Andrew Lahde, manager of a hedge fund that profited enormously by speculating on the failure of firms that made major bets on sub-prime mortgages, has called it quits.

His "so long, and thanks for the fish" comes in the form of this letter.

Enjoy.

Finance Findings is Binary Dollar’s periodic link dump.

• My Personal Saving and Investing System [Sun’s Financial Diary]
• What Have You Got Against Credit Cards? [Tao]
• Curb Appeal: One Of My Best Investments Yet Or How I Turned $80 Into $5,000 With Minimal Risk [Digerati Life]
• Understanding the Fine Print of a Loan Can Save You Money and Grief [Generation X Finance]
• Alternative Income Streams Progress - June 2007 [Lazy Man and Money]
• Are Real Estate Agents Worth the Money? [Money Smart Life]
• The Best Online Brokers [Free Money Finance]
• Eight Things To Consider When Buying Someone Out [Mighty Bargain Hunter]
• Four Reasons You Should Get A Payday Loan [Blueprint]
• Eco-Friendly Energy Savings [Five Cent Nickel]

Send your submissions for Finance Findings to henry@binarydollar.com.

Sponsor: Parlayer - Henry and Matt blog about sports and stuff.

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What Happens to My Pension if My Company Goes Bankrupt?

If you’re lucky enough to have a pension through your employer, you’re probably wondering what effect this significant economic downturn will have on your benefit. What happens if your employer goes bankrupt? What does it mean if they freeze your pension? Can your pension benefit just disappear? And where do you go if your employer does go out of business and how can you receive what you’re entitled to?

These are important questions, and if you’ve accumulated a decent pension benefit, you certainly want to be able to get what is owed to you, and understand what companies can and can’t do.

Defined Contribution vs. Defined Benefit

If you take part in a 401(k), 403(b), 457, or other similar employer-sponsored plan, then you’re using a defined contribution plan. This just means that you (and/or your employer through a match or profit sharing) contribute a specific amount of money into the plan. The amount of the benefit is not defined as the investment choices you make and amount you contribute will ultimately dictate how much you receive in retirement.

Pensions are defined benefit plans. These types of plans pay out a defined benefit that is based on a calculation. The calculations usually takes into account length of service, pay, and your age. The benefit that is defined is paid out to you, and it doesn’t depend on how much money you or your employer puts into it or market conditions.

Defined Benefit Plans and Investments

Even pension plans invest in the stock market, and since you don’t make the investment choices, there isn’t much you can do. Your benefit will be determined by the calculation that was established by the plan. So, if the market takes a big hit like it has recently, your pension benefit doesn’t decrease like the value of your 401(k) did.

But, a shortfall in funds has to come from somewhere. Since pensions are funded by the company, a shortage of funds to pay out the benefits could eventually affect you. When a company is forced to inject millions or billions of dollars into a pension plan, it can put strain on an already struggling company. A less profitable company can turn to layoffs, reducing workforce, closing plants, or a number of cost-cutting measures.

In addition, the company may decide to freeze their pension plan. When this happens, any additional service you have with the company wouldn’t be added to increase your pension benefit. You’re still entitled to any benefits you obtained previously, but additional time won’t mean additional benefits. A pension freeze may be temporary or permanent. While it isn’t an ideal situation to be in, at least you will get what you earned prior to the freeze.

If Your Company Goes Bankrupt

Most people assume that if their employer goes out of business, it takes their pension plan with it. In most cases, this is not true. Are you familiar with FDIC insurance for bank deposits and SIPC insurance for investment accounts? Both the FDIC and SIPC insures your money up to a certain amount in the event the company that holds these accounts goes under. Thankfully, pension plans have similar protection.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC is responsible for insuring your pension benefits. In most cases, your pension benefit would be insured up to certain limits. For 2009, a 65 year old has a maximum insured benefit of $54,000 annually. So, as long as your pension benefit is equal to, or less than this limit, you’d still have your full pension benefit even if your company goes under or the pension plan terminates.

