Just a reminder to anyone looking for a free checking account. This week is the last week of the ING promo where if you sign up they will give you $50 free! Sign up here and copy our orange key ( 35074375S1 )to receive the bonus!

It has been a busy week for us here at Young and Thrifty and consequently I was frustrated when I read this article by Fabrice Taylor (who I usually enjoy reading) in the Globe and Mail (a publication I check out daily) and could was stunned by the ridiculous logic – or lack thereof – that was put forth, yet couldn’t find the time to write an all-encompassing reply to the article.  Thank goodness my boy Dan Bortolotti at The Canadian Couch Potato seen fit to answer on behalf of indexers everywhere.

For those of you that don’t feel like clicking through the links, the basic idea was that people could pick indexes because indexes held bad stocks and as well as good stocks, and people that picked stocks could just pick the good ones – thereby beating the index.  I kid you not, this was the gist of the article.  Taylor then went on to point out one specific manager who had done well the past few years (as if this anecdote conclusively proved the whole argument).  The sheer ignorance of statistics that conclusively prove that only an extremely small percentage of people can pick stocks well enough to beat the market, and that the VAST majority of mutual funds don’t even come close to matching their index over substantial time periods is ridiculous.

My favourite part of the Globe and Mail article had to be: “The financial firms want you to buy the index because they’ve figured out that they can make a good buck selling index-linked products—funds and especially ETFs.”  WHAT?!  Yes, those crazy financial firms want you to buy products that have MER fees between .06% and .3% instead of those 2.5%+ mutual funds that Canadians are often throw into.  That makes complete sense.

Anyway, before this ramblings/rant turns into a poor parody of the thorough article Dan wrote, I’ll stake a step back.  Big shout out to guys that actually report the facts .  You can tell by the comments section of the original column that the G and M is losing some major respect as an authority in the field when it gives such a valuable platform to investment advisers who are obviously seeking to boost their personal profits at the expense of educating their readers.  Here’s some other great reading from this week:

Earth and Money @ Earth and Money writes How to Deal with a Bad Landlord – A bad landlord can turn a great living experience into a nightmare. Here are some strategies for dealing with bad landlords to save yourself some stress.

Echo @ Boomer & Echo writes How Much House Can I Afford? – There’s an important difference between how much house can I get approved for, and how much house can I afford? Here’s why:

Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Considering Switching Careers – People are now changing jobs more than ever. In addition to just shifts to different employers, people are also entirely switching careers more than in the past. So how does a person decide to switch careers?

J.P. @ Novel Investor writes What Is A Stop Order? – When used properly, a stop order can help automate trades, enforce investment disciple and most importantly act as insurance.

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes Family of 5 with a $200-300/month grocery budget. How can it be done? – Here is how we managed having a grocery budget of $300/month or less each month for a family of 5. I wanted to share 10 ways how we did this and sharing how you can to!

Deacon Hayes @ Well Kept Wallet writes What I Learned from a Group of College Students – This past week I had the privilege to talk to a group of roughly 100 college students about managing money. I was impressed with their interest in the topic and not once did I see someone fall asleep. They were engaged and asked some really tough questions.

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes What Does It Cost to Sell a House? How Much Can You Expect to Pay in Fees, Commissions and Taxes? – When you add it all up, selling a home can cost anywhere from 7-10% of the sale price in many cases. If we’re lucky that number will be closer to 3-4% since we’ve got family who are helping us out, and not all fees apply here in Minnesota. Still, it’s an added 6500-7000 that will need to come from somewhere. Something we’ll take into account if and when we sell.

Timothy Artisan @ Wealth Artisan writes Famous Entrepreneurs List – Famous Entrepreneurs List- Who is the most famous entrepreneur? Most lists only go based on net worth, but there is more to entrepreneurial fame than net worth. Our famous entrepreneurs list is based on Google Popularity, Facebook Popularity and Twitter Popularity. See who got the top spot on our Famous Entrepreneurs List!

Steve @ Canadian Personal Finance writes 40 question checklist you need to ask before you buy a house – Here is a checklist of questions to ask your realtor before making an offer to buy a house.

Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies writes Meeting Our Personal Banker, or, How I Learned to Love a $100K Unsecured Credit Line – An unexpected call from a “personal banker” at Wells Fargo leads to a sit-down meeting with Mrs. PoP where the PoPs are offered a $100K *unsecured* credit line. What did the PoPs do with the offer? Read it to find out!

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes My Advice to a Person Budgeting for the First Time – Someone asked for my help this past week in creating a budget for their household.

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Living Paycheck to Paycheck – In my recent wanderings on the world wide web, I came across an article on CBS MoneyWatch that said 38% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. This is up from 31% back in 1997.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes Negotiating Your Salary and Benefits – Find out important career tips and what you can do to negotiate your way to a better job.

Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Prepare For An Emergency Today!!! – Let me tell you a story about what happened to me and my girlfriend Tag over the weekend. It was seriously one of the scariest moments of my life.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes Real estate ownership: a blessing or a bother? – I am on holiday and the real estate problems I have in Bulgaria is heavy on my mind. To rent or to sell?

IMB @ Investing Money writes Investing Money is Important – Find out why investing money is important. You could be missing out on a lot of money.

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes How Are Stocks Classified? – Read my article to learn how Stock are classified, and in the process gain a possible new perspective on them.

John @ Calling the Puts writes Save Money by Learning to Spend Wisely – The first step to investing is saving, and the key to saving money is learning how to spend it properly.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Preparing Our Finances 4 Home Ownership – By estimating our mortgage and bills and preparing our finances for home ownership now, we can begin to adjust our budget to avoid a financial apocalypse later.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes 4 Ways to Build an Emergency Fund Faster – Should You Have an Emergency Fund? Despite conventional wisdom suggesting that it would be wise to have a stash of savings set aside for unforeseen events that life could throw your way, many Americans opt to forgo the safety net and face life’s challenges on a whim.

TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Real Estate Leverage – Using it to Your Advantage – Are you wondering what real estate leverage is? Find out the answer and how to leverage your money to build wealth faster without the risk.

L Bee @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes 7 New Home Budget Busters – I had originally set a goal for this month of not letting my spending get over 1k. I topped this number easily and upon further examination realized there were several culprits. I moved into a new apartment two months ago … Continue reading ?The post 7 New Home Budget Busters appeared first on L Bee and the Moneytree.

Lance @ Money Life & More writes How to Write a Check – In today’s environment I personally wouldn’t surprised at all if you don’t know how to write a check. Writing a check seems like a pain with the options you have for paying your bills today. However there are just some times when you don’t have many other options other than writing a check.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes How to Make Extra Income With Online Odd Jobs – Where to find fresh opportunities to supercharge your earnings without the hassle of starting a traditional business.

J Wayne @ All Things Finance writes The True Cost of Car Ownership – Car ownership costs much more than people think. It’s not just a matter of what you pay each month, but many more factors such as depreciation, insurance, fuel, interest and taxes.

Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes Clearing Out the Clutter – Clutter is the enemy to us all! Read my attempt to conquer it!

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes 4 Tax Law Changes We Need To Make Permanent – With the presidential election beginning to heat up in America over the next several months, we are all going to hear a lot about income taxes.

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes 5 TIPS TO GET RICH AND BUILD WEALTH – Building wealth is a key to independence and freedom; and it’s not all about the money. More people get depressed, get divorced, and get stressed over money issues than most other worries. By eliminating the living paycheck to paycheck fears and building long term wealth, emergency savings, and money for retirement, you remove one of the life’s greatest stressors.

harry campbell @ Your Personal Finance Pro writes Why Borrowing From Your 401k is a Bad Idea – here aren’t many loans out there that allow you to borrow without a credit check and pay yourself interest, but that’s what a 401k loan does. Sounds pretty awesome right? Well it isn’t all good, and although pundits argue that 401k loans are a good alternative to commercial loans and definitely a better choice than an outright distribution, a 401k loan goes against the whole principle of retirement investing.

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Should You Invest in Dividend Stocks? – Find out if dividend stocks live up to the hype. The payment structure seems to have an advantage on other stocks, but is that really the case?

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Budgeting Can Change Your Life And Get You Out Of The Debt Hole – Budgets and budgeting are the key to savings and getting out of debt.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes Start a Business at 59 Years Old? – Would you start a business at 59 years old? Bob Chinn did! His seafood restaurant is the highest grossing restaurant in the United States. It is not in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles! It is in Wheeling, Illinois. It is just thirty (30) miles from Chicago.

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes 2 Home Buying Tips That People Never Tell You! – I would like to talk about home ownership, in particular, mortgages. Now everyone tells you that home ownership is better than renting.

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Planning For Homebuying – I will admit that I am really not always the most patient of people. When I get something in my head, I want it now. Not in a year, not in three months, NOW.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Make Time To Enjoy Life While Swimming in Chaos – You never know what is around the corner, so make sure you make time to enjoy life! You only get one shot at it!

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Brown Bag It: Tips For Making Cheap Lunch – Deciding to brown bag it doesn’t meal relegating yourself to a life of school lunches with PB&J and baby carrots. Here are my favorite adult lunch ideas.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Couples and Money – Splitting the Bills – A guide for couples on how to split the bills they are now facing together, presenting three different ways and the advantages of each.

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes Is RIM a Good Investment? – Research In Motion (RIM for short) has been an icon for Canada with their Blackberry but the fierce competition it has faced since Apple came out with the iPhone has challenged their market hold on the smartphone. Not only has Apple taken a bite of their market but so has the Android based smartphones.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes Emerging Market Debt: Having Your Cake and Eating it Too – Emerging market debt trades at – twice the yield of developed country debt and triple the fundamentals.

