Birthday Bash: The Carnival of Investing

We are rapidly approaching our blogiversary here at Stock Market Beat (the first post was on March 8, 2006 but we’re calling February 28 the birthday because, well, it’s our birthday.) As part of the celebration leading up to the blogiversary, we are hosting this week’s Carnival edition of the Carnival of Investing.

And this special Fat Tuesday edition offers a veritable smorgasbord of Investing goodness. When you’re done, be sure to check out our new site, Financial Education.

Photo: C’est Levee, originally uploaded by Editor B

Post of the Week
When you retire it’s not how much you have that matters so much as whether you have what you’ll need. My Money Blog demonstrates how Fidelity’s MyPlan calculator can help you do that.

We are also calling out special attention to several related posts:

1. My Retirement Blog says to Diversify Your Tax Profile. While you’re at it, make sure you put equities in your taxable accounts so you can take advantage of tax losses and the more favorable tax rates on dividends and capital gains.
2. Speaking of capital gains, Money Smart Life warns that unrealized capital gains are an overlooked cost of mutual funds. As a result, the Skilled Investor says watch out for high-turnover portfolios.
3. However, Miller at My Pocket Change wonders if non-deductible IRAs are worth it.
4. Fire Finance chimes in with Part III in a series on asset allocation.

On to the rest of the posts:

Ever tried to shoot at two targets? My Retirement Blog says you shouldn’t do it in your retirement account either.
By buying dips and letting the winners run, the Silicon Valley Blogger experienced an extreme portfolio makeover.

Michael Dawson wants to know what people are smoking when they say the Housing Market is Stabilizing. Free Money Finance takes the debate one step further, asserting that stocks beat real estate as a long-term investment. Whatever you do, Searchlight Crusade says negative amortization loans are never the best option.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once commented, “The rich are different from us,” to which Ernest Hemmingway reportedly replied, “Yes, they have more money.” In that spirit, when Investorial asks, “Does The Rich Know Something That The Poor Don’t?” we reply “Yes, subject and verb agreement.”

Sox First has questions about private equity, saying “With regulators getting nervous, it might well be a matter of time before the private equity sector is hit with its own Sarbanes-Oxley, warns The Economist.” If that were to happen, there’s always the self-buyout.

Walt Nation says backup plans are for losers.

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity looks at the best brokerages for mutual funds.

Money Smart Life is too chicken to buy stocks. He says he needs to get back in the saddle, which makes us picture a chicken riding a horse. We checked Flickr but couldn’t find one - which is a real shame.

Mighty Bargain Hunter outlines the investment cycle for newly minted coins.

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