Handling Finances

First of all, two of my posts were included in blog carnivals this week.  First, my post Finding the Best Value when Prices Move Fast was included in the Festival of Frugality.  Second, my post Cheaper Financing is a Funny Route to the American Dream was included in the Festival of Personal Finance.  Check out these festivals for a whole lot more really great articles!

A Raise!

I got my first minor, scheduled raise this month — rather exciting in my life, if not exactly life-changing.  It was actually rather large at 2.2% after only 6 months which is largely due to the fact that I’m at the low end of my pay scale.  I probably should have haggled over the pay, but I’m happy with both the pay and the job and a raise seems like icing on the cake of my career.

A Medical Benefits Cut.

Along with just about every other company these days, my employer is trying to cut medical costs.  Luckily for me, they only cut retiree medical benefits — something that will change a dozen times before I retire 40 years from now.  It’s awfully nice to just be able to ignore this sort of thing.  They’re looking at a huge number of older employees becoming eligible for retirement in the next two decades and I fully expect the company (as well as the economy) to start competing for new hires and increase benefits sharply before I look into retirement.

On the plus side, they also removed a rather silly (around $200) profit sharing contribution to my 401(k) and instead increased their 401(k) contribution match from 0.5% to 0.75%.  Even better, they’ll be paying it in cash rather than in company stock starting next year so I won’t end up with all my eggs in one basket with my job and my retirement savings depending on the same company!  I’d be eligible to convert these stock contributions to cash within 3 years or so, but it’s really nice to not have to bother!

Practical advice: make absolutely sure you’re contributing enough to your 401(k) to get your full employer match (if they offer one of course).  Even if it’s company stock, it represents an immediate return on investment and amounts to free money!  If your company gives out company stock as their matching contribution and doesn’t let you sell the stock… consider complaining to the trustees.  I trust that my company will not go the way of Enron, but then again, most Enron employees thought the same thing just before they lost all their retirement savings.

I’m a big fan of riddles. Regularly solving small problems has been shown to increase your reasoning skills, preserve cognitive function into later years and it’s just a whole lot of fun!

A Difference in Earnings.

Three friends, Rob, Patrick and Jennifer, each invested $10,000 in different investments that all earned a fixed interest rate compounded monthly. At the end of the year, Patrick had $10,500. Rob reached $10,500 after only 11 months and Jennifer reached the same amount after only 10 months. What interest rates did each of the friends earn on their investment?

The answer to come next week.

Carnival of Personal Finances.

My post, Credit Card Rates Increasing was included in BagLady’s Carnival of Personal Finances this week. Check it out for more great articles from around the web.

Two of my articles have been selected to appear in carnivals.   Take a look and browse through all the great articles written this week by financial bloggers around the world.

 The Hidden Credit Card Tax was featured at the Carnival of Everything Finance

and

 Diversification: Part I — Taxes was featured in the Superbowl of Personal Finances at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already.