Interesting Personal Finance Articles From Around The Blogosphere

It has been a while since I last shared with you some of the great blog postings that have been floating around the personal finance blog world.  Here is a list of what I have starred in my Google RSS reader.  I hope that you enjoy.

Notable articles from my reader:

Leave Your Money in Your Retirement Accounts! – If you do not need your retirement money for several years, now is not the time to panic and withdraw it.  Many experts and bloggers alike have been making this impassioned plea for almost a year now, and Patrick from Cash Money Life recounts some great reasoning in a recent posting.

Watch The FDIC Seize a Bank – An incredible video that only takes about 12 minutes to watch.  It is well worth it and an incredibly fascinating behind the scenes look at what the FDIC does at a bank when it takes over.

Chart Comparing Historical Bear Market Periods – Like the author says, I too am a sucker for pretty charts, and this one is pretty awesome.

More About Closing Credit Card Accounts and Your FICO Score – I understand the rationale behind not closing old credit cards.  Nevertheless, I am a huge fan of closing some and taking the short term hit on your FICO score.

Save on Housing Costs: Renegotiate Your Rent With Landlord – Some great advice and some cool links to find out what your historic rents in your zip code have been. Find out how desperate your landlord may be and then squeeze them for cheaper rent!

Twenty-Five Useful Financial Rules of Thumbs – I love rules of thumbs.  I need a quasi-guide to show me where I stand against my peers.  Some of my favorites are: save at least 10% of your income, have X% of your portfolio invested in stocks, where X is equal to 100 minus your age, and invest no more than 10% of your total savings in your employer’s stock (I personally know some people who got burned by this rule of thumb last year! Ouch!)

Buying a Dog Saved Me Money – This is a very interesting article.  You would think that it would be the exact opposite, but maybe you have not thought about all the possible indirect savings like healthcare costs.

New Credit Card Number? Do Not Forget To Update All Your Accounts – J over at BugetsAreSexy brought up some great points about updating your credit card information with the businesses you frequent when you get a new card.  Cards are so ingrained into our lives that forgetting to update our records could be a headache.

Blog Carnivals:

The Money Hacks Carnival – April Fool’s Day Edition – Hosted by Ask Mr. Credit Card

Thanks again to everyone for following me on Twitter!