Carnival of Personal Finance

Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance, the blog carnival that covers the world of money. This week's submissions are broken into two groups -- my picks as the best of the lot (i.e. Editor's Picks) and all the others. Here they are:

Editor's Picks

• Robert from The College Investor presents How 5 Top Bloggers Made the Financial Jump to Self Employment, and says, "I reached out to some of the most well known bloggers that have made the jump to self-employment. You’re probably familiar with the product or brand they’ve launched to be able to support themselves, but here are their thoughts and stories on the personal finance side of jumping to self-employment."


• Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey from My Personal Finance Journey presents 11 Personal Finance and Life Lessons I Learned from Bicycle Racing, and says, "This post describes 11 life and personal finance lessons that one blogger gleamed from his time actively training for a lot of intensive cycling races throughout his young adult life. It makes one wonder what personal finance or career lessons one has learned indirectly by participating in other seemingly unrelated activities."


• Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents High Dividend Yield Stocks: What’s Wrong With Them, and says, "The reasoning behind high yield dividend stocks."

All Others

DC @ Young Adult Money from Young Adult Money presents Why Most People Don’t Pursue Side Income, and says, "People don't pursue side income because it takes a lot of time and effort. If you do decide to pursue side income, consider picking something that has potential to turn into full-time income down the road."

D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents 10 Quality Dividend Stocks Trading Below Their Fair Value, and says, "One of the most asked questions I get is, 'When should I start investing?' The implication is that now is not a good time. Either the market is too high after the recent run up, or the market is too scary after the recent declines. There are always reasons for not investing today. What's the secret to picking the right time to start investing..."

Darwin from Darwin's Money presents 2013 FICA Tax Explained and Strategies, and says, "The 2013 FICA tax is set to change which will impact your take home pay next year. See what it's all about and where it's headed given government inflationary estimates and tax policy."

Dan from High Yield Edge presents Sentiment on Dividend Stocks is Dividend with Tax Increase Coming, and says, "With taxes on dividends set to triple for the highest tax bracket, some are calling for a selloff in dividend stocks. Does this present an opportunity? Find out here."

Dan from ETF Base presents Ramping Up Yields with the SuperDividend ETF, and says, "Not to be outdone, this new "Super Dividend" ETF delivers with astronomical yields and performance."

Colin Williams from humble savers presents Investment Words That Should Scare You, and says, "When you hear or read these words, it's time to get scared."

Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Psychological Tips for Successful Stock Investing, and says, "These psyc tips are from an investment book first published in the early 1960's “Build a Fortune in the Stock Market” by David L. Markstein. I thought it would be fun to take a peek back and see if they are still applicable in the 21st century!"

Edward Antrobus from Edward Antrobus presents Bringing the Party Back To Your House, and says, "Bars and clubs are an expensive way to party. A cheaper alternative, that can be even more fun (Guitar Hero, anyone?) is bringing the party back to your house."

Sean from One Smart Dollar presents The Tax Effect of Earning More Money, and says, "Just because you earn more money doesn't mean that you are going to have to pay a lot more in taxes. Under the US tax system you can earn twice as much money and only pay a small portion more in taxes."

PK from Don't Quit Your Day Job... presents How Much of the Bad Employment Situation Can Be Blamed On Baby Boomers?, and says, "I've heard more than one commenter making the argument that most of the 'missing jobs' in the Great Recession (and the subsequent recovery) are from Baby Boomers dropping out of the work force, perhaps early. I decided to look into it and see if that was the case."

Money Beagle from Money Beagle presents Why Aren’t People Talking About These Early Mortgage Payoff Considerations?, and says, "To pay early or not to pay early is a hotly debated topic when it comes to your mortgage. Here are some things outside of the normal considerations that I believe are worth thinking about."

Michael from Financial Ramblings presents How Much Do Substitute Teachers Make?, and says, "Ever wondered how much a substitute teacher makes for a day of work? The answer might surprise you. Hint: It's not very much. At least not around here."

