Cheapskate Biden - No Charity

According to news reports VP candidate Joe Biden's made a $2.2million in the past 10 years (source: tax records). Total charitable contributions: $3,690!!! While charitable giving has not been my strongsuit, even I managed to beat his total.

No financials are safe – Credit Freeze

IMHO – there is not a credit crunch. In many ways, large financials are subject to a credit freeze. If not, why would a company like AIG plummet again because it cannot access the capital markets.

Until this shakes out, no financials are safe.

The Lipstick Revolution – Palin’s Surge

Republican or Democrats, one has to notice the incredible impact Sarah Palin has had on the McCain campaign. Love her or hate her, the days of all-male presidential tickets appear over. As the drama over the "Lipstick on a Pig" comment illustrates, female voters are an enormous voting block and they appear unwilling to take abuse from male politicians anymore.

Obama’s Idiotic Fannie/Freddie Comments

According to news reports, Obama wants to prevent the ousted executives at Fannie/Freddie from collecting on their severance packages. Although they are likely to walk away with large packages per their contract, there doesn't appear to be evidence of illegal behavior by them. Absent such evidence, the government doesn't have the power to abrogate their employment contracts.

Having said that, I expect we will learn they are walking away with millions of dollars. While CEO pay is often obscene, it is not yet illegal and Obama knows it.

Winter Coat – When should I buy one?

Bottom line, I need a nice, wool winter coat. Should I buy early in the season when there are a lot of choices or late in the year when the retailers are struggling to move out ? Still relatively new to the northeast, not sure when the best time to buy is.

Avoid Annuities due to Insolvency Risk

Simply put, Annuities are Loans to Insurance companies by their customers. Right now, I think it is a mistake to purchase an annuity (variable or fixed) from any insurance company. When you purchase an annuity, you transfer funds to the carrier in return for a promise from the company to pay you in the future according to the terms of the contract.

Key Concepts about Your Loan to your Insurance Carrier:

1. Insurances Companies can and do go out of business. Like banks, car companies, or any other firm, they are susceptible to mistakes by management and financial realities. In the past few years, AIG, once the strongest insurance carrier on the planet, lost something like $50BILLION in market cap.
   
2. The longer it takes for you to "collect" on your annuity, the more risk you have.
   
3. Most Life Insurers invest a large portion of their assets in fixed income securities. Traditionally, this has been a sound, well thought out strategy. Unfortunately, the credit crunch and subprime crises means many of those "assets" could depreciate and leave the carrier unable to pay you. For example, a well run Insurer I have experience with states it has:
   

• $90+ Billion in Assets
  
• Asset Backed Securities: 9%
  
• Residential CMO/Mortgage Backed Securities: 4%
  
• Commercial Mortgages: 6%
  
• Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities: 15%
  

Although the insurer has a good reputation and solid rating from AM Best, it would have a significant problem if those assets became impaired.

While great ratings (AM Best, Fitch, and S&P) matter, they are not perfect. If you don't believe me, ask someone who bought AAA rated mortgage backed securities in 2006.

Christmas Trips Home – Fly on Christmas Day

Flying to see family for Christmas can be very expensive. While talking to my sister, she mentioned flying on Christmas day to save money. Since I was planning on using AA points (I want to use them up and stop using American Airlines forever), I wasn't paying that much attention. When I went to book my flight, I discovered AA doubled the number of airmiles needed to fly out on Christmas Eve Day compared to Christmas Day. Basically, they want people to pay first class prices for coach seats. As a result, I am flying home at 7am on Christmas Day with my lovely wife.

Thanks American Airlines. Each time I deal with you, you lose what little goodwill you may have left.

We plan on using the "saved" points for a trip to Florida in February.

British Universal Healthcare – Privatizing?

While there are certainly some issues with the United States health care system, the British "Universal" Health plan is not perfect. If it was, would they try this:

http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=25756

Health Insurance – am I naked?

According to my wife's employer, I was added to her plan effective 9/1/08. Nevertheless, the carrier doesn't have a record of the change; however, they say it normally will take a few weeks to get me an insurance card and it will be retroactive.

Since my employer is about to cancel my health insurance, I am nervous about the situation. Until I get the card in hand, I will worry about being "naked" with respect to health insurance. As I learned from emergency appendix surgery earlier this year, you never know when you might need it.

Marriott Responds – Poorly to our Complaint Letter

After we wrote a letter complaining about Marriot's abysmal service and condition on our wedding night, they thought it would be appropriate to send us a voucher for a free night at the exact same hotel. Since the Marriott in question is less than 1 mile from our house, the voucher is basically worthless. Who wants to stay in a hotel down the street? (Especially one with bad memories).

The only reason we had a room in the first place was because it was our wedding night. My wife and I have decided to send the voucher back with a cc to head of Marriott hotels.

