Tired of saving money and eager to hit the road again, more Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving holiday than last year, AAA said in a report released Thursday. AAA forecasts 42.5 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the holiday weekend, 4 percent more than a year ago.

“Driving AAA’s projected increase in the number of Thanksgiving travelers is pent-up demand from Americans who may have foregone holiday travel the last three years,” said Bill Sutherland, Vice President of AAA Travel Services. The Thanksgiving holiday travel period runs from Wednesday, Nov. 23 to Sunday, Nov. 27.

“As consumers weigh the fear of economic uncertainty and the desire to create lasting family memories this holiday, more Americans are expected to choose family and friends over frugality,” Sutherland said.

About 38.2 million people, or 90 percent of holiday travelers, plan to drive this Thanksgiving, a 4 percent gain compared to Thanksgiving 2010, AAA said. About 3.4 million travelers are expected to fly this Thanksgiving holiday, a 1.8 percent increase from 2010.

But AAA cautioned against any quick recovery to pre-recession levels, and instead anticipates a “slow climb” from 2008 — a decade-low year for Thanksgiving travel.

Thanksgiving travel will be especially challenging for those flying. Holiday airfares

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Tags: Holiday, Holiday Season

Hi everyone – we had another great Webinar last night! If you would like to see the recording, contact Al Mobus today! Another good day as well!   We would like to take a moment and wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! We hope you enjoy it and get to spend some quality time with the family. We will be trading tomorrow but we will not be doing a blog post – so this is it until next week!   Again, Happy Holidays!   David Marsh



Tags: Recording

I know a lot of us are going to be spending a lot of money holiday shopping over the next two months, so heres a great way to get $150 back. You just need to spend $1,000 in the first 90 days using the Discover More Card (I know a lot of you would do that even if it wasnt the holidays).

With a great bonus like this, the 5% cashback in rotating categories, and the extended warranties that buying with a credit card provides, I feel like youre missing out if you dont take advantage of a rewards card this holiday season.

I wouldnt ever recommend a card with a yearly fee, and this one comes with a 0% APR for 6 months, so check out the details and consider using this card and keeping that $150 for yourself this year.

• Limited Time Holiday Offer $150 Cashback Bonus when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days*
• 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months, then the variable standard purchase APR of 11.99% 20.99%*
• 5% Cashback Bonus® in categories that change like travel, gas, groceries, restaurants, home improvement stores and more. Limitations apply*
• Up to 20% Cashback Bonus at popular retailers when you shop online through Discover.com
• Discover is ranked #1 in customer loyalty15 years in a row!

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Tags: 150, 150 Cashback

Yesterday evening a grand closing concert by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Xian Zhang, at the Schauspielhaus Frankfurt brought the curtain down on the Cultural Days of the European Central Bank (ECB) – Italy 2011.

Organised in cooperation with the Banca d’Italia, this year’s Cultural Days were held under the joint patronage of Jean-Claude Trichet, the outgoing President of the ECB, and his successor, Mario Draghi, in his former capacity as Governor of the Banca d’Italia. Italian art and culture were celebrated between 19 October and 17 November at well-known cultural locations in Frankfurt am Main through a wide variety of outstanding events, ranging from classical concerts, a jazz evening, literary events and films to dance performances, art lectures and exhibitions, and children’s events.

For the second year running a charity concert was organised by the ECB, in cooperation with the City of Frankfurt, as part of the Cultural Days. This was held at the Frankfurter Paulskirche on 11 November. Following the concert a total of €7,000 was donated to the “SoFa-Tandem” project run by the Frankfurt-based organisation MUKIVA Kinder- und Familienzentrum e.V. This project ai

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Tags: Cultural Days, Days

Its true that right now, due to the difficulties in the economy, expensive life events are being avoided. Many people are avoiding marriage, divorce and having kids in an attempt to reduce the impact on household finances. But could marriage actually be better for your finances than staying single?

