I'll get a convertible instead of a Harley when I retire. 
Welcome to the 4th Edition of the Carnival of Retirement. If you want to submit a post for next week’s edition, please use the submission form. Next week’s edition will be hosted by Financial Success for Young Adults.
Retirement is a long-term game. There are so many things you need to do to prepare for retirement and it’s not just saving and investing. Of course having a great retirement portfolio is best, but to get there we need to live within our means and build wealth along the way. This edition includes many retirement articles along with posts that will help us get there. Enjoy these great posts from around the internet!
Retirement
Todd Tresidder from Financial Mentor published Are Safe Withdrawal Rates Really Safe?, saying, ‘In this epic 8000 word post Todd fully reveals the controversy surrounding safe withdrawal rates and the mythical 4% rule and concludes with a simple 4 step process you can use to determine your personal safe withdrawal rate that is actually… safe.’
Dr. Dean from The Millionaire Nurse published A Million Bucks? In My 401K? Ya Gotta Be Kiddin’!, saying, ‘The failure of the 401K Retirement Plan has nothing to do with the plan. No, it doesn’t take a stock guru or magician to use the plan effectively. Participation. That’s all it takes. No rocket science required.’
Don from Money Smart Guides published Live A Life of Wealth, saying, ‘If I were to ask you to describe what being wealthy means to you, how would you answer? A young me late teenager would have answered that question as follows: Wealthy to me is a huge house with an outdoor pool, but now I see wealth differently.’
Mr. Money from Smart on Money published Working in Retirement: Make Money Doing Things You Enjoy, saying, ‘Retirement doesn’t have to mean sitting on your front porch, waiting for the grandkids to show up (unless you want to mean that, of course). You can still do something you love — and possibly make money at it.’
Jon the Saver from Free Money Wisdom published Roth 401k Versus 401k: What Is Right for Me?, saying, ‘The Roth 401k is a great choice for almost everyone. Let’s get into the details before you make any hasty decisions!’
Frugal Living
Jeffrey from Money Spruce published Making Space For Roommates: Are the Savings Worth the Hassles?, saying, ‘Sharing an apartment with roommates can save money, but it often means making other sacrifices too. I weigh the pros and cons of roommates for my next move.’
Aloysa from My Broken Coin published Stop Being Cheap and Invest In Yourself, saying, ‘The following post was featured in a blog swap in November 2011 at My Personal Finance Journey. Now, that I have many more readers and much better exposure, Idecidedtopublishit on my blog. I am a spender. But even big spenders like me have their limits.’
YFS from Your Finances Simplified published Can I Survive At the Poverty Line?, saying, ‘I completed my interview with 107 WINA on Sunday December 18th concerning my article on ‘Can you survive the poverty line’. I would like to thank Wendy Edwards for reaching out to me and giving me the opportunity to conduct the interview.’
Darwin from Darwin’s Money published Mortgage Activity Gone Wild Due Record Low Rates – Are You Taking Advantage?, saying, ‘Last week, there was a 20′
A Blinkin from Funancials published Are You A Mental Accountant?, saying, ‘I hope most of you have had a chance to read my previous article about The Legend of the Man in the Green Bathrobe. If you haven’t, go back and read it. It’s a prerequisite for continuing this post. I anticipated what the responses would be in the comments before they came rolling in.’
Kay Lynn from Bucksome Boomer published Delay Your Gratification and Grow Rich, saying, ‘The next time you’re tempted with a purchase (big or small), remember to think twice about it and consider what it might do to your future. Chances are, if you delay the purchase, your future will be much better off.’
Amanda L Grossman from Frugal Confessions published How to Save Money on Dieting, saying, ‘Comparing diet program costs is one way to maximize the amount of money you have to spend on dieting or to make you run the other way with your hard earned money, see how they stack up against one another!’
Wayne from Young Family Finance published Cheap Movie Alternatives, saying, ‘It isnt uncommon for young families to be strapped for cash. When you are looking for creative ways to save money without making a huge sacrifice, it is time to get creative. With the popularity of motion picture, it is hard to give up movies. Yet, going to the movies is not getting cheaper.’
Jeffrey from Saving Advice published Money Lessons from Aesop’s Fables, saying, ‘Many of Aesop’s Fables deal indirectly with financial topics. As an adult it’s fun to go back and re-read some of these tales. Knowing what I know now, I see how spot on many of the author’s observations were. If you ever want some snippets of inspiration or instruction about personal finance, go back and re-visit some of these tales:’
SB from One Cent at a Time published 8 Tricks to Get Cheap Flight Tickets, saying, ‘Over the years, I learned to be more observant, practical, and strategic with my flight ticket purchases. They became some of my techniques in looking for cheap flights. If you want to get them at a bargain, take note of these tips’
Wealth Building
101 Centavos from 101 Centavos published Nickel-Plated Trailers: a Centavos Dividend Portfolio Update, saying, ‘With the last portfolio update back in November, we’re about due for another one. Some new additions to the lineup: United Mobile Homes UMH, read more to find out my lineup!’
Kyle from The Penny Hoarder published How People Buy Real Estate with “No Money Down”, saying, ‘Some of my favorite infomercials include the ridiculous No Money Down real estate videos. If you haven’t already wasted your $360, allow me to spill the beans.’
Mich from Beating The Index published Hyperion Exploration Carries Strong Operational Momentum into 2012, saying, ‘Hyperion Exploration exited 2011 with a bang; the company was able to exceed its exit guidance by spending less capital than anticipated. I believe this strong operational momentum will carry into 2012 with the upcoming operational update and the2012 capex program due at any day before the end of this month. Find out why!’