Target 800 – Credit Score

Because of an identity theft incident, I subscribe to Equifax's credit monitoring services. While reviewing my credit report for any problem entries, I noticed Equifax is offering Scorewatch free for 30 days. Well – I haven't hit my target of 800, but things aren't bad.

Has anyone made it to 800?

Auto Insurance and Marriage – Crazy

As my wife and I continue the process of merging various financial affairs, I noticed an interesting item on our bill from State Farm. For some reason that cannot be justified by any sanity or financial data, State Farm is charging us 50% more to insure her older Corolla than it is charging to insure my nearly new Highlander.

Things I know:

1. Somewhat beat up (but reliable), the market value of the Corolla is ¼ the market value of the Highlander (if that).
   
2. My wife is the primary driver. Although my driving record is good, I had an at fault accident two years ago. Her record is perfect.
   
3. From a credit perspective, we should be identical.
   

Comparing the before/after pricing quotes from other carriers, I think State Farm's price on the Highlander is significantly better than the competition.

Changing Health Insurance Mid- Year – Nervous!

According to a document provided by my wife's employer, I will be added to her insurance effective September 1, 2008. Until I get an insurance card from Blue Cross, I won't feel completely comfortable with my situation. As a result, I won't forward the "proof of other insurance" to my employer until after I talk with the new insurer

Gas Prices – Commodity or Branded??

Do you pay extra for "branded" gas from companies like Exxon, Mobil, or BP? IMHO – Gas from any reputable company is gas.

The other day, I paid $3.61 per gallon at my local BJ's Club. On the way home, I saw prices as high as $3.84. In my area, the Citgo consistently has the lowest prices and the Shell has the highest. At some point, one would expect the Shell customers to switch to Citgo; however, they do not.

Why not? Despite all the protestations about gas prices, I think most people are lazy and not sensitive to gas prices. They just fill up in the most convenient spot without even considering the cheaper gas one block away.

Your theories?

Married – Setting up Joint Accounts

This weekend, my bride and I started the process to merge our finances. First step, we merged two of our checking and savings accounts (we used the same bank) at TD Banknorth. In the joint savings account, we will keep $1-2K for emergencies. The joint checking will be for ATM use and for the rare times we have to write a check.

Most of our money will be direct deposited in ING Checking and Savings accounts. Unless a check is required, we will pay everything using online bill pay.

Thanks Marriott – Not!!

If the bride/groom reserved a block of 10 rooms for the weekend, would you give them a decent room? At our local Marriott, they had other plans.

Because most of my family was from out of state, I decided it would be nice if everyone stayed at the same hotel and took a block of ten rooms. In addition, my bride and I reserved a room for the night of the rehearsal dinner and our wedding night. What did we get?

1. The first room offered was next to the ice machine (aka the nuclear power plant).
   
2. When I complained, they gave us another room. Unfortunately, I didn't inspect it carefully. We checked out of the room at 5am due to the horrible smell of mildew. Thanks Marriott!!!
   

During the rest of the honeymoon, we stayed in an airport Sheraton (using Starpoints) and a Hyatt (honeymoon). Both of them provided clean, quite rooms and great service. Next time we travel, we will remember.

Wedding/Honeymoon Over

Back from the honeymoon and still adding up the damage. It was worth it. In the following weeks, I will be posting on some of the highlights – the Hyatt and the lowlights - the Marriott.

Final Wedding Report

Tomorrow is the big day. I am marrying a wonderful woman in a beautiful church with a dinner in a great restaurant (and view) to follow. Today, we are doing a few last things, but it looks like we managed not to bankrupt ourselves. On to the honeymoon. Next posting in 2 weeks.

Housing Market - Starting to Harden?

Although I would not be the farm on it, I am starting to see signs the housing market (in Connecticut) is starting to harden. Currently, I work with two new employees looking to buy homes. According to them, the supply is now limited to the "dregs." From what they see, the only people who are willing to sell at the depressed prices are the people who have no choice. Everyone else is holding on to their houses.

Since Connecticut did not have the massive housing developments of California and Florida, one would expect us to be "leaders" in the recovery due our limited supply of housing.

Charging the Wedding!!!

Having already put a large amount on my Citibank card to pay for the honeymoon, next week I have to pay for the wedding and the reception. Although I had enough money in savings to pay for all of it, paying it off seemed risky. Instead, I did a balance transfer to move the money from Citi to Discover. At a cost of $75, I get to use their money for 12 months free. For the reception, it is going directly on the Discover card and I get 5% back since it is a reception.

When we get back, my wife will be back to work (she is a teacher) and our cash flow will really pick up. While we cannot quite live on my income alone, it is close enough to bank a large portion of her paycheck. We should have enough cash in the bank to pay everything off by Christmas.