Young Professional Finance Blog

The past year and a half, I've met many interesting young professionals online and offline through this blog and my other related activities. For my own benefit and yours I've started a new site to keep track of what young professional related blogs are doing and saying right now-- The Young Professional Blog Aggregator.

In less than a week of being online ypblogs.com has over 400 posts available from 25 blogs!

Every 10 minutes ypblogs.com scans numerous young professional related blogs for updated articles. When a new article is posted on a site its title and a small description (just the first couple lines of the article) are posted right on the front page of ypblogs.com in reverse chronological order (newest article listed first).

Readers can visit ypblogs.com or subscribe in their RSS reader to monitor what the young professional blog-o-sphere is writing about. The article titles link directly to the original blog article where users can read the full article, comment, discuss, etc.

Writers can add their blog to ypblogs.com to gain new readership, market their blog, increase their page rank, and become even closer knit to the young professional community. The site is open to both young professional writers as well as those writing on topics that would be of interest to young professionals. It's important to realize that the definition of who is a young professional isn't set in stone and information by writers who may be "less young" can still be very valid for those who are "more young".

ypblogs.com is already gaining great momentum. It's been up less than a week and right now there are 25 blogs that have signed up and 413 posts are listed. There are no ads, only legitimate blogs, and a graphical list of popular tags on the sidebar showing what the young professional blogging community is writing about most right now.

It's really a win-win situation for both readers and writers. Not to mention the fact that now I can even use my own new site to read more of what my fellow young professionals are writing.

Read articles at right now, add your young professional blog, or subscribe via RSS.

Have something interesting to say having to do with young professionals or finance? I'm looking for more young professionals to write an article for Young Professional Finance Blog.

We're one of Google's top 10 finance blogs and you'll have thousands of people reading your stuff! I'm open to lots of topics. The rule is pretty much: whatever you write about should be interesting to young professionals in their 20s or 30s.

Just contact me with an idea or an article!

Sometimes I wonder how other people manage their money. I figured I would throw my own way out into the wild and see how it compares to your way. Below I have listed the various ways I deal with earning money and spending money.

Paychecks

I have a percentage of my paycheck directly deposited into my checking account. I have the remaining percentage directly deposited into my high interest savings account at ING DIRECT.

Retirement

401k doesn't have matching so I don't contribute to it. Instead, I have a Roth IRA at Fidelity which pulls a fixed amount from my checking account once a month. For tax reasons it doesn't make sense for me to contribute to my old Traditional IRA.

Other Income

I continually work to figure out ways to diversify my income streams. Two years ago I had no idea how to make money from anything, but a paycheck and some small dividend and interest income. Side work, web site ads, etc. are some of the ways I've found and I try to keep this money separated from my normal day job income. I like to think of it as a bonus and try to save it in a separate savings account and watch it grow. (Of course, it also helps at the end of the year when I figure out taxes which, by the way, are way too high. Sure would love a consumption tax)

A while ago I started a list of movies related to money and success. There's no way to remember them all, but I thought I'd get the list started and let all of you remind me of any I forgot.

I am now a featured contributor on Qvisory.com, a new nonprofit online advocacy and service organization that supports the health, financial well-being, and career goals of young adults from 18 to 34 years old.

They just posted my first exclusive article encouraging their readers and all people in their 20s and 30s to join a young professional organization today! Here's a sample of the article:

...I first discovered young professional organizations existed about 2 years ago after moving away from my friends and family in Metro Detroit to start a job in a new place. After searching the Internet and local newspapers, I found a group in Lansing, MI called Grand River Connection. I began meeting new people—making friends, getting dates, and even interacting with local politicians. I was having a great time.

Read more of Connect With Young Professionals [Qvisory]