A quick little finiancial checklist to start you off right. This was first shared by Scott Adams and I though I should add it here. This is from Scott Adam’s book “Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels.” He goes on to state that annuities are a bad idea. Whole life insurance is also a bad idea. Investing in individual stocks is a bad idea. Investing in managed mutual funds instead of an index fund is bad. The list goes on but that is the idea. Tell me what you think.

1. Make a will if you haven’t already done so.
2. Cut up those credit cards as they are the things of evil.
3. Seek and get Term Life Insurance if you haven’t already done so.
4. Fund your 401K to the maximum amount.
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum amount.
6. Buy a house if you wish to own one and only if you can afford it.
7. Always stash away at least six months worth of expenses expenses in a money-market account.
8. Take all other money and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund and do not touch until ready to retire. I like to use Sharebuilder to do this.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Who doesn’t love the web? The web now grants us specials on savings accounts as well. All major banks have special interest rates on account that are web based. Key factors that should be looked at for Online Savings Accounts are Website reliability/security and customer support. Listed below are rates as of December 18, 2008.

• FNBO Direct. No fees, no minimum balance. 3.25% APY.
• E*TRADE Bank. No fees, no minimum balance. 3.01% APY.
• ING Direct. No fees, no minimum balance. Orange Savings Account 2.75% APY. Electric Orange 3.05% APY. Orange CDs – 12-month CDs 3.50% APY.
  Note: ING Direct offers a $25 bonus to new customers who deposit $250 or more. Once you have an account you can earn $500 by referring other customers.
• HSBC Direct. No fees, no minimum balance. 3.00% APY.
• CitiBank Ultimate Savings. No fees, no minimum balance. 2.75% APY.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Being frugal should always be top on your list in order to be retire early.

Steps for early retirement

• Be very Frugal. Live below your means and don’t pay for anything that you don’t have to.
  • Use coupons for everything.
  • Ride a bike to your destination or car pool.
  • Send your child/children to public school instead of private school. Major money saver here.
  • Use credit cards with cash back rewards like Citibank, Chase and CapitalOne.
• Save at least 20% of every paycheck. After five paychecks you already have saved a whole paycheck without thinking about it. If 20% sounds like too much, then by all means start by 10% or even 5%.
• Learn how to get multiple streams of income. Get another job, start blogging, fix computers or cars in your spare time. Start somewhere and then that whole paycheck can become 100% saved.
• Invest for the long term in the stock market and always buy low. Try hassle free methods like investing in Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETF). These help you because you don’t need to buy individual stocks and they are well diversified.

Popularity: 30% [?]