Best of Money Carnival #51

Welcome to the 51st Best of Money Carnival! If you’re not familiar with the carnival, it’s geared to showcase ten of the best money-related posts from the past week. This week’s posts cover a wide range of topics, from early retirement to lending money to family members to buying a car to borrowing from an IRA.

This Week’s Winner

Of the top ten, there’s one best post. I picked JacqJolie’s (Single Mom, Rich Mom) post asking is retirement like a beer commercial with gray hairs? As a financially-independent early semi-retiree, she muses on what retirement means to her and others.

Since good personal finance is merely a tool to help us achieve other things we want in life, it makes one ask—how would I really live if I were financially independent?

Nine More Excellent Posts

Joe from Personal Finance by the Book has put together a comparison chart showing how just paying the minimum on a credit card will keep you in debt for a long long time. And the chart assumes that you’re not charging anything new, if you are then it’ll keep you in debt forever. A good wake-up call for those paying the minimums.

Is lending money to family members a good idea or a terrible one? Neal Frankle, posting at Cash Money Life, suggests four steps to lend money to family members without going broke.

Craig from ChristianPF has 10 pieces of financial advice for graduates. I especially like #4 “If you think only about today your future self is going to have a fit.” It’s true, don’t make your future self angry, you won’t like her when she’s angry.

Alan at the Canadian Finance Blog wrote about dirty car dealership tactics he encountered when trying to buy a used car. The comments section on this post is full of stories and some good advice from other peoples’ experiences.

J$ at Budgets Are Sexy had to face possible layoffs and asks what you would do if you lost your job tomorrow. Fortunately, he’s kept his job for now, but his post reminds us that even if we’re good at our jobs it doesn’t mean the company will succeed or can afford to keep us on.

Daniel Packer at Sweating the Big Stuff wrote about a recent banking breakdown which caused him stress, cost him time, and illustrates why squeezing every last penny out of savings accounts isn’t worth it.

Jason Price from Bible Money Matters spilled coffee on his new laptop and found himself asking if he should have bought an extended warranty.

Mortgage calculators can run the numbers, but PT Money breaks down the actual math of calculating your mortgage payment for a refinance or purchase. Knowing the factors that go into the calculation and how they affect it gives you the tools for figuring out how to get it where you want it.

As a rule, the money in your IRA is untouchable (and with good reason). Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents explains the exceptions when you can tap your IRA with no penalty. But remember, just because there’s no penalty doesn’t mean it’s a good financial strategy! Good to know, better not to need to use.

Next week’s Best of Money Carnival will be held at Scordo. You can submit posts here.

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