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Steps to Achieve Financial Security – Learn three basic steps to achieve financial security. Everyone should be striving for this goal because of what it offers.

Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Prioritizing Your Debt Pay Off – Find out the best strategy to paying off debt. Learning the best way to pay off debt can motivate anyone to get started now.

John @ Married (with Debt) writes We Did It: Debt Free – How we became consumer debt free, and how you can too. Intentional living for married couples. Get out of debt.

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes How Much Money Are We Supposed to Spend on Friends? – Friends. My biggest monetary pet peeve lately. Nowadays it is not easy to be a good friend. Nor it is cheap anymore.

PPlaner @ Provident Plan writes Is Prepaid or Traditional the right credit card for you? – Last week I talked about whether you should avoid debt. In case you haven’t read the article, I talked about how managing our finances, like much of life, is never black and white. This applies to debt. In many ways it may be advantageous to be debt free, but not always.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes The Ideal Budget for a Single Guy (Age 24) – The transition from college student to young professional can be one of the most fun times in your life, but it can also be a time of stress. The increasing inflow can be extremely exciting, but only if it exceeds the increasing outflow. The bills that mom and dad used to cover (without your knowing) are now directed to your mailbox. This article will tell a 24 year old single guy how to budget.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes Should I Die This Year or Next Year? – 2013 Federal Estate Taxes When you’re dealing with a death in your family, the last thing you want to think about is what fraction of the estate goes to the United States government. What’s remarkable is that depending on WHEN you die, that fraction could be significantly higher (or lower).

SBB @ Simple Budget Blog writes Is Budgeting Worth Your Time? – Find out how you can keep budgeting simple and avoid the time consuming tasks that are often associated with managing your finances.

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes What Determines the Value On Your Home Loan? – You’ll see a lot of three-letter acronyms thrown around as you shop for a home loan: APR, FHA, PMI. It’s enough to make your head spin. But there’s one mortgage acronym – LTV, short for loan-to-value ratio – that’s always puzzled me. Read more to get the lowdown!

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Lack of Liquidity May Be Why You Don’t Feel Rich – Having a lack of liquidity has real negative consequences that can be really bad for your finances.

Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes That Old Refrigerator May Be Costing You – Got an old fridge? Tired of soaring energy costs? Here are some strategies to save you money!

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes The Cold Hard Truth On Being a Personal Finance Blogger – What I Learned In Less Than 2 Years! – Looking back now at your blogging journey, you can agree with me on this: Being a blogger and blogging is anything but easy.

JP @ My Family Finances writes No. You Don’t Need to Buy Life Insurance for Your Children – Buying life insurance for your children to guarantee insurability is like paying money to protect hypothetical people.

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Young Adult Retirement Planning – Benefits of Saving a Lot Early – Find out when you should start saving for retirement and how much you should be saving for retirement.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes I Don’t Need to Worry about Retirement Yet, Do I? – When is it time to worry about your retirement savings? Read my article to learn when…

MMD @ My Money Design writes Blogging Tips from All the Dumb Mistakes I Made My First Year – I made a lot of mistakes within the first year of my blog. Here’s a look back at them and my blogging tips for doing things the right way!

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Build Your Home Food Storage without Breaking the Bank – One of the best things you can do for the sake of your own self reliance is to build up your home food storage. Your home food storage can tide you over in the event of a financial setback, or be part of your efforts for emergency preparedness.

Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes Is ZeekRewards a Scam? – There’s lots of information on the Internet now of the SEC shutting down the Zeek for running a 600 Million dollar Ponzi scheme. As most people know lots of people lose lots of money in Ponzi schemes. However, there’s a small segment of people who are sucked in and truly believe they are a way to make money.

Robert @ Entrepreneurship & Life writes How Long Do You Give Away Your Services Before Charging? – In some industries, you should never start working for free. If you provide a concrete service with a measurable value, such as accounting or financial consulting, you should charge for everything up front. However, if you are providing a service that requires a reputation and referrals, you might have to go the free route while you are starting up.

Steve @ Brip Blap writes The Only Real Sources of Passive Income – Don’t think you’ll get rich without working for it. Everything you can generate wealth from takes effort. Writing a book is hard work. It may create a wealthstream for years to come, but that’s what you should be aiming for: wealthstreams, not passive income.

Dr. Dean @ The Millionaire Nurse Blog writes They’re Your Medical Records, Too – Medixbase is an online medical record system developed by Michelle Mourre, RN. With Medixbase you’re in charge of your records and they’re readily available.

John Border @ Stock market investing writes how to read the stock market index – Indices are what define the stock market and you should know how to read the stock market index properly to make the best use of the index.

Carnivals

Nerdy Finance #8

Festival of Frugality

Carnival of Financial Discipline: Tax Evasion Edition