Money Guy Show

The White House lowers ’08 economic forecast (click here for more information) October foreclosure filings up 94% over last year (click here for more information) I did not want you to think that I was only pulling out the bad news… I did want to give you a little ray of hope with this article: Q3 economic growth fastest in four years, revision shows (click here for more information) ** "Free" credit reports ** Many of you have probably figured this out. It appears that the credit reporting companies have figured out how to squeeze a ton of profit out of consumers for something that is suppose to be "Free".   For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/12/the-economy-free-credit-reports-and-improving-your-401k Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Capital Gains Looming Once Again by David Hoffman with Investment News… Investment News is an industry magazine that I get, but I think the information in the article is important because it ties to our discussion from last week about the level of distributions that many of us will recieve this year from our Mutual Funds. What Kind of Loan Should You Get provided by SmartMoney.com… Many of you have asked me to share my insights on what type of loan you should get for your home. For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/11/capital-gains-mortgages-and-retire-early-but-beware Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s show we discuss: 1st Segment includes information on what you need to look at with your portfolio at year end. ** Harvesting Tax Losses ** Avoiding Year End Mutual Fund purchases until after you determine whether year end distributions have been made by the fund (could be as high as 10% in some popular funds this year). ** Charitable donation reminder 2nd Segment Six Ways to Save on Auto Insurance by Stephanie AuWerter from SmartMoney Magazine 3rd Segment What’s Wrong with Variable Annuities article publised on the SmartMoney.com website   For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/11/year-taxes-investments-auto-insurance-savings-variable-annuities/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defending credit card companies is hard to do because they do have quite a few practices that are down right sleazy (shrinking grace periods, escalating interest rate, holiday due dates, etc.), but if used properly they can be a helpful financial tool. In this episode we share articles from the following: "8 Experts Recall Their Best Personal Finance Advice" by Dana Dratch from bankrate.com "Are Credit Cards Evil, or Just Dangerous?" by Liz Pulliam Weston from MSN Money "Where Do You Stand in the Wealth Spectrum?" by Lee Eisenberg from Bankrate.com "Dealing With a Disaster and Your Insurance Company" by Jennie L. Phipps with Bankrate.com/Yahoo Finance.   For links and more resources, visit our show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/11/great-personal-finance-advice-are-credit-cards-evil-and-the-wealth-spectrum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Should You Be Investing In the Roth 401(k)?" – I have received several emails from listeners asking questions about Roth 401k options at their workplace. I actually covered this topic in the first quarter issue of the "Wealth Report" newsletter. I am using that article in today’s show. For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/10/roth-401k-financial-records-to-keep-and-social-security Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) called last week and let me know that they were stopping by our offices. As you can imagine, this is not my favorite kind of phone call. We had nothing to hide or worry about, but it’s still a stressful situation. In light of this visit I decided that this would be a great time for me to focus the show on a few "rainy day" articles I had put away to discuss. For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/10/financial-leftovers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Points of Consideration for Education Planning Many of you have written to ask that I provide some guidance on education planning and I have stayed away from the subject because education planning is one of those subjects that has a limited audience. I always try to do the Money Guy show with the understanding that we have listeners that are new to investing and personal financial planning as well as tried and true weathered investors that I can still enlighten from time to time with my insight. For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/10/college-planning-savings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terms needed to understand asset allocation: Domestic Stocks = US Companies Market Capitalization of US Stocks (According to Morningstar): Large Cap = US Companies with a Market Cap greater than $11 Billion (these are the companies that are household names like Wal-Mart, GE, Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, and so forth) Mid Cap = US Companies with a Market Cap between $2-$11 Billion (these are companies that you might have heard of like HR Block, but are not the size of the previous listed group. Small Cap = US Companies with a Market Cap below $2 Billion. Probably not going to recognize the small company unless you specifically use their product or they are in your town. For more terms, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/10/asset-allocation-basics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Basic Definitions Diversification: The idea of spreading out your money across many different types of investments.  Choosing to diversify your investment holdings reduces your risk tremendously. Risk Tolerance: An investor’s ability to withstand losses caused by one or more of the different types of risk. This ability can be limited by your temperament as well as your time frame and financial circumstances.  For example, someone who is investing for a goal 10 to 20 years or more in the future generally has a higher risk tolerance and may feel more comfortable with riskier investments than a person whose investment goal is only 5 years away or less. Bull Market... For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/09/mastering-the-world-of-investing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The focus of the program is on the changing retirement landscape. 1974 Retirement Funding: 11% Employee 89% Employer 2006 Retirement Funding: 51% Employee 49% Employer Defined Pensions: The Endangered Species   For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.moneyguy.com/2007/09/retirement-in-crisis-update Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices