Sep
3
Why First Time Home Buyer Programs Are a Bad Idea
September 3, 2008 | 2 Comments
Another home remodeling project is almost complete. My back hurts, my hands are scraped up pretty good and I'm tired. Working on my house always makes me wonder if I made the right decision about buying a home. If I could go back in time and give a younger me advice, what would I say? [...]
Jul
7
Moving My Money Away From Prosper
July 7, 2008 | 1 Comment
I just transferred my current balance out of Prosper.com. I know they've made some changes recently but I'm not going to bid on new loans. It's just way too risky. I've posted about my experience with Prosper.com in previous articles. Here's an index of my articles on prosper.com. Peer to Peer Lending with Prosper Et [...]
Jun
17
What Is Flood Insurance?
June 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Every year people and property are devastated by floods. Floods can strike anywhere. The government established National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to help deal with the financial cost of flooding. Find out how the flood insurance works. Even with modern management techniques, floods happen every year. Look at the recent Katrina disaster or the flooding [...]
Jun
16
IRS Withholds $842 Million in Stimulus Payments
June 16, 2008 | 21 Comments
If you're missing your stimulus check, you're not alone. The IRS is withholding $842 Million from stimulus payments. How do you know if you're stimulus payment will be withheld? According to this CNN/Money article, stimulus payments have been withheld from 1.5 million people. Over 50% of the money has gone for back child support. About [...]
Jun
7
Nassim Nicholas Taleb got rich on a day when many many people went broke. He predicted the sub-prime fiasco and the crash of 1997. He didn't really predict these events, he just predicted some kind of event, a black swan, could happen. The Times Online has a new interview piece with Taleb. An interesting article. [...]
May
9
More frequently asked questions regarding the Economic Stimulus Payment (Rebate): What if my spouse owes money? What will happen to our stimulus payment? Will the IRS keep it all even though part of that money is for me and my children? The IRS Will Keep Your Money The IRS can keep your stimulus money (and [...]
May
6
It seems a lot of people still have questions about how the amount of the stimulus payment is determined. The IRS provides a calculator on it's web site. So it's easy to find out how much should should get, but it's not so easy to see why you are getting that amount. The IRS Stimulus [...]
Apr
18
Prosper Increases Maximum Interest Rates
April 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
I’m a Prosper.com lender. One of the problems I’ve noticed is the low maximum interest rates for borrowers in some states. Prosper has now fixed this problem for most states. Previously max rates had been as low as 6%. Now most states in the US have a maximum interest rate of 36%. Some states have [...]
Apr
15
Taxes Not Done? File an Extension
April 15, 2008 | 3 Comments
Your taxes are due every year on April 15th. Do you have your taxes done? There are many reasons you may not have your taxes filed by the deadline. If you’re not finished with your taxes, make sure you file an extension with the IRS. Why Should You File an Extension? If your taxes aren’t [...]
Apr
9
Lending Money on Prosper: My Results
April 9, 2008 | 10 Comments
This is the 4th post in a series of articles about Prosper.com. Prosper is a person to person lending site with an auction format similar to EBay. I’ve been lending money on Prosper for awhile. In this article I’ll write about my results. In my previous articles, I’ve discussed how Prosper.com works and the risks [...]