help of an attorney. However there few things that we need to be aware of before seeking legal counsel.

Exercise This Precious Gift Carefully
Our right to make a will and distribute our

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]


Jun 07, 2010: We own multiple mutual funds in our investment portfolio. These mutual funds' parent companies send us their prospectuses and annual reports on a regular basis. It is mandatory for them to do so. In this context we discovered "SAI."

What is a Mutual Fund SAI?

A mutual fund's prospectus

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
May 04, 2010: If you are planning to double your money, then The Rule of 72 is a quick way to determine how long it will take do so at a given interest rate.

How to calculate?
You divide the number 72 by the annual interest rate expected on your investment. The answer is the no. of years you will need to

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]Over the last couple of years folks have become increasingly cautious about spending. For good reasons that is - losing employment, sinking portfolios, negative house equities and the list goes on. Frugality is in - bigtime! Suddenly, we, Americans have become frugal :). We have started taking extreme

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