If you both have income, combining finances can mean better financial stability. After all, you now have a more diverse revenue stream. If one of you loses a job, the other still has income to help support the household until the other partner can find a new job. Or, perhaps, two incomes offers the chance for one of you to cut back on the day job and start a side hustle, or work to develop passive income. All of this can lead to financial stability. Plus, with a combined income, your borrowing power increases, and you might get better offers for various services because of a higher income. And, dont forget that there are tax advantages to being married.

You can also see lower costs if you combine households.

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Tags: Marriage, Marriage Better

Yesterday I was chatting with opposing counsel in a trust litigation matter I’m handling. Both of us agreed that there are some interesting issues involved with the case, but we also agreed that we need to work together to resolve these issues (rather than go to court) because the trust just isn’t big enough for a major court battle. If we did go to court, opposing counsel and I would become the estate’s biggest beneficiaries, via the attorneys fees we’d receive.

Then there’s Huguette Clark, who died recently at the age of 104. She’s described in this article (which really is worth a read, as are the linked pages within) as a “reclusive copper heiress,” and the administration of her estate promises to be very interesting. Plus, given the size of her estate, there should be plenty of money — for better or worse — to pay for a lengthy court fight.

I assume we’re going to be talking about a Will contest — all of the signs are here:

1. Lots of money and property.

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Have you ever wondered how you compare to others like you when it comes to money? That’s to say, how your income and investing goals measure up. It’s an interesting question. Obviously, you can’t change what other people are doing, but sometimes it’s just nice to know where you fit in the puzzle. And once you see what others are doing it might lend some insight as to where you need to focus more energy.

One interesting thing about this generation are the competing financial concerns. Generation X, now in their 30s and 40s, are stuck in the midst of a terrible economy and high unemployment while trying to balance saving for retirement, raising a family and saving for college, paying down debt, and worrying about aging parents. It’s no wonder this generation is so stressed out.

Unlike older generations who didn’t take on a mountain of student loan debt and likely had at least some sort of pension to help with retirement, this generation is entirely on its own. That means

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Tags: Measure, Measure Compared

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Its been awhile since I updated my Lending Club performance, so I thought Id take a moment today and let you guys know whats going on. As Ive mentioned in the past, I havent been adding notes to my portfolio this year. Instead, Ive been pulling the cash out to our savings account as payments come in.

In terms of performance, our net annualized return (NAR) currently stands at 7.86%, which is a bit lower than the 8.30% that we were enjoying as of last May (when I last shared the numbers). According to Moneydance, our real-world performance has been a bit lower, right at 7.60% this difference is mostly due to idle cash.

This dip in performance is to be expected. Since we havent been adding any new notes, the average age of our portfolio is increasing (our oldest notes are around 2.5 years old), and weve suffered some additional defaults. As of my last update, our portfolio looked like this:

And as of now, it looks like this:

So weve suffered six additional defaults in the past five months. The good news is that the later in its life that a note defaults, the less we lose.

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Tags: Lending Club, Update

Today, November 12, 2011, marks seven years since the passing of the lovingly remembered Katrina “Katie” Froeschle. Earlier this week, the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters sent a call out to remember Katie Froeschle and support her foundation:

The American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters “AAPIA” would like to announce its support for the Katie Froeschle Foundation.

Katie, a 2002 graduate of Florida State University, loved scuba diving, snow skiing, basketball, softball, and cooking. She played powder puff football, enjoyed deep sea fishing, and loved to spend time on the beach. Katie loved animals, particularly her pets, and had cats and loved dogs. After graduation, Katie was employed first by State Farm Insurance as an agent trainee, then by Travelers’ Insurance in an administrative position, and finally by Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Company as a claims adjuster. On November 12, 2004, Katie was murdered while adjusting a hurricane claim at a rental property in Tampa, Florida for her employer. The

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Tags: Froeschle, Katie Froeschle