Personal Finance | StoopidSuccess.com

April Stoopid Success $300 cash give away

March 22, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

For the entire month of April we will be running a major contest. The stooped success family would like to thank all of you for your dedicated support with a $300 contest/give- away. That is correct we will be giving away a full $300 cold, hard cash as a thank-you to all of our loyal readers and partners. The $300 is our grand prize, but there will be other prizes ranging from gift cards to E-books. There are multiple ways to gain entries into the contest, and below you can find what kind of actions will get you entries into the contest. Hope you all enjoy!!

1. Tweet and re-tweet of an article with use of the twitter button below the articles= 1 entry

2. Sharing of article on Facebook via the button below the article = 1 entry ( you must add me on Facebook so we can verify)

3. Follow our twitter accounts on twitter ( @stoopidsuccess,@Eugenecraig1,@stoopidpols)= 5 entries for each

4. Comment on a post/article= 2 entries

5. Link to one of the sites( EugeneCraig.com,Stoopidsuccess.com,stoopidpolitics.com) or article = 10 entries

6. Write a Review of one of the blogs/sites ( Eugenecraig.com, Stoopidsuccess.com,stoopidpolitics.com)= 20 entries

7. Purchase of the e-book “25 principles of the stoopidly successful”= 35 entries

8. Review of the e-book “25 principles of the stoopidlly successful “=25 entries

9. Become an affiliate of “25 principles of the stoopidly successful” and sell 5 copies= 100 entries

10. Run a guest post on one of the sites ( EugeneCraig.com,Stoopidsuccess.com,Stoopidpolitics.com)= 50 entries

11. Run one of my guest post on your site/blog= 75 entries

12. Follow my rss feed= 10 entries

At the end of each day for verification purposes please send a friendly email to Stoopid_con@yahoo.com with a list of the actions you completed that day so that they may be added to you total of entries.
The winner will be announced on May 5th at 5p.m. Est.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please email me at stoopidsuccess@yahoo.com

Filed Under: Hot topics, Investment, Personal Finance Tagged With: $300, cash give away, contest, stoopid success cash give away

Step # 10 Celebrate!!!!! You are now Financially Free!!!

March 21, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Congratulations!!!!! You have made it to the end. You are now one of the few people in the world that can say you are truly financially freedom. You now have full control over your money and where it goes. You can now take some time out to celebrate your success. Lets do a quick recap first before we have fun. You first have to figure out all the information about your income and expenses and organized the information to use it. You then boosted your savings and paid down you debt. You then came back and boosted your savings a second time and jumping into the game of investing. We then took a journey to explore our retirement options, while also paying off our mortgage, and getting rid of the shackle called debt from around your neck. Now we are at the very final step!!! It is time to Celebrate. This is your time to celebrate your financial independence!!! How will you celebrate? Is there a vacation in your future? How about a shopping trip to a major shopping district? How about giving as much as you could dream of giving to charity now because you can afford it? This is your time to grab a hold of your dreams since the shackles are off of your feet!!!! What are your plans now that you have your financial freedom?

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: Celebration, Debt free, financial freedom, Financial Success, Personal Finance

Step #9 Pay Off Your Mortgage

March 17, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

You are almost to the finish line! We have buffed up our savings, invested for our future, and planned for retirement. Now it is time to wipe out the very last ounce of debt you have. I am speaking about your mortgage the over whelming large loan that you took out for your home. It is now time to transfer ownership of your home from the bank to you. It is finally time to experience true home ownership. Over the past few years there has been a redefining of mortgages as good debt. This is an oxymoron as there is no such thing as good debt, and since all debt is bad it is now time to wipe it out. The first step you will do is to take 25% of your savings and pay down you principle on your loan. You will than step up, and start to make extra payments on your mortgage. You will then take another 20% of you savings and pay off the remainder of your mortgage. In no time you will be the true owner of your home. You can than say that you are truly financially free and that you do not own anybody nothing. I know that wasn’t correct English, but it is acceptable for this time. You can now get ready for the big bang!!! Stay tuned for the final step of the process.

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: home loan, home mortgage, paying off your mortgage, Personal Finance

Step #8 Retirement

March 14, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

We are coming close to the finish line today we will examine a few options for retirement, and which may be best for you. There are many different options that you may actively engage in so that when you decide that you are sick and tire of that job you have, and want to retire you can. I think it can be agreed upon that social security will not be there for anyone under the age of 25 so it would be wise to take some serious action when it comes to your retirement. The most important thing is that you decide what works best for you based on your personal situation and not what the popular medium of the time is. I will present to you 3 common options, but I would suggest that you do more research before you decide what is best for you.

1. The 401k

The 401k is the most popular retirement plan that is provided by employers. This is a retirement plan that you contribute to on a regular basis, and in many cases your employer will match a certain amount of your contributions. The 401k is often directly attached to the economy and market place. It can also be altered to reflect investments that are in accordance to your tolerance of risk.