Just like banks pay premiums to obtain FDIC coverage, pension plans also pay premiums to the PBGC, and in the event of a failure, the PBGC would take over the plan and administer it while paying out insured amounts. Some types of benefits are not guaranteed. These include health and welfare benefits, severance benefits, lump-sum death benefits and disability benefits when death or disability occurs after plan termination.

Even in this Economic Crisis and with Failing Companies Your Pension Should be Safe

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I’m thankful to be able to write this blog and that I have you as readers.  (And of course I’m thankful for many other things.)

The four articles that Gary North published today on his website are free for anyone to read today.  You’ll find them in the Recent Articles section.  These four articles are centered around the topic of Thanksgiving.  These articles are good advice for anyone.  I don’t know how long they’ll be free, so even if you don’t read them today, just go over and print them out.  Gary North is a big influence on how I think about the economy, investment, and a host of other things.  So, there you go.

Have a great day filled with thankfulness.

Live Search Cash Back is a new Microsoft initiative that is supposed to provide a rebate to consumers for items found via the Microsoft Live search functionality and purchased online.

The word on the street says this is Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Google in the online search market.  The concept is that in return for being listed in Microsoft’s search results, merchants have to offer cash back to consumers instead of paying Microsoft for placement.  Microsoft doesn’t make any money off of the transaction but their hope is that more users will start using Live Search instead of competitors such as Google.

Shopping Comparison Features
 Always looking to save a few bucks, I poked around the Live Search cash back interface to see if it would be useful for me.  I’m in the market for some new jogging shoes so I typed in “nike mens running shoes”. Unfortunately, the search interface is lacking basic functionality that all Web users have come to expect.  For example:

• You can’t order search results by price, seller reputation, or product rating
• You can’t specify a price range for the product
• Default 16 items shown per page. You can’t opt to see more items on one page
• You can’t choose whether to see a list vs more detailed view of results

Retailer Options
Once I scrolled through 16 pages of results to find the lowest price shoe, it only showed me results from two different online stores.  I guess one of the drawbacks of only including retailers that offer cash back is that your comparison is limited to the number of retailers that participate in the program.  How do I know that there aren’t other merchants that offer the same shoe online for a lower price?  They may not offer cash back but the shoe may be cheaper in the first place, saving the hassle of the rebate all together.

Rebate Hassles
Once I chose the store with the lowest price and best rebate I clicked through the “Go To Store” button.  I was taken to the merchant page where I could complete the transaction.  You aren’t given the discounted price at checkout, first the retailer has to report the sale to Microsoft.  Here’s the description of the cash back process from Microsoft’s terms & conditions:

“Within seven days after a qualifying purchase is reported to us, we will list the purchase in your account with a status of “pending.” The purchase will stay in pending status for a period of 60 days to account for returns, refunds, fraud and other processing issues. After this point, if the purchase is eligible for awards, it will be marked as “available” in your account and the associated awards will be eligible for redemption as described below. You must ensure that we properly post awards to your account. If you believe that you have earned awards that are not posted to your account, we will not consider posting them to your account unless you contact us within six months after the date of the associated purchase. We may require reasonable documentation to support your claim.”

Sounds more like hassling with a rebate than a cash back program to me.  The money may show up in your account but if it doesn’t you have to do the work of following up for months afterwards to make sure you get your cash back.  Similar to a rebate, you’re paying tax on the full purchase price, even though you might get cash back down the road.  I say might because Microsoft has a list of reasons that disqualify you from cash back:

“You will not earn cash back awards on purchases where (a) you open the store’s web site in a different web browser; (b) your browser is not configured to accept cookies; (c) the purchase is not completed in the same web browsing session (not to exceed 24 hours) initiated by clicking on the eligible advertisement or listing; (d) the order is later cancelled or the goods or services are later returned; (e) the store does not report the purchase to Microsoft; (f) the goods or services are acquired for resale or other business purposes; or (g) you also use a separate discount or coupon.”

