Lip Tint

Might I rave about a product? My hippie sister gave me Hemp Organics organic lip tint in my stocking last year in an attempt to wean me off red lipstick that may or may not be giving me lead poisoning. I threw it in a draw. I mean, that hippie shit usually either smells weird or doesn't work or both. Fastforward to almost a year later and I finally tried it. It rocks. The color is fabulous and it feels like chapstick and doesn't dry out like my regular lipsticks. You have to reapply with some diligence, but it's worth it not to have that cakey mouth by the end of the day that lots of other lipsticks give me. It costs about $6 and you can get it at Whole Foods and online. Try it, you'll like it.

Gang Printing

When I was doing a little research for the last post, I accidentally typed "M-13" into the google search box, and I mostly got astronomy hits:

If you look more closely, though, the third hit was for a graphic design firm:

Gang run printing business? Umm, I hope by gang they mean a group of very good friends.

Murder, Inc.

The recent shooting death of a 9-year-old boy through his apartment door on the 1400 block of Columbia Rd. has understandably left the neighborhood shocked and rattled. I understand, I live on the 1700 block and ours has not been a neighborhood without violence. However, I wanted to underscore that this year has seen a downturn in homicides so far, as is displayed in this chart of the city's statitstics:

I'm not arguing that this isn't a tragedy, nor am I arguing that the police should do nothing, but I would say that given the unique frictions in our neighborhood caused by rapid gentrification and the impact of the current economic climate, I would not have expected at -22.8% change in homicides over last year. The gang component of this crime, especially given how virulent and widespread this particular group is, is another matter.

Contribute Early

Every source I've ever read has agreed that the best thing you can do to ensure a comfortable retirement while not sacrificing your life today is to contribute starting as early as you can. I thought I'd drive home this point by showing you graphs of what saving 10% of your salary looks like if you start at 25, 35, and 45. Keep in mind that this is, in my opinion, a very rosy outlook calculator from MSN Money.

Here we go at 25:

Starting at 35:

And starting at 45:


It isn't ever too late, but obviously the sooner the better.

Blog 2.0

I've decided to relaunch and redirect the blog. Past posts have been scuttled in order to make room for the new, including a new focus on investing, savings, and all things money related. As a liberal arts kind of gal, it's a bit surprising to find myself as money obsessed as I've become, but I realized while sitting through a retirement seminar that I could have taught that I have something to share on this topic. Hopefully, these posts will provide a little information and resources that will point you in the right direction. I am in no way a professional and any ideas I throw out there should be vetted for stupidity. Now on with the show.

Calculators

You may notice that I've rearranged the links on the right. I've added two retirement calculators that I really like. I linked to both because one usually calculates high and one low, so when the market tanks the optimistic one makes me feel better, and when I've frittered away my money on malt liquor and playing the ponies (paint for my house and shoes) the other worries me back on track. Hope you find them helpful.

401(k) Contribution Limits

Tip for today:

401(k) contribution limits do not include your employer's contribution. In other words, you can put money up to the match ($16,500 for 2009-2010) and your employer can contribute matching funds on top of that. For example, if you make $100,000/year and your employer matches up to 5% of your salary, if you contribute the maximum of $16,500 and your employer matches $5,000, the total amount that will go into your 401(k) account for that year will be $21,500. You can read about it on the IRS' website here.