Self Directed Investing For Retirement Carnival – Christmas Edition

Christmas Edition

Christmas is here again. It seems like the years just go faster and faster. Starting Christmas night I will be posting a series of articles focused on making us better investors in 2012 and beyond.

The Christmas Edition is our biggest carnival ever; tons of great information from smart financial bloggers. Take advantage of their wisdom.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to you and your families!

Value Investing Strategies

Shailesh Kumar at Value Stock Guide presents How to Buy Stocks at a Discount? A quick primer on what goes into picking undervalued stocks, determining the intrinsic value and figuring out how much to pay for the stock.

Kanwai Sarai at Simply Investing submitted How Can You Sleep At Night with All Your Money in Stocks? Someone recently asked me this question; but I sleep very well, because I ignore the media noise.

Specific Investment Ideas

Peter at Bible Money Matters gives us Why I’m Not a Gold Bug. Few topics bring about more extremism than that of gold investing. For some reason, gold brings out strong opinions in investors, with many concluding that gold is a “barbaric” relic of old times that should be avoided, or those who believe it’s a magical metal that will always beat inflation and is going, up, up, up.

Dividend Growth Investor presents Dividend Aristocrats List for 2012. The Dividend Aristocrats index was created by Standard and Poors to include companies in the S&P 500 which have increased dividends for at least 25 consecutive years!

Mike Piper at Oblivious Investor submitted What are Muni Bonds? And Should I Own Any? Municipal Bonds offer interest that’s free from federal income tax. But are they a good fit for you?  

Echo at Boomer and Echo presents Are REITs Worth A Look For Yield Hungry Investors? Even after the rally, most Canadian REIT’s are still paying juicy yields over 5%. For investors looking for stable monthly income from their portfolio, Canadian REITs are definitely worth a look.

Investment Planning Strategies

Todd R. Tresidder at Financial Mentor gives us The 10 Commandments of Investment Strategy.  

Tim at Faith and Finance presents 8 Year-End Tax Moves to Consider at the End of 2011. Before you know it, 2011 will be in the past and tax season will be upon us. Now is a good time to look at what you’ll need to accomplish for your 2011 taxes before the end of the year.

Jacob at My Personal Finance Journey submitted Opening and Managing a Self-Employed Individual / Solo 401(k). The self-employed individual 401(k) is an effective vehicle for shielding the returns of your index mutual funds and other passively managed assets. This post discusses the various steps to initiate and successfully complete the account application process.

Jon at Free Money Wisdom presents Start Your Long Term Savings Before It’s Too Late. Historically, the stock market has always recovered from every economic downturn, and generally can be relied upon as a safe place for long-term investment. Consider investing as part of your plan to save money for your future.

SB at One Cent at a Time submitted Don’t Give Up, Get Even With Your Financial Frustration. Preparing for retirement is not always number one priority. No matter how discouraging retirement planning can be, you should never give up preparing for your financial future.

Cash Flow Mantra presents A Stock Dividend Plan for 2012.

Investor Junkie submitted Best 2011 IRA Promotions. Now is the time for investors to add money to an IRA account. I’ve gathered up the best IRA investment promotions.

Dough Roller gives us OptionsHouse $600 IRA Bonus. I recently opened an OptionsHouse IRA and love the convenience and fee-free structure. And whether you want free trades or some cash up front, these guys can offer a good bonus for giving them a shot.

Paula at Ask Afford Anything submitted Should I Repay Debt or Invest? 7 Important Factors to Consider. One school of thought says repaying your debt should always be top priority, no matter what. But another school of thought believes that – in certain, limited cases – you can earn bigger returns if you invest your money rather than use it to repay your debt.

Michael at Begging To Retire gives us How to Retire Rich on Invisible Savings. The amount needed to retire comfortable increases every year, but why not use something invisible to help increase your wealth.

Portfolio Management

Glen Craig at Free From Broke gives us What is a Mutual Fund Prospectus? So you want to invest in mutual funds but you are clueless about them? A good place to start is to answer the question: What is a Mutual Fund Prospectus?

Dan Ekstrand at What Can I do About? submitted An Example of a Talmud Portfolio. Simulations of an ancient portfolio mentioned in the Talmud (a record of rabbinic discussions) which originally included land, business interests, and cash reserves; but using modern funds.   

From the AAAMP Blog I offer The Art of Position Sizing to Manage Money and Risk. Learn how to use position size, scaling in, and scaling out to manage risk within your target asset allocation.

 

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Previous Self Directed Investing For Retirement Carnivals

 

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Carnival of Passive Investing # 12