The Moral of the Story Is....

Between this article and the one I posted regarding the pursuit of an MBA....I think the moral of the story is...

Get some work experience before pursuing a post graduate degree AND realllllly think about the market as it relates to the degree you're pursuing. It may or may not help, but it definitely WON'T hurt.

Shoutout to my LS Samantha Walls for being featured in this article on AOL jobs. :-) Check it out.
Why You Shouldn't Go Straight to Law School

Here ye...here ye! All the Black Friday deals....in one spreadsheet!

A colleague of mine sent me this AWESOME spreadsheet  that lists all of the Black Friday deals at ALL of the stores in one consolidated spreadsheet. Talk about LOVE.

Thought I'd Share: 2011 Black Friday Deals

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Remember to take the time (today and everyday) to reflect and think about all that you are thankful for. I want you all to know I'm thankful for you, for reading, appreciating and even critiquing 25andretiring. I am also thankful for all of the encouragement I've gotten regarding this blog and my growth. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Have a blessed and safe holiday!

And be sure to check out my blog at midnight...I will have a post including ALL of the Black Friday deals...spreadsheet style (so yes, you can filter!!!). It's the most amazing thing ever!

Fast Forward: Where to Invest in 2012

Awesome article: Make Money in 2012

This article talks about where the market is going in 2012. Where you should probably look to invest. And what to look out for. Take a gander!

Just In Case You Were Thinking About an MBA...

I've been running into a lot of articles lately about why MBAs are a bad investment right now. The amount they cost (and the amount of debt you leave with) isn't worth the return on the investment (i.e. your salary once you leave the program). This has been noted especially true for the top tier business schools. So what's the solution? Lower tuition? I highly doubt that will happen...

Take a look: MBA Costs Soar

Match.WRONG

Okay, so this post requires me to be a little open and honest with you guys...but eh, what the hell, it's MUCH too funny not to share.

I recently, as in 2 days ago, signed up on Match.com, to give this online dating this a try...for the second time. Yes, I signed up for the 1st time while I was in public [accounting] and traveling 70% of time time. I think I lasted 30 days before I was completely disgusted and mortified that this could possibly be the pool of men I have to choose from. My initial reasoning for trying it out was because work didn't allow me to meet anyone...well outside of work. And two people I worked with met their boyfriend/husband on Match so I thought maybe I should take the stick from out of my *blank* and give it a try.

This time around, I decided...okay this could be a fun way to meet people during the winter months. Maybe, just maybe, there would be some cool cats on there. Keep in mind that I'm very picky when it comes to guys, probably much more picky than I have the right to be. It's cool though, I'm working on it. lol.

Anywho, day two and I get an email from some 38 year old man that reads:

I love you lady i live downtown chicago i,m a dj love me some oldschool and new2 so if you like a friend and a best friend or aman you can holla@yo man that me like going out to movie ' show ' bowling ,staking ,walk to the lake so if you need some thing like dat in your lyfe e.mail me and i will do the rest you feel me lady my queen is needed…

Seriously.

Seriously.

SERIOUSLY?!

After reading through it once, I had to send it to my bestie to decipher what the hell this guy was saying to me and she came up with:

I love you lady
I live in downtown Chicago
I'm a dj
I love old school and new school too
If you want a friend, a best friend, or a man--give me a call
I like movies ("the show"), bowling, skating, walks on the beach/lake
So if you enjoy these things too, e-mail me and I will gladly do the rest
Do you understand?
I need someone in my life that I can treat like a queen...

I just...I can't.

Do You Know What Your 401K is Doing?

For those of you who invest, or would like to start, the end of the year is a good time to take a look at your portfolio and figure out whether you want to shift things around in the near future. If you have a 401k or other retirement savings vehicle, this is absolutely something you should be doing at least once a year (if not more). Take a look at the funds you have your money going towards and ask yourself the following questions:

1) How did they do this year? Are they making money or losing money?
2) Are the riskier funds providing a larger return that the less risky options?
3) Am I diversified enough, for my age, income level, and how much I would like to save by retirement?

Most financial analysts would recommend investing a bit more aggressively while you're young, single, and have no kids. This is definitely the approach I take. What dose investing aggressively mean? Essentially, it's putting a larger percentage of your money in more risky investments (i.e. stocks are more risky than bonds).

Most 401k's (I've never seen one that doesn't) invest in mutual funds...which appear to you as these names you have never heard...like, American Funds Mutual Fund. Half the time, I don't know what they are either...so the thing I pay the most attention to is whether the funds I pick are fixed income, large cap, mid-cap, or small cap:

(in order from lowest to highest risk and return)

1) Fixed Income: these funds invest in bonds, which we should know are much less risky than stocks. Because of their very small risk, the return is also very small. If you're young, your retirement portfolio should not include a ton of fixed income funds. As you get older, it should include more.