2. The IRA

The IRA is a retirement instrument that has become popular over the last decade as it allows people to put away money, and allow for interest and gains to grow within out them being taxed until they are withdrawn. There are 2 types of IRAs the first is a Roth IRA that is only available to people of a certain income level, and the regular IRA that is available to everyone. The important thing to make note of here is that unlike the 401k the government only allows you to contribute up to $5000.00/year and $6000.00/year if you are over the age of 55.

3. Create your own

Personally this is the one that I like the most. I like having full control over my money, and having access to it. With doing a little bit of research you can learn all you need to make an informed decision about what kind of investments you need to make for your retirement. You can choose what stocks, bonds and Mutual funds you want in your portfolio on your own, and by pass the management fee.

What option do you like best for your retirement needs?

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: 401k, ira, retirement, retirement portfolio, roth ira, stock portfolio

Step #7 – Investing for the future

March 9, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Now that we have spent a fair amount of time fluffing our savings it is time for you to start investing. Before we move any further it is important that I stress that before you take on any investment that you fully understand what you are getting yourself into. According to Warren Buffett there are 2 rules to investing. 1. DON’T LOSE MONEY!!! 2. Don’t forget rule #1. Now that we have established that we can now move on to the different types of investments.

1. Stocks
Stocks are probably your most common form of invest. Everyone owns stocks in some way, shape, or form. Even those that hate the stock market own stock in their retirement accounts and pensions. In layman’s terms a stock is simply a partial ownership stake of a company. So for example if you own 1 share of Microsoft, you are now part owner of the company. You own a small part, but you are still part owner. Your ownership stake (Stock) also allows you to take part in the decision making process of the company in the form of voting at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting for more information on Stocks (click here!)

2. Bonds
Bonds come in many different shapes and forms. Some are very risky, and have promise of stellar return on your investment, while others are very safe and pay little to nothing. There are Savings bonds, Corporate bonds, Treasury Bonds, and Municipal Bonds. Bonds are rated with the best being AAA to D. Bond’s are considered very safe, and is often times where many people run to put their money when the economy takes a major downturn.

3. Mutual Funds
Mutual funds received a lot of attention in the late 80’s and 90’s. It was the easiest way for a common person without any serious knowledge about investing to invest in the stock market or sectors of the stock market. Mutual funds are still very good investments for people who do not have time to actively manage their stock portfolio. It must be noted that mutual funds do come with fees that are assessed for the fund manager. There are literally thousands of mutual funds in the market place. So it will pay to do some research to find which on is best for you. If you would like some more information on Mutual Funds (click here!).

It is very easy to make money by investing if you know what you are doing. I always suggest to people to learn enough about markets so that they can make their own decisions when it comes to their future, but it does also pay to have a good friend that can provide some level of advice to you should you ever need it.

What are some of your favorite investments?

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: bonds, investing, investing for the future, mutual funds, stocks

Step #6 Boost Your Savings

February 22, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Congratulations, you are now half way through the process of becoming financially free! The next step on your journey to financial freedom and security is boosting your savings. Yes, we are re-visiting the good ole savings. In our previous steps we eliminated all of the debt in your life with the exception of your mortgage. Now that you are debt free with the exception of your mortgage there should be a great amount of free cash flow/ income coming in that needs to be allocated. For the next 6 months you should direct all of this income to your savings. This should provide with somewhere between 8-10 months of true expenses in your savings. We are only fluffing the safety net, so that in the event that you encounter a difficult time you are able to continue living your life. This should be a very simple step, but I should warn you. There will be times when you will look back at bank balance and Be blown away by it, Ready to spend some of that cash, and Ready to just give up. Resist all of these temptations, and you should be in a position to thrive once you are at the end of the process.

Here are some awesome post on savings and boosting your savings:
1. Here is a post on how to handle “ Extra Money”
2. Developing Savings and the 911 Fund
3. Saving your way to Personal Finance Success
4. A multiple Income Strategy
5. Saving is the Key to Financial Success

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: boosting savings, Personal Finance, Savings

Step #5 Celebrate Getting Out of Debt!!!!

February 14, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Now that we have paid do and eliminated all debt outside of your mortgage it is time to take a slight break to celebrate and congratulate yourself. Yes, I am recommending you take a slight break to breathe, and soak in the fact that you are debt free! This also comes with guidelines and parameters though.

1. You must place 70% of the money you would otherwise use to pay down debt (which you don’t have to worry about now since we are debt free) into your savings account and emergency fund. Although we are taking a break to breathe it is important that you continue to save money for the future and rainy days.

2. Next you must take the remaining 30% and put it to work. I mean I want you to ball out of control with it. This is your reward for staying true to yourself. This 30% is your reward for following the program, and taking drastic steps to securing your future. The 30% is your limit whatever it may be. It would be wise to spend it on something both you and your family can appreciate since they have sacrificed with you along this journey.

