Weekend Roundup - The Finwikian Edition

Before we hit the links (so to speak), I wanted to take a minute to point out a new personal finance resource… The Finwikian is a wiki that’s:

…dedicated to all things personal finance on the internet. It contains a catalog of personal finance blogs and will eventually include articles on numerous topics related to personal finance. One might call it the free online library for personal finance and PF bloggers.

Be sure to stop by and check it out.

And now for a rundown of recent articles that caught my eye…

» Is Daylight-Saving Time a Complete Waste of Energy?
This is an interesting tidbit from Wise Bread that points out a recent study that indicates that, rather than saving energy, daylight savings time wastes it. Not only that, but it steals an hour of sleep one weekend per year. Of course, there are other advantages of DST, including reduced crime, fewer traffic fatalities, and increased economic activity. But still…

» Cell Phones and Self-Insurance
Mrs. Micah tackles the issure of whether or not it’s worth paying for cell phone insurance. You might be surprised at how bad of a deal this appears to be in many cases once you run the numbers across a two year contract and factor in the deductible. My Palm Centro wasn’t cheap, but I take good care of it and have it in a sturdy case with a good screen protector. Given that replacement cost is around $399 (without a contract) and the insurance costs $7-$8 per month (plus a thick layer of taxes), I just can’t see this being worthwhile.

» Should You Write Your Own Tax Software?
As crazy as the title sounds, MBH links to an interesting Excel tax workbook that just might convince you to give up on Turbo Tax. Or not. Props to Madison from My Dollar Plan for digging this up.

» You’ve Got Money: Invest It All or Dollar Cost Average?
This is an interesting analysis of an age-old question. Assuming that you’ve got a boatload of money to invest, this really boils down to risk aversion. On average, lump sum investing will outperform DCA, but it can be scary to plunk all of your money into the market at once.

» Outsourcing My Taxes - Is the Price of Expert Tax Advice Worth the Cost?
This is an interesting perspective from Ben. My view is that, even if it makes sense to have a pro handle your taxes, you should still rough things out yourself. Once you have a reasonably complex financial life, there are few exercises that will provide more insight into your yearly progress than doing your own taxes.

» Ten Tips For First-Time Employees
This is a great list of tips for being successful in your job — in fact, there are a lot of things in here that an awful lot of non-first-timers could profit from.