2) Large-cap: These funds include companies with a market capitalization of about $8 billion or more. These are your very large companies who have been around for a while and have strength in the market. They're growth is pretty steady and therefore their returns are as well. These mutual funds will present less risk than the other two.

3) Mid-cap: This is the most popular choice for a lot of people because it represents the "middle-of-the-road" funds. The market cap for these funds are between $1B and $8B. They include companies that may offer a bit more return that a large cap because they're slightly smaller, a tiny bit newer, and a little more risky. I read in an article, that you can compare a mid-cap fund to a mid-size vehicle. It offers some of the benefits of the compact car (small-cap fund) without being as massive as an SUV (large-cap fund). I like this analogy. hehe.

4) Small-cap: This is where the money is at! lol. This is the most risky of the four options. These are new, baby, start up companies, with market caps below $1B. What does being new mean? The growth of these puppies can sky rocket (which means nice big returns for us), but due to their limited history, the financials are not as strong and therefore they can easily fail. So this is where you have the biggest risk but also the biggest return (or biggest loss).

The percentage of your money that you invest in the different types is totally up to you. I tend to be okay with taking on more risk while I'm living footloose and fancy free, so I put almost nothing in fixed income, very little in large cap, maybe about 30%  in mid cap and about half in small cap funds.

I will say that the more risky you go, the more often you should probably check your portfolio. Don't go moving things around every month...funds will have peaks and valleys, but you don't want to have 50% of your investment going to a small cap fund that's losing you a lot more money than you'd like for years on end. Alternatively, when you see a small cap getting you big returns, you might want to shift more money there while it's riding the big return wave.

The key here is that it's important to monitor what your retirement savings are doing (especially in this economy). You don't have to fully understand every little thing about the funds. It just takes a little common sense (and blog reading) to know what looks good and what looks bad.

Found this for the really cool kids: The Best Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds

Happy Investing!

Job Hunt: How far are you willing to go?

During my daily browse of CNN Money, I saw a pretty interesting article:

I Doubled My Salary in North Dakota

I have quite a few associates/friends who are job hunting right now and most are having a pretty hard time finding jobs in major metropolitan areas. This article led me to ask myself how far I would be willing to move for some (or double) bigger bucks.

A newly discovered oil patch in small town North Dakota has attracted tons of oil business and therefore many new workers. The article showcases some pretty hefty salaries for blue collar jobs not needing college degrees. Imagine being the manager of a fast food taco joint making almost $100k a year. Or a young oil field worker, making upwards of $120k per year. All of these people moved from their hometowns (where jobs were scarce and pay was minimum wage) specifically to N.D. to take advantage of the up-and-booming economy.

I've run into some conversations recently around moving to low-populated areas to find jobs and make more money. A colleague of mine said his daughter moved to Idaho after college to become a public grade school teacher. She makes about $60k a year (I think that's better than a lot of teachers starting out). Maybe the new "thing" is to move to these desolate places your first year or two out of college, stack up some money and experience, and then make a move to the Chicagos, DCs, and New Yorks of the world.

So how far are you willing to go for the big bucks? As the age old saying goes...no pain, no gain.

Tax Tantrum Tuesdays: Tax Time a Ticking

I was thinking...

December 31 is almost here. You know what that means? Tax time is almost upon us.

Last tax season I spent a lot of time writing posts around income taxes and how to understand yours (remember the red bottoms?). This year I'm hoping most of you have taken the time and energy to pay more attention to your income in order to minimize money wasted in witholdings and maximize tax deductions.

My goal for the 2011 tax year was to be able to itemize. Since I don't own a home yet and therefore can't deduct property taxes or home loan interest, I can't use that to itemize. But! Charitable deductions and state income taxes are both itemized deductions I can take advantage of. So...I challenged myself to do more charity (the state is already taking my money) through tithing. Aside from tithing, I've also given $$$ here and there to other charitable organizations. Since tithing was something I should've been doing anyway (because I believe in it) I found this to be a great motivator for me to stay on it.

Confession: I fell off...somewhere around July. However, all hope is not lost! As long as my last tithes are paid by December 31, 2011, they count towards my curent year return. And so....I will be making a bulk tithe payment before the end of this year to cover the tithes I've missed from August - December.

