One of my favorite subjects that I talk a lot about on this blog, is the subject of wealth. As you know, I share my net worth monthly. Although there are many beliefs and philosophies on how wealth could be accumulated, the mathematical nature of wealth is all the same: Wealth (Net Worth) = Assets - Liabilities. Here’s a little graphic to help us visualize this concept: So what are some basic facts that we could derive from this? If I want to increase my net worth, all I have to do is increase my assets and reduce my liabilities If my ... (more)

For someone who doesn’t carry a lot of debt, I didn’t give Debt-To-Income ratio a serious thought until I start lending money on peer-to-peer lending networks — i.e., Prosper and LendingClub.com. The truth is, DTI is important; especially in the business of borrowing and lending money. Two Kinds of Debt-To-Income Ratios (DTI) Front ratio — This is the percentage of gross income that goes toward housing costs. For renters, this is rent divided by income. For homeowners this is PITI divided by income (PITI includes Mortgage Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurances). Back ratio — This is the percentage of ... (more)

There has been a lot of talk about the economic stimulus package and tax rebate among the personal finance bloggers last week. Today, I am going to shift gear a little and start talking about income tax return. Traditionally, I use TaxCut to prepare my tax, but this year I am going to give TaxCut Online a try.  The nice thing about the online version is that I don’t have to pay until I am ready to file. This means that I can peruse their help section and interactive video library free of charge. For example, the first interactive ... (more)

So the stock market is doing badly and there’s fear of recession. To combat our economic downturn, the Fed slashed interest rate by three-fourths of a percentage point, and the Congress hammered out a deal for a $150 billion in economic stimulus package. What does this mean? According to the news, Americans taxpayer making at least $3,000 per year and as much as $75,000 for individuals, or $150,000 per married couple, would receive a tax rebate check from the government. So, the good news is there might be a check anywhere from $300 to $1,200 coming to your ... (more)

Recently, I wrote about lending money on Prosper, which is one of the many peer-to-peer lending networks that are popping up everywhere. The post itself didn’t say anything about socially responsible investing (also known as, SRI, morally responsible investing or ethical investing). However, a lively discussion on this topic came up when Kevin from Change Your Tree stated his opinion as follow: “…If these people were in control of their finances, they wouldn’t be borrowing money on the internet. Basically, you’re choosing to profit off of people’s idiocy and desperation. I don’t think that I, in good conscience, could ... (more)

With the recent stock market volatility, I am sure a lot of us are having second thought about the stock market. Some may even ask, “Should I get out of the stock market?” The answer is it depends. Personally, I am holding steady and continuing to invest for the long-term. I can do this because I have the right asset allocation and investment mix for my investment time horizon and risk tolerance. 4 Steps to Evaluate Your Investment Strategy Risk Tolerance Level Did you take one of those risk tolerance tests, such as this ... (more)

There are a lot going on at Moolanomy’s ideas factory. Unfortunately, I can’t write them down fast enough, but I want to share everything now — talking about patience! Anyway, here is a list of topics that I will be talking about over the next few days, may be weeks. I just hope I have time to get around to everything. Here are the upcoming articles at Moolanomy: H&R Block TaxCut and the Tax Season - I am a big fan of H&R Block TaxCut and I have been using it to prepare my taxes for ... (more)