Betterment.com contacted me recently and wanted me to take a look at their new site. I’d usually just ignore the email, but their site looked so pretty I decided, what the heck, I’ll take their call.

So, they set me up with a sweet referral site of my own, and I setup my account last week. The registration was pretty easy, but they do require a deposit verification, which I just completed this morning. So, you can setup an account in about 3 days or so. Pretty painless for an online financial account.

must verify your bank account with two small deposits

One things I immediately like about Betterment is how easy on the eyes the site is. I don’t know if I’m just used to be blinded on most financial websites, but everything about their site is very muted, and I really like it. It makes it easy to focus on the data and not be distracted. But I’m a design nut (not that you’d know it from my site…).

Once you’ve verified your account, you can setup your asset allocation. Betterment lets you choose between two main buckets: stocks / bonds. Simple. If you’re looking to invest but don’t want to get into the nitty gritty details, and just want things to go on automatic…well, Betterment is probably a good fit for you.

I'm still avoiding stocks for now

For me, I’m still avoiding stocks, so I decided to invest my initial $250 deposit into all bonds. Yeah, I know it’s not recommended, but bite me, this is my account and it’s called “personal” finance for a reason. Plus, I’m a former trading addict…so yeah, it’s all bonds for me.

No stocks for you!

The neat thing with Betterment is you can compare your allocation and returns to others in your age and income range. Here’s something interesting I found….for my age group, the higher income demographic has been doing much better at investing on betterment than the lower income group:

Rich get richer last year?

Hmmm...why is this? Why underperformance last year?

Any guess on that stat? Very interesting.

Anywho, once you get all setup, there is a nice overview page, although since my $250 hasn’t deposited yet, you don’t see much, but you get the idea:

The "Overview" Screen. Nice.

The Fees

So, how exactly does Betterment make money? I mean, all these fancy pants graphs cost money to build and manage right? Well, of course, nothing in life is totally free. It depends on your account balance but for most of my audience here (and myself) it’s going to cost you 0.9%/year.

So why pay that fee? Well, part of the appeal is that you get access to some nice index funds that normally have like 100K account minimums. Also, Betterment will automatically rebalance your allocation if it falls outside some set guidelines.

So if you’re like, “I just want to invest, and know it’s going to rebalance correctly, and not have to worry about picking individual stocks/bonds (with say, Sharebuilder)…then Betterment might be a good fit for you.

I’ll keep you updated on the status of my 100% bond account of course.

To sign up for your own account: Click HERE

I’d like to know, why it is unacceptable for me to withhold paying my taxes beyond the due date, however, the IRS is at liberty to delay payment of a refund due indefinitely and without interest.  What’s up with that?

We’ve got a whomping refund due this year as a result of the outstanding adoption tax credit. This will pay off our only remaining debt—an adoption loan, plus fund our emergency fund, and maybe even get us started on our savings for our trip to Sudan.

But alas, no news.

Actually, we’ve had news a couple of times. “Where’s my Refund” told us that the check would be here by June 7^th, and then a few weeks later was changed to say we’d be receiving a letter asking for more information (apparently the 300 page return and documentation that we sent them was insufficient?).

The letter arrived, but said our return was under review and we would receive either our refund or a request for more documentation by July 7, at the earliest.
July! ::whine::

I want to be debt free! Now!

Looking at the bright side, I suppose if they keep dragging their feet on this, I might have it paid off the old fashioned way by the time the refund check gets here.

Sincerely,

A Very Impatient Taxpayer

I’m married : ).

And it’s awesome. : ) : ) : )

Yes, that was three smileys in a row on a blog.

It’s a strange feeling…sometimes it feels strange, but I’d say 99% of the time, everything feels the same with my now wife, which is great, because we are both very happy.

The past few months have been pretty crazy, lots of wedding planning, moving, living in my Mom’s basement, etc. But now I’m settling in with my wife in Portland, and we just love it.

I honestly thought, when I started this blog back in January of 2007, that there was no way in heck I would be getting married anytime this side of 30 (I’m 27 now).

What, you didn’t think so either? Ha.

Bringing Debt Into Marriage

My wife brought very little debt into our marriage, she had a little chunk of credit card debt that we paid off a few months ago. She is now completely debt free.

