Earlier this week, in an unprecedented example of Personal Financial Blogger cooperation, nearly 150 of us accepted Jeff Rose’ invitation to write about the Roth IRA and promote the cause on twitter with hash tag #RothIRAMovement. It was quite a success, and Jeff got some well deserved recognition, from Reuters Can Twitter make Roth IRAs trendy for young? The Huffington Post Roth IRA Movement Takes To Twitter, and The Wall Street Journal’s Happy Roth IRA Day! Wow, what great press, congrats, Jeff. My own effort went to the launch of RothMania, where I’ll focus on this particular flavor of retirement account.
At Enemy of Debt, Ashley guest posted, 10 Things on Which to Never Spend Money. With everyone trying to get us to part with our money, this is a great list of things to avoid. My favorite on the list? “Anything a telemarketer is selling.”
Financial Samurai asks What Would You Do If A Major Income Source Went To Zero? and explains the importance of income diversification. Not too many people have more than their day job as income, I imagine. It’s never too late to start thinking about this important topic.
At Out Of Your Rut, Kevin tries to understand how someone can be Struggling on a Six-Figure Income. The media has offered stories of those earning far more than this ($350K, anyone?) yet they manage to burn through every cent. Sympathy? Not too much from me.
Remember how Al Capone was finally caught by the law? Tax evasion! Even if you are in an illegal business, you are not exempt from paying taxes. So my frugal tweep, Sandy at Yes I am Cheap shared Nine Tax Deductions That Prostitutes Can Claim. I’m not judging, just passing along what appears to be good tax advice.
And to wrap up a great week, Why I Played the Lottery Even Though I Know It Is Such a Horrible Idea, from Kevin at No Debt Plan. By the way, the lottery was worth $640 million dollars, I played too. I didn’t win.
Ruth, thanks for visiting and commenting! The issue is that it’s the very size that attracts people and sends the jackpot so high. $2M is a lot of money. But the lump sum payout would be about $1.4M or so, and after taxes, $1M. Enough to add to one’s savings, and for many, enough to retire if they don’t change their lifestyle, but not “crazy go nuts” money. I only play when the jackpot exceeds $200M. That’s the kind of money that can be used for good. I believe in local charity, and those I send $1000 would certainly be impacted by a commitment of an annual $250,000 check or more.
My mother was actually annoyed that the jackpot was so big. She said when it gets that big they should break it up into multiple smaller jackpots. $2 million each for 300 people would be a lot better than one getting all $600 million, right?
What?! Split the pot, sounds like Obamalottery to me, trying to spread money around. All kidding aside, I think 600 million to one person is the way to go. I agree with Joe wholeheartedly, 2 Million is not enough these days to do anything meaningful. The dodgers were just bought for 2 billion dollars, which is proof you can put a price on crap these days! I would take the 20 million over X amount of years too, instead of one lump sum. Give half to charity, and then set aside the rest for investments, and my family.
Leigh – sounds like a plan to me!