Carnival of Personal Finance #367 – Welcome to Disney World!

Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #367 and Welcome to Disney World.

I just recently returned from a trip to Disney World and had a blast so I figured why not theme the carnival as part of my trip! After all, a carnival is a lot like a theme park. I wrote up a trip cost report and mentioned one of my observations that theme parks can price gouge for food if you’re interested, but for now let’s get on to the carnival!

Editor’s Choice – Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland

My favorite part of Disney World is Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom! It had some of my favorite rides of the trip. Each post has been assigned one of my favorite rides from Tomorrowland.

Space Mountain is a favorite ride of many that go to Disney World. One of my favorite types of personal finance posts are when bloggers talk about how they make money from blogging. Evan from My Journey To Millions writes about How He Makes Money Blogging and gives the following advice to every new blogger that emails him. “You have to be passionate about what you are writing about. You are likely not going to make any money for a very long time so see rule #1. At first you will have to connect with other bloggers to get any type of traction.” He had to learn those rules the very hard way 4 years ago but he says it has been awesome and something he doesn’t see himself giving up for a long time!

The Transit Authority PeopleMover is one of my favorite rides because it allows you to sit back and relax with almost no line! Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc asks Why Do We Worry About Money? Many people who are gainfully employed and haven’t personally experienced “significant economic losses” are worrying that they will or are reacting to the “pervasive economic uncertainty” (NY Times). Here are five reasons why we worry about money and some ways to deal with it. I wish it was as easy to relax about money as it is to relax on the PeopleMover.

In Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin you try to shoot the evil emperor Zerg’s forces with your laser gun. TTMK from Tie the Money Knot writes about 6 Types of Financially Toxic People. They describe these types of people and if I were you I think it’d probably be a good idea to zap the toxic people out of your life if you can. It’ll lead to a much more peaceful life.

Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress is one of my favorite attractions just because it reminds you how far we have come over the years. Clint from Accumulating Money asks Should You Become a Financial Planner? This is something I have considered once or twice as consumers are always in need of financial assistance and planning. Therefore, financial planners will always be in demand. The big question is: Should you join the ranks of financial planners? He analyzing what it takes to make it.

Tomorrowland Speedway was one of my favorite rides as a kid. Since I can drive a real car now it isn’t as fun as it once was the cars don’t go nearly as fast as you thought they did when you were a kid. Bret from Hope to Prosper writes 10 Threats to your Future Prosperity. He asks what makes some people succeed, while others fail? Why do those who start out with nothing often wind up more prosperous those who start out with everything? He writes about 10 things everyone can avoid to prosper in their future.

Budgeting – Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland

The rid It’s A Small World has a lot in common with the post Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings wrote. Planning charitable giving is her post in which she examines questions such as Do you budget charitable giving in advance and plan where to give, or are you a soft touch with solicitations? Do you do charitable giving and how? It is a small world and giving to charities could help people right around the corner.

Career – Magic Kingdom’s Main Street USA

Before you hop on the Walt Disney World Railroad to head to Fincon 12 you need to pack for the trip. Peter from Bible Money Matters makes this easier with his article Packing for a Blog Conference: What Gadgets, Software, Clothing and Other Things Should You Bring? There is a lot you can bring from clothes to tech gadgets to snacks to an extra bag for all the swag. In this article he wrote out a list of what he considers to be some of the essentials when packing for a blog conference.

Credit – Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland

This post from Glen Craig at Free From Broke reminds me a lot of the Advertureland ride Pirates of the Caribbean. He writes Why Maxing Out Your Credit Cards is Bad and I completely agree. Why should you let the pirates steal money from you in crazy fees and interest rates? It is an easy source of money but the pirates (credit card companies) are the real winners here.

Another post that reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean is from Charles Tran at CreditDonkey. He writes Watch Out: Credit Card Skimming at Gas Stations and gives tips to look out for to avoid the pirates using skimming devices to steal card information at gas stations.

Debt – Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland

Unfortunately there were no submissions in this category.

Economy – Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square

Unfortunately there were no submissions in this category.

Finance – Epcot’s World Showcase

The American Adventure is basically the United States in Epcot’s World Showcase. While embarking on the American Adventure you need to know how much life insurance you need. Jefferson from See Debt Run writes about Insurance For the Rainiest of Days and explains while insurance is one of the most important investments for him.

Frugality – Epcot’s Future World

At one point cell phones may have been in the Innoventions area of Epcot. Today Money Walks writes about Considering Cell Phone Plans. They list the pros and cons of prepaid plans versus contract plans.

James Petzke from This Is Common Cents writes about Cable Alternatives that save you Hundreds. According to him, Cable TV is one of the biggest monthly expendiatures in most people’s households that should be avoided. I personally disagree and get a lot of value from our cable subscription but I know that isn’t the case for everyone. However, I personally have written how to save money on your cable bill and then did a follow up on this past Saturday showing how I saved my parents $600 over a year on their cable bill.

Spaceship Earth takes you in a journey through time inside of the main focal point of Epcot. CF at The Outlier Model writes about Seeing Washington, DC – Free!. Being a tourist doesn’t need to mean spending a lot of money. They were headed to Washington, DC will be doing lots but spending very little! I used to live outside of DC and can totally agree. Check out the Old Post Office clock tower for free and see the city from the second highest location in DC!

Investing – Epcot’s The Land

Soarin’ was my favorite ride in The Land section of Epcot and I feel it represents this post from JLP at. AllFinancialMatters.com. They investigate how Dollar Cost Averaging Into the S&P 500 Over 30-Year Periods (After Inflation) works out. It is an interesting post that shows how much you would have at the end if you invested $100 a month for thirty years. He shows the best and worst period as well as a couple of times where one month made a huge difference.