Investor Junkie from Investor Junkie presents How Is Flying and Investing Related?, and says, "Believe it not my fears have helped me better understand my emotions. Because of this psychology has always interested me. Understanding yourself and your builtin limitations make you act more rationally. With that understanding, it has also allowed me to become a better investor in the process. Realize how your emotions can play a part with investment decisions, and you’ll better realize how to better play the game."

Karl Marrion from WiseStockBuyer presents Should You Invest Idle Cash?, and says, "What should you do with that spare cash? Invest it or save it?"

SB from One Cent at a Time presents 20 Investment Strategies for beginners, and says, "Most important question for young adults, how to start with investment? This article provides 20 strategies for starting with investment. A list of Do's and Don't to safeguard your capital while learning the tricks to grow your money."

Shaun from Money Cactus presents Getting Ahead of Cashflow for Business Success, and says, "The trouble that most businesses face these days is cash flow, so many rely on extended payment terms however, invoice discounting and factoring are also viable solutions in the right situations."

Miranda @ Financial Highway from Financial Highway presents Steps to Buying a House, and says, "If you are interested in buying a house, though, there are a number of steps you need to follow. A home purchase is a major commitment. It’s not something to be taken lightly, especially since you will be asking a lender to allow you to borrow a large sum of money. You need your ducks in a row if you expect to successfully buy a home."

Dave @ Excess Return from Excess Return presents Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPS) & Their Benefits, and says, "Many investors, particularly older retired folk, prefer to invest a greater chunk of their portfolio in dividend and fixed income securities that give them a steady income stream to supplement their retirement earnings. Many other investors prefer, instead, to have their dividends automatically reinvested back into their favorite dividend-paying stocks through what are called Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPS)."

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents Did You Know Your Debt Can Hurt Your Health?, and says, "Debt isn’t all about not having enough money. It’s also not enough time and in some cases debt means bad health too. See how your debt impacts your health.

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents High Return Investments to Add to Your Portfolio, and says, "Looking for a higher yield on your investments? Here are 4 options to consider. "

Jeff Rose from Life Insurance By Jeff presents Choosing the Right Life Insurance Beneficiary, and says, "When choosing a life insurance beneficiary, it is very important to be clear in the designations of who is going to receive the benefits after the death of the insured."

Emily from PT Money Personal Finance presents How to Find the Best Luxury Travel Deals, and says, "Ideas for making your money go farther if you're more concerned about traveling in style instead of on the cheap."

Adam Hagerman from Walking To Wealth presents Sharing Expenses In a Relationship, and says, "Are you sharing expenses with a significant other? Do you have too many complex "deals" going on between you regarding bills? Try some of these methods to get your bill paying on track and more equitable. "

Robert from My Multiple Incomes presents Self Employment: Beginner Mistakes, and says, "Being self employed and creating your own job can and probably will be very hard work for you, especially in the beginning. There are many things to think of and many things to be careful with."

J.P. from Novel Investor presents Breaking Down REIT Tax Rules, and says, "Dividends are the big reason investors turn to real estate investment trusts or REITs. What many people don’t know is that those dividends are not taxed like normal dividend stocks."

Bethy from Credit Karma Blog presents When Frugality Does More Harm Than Good, and says, "Frugality can be a lot of things – helpful, necessary, difficult, annoying – but I have developed a special talent for making it an unpleasant obstacle to bettering my well-being."

Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc presents When Lattes Are NOT Your Problem, and says, "While conceptually sound, the Latte Factor may have overstated the power of forsaking caffeinated delight. The overwhelming consensus is that sometimes lattes (or your ” latte” equivalents) are NOT your problem."

Kristen from My Dollar Plan presents 11 Ways to Save on Food in College, and says, "Food can be one of the biggest budget buster for students but if you use what you have and follow these 11 tips, you can figure out how to save on food in college.

Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents How much should we have in cash?, and says, "Nicole and Maggie ponder emergency funds and liquidity. Readers chime in with how they deal with the emergency fund question."

James Petzke from This Is Common Cents presents Early Retirement: Is It Possible?, and says, "Early retirement is not only possible, its relatively easy for most people if they're willing to change their lifestyle a little bit."

Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Dividend Investors are Getting Paid for Holding Dividend Stocks, and says, "Dividends provide a return on investment, which is much more stable than relying on capital gains. Investors who select quality dividend paying companies with long histories of dividend increases can ignore the day to day fluctuations in the markets,as long as the company is paying the dividend every month/quarter like clockwork."

Big Cajun Man from THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Let's DEFINE Retirement, and says, "Will retirement mean the same thing as it did for my Dad, for me? No, but it won't be the same for my kids either."

Bret from Hope to Prosper presents Why Rich People Focus on Earning, and says, "I spent the first decade of my working life scrimping and saving to get by, when I should have been concentrating on my career, my income and my education. I could have easily earned hundreds of thousands of dollars more, instead of saving a couple thousand dollars here and there."

Roger Wohlner from The Chicago Financial Planner presents Lehman goes Bankrupt – Where Were You?, and says, "There are moments in history where we remember where we were or what we were doing at the time. Why should September 15, 2008 be on your on your list of days to recall where you were and what you were doing? "

Kim from Eyes on the Dollar presents The Low Income Clinic Experiment, and says, "This post details my experiment with offering my skills as an optometrist to those in less fortunate situations. It shows the good and bad side of offering free things to low income individuals. "

Lance from Money Life & More presents Tooth Fairy Inflation?! What's That?, and says, "The reason the thought of the tooth fairy suddenly came back to me with this article I saw over at CNBC. CNBC cited a survey by Visa that says the average amount left per tooth was now $3.00 which is 15% higher than last year. "

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Sorry My Brand Sucks, and says, "The importance of branding and sticking out from the crowd."

Mike from Do Not Wait presents Powerful Retirement Moves to Make in Your 20s, and says, "How you can dominate your retirement right now."

Martin from Studenomics presents The Only Monthly Budget Worksheet You’ll Ever Need, and says, "How you can dominate your finances with a simple budgeting plan."

Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse. presents Do You Have a Five Year Plan?, and says, "Where do you want to be in five years?"

Pierre from Intelligent Speculator presents The Day All My Personal Information Was Leaked On The Internet, and says, "How protected are you? What if all of your information got leaked?"

Jay from Daily Fuel Economy Tip presents Switch to a Motorbike for Cheaper Commutes, and says, "Reduce your fuel consumption and save money. "

Enjoy!

Comments

[Lance @ Money Life and More]

Thanks for putting this together this week and including me!

[SB @ One Cent at a Time]

Thanks FMF for hosting and including our post

[Edward Antrobus]

Thanks for hosting this week!

[Colin Williams]

Cheers to FMF for hosting - great selection of articles, well done

[Glen Craig]

Thanks so much for hosting this week!

[Roger @ The Chicago Financial Planner]

Thanks for hosting and for including my post.

[Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey]

Thanks so much for hosting!

[Bigcajunman]

Thanks for the inclusion and the hosting, I know it isn't easy.

[Roshawn @ Watson Inc]

Thanks for hosting and for the inclusion!

[Michael @ Financial Ramblings]

Thanks for including my post -- and for doing all the hard work of hosting. It's much appreciated. I particularly enjoyed the piece about dividend stocks (the 3rd editors choice).

[The College Investor]

Thanks for picking me as a top post! I appreciate it!

[Bret @ Hope to Prosper]

Thanks a million for hosting this week and for including my post.

[DC @ Young Adult Money]

Thanks for hosting and including my post! Appreciate it.

[Kim@Eyesonthedollar]

Thanks for hosting and for including me.

[Investor Junkie]

Thanks for the mention