The Amateur Financier

It’s nearly Christmas, and with that comes all the interesting and sometimes conflicted thoughts of the season.  I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Santa this season, and more specifically, what I’ll tell my children (when I hopefully have them in the not too distant future) regarding Santa’s existence.  On one hand, it is a tradition, something I believed in myself during my childhood, not so long ago.  On the other hand, finding out the truth can be a rather devastating to a young person, and I don’t know if I want to put my children through that sort of pain.

I think that Trent of The Simple Dollar has a pretty good handle on this Santa thing.  Allow them to believe, while not actively encouraging them to believe, sounds like a pretty good compromise.  It’s the best you can do to let them to hold their beliefs while not setting them up for a huge fall.  It seems like a pretty good compromise to me.

Speaking of Santa, it’s time for my present to you: some of the best posts from this past week!  Not as exciting as a new Jaguar with a bow on it, but much easier on the wallet.  Anyway, go on and enjoy:

Good Articles This Week

Top 10 Sneakiest Business Tricks – A compilation of many of the techniques that companies use to get you to purchase their products.  Lazy Man and Money covers all the classics, from limited time offers to contests to rebates.  Speaking of which, act right now and you’ll be entered in the Amateur Financier raffle contest and have the opportunity to win back your full purchase price of this blog!  Hurry, this offer will only be available for a limited time.

Are Credit Cards Weapons of Mass Financial Destruction? – For most people, the answer is no, but for a few of us, they may as well be.  Financial Samurai covers some of the more troublesome aspects of these plasticized weapons, although we all will have to draw our own conclusions on whether we can use these little pieces of plastic safely.

How Do People Get Rich – A survey covered by Studenomics about the ways in which people get rich.  Most of them make sense (savings and investing are common methods to become wealthy, inheritance… not so much), but there’s at least one surprise, regarding starting a business of your own.  Definitely a good read.

Is Travel Worth It? – There are many advantages to travel, and I’m very glad of all the experiences I’ve had going to different places, especially outside of the country.  Baker of Man vs. Debt apparently agrees, although he has much more experience with being out of the country than little old me.  Good luck on your travels, my friend!

Year End Tax Tips – Sad to say, but it’s never too early to start thinking about taxes, but if you don’t act soon, it might be too late to improve your tax situation.  Luckily, there are several tax tips (for both this year and next) provided courtesy of Darwin’s Finance.  It’s not the most pleasant subject to think about, but better to get prepared now than get caught off-guard next year.

• P.E.P for the Week of January 17-21/11- Spread the Happiness Edition
• What will the new tax year bring for you?
• Tips for Preparing and Filing Your Income Tax
• 401k Introduction
• Personal Finance Links (Best Brunch in America? Edition)