Your task: Think about what your income tax return will look like now! Did you have any major job changes, income shifts, new possible deductions, possible lost deductions, that may impact your 2011 taxes in a few months? Think about those things now. Doing this and reaching out to a knowledgeable tax professional (or doing the research on your own) may alleviate the stress that tax season brings most Americans. You won't be fearing the unknown (that you somehow owe the government some absurd amount of money).

Instead...you'll know just what to expect.

Fed Up With Fees

Recently, there has been intense discussion regarding the new fees being imposed on customers by "big banks." When Bank of America announced the $5 fee it planned to impose on debit card users at the beginning of 2012, folks...went...crazy. Bank Transfer Day was organized in an effort to hit big banks where it hurts. Well...it worked.

In the month or so since this announcement was made, the news has reported that more than 650,000 "big bank" users have taken their money and accounts elsewhere...to credit unions. To give you an idea of how major this is...

• Credit unions across the nation normally see 650,000 new customers every year. To get this many in one month is a major increase for them.
• Bank of America has experienced a substantial drop in their stock price since losing so many customers (and thus so much money).
• Bank of America (and all other big banks: JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, etc) have taken back their plans to impose monthly fees for debit card use. 

I guess Americans are sending a major message to "big banks." Something along the lines of....eff you, pay me.

In hearing this on the local news, I realized that I, a "big bank" customer (and lover, might I add),  don't really know the difference between credit unions and banks.  I decided to check it out and jot down the following lists of differences:

Banks

• for-profit
• publicly traded
• larger selection of products (retirement plans, investment plans, usually not offered by credit unions)
• regulated by Federal Reserve
• more ATMs and branches
• easy to join
• less personalized service
• primary focus: making money

Credit Unions

• not-for-profit 
• owned by members of the credit union
• members share a commonality (belong to the same church, school, employer, etc)
• regulated by National Credit Union Association
• limited locations
• limited range of product offerings
• higher interest rates on savings accounts (than banks)
• lower interest rates on loans (than banks)
• hard to find and join
• more personalized experience
• primary focus: making customers happy

A few important things to note about the above lists:

1) Because credit unions are non-profit entities, they are not subject to state and local taxes, have far less marketing expenses,  and don't have to pay out high executive salaries, like banks. These limited expenses allow them to offer higher interest rates on savings accounts, lower interest rates for loans, and lower or no fees on checking accounts, late payments and overdrafts.

2) Because credit unions are more concerned about pleasing their owners (the customers) they offer more educational services and seminars to teach customers about financial products and how to make smart financial decisions. Banks are less inclined to want you to be financially savvy because they are interested in making money.

3)  For both credit unions and banks, customers are insured up to $100,000. Just in case you're ballin' and thus this poses major cause for concern. lol.

I'm a big banker, but this list has definitely made me think twice about looking into credit unions. They could prove to be an awesome option as us 20-somethings to save for and purchase our first homes, kids' college educations, and retirement. This Bank Transfer Day just may have led to the rise of the credit union and if it saves me money...I'm not mad at that!

Update: I found this article about folks like me who are addicted to their big banks. Check it out.
I'm Addicted To My Big Bank

What Is Your Capacity?

Have you ever had a friend, significant other or any other person in your life, whom you felt was not giving as much of themselves to your relationship as you were. Even worse, it felt like they just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand why what they were giving wasn’t enough. They were looking at you like you had the problem!

Well last night, I heard a sermon from T.D. Jakes that posed a very interesting question:

What is your capacity?

Bishop’s sermon came from Exodus, the story of the Manna and the Quail. If you’ve never read it, check out chapter 16 of Exodus.

The part of the sermon that spoke to me was God and fairness. In the scripture, God provides manna, which is food, for the people. Some got more manna than others, but the people who got little, got enough, and the people who got a lot, got enough. One would think, well that's not fair, why did some get more than others. And to this point Bishop pointed out:

Who said God is fair? The bible does not say anywhere that God is fair. It says that God is just.  He further pointed out the difference between these two words:

Fair is to divide equally. Just is to respond to capacity. If you haven’t caught on yet, this means, God gives however much each person has the capacity to handle. For those families that had the capacity to eat more food he gave more, for those who did not, he gave less.

Bishop Jakes went on to compare this to relationships (this is where it gets relevant y'all). He pointed out that the problem with a lot of the relationships and marriages of today is that folks don’t have the same capacity. The man or woman you are in love with but you don’t feel like they’re loving you equally in return, may not have the same capacity to give as much love as you do. Sometimes, a person can be loving you as best they know how, with all of their might, giving you everything they have to give, but they may only have the capacity to give a “cup” while you have the capacity to give a “quart.” So that cup will never be enough for you. And you will burn up all of your energy trying to force that person to give you more than they are capable of giving.

