Cohenville

Kiplinger had an article on the best travel websites across categories.  I generally use the big ones – Travelocity.com, Expedia.com and Orbitz.com.  But there are many more.

• Kayak.com for the best airfares, domestic and international.
• Airefarewatchdog.com is like Kayak, but wil keep an eye on the discount carriers that Kayak doesn’t include.
• Farecast.com helps with predictability in airfare changes – if your dates are flexible check out this site.
• Lastminute.com has great deals if you are looking for a last minute weekend (or bigger) getaway.
• Bedandbreakfast.com – you guess it, B&B reviews.
• Tripadvisor.com is a great one I’ve used often for reviews from real travelers.
• TravelGuard.com can help you get insured for your big trip.
• CruiseMates.com provides reviews and ideas for cruises and ports.

Kiplinger had a great article on investing tools, both online and on paper.   Many of the ideas I already know about or have done (some websites, investment thought (retirement!) and brokerage informatino.  But several other ideas and tips are below.

• Fix mistakes in your credit report.  First, get your free credit report once every 12 months from the three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  Go to www.annualcreditreport.com.  Then file a dispute with the credit bureau.  They’ll have 30 days to respond, so wait and then follow up with details, the lender will have to update their records before the credit bureau can change your report.
• Keep a healthy investment balance by selling winners and rebalancing your portfolio distributions.  Know how much of your money should be in stocks by this rough guideline.  Subtract your age 110 and multiply by 1.25.  You can also consider a target date retirement fund that will automatically rebalance.