Bits

What's Your Pudding Score?

Simple, answer four questions and get a normed score that indicates your readiness for retirement.
Hedonic Adjustment scores a reassuring 144, although the Pudding computer doesn't have a place to enter the looming expense of two kids going to college. On the other hand, I did better than Boston Gal :)


Finding a Successful Financial Adviser

When you look for a financial adviser, should you look for one who appears to be doing well? Nice office, nice car, prestige address? Well, keep in mind that for a financial adviser, success means being good at separating clients from their money.

The Only Thing Better than Being Rich Is...

Having people think you're rich. Like the dealership where I bought my used, out-of-warranty Volvo wagon. I was having a problem with the car, irritating rather than serious, and I'd been putting off dealing with it. My phone rang the other day and it was the salesman who sold me the car.

"How's everything going with the new car?" he asks. Well great, I answer, except for this little problem. Oh let me connect you with service. Free loaner car. Car fixed at no charge.


Hidden Benefit of Having your Credit File Frozen

I recently decided to change my household checking account from a NOW account (0.1% interest, no fees or charges with a $1,000 average balance) for a "Freedom Gold" checking account (no interest, no fees or charges with combined balances in all account of $10,000, and reimbursement of all foreign ATM surcharges -- the irritating one that you get dinged with at the ATM machine).

To make up for the loss of interest, I was planning on keeping less money in the account since I didn't have to worry about the $1,000 minimum balance. But to avoid the chance of an overdraft, I figured I would add an overdraft line of credit, which is free.

But I forgot that my credit file is frozen, and in the time it took me to figure out how to unfreeze it, I decided that I didn't really need that line of credit after all.

Which is nice, one less account, one less potential debt.