Living with the Land is a ride that shows how Disney is researching different methods to produce foods to be more sustainable. Dividend Growth Investor writes about Stress Testing Your Dividend Portfolio They invest in blue chip dividend stocks which can afford increase dividends for decades. Once the dividend income from their portfolio exceeds their expenses they would consider themselves financially independent. However, they realize that there are many risks they need to minimize, in order to be able to enjoy the continued stream of rising dividend payments.

Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable is a short movie that shows how humans affect the environment and the circle of life. An unfortunate but necessary part of the Circle of Life is death and as far as investing goes I never thought of what happens when an ETF dies. Luckily J.P. from Novel Investor wrote an article about it called ETF Liquidation: What Happens When An ETF Closes. The article notes that we’ve seen the ETF market grow, it’s only natural to have a few unsuccessful funds fail along the way. This leads to ETF liquidation and worried investors. Which never sounds good when it’s your money.

The Land offers a Behind the Seeds Tour that shows some of the different methods they use to produce food. Ray from Squirrelers writes that Stocks in September are Historically Bad. He says that sometimes we can see patterns in historical data that can be compelling. Based on such data, it appears that September hasn’t been kind stocks. Would you consider this as a part of your buy/sell strategy? I personally wouldn’t but then again I don’t invest in individual stocks. I am more of a dollar cost averager myself.

I am out of attractions for this area so now we’re on to just the posts themselves… Dividend Growth Stocks writes about 4 Communications Services Stocks With Increasing Dividends. With Treasury interest rates at historic lows, a lot of income investors are looking for higher yielding investments. This not only includes investors who in the past would only invest in “safe” U.S. debt, but also those who retired with an under-sized nest egg and need more income to live on. Visit the article to read their viewpoint.

Money Management – Hollywood Studios’ Hollywood Boulevard

In The Great Movie Ride there is a bank robbery that includes a shoot out.  I bet at  least one of the bank robbers died… If an innocent bystander got shot in the bank robbery it would have been nice for their family if they had life insurance. But what if they don’t have a family? Kathleen at The College Investor writes Another Way to Look at Life Insurance. She agrees with me that life insurance isn’t for everyone but there is definitely a point in time in which she will purchase it.  I personally wrote something similar a couple weeks ago when I wrote Why I Don’t Need Life Insurance Right Now.

The Pixar Block Party Bash parade goes down Hollywood Boulevard and you can bet they do maintenance on the floats the drive down the road. Aaron from ChristianPF explains What car maintenance routines should you follow? He notes that one phrase that was drilled into his mother (and was subsequently passed down to him) was the often quoted, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This is true when it comes to car maintenance too.

There is a large Sorcerer’s Hat in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard that, along with the rest of the park, is probably insured. However, there might be some things not covered in the policy. Miranda from Smart on Money says you need to Watch Out for These Gaps In Your Home Insurance Policy. Are you covered for floods, earthquakes, mudslides and tornadoes? Read more to find out!

There aren’t any more attractions in this area of the park so on to the rest of the posts…

Colin Williams from Humble Savers answers the question What is a Financial Comparison Interest Rate? Australian finance companies and banks are advertising so called Comparison Interest Rates, but what does it actually all mean? He explains it for us!

Real Estate – Hollywood Studios’ Pixar Place

Toy Story’s Midway Mania! is the only attraction in Pixar Place just like Marie’s article from Prairie Eco Thrifter is the only article in this section. Like the Toy Story ride this article is a good one. Save Money – Develop Important Home Owner Skills is Marie’s take on the skills every homeowner or landlord needs to have. These skills that will save you big bucks over time.

Saving – Hollywood Studios’ Sunset Boulevard

Some people would say that saving is like a ride on the Hollywood Tower of Terror with big drops and fast shots back up to the top. Jason from Live Real Now takes a look at How to Save. He says that saving is hard and that for years, they would either not save at all, or they’d save a bit, then rush to spend it. That didn’t get them very far. Years of pretending to save like this left them with nothing in reserve. Finally, we’ve figured out the strategy to save money and it didn’t involve the big drops from the ride.

Taxes – Hollywood Studios’ Animation Courtyard

Unfortunately there were no submissions in this category.

Other – Hollywood Studios’ Streets of America

I bet there have been a few accidents on the Studio Backlot Tour and there have probably been a few insurance claims filed. I doubt they have the same insurance that FMF at Free Money Finance discusses when he wrote How Various Traffic Tickets Impact Your Car Insurance (And What to Do About Them) but at least you can benefit from it. The post title is pretty self explanatory and some good advice is dispensed within the article.

Muppet Vision 3D brings the Muppets to life! Elizabeth from Women’s Money Week says that you should Make a Home Inventory Video for Insurance. Could you prove you owned all your stuff if your house burned down? What about if your roof gets taken off in a tornado and your possessions are scattered? Make a home inventory video to protect yourself.

A lot of people work in Disney World and while I doubt many if any of them are covered by pensions there is always the possibility that they offered pensions at one point in time… Amanda from My Dollar Plan presents Changes to Pension Law and Payout Practices this is a must-read for anyone who is lucky enough to be covered by a pension.

Something that doesn’t happen when planning such a large attraction like Disney World is procrastination. Sean from One Smart Dollar helps us battle our procrastination problems with 8 Simple Ways to Stop Procrastination. Procrastination can be our biggest evil when it comes to everything in our lives, especially when it comes to our personal finances. Here are 8 simple ways to help cure your procrastinating ways.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s Carnival!

Photo by @CDHarrison