A little bit further in the terms and conditions there is more language that could foreshadow difficulty claiming cash back.

“There may be additional limitations on purchases on certain merchant sites, and those limitations will be disclosed on the merchant site. Your participation in the Live Search cashback service on such merchant sites will be subject to these terms and conditions as well as any additional ones disclosed on the merchant site. In the event of a conflict between any of these terms and conditions and those disclosed on the merchant site, the ones disclosed on the merchant site will apply and control.”

Live Search Summary
The limited shopping comparison features, limited retailer options, and the whole lengthy rebate process are enough to discourage me from trying the Live Search Cashback for now.   The final deciding factor for me is that you have to sign up for a Windows Live ID in order to participate in the cashback program.  I have enough user id’s already, I don’t need anymore. 

For now I’ll continue to use Google web search and Google product search when I’m shopping for items online.  I’ll just keep my eyes open for deals and sales and get my discounts that way rather than go through the whole Live Search cashback ordeal.  Hopefully, Microsoft will enhance their search functionality, add more retailers, and make the cashback process less worrisome. Until then, I’ll rely on Google’s expertise to help me find the best deals.

A recent study found that having more money doesn’t necessarily make you happy. This may put to rest the question of whether money buys happiness.

- Edwin, CashTheChecks.com

Could the failure of the “Big 3″ cause a depression?

That’s what a Chrysler executive claims:

“We’re on the brink with the U.S. auto manufacturing industry,” Press told The Associated Press in an interview. “If we have a catastrophic failure of one of these car companies, in this tender environment for the economy, it’s a huge blow. It could trigger a depression.”

I’m not sure about that but I am sure that it’s in this executive’s best interest to paint as bleak of a picture as possible in order to get his bailout. What do you think?

I’m sure failure would not be good. But, as we’ve talked about before, we can’t just give money to the automakers and allow them to carry on business as usual. Big changes need to be made and now is as good a time as any to make those changes. These changes have needed to be made for years but the current crisis really brought them to light.

Please weigh in with your opinion.

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My sister-in-law has cancer.

Last week, a biopsy revealed that Stephanie has a cancerous lump on her thyroid. She’ll likely have her thyroid removed, meaning she’ll need to take medication for the rest of her life. (She’s 37 years old.) She’ll also probably need a handful of radioactive iodine chemotherapy treatments.

Prognosis positive
Jeff and Stephanie have both settled down a bit after the initial scare. They’ve heard from many sources, including Steph’s grandmother, that this form (and location) of cancer is easy to eliminate, and has a low chance of spreading or recurring. Steph’s grandmother had her thyroid removed years ago (due to a growth on it), and she is now 77 years old.

Still, this is cancer, which no member of my family takes lightly. My father died from cancer ten days before his fiftieth birthday. Last summer, cancer killed a cousin at age 47. Other family members have died from the disease as well.

A lucky mistake
A situation like this has enormous personal finance implications. Steph’s case is especially interesting because it demonstrates that sometimes the “right choice” isn’t.

Before the birth of their daughter in February 2006, Stephanie obtained a supplemental hospital/short-term disability insurance policy because she knew she would need a C-section. After Emily was born, Steph tried to cancel the policy, but the agent talked her into switching to a cheaper cancer/accident policy instead.

Inspired in part by Get Rich Slowly, Jeff and Steph have been taking control of their personal finances. This past May, when it came time for her office to renew policies, Stephanie asked to have her cancer/accident policy canceled because she wanted to save the $70 recurring monthly expense.

After the cancer diagnosis came through, Jeff and Stephanie were kicking themselves for having canceled the policy — it would have offset some of their upcoming costs. Then Steph remembered that both of her June paycheck stubs still had the deductions listed. She called her agent to see if her policies were still in force. Sure enough, the official cancel date was July 1st, so the agent was able to revoke the cancelation.

