An especially festive Carnival of Wealth

It's not a carnival until Ramit Sethi and the Man vs. Debt guy show up (redhead at right is unidentified)

My, that was gratuitous.

It’s time for our monthly visitor. Let’s call her “The Carnival of Wealth”. Except now she’s our weekly visitor. Last year Arohan at Personal Dividends had the brilliant idea of putting all the best personal finance blog posts in one place. Then he had the slightly less brilliant idea of letting Control Your Cash host it every 31 days, give or take. Then last week he threw all caution to hell and let us host it permanently. Every single week. You ready? Welcome to the new regime.

Let’s start with a new entrant, Eric J. Nisall of DollarVersity (no, you’re thinking of Eric W. Nisall. Come on, try to keep them straight.) He asks, like a journalist’s loaded question, “Owning A Home: Less Attractive Going Forward?” He needed to specify “going forward” just in case time decided to buck tradition and start moving in reverse.

There’s nothing like reinforcement to make you feel good. Tim Chen at Nerd Wallet ranks the 13 best hotel credit cards, and we praise his refusal to consider interest rates as a criterion. We won’t spoil the ending for you, although we do think he ranks the no-fee HiltonHHonors card way too low at #3. (This comment written while enjoying the perks of a no-fee HiltonHHonors American Express card.)

When we were speedy teenage drivers, getting a ticket meant you got to sit through a gruesome film titled Red Asphalt. It showed drivers who paid scant attention to speed limits and thus had their bodies turn into road stew. In that vein, we present Jim Wheeless’ post from Aloe For Better Living. Yup, he thinks a pyramid scheme is the answer to your financial worries.

If you thought Carson Palmer was just another douchey USC quarterback (Good Lord, there have been a lot of them: Todd Marinovich, Sean Salisbury, Rob Johnson, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez…) think again. Evan at My Journey to Millions points out that in exchange for getting the hell beaten out of him every Sunday, Palmer took his money and invested it. Now Evan’s financial hero (and maybe ours) is using his f***-you money status to teach his boss a lesson.

You’ll feel like Carson Palmer after a Troy Polamalu hit, on artificial turf, in cold weather, once you read (assuming you make it through) D4L’s post at Dividend-Growth-Stocks. Sample line: “The Energy Sector includes businesses engaged in the production and sale of energy products.” We haven’t researched it, but we’ll take his observation on faith.

Kevin at Invest it Wisely features a guest post from LaTisha (one word, like Bono) on how to plan for retirement. For some reason her post contains a photo of Mark Twain smoking a cigar.

PayPal lets you deposit checks via Android or your iPhone? Why is this not bigger news? MoneyCone walks you through the details. (Time out- heading to the Android market for the PayPal app. Now all we need is a check.)

We used to give the Canadian bloggers their own little corner of the Carnival, but there are so damn many of them that it’s no longer practical. Janet from Credit, Eh points out that interest rates are heading up, so she offers some tactics you should consider. Not “execute”, just “consider”. So we think you should consider reading her post. Have you considered reading it? Good. So let’s..

…make fun of Australians instead. J.E. Cornett at Wallet Watcher has tips for saving money on vacation. He suggests splurging on activities you like while scrimping on amenities you don’t. That JUST MIGHT be crazy enough to work.

Congratulations to Carrie Smith at Careful Cents: Financial Advice That Makes Cents, the first person in the history of the English language to notice that “cents” and “sense” are homonyms. She thinks you should spend less than you make in order to build wealth, and that debt “should be thought about carefully.” Thank you, Carrie.

Mike Piper at The Oblivious Investor. We freaking love this guy. Outspoken and intelligent, with actionable advice and education. This week Mike explains the concept of “maximum tolerable loss” when allocating assets; just a quick rule of thumb for investors trying to put together a portfolio.

The aptly named Investor Junkie is in full pimp mode this week, partnering with brokerage Trade King. They’ll give you $100 if you open an account this month and make 3 trades. Yes, because as any rich investor knows, the more frequently you trade, the richer you’ll get. And TradeKing makes trading easy and fun!

Before you read Jason’s slightly depressing post at Live Real, Now, go out and buy yourself a pet wellness plan. Then hopefully, you won’t be stuck with the agonizing dilemma too many pet owners face when Mittens eats rat poison or Fido gets hit by a car. (This post contains “punting bunnies into a lake”, our favorite line of the week. Well, second after D4L’s one about the energy sector.)

This week Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgrim hits on a couple of topics almost as cheery as sick pets: divorce and spousal death. If you live in a community property state, learn about what can happen to your assets when your marriage comes to an end.

Another newcomer (at least, we don’t remember him) is Billy Hart at Inmessment. (Get it? It’s a portmanteau of “mess” and “investment”.) He walks you through the basics of opening an investment account. Next week, we’ll walk him through the basics of spelling. (It’s “outweigh”, Ace. Not “out way.”)

J.B. at My University Money is back. (We can tell he’s Canadian because they say “1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th year” instead of “freshman, sophomore…” et al.) J.B. says you should hit up your college’s (excuse us, “university’s”) financial aid office to see if there’s any extra scratch lying around.

Okay, this one’s different. A futures market for hurricanes? Kyle Taylor at The Penny Hoarder showcases a website that lets you hedge your losses in the event of a natural disaster.

Steve at 2011Taxes.org must have spent hours on this piece about subsidies/taxes for major oil companies.

Another Australian? Indeed. Kelly at Frugal Living watched a comic-book superhero movie and decided to distill some financial lessons out of it.

Marie at Money Spending Mommy (more like “Mommy Spending Money”, amirite fellas?) explains how you can save on taxes when starting a home-based business if you write off the relevant expenses. She doesn’t mention how to incorporate or set up an LLC, but we’ll get to that in a Control Your Cash ebook soon enough.

D.J. at The Family Wallet has written the internet’s 54,312,954,297th post on frugality. You’re not going to believe this, but you need to distinguish between needs and wants. Also, you should monitor your expenses and maintain a positive attitude.

Whoa! Actual content? Consumer Boomer gives us value, explaining delayed annuities and how they guarantee future payouts for the patient investor.

We’re not sure what we like more: Charles Chua C K’s name, or the title of his blog. All About Living With Life joins the chorus of auric bugs with a 7-point plan for buying gold. He lists its high price as a selling point, which makes us wonder how he feels about undervalued securities.

Next week, even more red meat. We promise. Until then, adios and #HOOgah!

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