  

Now I'm sure you're asking, as was I, how does one build their capacity? Bishop covered this as well: Your hunger (or drive) allows you to gain more capacity. As you push to love better, live better and do better, you gain the ability to handle more. On the other hand, if you remain complacent, your capacity will never grow.

Definitely an "a-ha" moment, as Oprah would say, for me. I'm sure we can all think back on past relationships that didn't work out for whatever reason and now realize that maybe the other person wasn't a bad person per se, maybe they just didn't have the capacity to give the same to the relationship that we did. Conversely, for those of us who have been left by someone when we felt like we were giving things our all, maybe we were giving it our all but they had the capacity to give a little bit more and thus expected more. The key, to finding SUCCESS in a relationship, is to find a person with the same capacity as you. And at the very least, we should all be pushing to love better, live better and do better, so that we will be able to give (and receive) the biggest capacity possible.

Chuch

For those of you who would like to hear this sermon, I've attached the video. The video is from the first time he preached this sermon at The Potters House (Bishop Jakes' church). The sermon starts about half way through the video.

I Knew He Was the One For You

I went to a wedding a few weekends ago for one of my ex-colleagues and her new hubby. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. They were beautiful.

I noticed during most, if not all, of the bridal party’s speeches, that people, in some way, shape, or form said “when he first told me about her” or “when she first told me about him, I knew s/he was someone special and/or the one.” I leaned over to my good girlfriend sitting next to me and said “so since apparently all of my friends will know who ‘the one’ is before I even know, can you let me know as soon as you know who my one is, because I would rather you not reveal that you knew for so dang on long at our wedding. I want to know right then damnit!” She cracked up laughing and assured me that she could do that much.

I had to wonder after listening to these speeches, do your friends really know when someone you meet is “different” and is the “one?” or is that just something people say during speeches because it sounds good and is polite to your new hubby/wifey?

I have actually had one of my very best friends tell me that she thinks (well now that she thought…and I guess maybe still thinks) that this one guy I recently experienced a connection with was the one. I mean…it makes sense that she thought that…heck, even I thought that. There is something extremely special about him that I can’t really put into words. There’s this compliment, even in the worst of times, that I feel like we give each other. Something I’ve never experienced before.  Now maybe I will experience this again. Who knows. But I know that he’s the first guy who I felt I could get through absolutely anything with and it was then that I realized that, that feeling is a VERY integral part of knowing you’ve found the “one.” Not love. Not happiness. But really FEELING like you can make it through the WORST of times with this person because you all have some natural (well really it’s unnatural) bond that will withstand the test of times. A feeling that when he’s not at his best, you can fill in, when you’re not at your best, he can fill in and when you both are not at your best, you still find a way to pull each other up out of the “bottom.” A feeling that even imagining him at his WORST, isn’t enough to make you think you’d ever want to leave. It’s just a very powerful feeling to have.  I think so at least.

I wondered to myself, is this maybe what the difference between loving someone and finding your soulmate is? I certainly don’t believe that everyone ends up with their soulmate. I think timing and proximity play such a big role in who you end up with, that sometimes, if you’re lucky enough for your soulmate to enter your life, s/he might exit just the same and you just have to be thankful that you got the chance to meet them at all.

I also wonder if the “thing” that my newly married friend’s bridal party saw is the same thing my friend sees.

I ALSO wonder if one of my very best friends is right.

Only time will tell.

And I happen to have recently fallen in love with this song. :-)

Question: What do you all think finding your soulmate feels like? Can outsiders see that you’ve found “the one” before you?

Reeeeee-Mixxxx

As you can tell, I’ve been struggling with writing lately. I think I finally figured out why: my finances aren’t all there is to my life. And what I mean by that is…for the past few months, I’ve had a crap load of other things to concern myself with and in dealing with those things, the time I could devote to researching, reading up on, and writing about financial stability had to take a major back seat.

It finally occurred to me late one night that this is okay. It’s okay if I can’t always write about financial stuff. Anddddd… it is okay if I broaden the intensely pointed premise of my blog currently and allow it to become more well-rounded and inclusive of my life.  After all, I AM 25.

One of my favorite bloggers,  sofullsista (who also happens to be one of my wonderful line sisters), advised me early on that there will be long hiatuses, bumps in the writing-road, and complete direction changes with my blog. They are all necessary for it to grow and reach it’s full potential.

Well here’s my first major revamp. I am still 25 and retiring, but now…you’ll get to see a bit more of the 25 year old J