Joe Landolina's blog

When it comes to your finances, are you smart like Dom "The Little Professor" DiMaggio or are you more like Fred "Bonehead" Merkle?  As baseball's postseason begins and I have baseball on my brain, here is a list of tips that could apply equally to baseball and to those of you trying to Budget, Save and Eliminate Debt:

Baseball's regular season has ended and the postseason has begun, and frankly I'm spending more time listening to the games on the radio than planning these blogs, so I thought it might be fun to look at the question of whether the World Series winner can be used to predict stock market performance.

With President Obama and Congress being focused on the many problems facing the nation at present, including health care reform, one issue that has not been addressed is the January 1, 2011 expiration of the provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (or EGTRRA for you lovers of acronyms) as they affect retirement planning.

The recent G20 Summit (How many nations?  Gee, 20!) has concluded, and being that I'm right here in Pittsburgh where it all took place, one might suppose that a blog entry would be in order to discuss what it all meant to ordinary people who are just trying to Budget, Save, and Eliminate Debt.

Caught up as I was in the 40th anniversary of Woodstock last month, I almost forgot that this month marks the 39th anniversary of the debut of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp on ABC-TV.  To commemorate this important historical event which changed our perception of chimpanzees forever, this week's blog will feature---you guessed it---links!  How's that for a rationalization?

I decided to make my discussion of investing in stocks into a trilogy.  After all, it worked for The Godfather.  By now you've read Diving Into the Stock Market and the stirring sequel Diving Into the Stock Market Too.  This installment will deal with the often-asked question of when is the right time to sell a stock.

This is another of those sequels that I like to write.  I've already discussed some of my rules of thumb, financially speaking, for buying stocks in Diving Into the Stock Market.  This week I would like to discuss some nonmonetary factors that I look at when I'm considering buying a stock.

This week I'm going to briefly touch on the subject of credit counselors, or more specifically, choosing the right credit counselor.  Credit counselors provide valuable services to people who are overwhelmed by debt.

This week we'll delve into the exciting world of retirement fund fees and expenses.  These costs could have a significant effect on what's left in the fund when it's time for you to retire. 

As we approach another anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the media will be full of remembrances of the tragic events of that fateful day.  None of us will ever forget it.