As for me…I still have a ways to go, but I’m making great progress. The amount I owe my mother is in the 90K range, and continuing to decline each month. I may be able to pay her off in full by the end of the year, that’s the goal at least.

My car is paid off, all tax debts resolved, no credit card debt. I still have about 32K left on my student loans, but those are pretty low interest rates, and while I may pay them off this year, I may just leave them alone.

The good news about my debt issues, is that my now wife was with me through all of them. She used to come hang out with me when I was living in my office. She would wash her hands with cold water after my heat got shut off in the house I had to short sale.

So none of my debts were a surprise to her. We didn’t start dating until I had really turned things around a bit, but it was still pretty touch and go even when we first started dating.

I think bringing any amount of debt into a marriage CAN work, but only if you both are clear on how much and what the plan is for paying it off. Communication is the key.

Mrs. Debt Kid?

I asked my wife to do a guest post here, so hopefully in the next week or so you’ll get some words from her perspective on my journey (and hers with me) over the last few years.

Thanks again for being such awesome readers!

It’s a heck of a lot of waiting.

Waiting to move (more on this).

Waiting to live together (til after we are hitched).

Waiting for checks to come so I can pay off more debt (I want to pay off my car this month!)

Wait. Wait. Wait.

I swear, I’ve read more news and blog posts in the last two weeks than I have in the last few months.

I’m trying not to spend much money on my business right now, keep costs low, and profits up, and so I’m bored at work half the time. But I head to the office….because what else am I going to do all day?

Moving To Portland

I am excited about moving to Portland Oregon.

My fiancee and I will be looking for a place in the next few months before our wedding. She will live in our new place for a few months while I move in with my Mom for a few months until we are married. Free rent!

So, lots of change coming. Just. Not. Yet.

10 Things Millionaires Won’t Tell You

I read a really interesting article on smartmoney today about millionaires. Number 7 was that the median college GPA is 2.9.

My cumulative college GPA?

2.9

Ha, that made me laugh. Next time my fiancee mentions my not so stellar college grades, I’ll bring that little statistic out!

Portland Finance Bloggers

JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly fame is a Portland area blogger, but I don’t know of any other personal finance bloggers in Portland. If you know any, or are one, leave a comment and we can meet at some hole in the wall coffee place sometime and talk about the “weird” that is Portland.

do I need to buy life insurance?

With a wife now in the picture, and the 105K or so I still owe my mother, I think it’s worth looking into to. If something were to happen to me, I need to make sure that my debt to my mother is paid, and my wife is taken care of.

So yeah, I think it’s time to look at a term life insurance policy.

how much life insurance do I need?

That’s an interesting question. I’m 26 now, were something to happen to me, my fiancee could take care of herself, she has a college degree, but I’d like her to have a nice cushion, plus I’m sure we will have kids in the next 10 years or so.

I think a million dollar policy is about right for our needs. That would insure my mother is taken care of, as well as my fiancee/future wife.

How much will it cost?

That’s what I’m getting quotes for right now. I’m getting quotes for both a million and 1.5 million dollar policies with a 30-year term.

What I’m really hoping is that in the next 5 years I’ll have enough saved up, that we’d have our own “insurance policy” called a huge savings account fund. But, since that’s not a guarantee, and I’m not the risk-taker I used to be, insurance it is.

From the free quotes I could get, a million dollar 30-year term policy is going to run me around $650/year or about $54/month. Not too bad. I’m in good health, not overweight, don’t smoke, and no major family heath issues.

How much life insurance do you have? (I’m going to look into disability insurance next)

Also, while I’m not prone to thinking a negative thought about someone without a good reason, there are a few things that really set me on edge. Money mistakes—some of which I’ve made myself—really bother me. The ones that make my list are rooted in impulsivity or lack of self-discipline, which are items on my short-list of things I won’t bail friends out for.

Consider yourself warned… don’t complain to me that you have money problems if you’re currently doing anything on this list. I just won’t be sympathetic. For sympathies, try DebtKid, he’s nicer than me.

Here’s my list. I’d love to hear from readers if you have any to add.

1. “Ghetto Wheels”: Don’t put $2,000 wheels on a $500 car. First, you can’t afford them. Second, they’ll get stolen. I’m going to make a sub-category here for any kind of fancy wheels on mini-vans and station wagons. What are you trying to say with the fancy wheels? I’ll tell you what I hear “I’m impulsive and I like shiny things.” I’m all for fancy wheels when you can afford them (not in debt, not behind on taxes or other essentials), but make sure your ride is worthy of them.

