The tax preparers have seen the light and realize there is more money to be made being loan sharks than by preparing your taxes. And they have taken it to a whole new level this year by not even requiring you to fill out a tax return…simply bring in your year end pay stub, they […]

While at the Ebisuten shrine, we took a short break and had some sweet rice wine (amazake) in a small shop on the shrine’s grounds. Inside there was a large mask hanging on the wall with bills underneath. The bills were both placed upside down:

Out of curiosity I asked why the bills were placed upside […]

As I mentioned in the previous post, this was the first time that I really have had a chance to see the shrine since our other visits were always when the shrine was packed with people. here are a few shots I took around the shrine:

Small shrine to pray for the horse the Ebisuten rides

A […]

We took our annual trip to the Ebisuten (the God of Wealth) shrine to pray for good money fortune today. It was a much different affair than our trip in 2006 when we went during the festival and the shrine was packed (we were in the middle of our move back here when that took […]

Credit cards have a lot of advantages such as giving better protection than cash or checks on purchases, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a financial advisor that will tell you that there are good reasons to rack up credit card debt. One thing I have learned about personal finances is that every person’s […]

I received an email from a TV producer named Pam Wheaton Shorr who has sought people from our forums on other stories in the past that is putting together a story about the new IRS option to split your tax refund into several different accounts. This is what she is looking for:
I produce consumer reports […]

If you are looking for ways to begin, improve and / or confirm your investing knowledge, you don’t have to pay a lot (or any in this case) money to do so. Morningstar offers 172 free investing classes broken down into 4 areas: stocks, funds, bonds and portfolio. An added bonus is you can earn […]

If you have been, one of the long time members of our forum and who is the manager for one of our satellite websites would like to talk to you for a book that she is writing:
Perhaps you cosigned a loan or lent money that was never repaid. Or you married a gold digger or […]

The following story has been circulating around the Internet since 2001, but it is always a humorous read (and will get you thinking a bit) as people start to put their taxes together so I thought I’d place it up for some that may have missed it:
This is a VERY simple way to understand the […]

If you have placed getting your retirement funds in order as one of your goals for the New Year, this might be the place to start. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine in associations with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) will be sponsoring Kiplinger’s annual Jump-Start Your Retirement Plan Days for the fifth time […]