“I don’t know if it will pay out enough to compensate for all the premiums we’ve paid in the last two years,” Jeff writes, “but at this point I don’t care. If it helps with the medical bills that are bound to accrue, that’s all that matters.”

A calculated risk
Stephanie’s situation highlights just how difficult it can be to know how much (and what kind of) insurance to carry. It seemed unlikely that she’d need the cancer policy, so she canceled it. From a Big Picture perspective, this was probably the right decision. But in her individual circumstance, it turned out to be the wrong move.

Last fall, in his brief introduction to insurance, Aaron Pinkston wrote that “insurance is the cheapest and most immediate way for a person to displace risks that are too great to assume individually”. That is, insurance allows groups to pool their money to offset unexpected large individual costs.

But how can you decide how much insurance you need? And what types? Later today, I’ll share a guest post about making informed insurance choices.

Meanwhile, friends and family are ready to help Jeff and Stephanie through this crisis. And although they have bigger things to worry about, it gives them a degree of comfort to know they have a little insurance to help with the financial challenges that loom ahead.

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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:

• Ask the Readers: Personal Finance During a Health Crisis?
• Daily Roundup: Bringing Home the Bacon Edition
• Daily Links: My Favorite Stories from the Past Two Years
• Drama in Real Life: “You’re Fired!”
• Get Rich Slowly’s Greatest Hits (2007 Edition)

Times are tough out there and a lot of Americans are getting caught in the squeeze. As real estate investors we feel this in a number of ways: bargain foreclosures to buy (good!), a glut of rental properties depressing rental rates (bad!), fewer competing bids for quality properties (good!), longer waits to sell properties (bad!)...and the list goes on.

One thing I’m noticing is the challenge to get quality tenants. I have some properties that rent like hotcakes w/ zero vacancy time. But others, for some reason, have been more challenging. Like most property owners, I have a number of rules-of-thumb that I follow when it comes to screening tenants. But rules of thumb aren’t written in stone; they’re just guidelines. Every now and then I come across an applicant who I think will make a great tenant, but there is something or other that makes me second guess myself.

The fact of the matter is that good people get caught in bad situations sometimes, and a quality applicant can sometimes appear brandishing a blemished credit report. Don’t get me wrong – my mantra #1 is that renting to a bad tenant is twice as expensive as sitting on a vacancy for an extra month – but what is a landlord to do when her gut tells her that she should take a chance on an applicant? Well here are three steps I sometime take::

• Ask for first and last months' rent upfront, plus one month’s deposit. This does three things for you. First, the applicant will have to cough up three months’ rent upfront before he moves in. If the applicant can do this it is an indicator that he’s not living paycheck to paycheck, a good sign that he will be responsible. Secondly, it mitigates your risk by ensuring the final month is paid. Lastly, that final month’s rent sits in your bank account collecting interest (or, better, is out in the market working for you) for the entire time the tenant resides in the property. I write the lease to state that the last month’s rent paid upfront will be credited to the final month that the tenant resides in the property.  PROs:  will scare off bad/risky applicants.  CONs:  may eliminate some good applicants as well. 
• Shorten the term. Write a lease with a short term; four months or six months. Agree to renew if the tenant pays each month on time; you can put this in writing in the contract if you wish. If there is a problem you’re still going to suffer, but you wont’ have a deadbeat sitting in your property with a contractual right to stick around for an entire year.  PROs:  limits the period you're at risk.  CONs: no financial benefit to the landlord, who is still stuck with evicting the tenant if he doesn't work out. 
• Charge a higher rent. This doesn’t do much for you in the risk mitigation category, but if you’ve trust yourself as a judge of character and you’re willing to rent to an applicant that other landlords have turned away, you should get compensated for the extra risk you’re assuming.  PROs:  higher return on the property, a good thing.  CONs: doesn't lower your risk.

Smart landlords use these strategies in combination. Increase the rent and offer a shorter term. Offer a shorter term w/ first and last month paid upfront (great risk mitigation).