Image from Benzworld.org

2. “Ink”: If you didn’t pay your taxes or you’re behind in your credit card payments, or receiving public assistance, but you got a new tattoo, don’t tell me. You’ll get an earful from me—and I don’t mean another piercing.

3. Eating/Drinking out: I’ve been out to dinner with friends and had their bar tabs reach more than my mortgage payment. I never add myself to a tab. I pay cash for my food and drinks. And if you just ordered your third $9 margarita, I really don’t want to hear about your money problems—even if you’re funny when you’re blitzed.

4. Money-making schemes: A little part of me dies when broke people fall for money-making schemes like “order this software” and “buy this tape system” and multilevel-marketing programs. Starting a new “independent representative” business is a great idea if you have money. If you’re broke and in debt, it’s a bad time to start a new business. Please don’t. It breaks my heart and I’m not tactful enough to plead that don’t without hurting your feelings.

5. Rent-To-Own anything: If you’re on a payment plan for your 56” flat-screen, well, all I can say is please don’t breed.

6. Spoiled Children. Children can be ruined with stuff. You’ll impart a sense of entitlement into their psyche that is not a blessing. It will be an albatross they can’t shake off. They don’t learn respect for their things. I have a soft spot here for parents because I know that we all want to give our children everything. We just have to be the grown-ups in the equation and know when they have “enough.” It’s for their own good. Just remember, you’ll be able to spoil all you want when your kids grow up properly and provide you with grandchildren.

7. Car leases: You’re not taking advantage of the auto industry. You’ve not somehow found a new trick to work the system. You’re getting financially raked over the coals.

8. Using home equity to pay off credit cards: Why would you convert an unsecured debt to be a debt secured by your home? Also, why take a short-term debt and stretch it over 30 years? When asked if gravity was the most powerful force in the universe, Albert Einstein (a pretty smart guy) replied “no, the most powerful force is certainly compounding interest.”

9. Lottery tickets: Lottery tickets (and other gambling) are not an investment scheme. You are not entitled to win after 30 years of faithfully buying a ticket every Friday. Don’t plan on winning it. And for heaven’s sake, if you’re buying tickets, don’t tell me about your money problems. Would you have money problems if you could get back every dollar you’ve ever spent gambling?
10. Smoking. Cigarettes, medical expenses, taxes, etc. This habit is too expensive for the broke. Buy yourself some really spectacular cigars when you celebrate your freedom from debt. Champagne too. Why not? Please note that I get twice as cranky about people who are using illicit substances while complaining about their lack of funds. If you can afford your drugs, you can afford your bills. Furthermore, you’re flirting with legal and financial disaster for the consequences of those actions, so stop it!

11. Entitlement Vacations: You don’t deserve a break simply because of the stress of being broke. I understand that being broke (or even on a budget) is sometimes not fun. But hey, be a grown-up. With some self-discipline and hard work it won’t last forever.  Don’t even think about busting out the plastic right now to hit the beach and then complaining to me about your money troubles when you get back . I’ll be irritated for your mistake and jealous of your tan.

Dear readers, what do you think? Anything I should add or remove from the list?  Be sure to know I’m not going to accost a stranger on the street for their expensive wheels or smoking habit.  I’ve just found that I’m not able to muster sympathies when a friend comes to me complaining about their financial difficulties

So, I may or may not be looking into engagement rings : ).

Here’s the thing, I’ve read all about the different C’s (Carat, Cut, Clarity, Color). I know about how much I want to spend. I even have some general ideas about the type of setting.

Now, where the heck do I actually buy the thing? I’ve been looking online a ton, and Blue Nile seems like the best choice if I go that route. However, I want to go into a brick and mortar shop first just so I get a sense of what these shiny diamond things really look like up close.

I’ve read nothing but positive things about Blue Nile. It seems like you just get more for your dollar there, and they are a Seattle company, so that makes me feel a little better as well.

So, anyone ever bought a diamond online before? Were you happy with the purchase? Any tips or suggestions? I know Blue Nile (see blue nile promotional codes) at least has a 30-day guarantee, so I’ve thought of just ordering what I want and then seeing how it turns out, knowing I can just ship it back if the diamond isn’t what I was expecting.