Yep–it’s that time of year again. You’ve probably read several financial New Year’s resolutions and maybe even have your own list going in your mind at this point. So rather than add to the cacophony of promises you are making to yourself right now we thought we’d share a few interesting ideas that could help you actually stick to some of those lofty goals you are setting. Here are a few of our favorites:
 

1. Visualize Your Gray Hairs Now

A recent study in the Journal of Marketing Research bears the academic title, “Increasing Saving Behavior through Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self”. It basically suggests that if you picture yourself at retirement age, you will better be able to identify with your future self and, as a result, you will be more likely to make sacrifices today for the octogenarian you will become.

Need a little help imagining what you will look like? Check out the Face Transformer at the University of St. Andrews website which will let you upload a photo of youself and transform it into an old person. Then keep the photo next to your desk to remember to put a little money aside for those golden years.
 
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With New Year’s just around the corner, you may be considering changes you’d like to make in 2012. But what about spending a few minutes thinking about those things you’d like not to change? Here are three financial habits that we’re definitely not changing in 2012:

1. Pick and stick

We’re big believers in the power of compounding returns. But to reap them, you have to get in the game and stay in the game. This is especially true if you, like us, buy into the idea of “value investing”–that is, picking businesses that are trading below their long-term value. To do well with value investing, it’s important to be patient. If you pick a good investment, and stick with it, you’ll be in good shape over the long term. Getting in and out all the time is a very risky proposition, and generally a bad idea for most investors.

As a grade-schooler, I learned a little song that said, “Make new friends, but keep the old: one is silver and the other gold.” I’m not suggesting you buy precious metals (or that you don’t–that’s up to you), but it is worth remembering that there is no reason to jump ship on an investment just because you’ve been holding it for a while.

2. Do it, then do it again, then again and again

Consistency is one of the traits of successful investors. In fact, creating and adhering to an investment plan is one of the best ways to make money over time. Putting money into your investments on a regular schedule–on the same day every month, for example–helps produce the financial discipline necessary to build a substantial portfolio. Furthermore, it allows you to take advantage of dollar cost averaging.

3. Keep learning

There is always more to learn about investing. Not all of the information out there is helpful, or even accurate, but there are many good resources available. We’ve recommended some strong investing blogs before, and have also provided a list of some excellent investing inforgraphics that can provide perspective on market performance and other elements of investing. And, of course, we’d love you to go through the basics of investing with our own Investing U articles.

We hope that the coming year brings you much happiness and success, in investing as in the rest of your life.

Image via mrhayata

The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is traditionally the time when people reflect on the year that is drawing to a close and make resolutions about what they’ll do differently in the year ahead. Although I can’t claim to have completed every resolution I’ve made, I can say that the process of setting real, measureable goals is always beneficial for me. And here at GoalMine, we’re definitely believers in the power of setting specific, acheivable financial goals; heck, it’s right in our name! Here are 5 steps to making and keeping financial goals this holiday season.
 
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So you’ve decided you are ready to invest. You’re tired of just squirreling your hard-earned money under the mattress or making next to nothing in a savings account. But there’s something about putting a whole bunch of your money into that investment all at one time that just feels a bit…well, scary. In this case, that gut feeling of concern could be justified.

You may have already heard of dollar cost averaging. As usual, the investing experts have managed to come up with a spectacularly long and confusing name for a really simple concept. Dollar-cost averaging means that instead of investing all your money at one time you put it in a little bit at a time. So, for example, instead of waiting to put together $1,200 and then investing it all at once, you would put in $100 a month for 12 months.
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We’ve all heard a lot about bubbles over the past few years. There was the tech bubble that burst in the early 2000s, causing a loss of over $5 trillion of market value. Then there was the housing bubble that popped in 2007, causing an unprecedented number of foreclosures that continues to rise. But what exactly is a bubble, and how can we spot one before it bursts?

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Yesterday’s announcement that American Airlines was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy wasn’t terribly surprising—after all, the stock price of AMR (American’s parent company) had dropped 80% over the past year, they had posted annual losses for three years running, and American’s largest competitors had already gone through bankruptcy proceedings in order to restructure cumbersome financial obligations. Even if it wasn’t surprising, though, it raised many questions. Among the most relevant for our readers are these two: what does this mean for me?, and what can I learn from this?
 
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