Len Penzo dot Com Blog Posts

• The Shark Tank Formula For Startup Success
  on Dec 20, 2016 in Business
  Over the course of ABC’s reality TV show Shark Tank, business dreams have turned into a reality for many entrepreneurs. Shark Tank highlights the ups and downs the process entrepreneurs must go through in order to obtain funding from sharks (ot...
• Black Coffee: If It Pleases the Court …
  on Dec 17, 2016 in Commentary
  It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Let’s get right to it...
• 7 Signs That the Home You Want to Buy or Rent Has a Pest Problem
  on Dec 16, 2016 in Home and Family Real Estate
  So you think you found the home of your dreams? Well, that potential dream home could easily turn out to be a nightmare if you don’t pay attention during the house hunting process. After all, it’s easy to overlook pest problems; many new...
• More Holiday Gift Ideas Under $25
  on Dec 14, 2016 in Home and Family Shopping
  Last year I presented a list of holiday gifts for under $25. If you’re still at odds with your decisiveness on what to get some people on your holiday gift list, then consider this collection of even more ideal ideas for a wide range of ages, p...
• Is a Million Dollars Enough to Last a Lifetime?
  on Dec 13, 2016 in Retirement Saving
  Being a millionaire is overrated. The term itself has quite a few connotations, including many that have been ingrained in us since we were children. Becoming a “millionaire” meant being set for life, and not having to worry about things...
• 4 Presumptuous Gifts that Can Strain the Recipient’s Budget
  on Dec 12, 2016 in Home and Family Ripoffs Shopping
  I remember the worst gift I ever received. It was a vacation to the Bahamas that an old girlfriend of mine gave to me. It was one of those too-good-to-be-true ultra-low-cost package “deals” that was exactly that — too good to be tru...
• Black Coffee: Who Wants a Big Slice of Pie-in-the-Sky?
  on Dec 10, 2016 in Commentary
  It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Okay, let’s get right...
• 6 Tips for Stretching Your Casino Gaming Budget
  on Dec 9, 2016 in Home and Family
  “The house always wins” is a famous saying in gambling; anyone who’s ever been around the casino world knows this to be true. And although the casino does indeed always win in the end — after all, they’d just go out of b...
• A List of the Best Selling Christmas Toys Since 1983
  on Dec 7, 2016 in Home and Family
  If you’re old enough, you probably remember the Cabbage Patch Doll. The strange-looking dolls were an instant hit, and by 1985 they had scored more than $600 million in sales. Of course, most of those sales occurred during Christmas. In fact, m...
• The $100,000 Salary Benchmark Is Woefully Overrated
  on Dec 5, 2016 in Home and Family Jobs & Work
  In 2004 my gross annual income crossed the magical $100,000 benchmark for the first time. Reaching that milestone became a personal goal after graduating with an electrical engineering degree in 1988 and taking my first job at a salary of $31,000. At...
• Black Coffee: In Venezuela, Rock Beats Paper
  on Dec 3, 2016 in Commentary
  It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. And away we go … Credi...
• How to Know When It’s Time to Cut and Run On an Investment
  on Nov 30, 2016 in Investing Real Estate
  Nobody ever likes to admit when they are wrong, but sometimes it really is best to just cut your losses and run. This can apply to many different things in life, from relationships to money, but since this blog primarily focuses on good personal fina...
• A Real-Life Example Why Every Homeowner Needs a Hefty Emergency Fund
  on Nov 29, 2016 in Saving
  Believe it or not, a recent survey found that nearly 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1000 in savings. And while I can at least partially understand why those living on very tight budgets may have trouble accumulating a large amount of savings, I fa...
• Is It Better to Borrow From Your 401k or Take an Early Withdrawal?
  on Sep 6, 2016 in Retirement Saving
  In the case of a financial emergency, you might have to dip into your 401k plan to find the money you need. This is never an ideal scenario, as taking money out of such accounts can severely set back progress you’ve made in saving for retiremen...
• Black Coffee: The Labor Day Edition
  on Sep 3, 2016 in Commentary
  It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. I hope everyone is enjoying...
• How Do I Refinance a Mortgage?
  on Sep 2, 2016 in Credit & Debt Mortgage Basics
  Readers: This is article 16 of 25 from my no-nonsense “Mortgage Basics” quick-reference series. There is very little difference between getting a mortgage and refinancing it; in fact, the processes are virtually identical. If you’ve...
• Prepaid vs. Secured Credit Cards: What’s the Difference?
  on Sep 1, 2016 in Credit Card Basics
  Readers: This is article 21 of 25 from my no-nonsense “Credit Card Basics” quick-reference series. On the surface, prepaid and secured cards look a lot alike, but there are two key differences that you need to be aware of: Credit reportin...
• Which Birth Dates Are Most (and Least) Common?
  on Aug 31, 2016 in Home and Family
  According to Wikipedia, more people are born during the months of September and October than any other time of the year. Anecdotal evidence seems to back up Wikipedia’s claim — at least when it comes to my experience. For example, October...
• Which US States Offer the Biggest Bang for Your Buck?
  on Aug 30, 2016 in Jobs & Work Retirement Taxes
  I’ve always been fascinated by maps. Throw me a map of anyplace and I can be mesmerized for quite a long time. Don’t ask me why; it’s just how I am. So I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that the other day I spent almost a h...
• Black Coffee: In the Land of Negative Numbers, Zero Is Your Hero
  on Aug 27, 2016 in Commentary
  It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Let’s get right to it...