Money Cone from Money Cone published 10 ETFs Cheaper than Their Vanguard Peers, saying, ‘Here’s a list of the ten, commonly used ETFs that have an expense ratio lower than that of Vanguard’s. (ETF commissions have not been considered in the preparation of this list.)’
MR from Money Reasons published Are Famous Personal Finance Authors Too Rich To Understand You?, saying, ‘Do rich personal finance authors forgetwhat it’s like to live in the middle? Do you think personal finance bloggers walk the walk and talk the talk better?’
PITR from Passive Income ToRetire published My Blog Owning Strategy, saying, ‘Find out my blog owning strategy that I am using to approach building up my multiple blogs.’
Beating Broke from Beating Broke published Sharebuilder Returns Update, saying, ‘Overall, there really isn’t much comparison of the returns between the Lending Club and Sharebuilder accounts. Taken on their face, Lending Club wins hands down. ‘
John from Passive Family Income published What’s So Great About Passive Income Anyway?, saying, ‘So why is it that creating a passive income can develop into a larger amount of money than earned income? It’s quite simple really’
Lazy Man from Lazy Man and Money published Grading Men’s Health’s Tips to Build Wealth in Troubled Times, saying, ‘I was very surprised by the lack of useful information provided by these financial experts. I’m reminded by the people who are giving the advice, Wall Street economist types. As Abraham Maslow said, “It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter published How to Invest in 5 Minutes a Year, saying, ‘The stock market is, at first glance, an intimidating place. As an active participant, I can tell you that it can be incredibly complicated. But, the good news for everyone reading is that products exist that make investing incredibly easy. In fact, I can tell you how you can outperform most investors, all while only spending 5 minutes a year on your investments. Yes, it really is possible’
Investor Junkie from Investor Junkie published What Is ETF Contango?, saying, ‘While ETFs make it easier to invest in a variety of asset classes, using an ETF does not release you from your obligation to pay attention to what is happening with your investments.’
Other Long Term Goals
Erika from Newlyweds on a Budget published Taking control of our finances, saying, ‘How one young couple hopes to take control of their finances, pay off debt and save money in 2012.’
Hank from Money Q&A published How I Recently Invested In A Rock Band, saying, ‘There are tons of other great projects on Kickstarter that you can invest in like the new Crowfield album. Kickstarter is a great way to invest in a rock band and other awesome projects.’
Suba from Broke Professionals published Need a $100,000 a year Job? Be a Butler and Earn Big Bucks, saying, ‘The job market has been bad for a very long time, but there are high paying careers out there. Apparently being a butler is one of them! Free room and board plus up to a hundred thousand dollars a year ‘ why not consider being a butler? You don’t even need a college degree, and Need a $100,000 a year Job? Be a Butler and Earn Big Bucks!’
Corey from 20s Finances published Confessions of a Street Canvasser, saying, ‘Have you ever been walking down the street in New York City, Boston, DC, Chicago, or San Francisco and been stopped by a young person carrying a clipboard and wearing a charity t-shirt? This strange phenomenon has a name ‘ street canvassing.’
Kevin from Thousandaire published My Budget Spreadsheet is Too Much Work, saying, ‘My budget spreadsheet is too complicated. I’m making things easier on myself and switching to Mint.com’
FG from Financial God published Immigrant Workers Are Coming to a Shore Near You to Steal Your Jobs!, saying, ‘Silicon Valley has been put on notice: A new startup, Blueseed, plans to set up ship just 12 miles off the coast. These ships will hold hundreds of bold and creative entrepreneurs from countries such as India and China. They will circumvent immigration laws and restrictions by placing their ships just outside of the territorial!’
Jen from Master the Art of Saving published Everybody Can Have an Emergency Fund!, saying, ‘If you don’t have an emergency fund at all, then why not start with a goal of $100? Sure it’s not going to be too helpful should a big financial emergency.’
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for including my retirement article, I enjoyed writing it!
There are enough post on this one page to keep me busy for the rest of the week. Nice retirement carnival. Will surely check out as many posts as possible. Thanks for the list.
I had no idea Butlers made such awesome money. Well, maybe the Artemis Fowl butlers….but who knew!
Making sacrifices early makes sense. Look around. Many baby boomers lived too extravagantly, didn’t save enough and are in bind now with no retirement funds. Think ahead!
Great list of retirement articles. I recently attended a deferred compensation presentation at work to see if I wanted to change anything with my overall plans. I wasn’t that impressed. The links you have here provide far more information and value than that hour and a half presentation. I liked the “Delay your gratification” article, always good advice. The Hyperion article wasn’t what I was expecting, given that is also the name of a financial reporting/accounting software.
Great list articles. I have marked several to read a little later. I got to remember that this carnival is not purely retirement when I do my carnival submissions
Thanks so much for hosting and for the inclusion.
Wow, lots of good stuff in there. Thanks!
I don’t know how I ended up in Frugal Living category but thank you for including me nevertheless!
Great list of articles! I have several of the Vanguard ETF’s. MoneyCone’s article was right on time. Reducing expense ratios are key!
Thanks for including my post about Emergency Funds.
Thanks for directing me to Jeff’s Money Spruce post on roommates – one of my dear friends has been struggling with her mortgage and opted to take on a roommate instead of refinancing her loan. Jeff’s post is a great resource for her!
Thanks for the list. I really need to get myself onto one of these!
Thanks for including Joe. You can give me that Harley you dont need.
Thanks for including my entry!
Thanks for the inclusion!
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