3. The next month we are back in full throttle, and moving faster than ever to secure your financial future now that we have the weight of your debt removed from your neck.

Here are some other articles on Personal Finance:

1. My 1st Blog carnival/ Round-up

2. Step #4 How to get out of Debt

3. Details of President Obama New Tax Plan

4. Top Sectors to invest in for 2011

5. A strong Multiple income Strategy

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: Celebration, Debt free, freedom, Personal Finance

Step #4 Get Out of debt

February 5, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Now that we have our financial foundation set, we can now move on to improving our financial lifestyle. The largest weight that can both injure and murder a person’s financial life is debt. In my eyes all debt is bad is bad debt. As long as you are on the hook, and have to continually pay someone good money that you could be used to invest or better your lifestyle. This is a serious matter. I know there are financial analyst and advisors that will talk for days about a difference between good debt and bad debt, but the underlying fact is that it is still debt. Often time’s people consider things like mortgages and school loans as good debt, and credit cards and payday loans as bad debt. The truth is that all of this is bad debt. Having too much of all of these things can hamper your financial future. They are like giving a kid a bunch of caffeine. Gives them a boost at first, but in the long term stunts their growth.
The strategy to tackling your debt is simply to prioritize them from smallest to largest, with your smallest at the top and largest at the bottom. You will then proceed to pay the minimum payment on all of them so that you do not default on any, and harm your credit score. You will then proceed to use the excess cash that you have after paying all of the minimums payments on your debt to pay off the balances on your debts. You will find that by apply this method you will pay your debt off quicker than any other method. Because after you pay off one balance you can then apply your excess cash + the minimum payments from your paid off debts to your current debts. It’s that simple, and before you know it you will be living the debt free lifestyle.

Here are some other articles on handling debt:

1. How to avoid black Friday debt

2. Good Credit vs. Bad Credit

3. 4 Steps to get your Financial House in order

4. The $30,000 value of a 2nd job while in college

5. Pros and Cons about Pay Day Loans

6. The Weird Thing about Credit

7. Build Wealth

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Personal Finance Tagged With: Debt free, get out of debt, personal budget, Personal Finance

Step #3 Develop Savings and The “911 FUND”

February 4, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Now we can start going to work! The very first thing we need to do is make sure you have established both savings and a “911 FUND”. These both are essential to your ability to grow financially. First is the savings. Your savings will be the basis for almost everything you will do for now on. It is your safety net. It may be the capital you use to invest, or the fund that you rely on after suffering a traumatic event such as a layoff. Your savings is the major cushion you have when you get knocked down or have setbacks. So instead of hitting concrete when you fall, you have nice fluffy pillows to catch you, so u can keep going. The goal is to develop your savings so that it may provide to be a tool in growing your personal wealth.

The second item is your “911 fund”. This fund may be set up as a savings or money market account, but is an account that you will need to contribute to a regular basis. This is the fund that allows you to truly keep moving, and not rely on credit cards if you come across an unexpected event. You are no longer fazed by events such as the water heater breaking, or the washing machine going down because you know you have the security of the “911 FUND”.

Once you have these two tools established we can then move onto the next step of handle, and paying down debt.
Here are some posts on developing Savings:
1. Saving yourself to financial Success
2. Saving is the key to financial Success
3. The worst Savings accounts
4. Are emergency savings accounts really worth it?
5. 8 Ways to save $100

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: personal, Saving to Success, Savings

Step #2 Develop a personal budget surplus

February 3, 2011 By Eugene Craig III

Now that we know both what we know, and what we didn’t know before we can now move to taking action on that information. The next step in getting our financial house in order is to create a personal budget surplus that we can use to tackle the problems. I would suggest that you free up 15%-20% of your take-home pay to use it to tackle the financial problems at hand. This may be achieved by doing 1 of 2 things or even a combination of them. The first is to cut spending. We all have frivolous spending that we participate in whether it is those pesky premium channels that we just have to get with our satellite and cable providers to the constant eating out that many of us do. Take a look at your organized expenses, as mentioned in step #1(here), and make the decision to only include the necessary things in your spending for next month. This cut back is only temporary until you can get your financial house in order.

While you may only cut but so much from your monthly budget before you start cutting into the things you need to run your everyday life, you can increase your income. Increasing your income may come in multiple ways, and you can find a couple ideas (here). The goal is to free up 15%-20% of your total take-home pay to be used to take serious HULKISH like actions in solving your financial problems.
Once you make the necessary cuts and proper increases in income you will be able to move to step #3, “Creating savings and the 911 fund”

Here are a couple of articles on creating extra income:

1. 5 ways to make $1000 dollars without leaving your home

2. 101 ways to make money online

3. The $30,000 value of a second job while in college

4. 3 recession proof industries

5. 5 ways to make money while in college

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: cutting spending, increasing income, personal budget, Personal Finance