Financial Ducks In A Row • Independent financial advice: IRA, Social Security, income tax, and all things financial

Review of 2012 Stats

Ed. Note: As in past years, I’m taking a break from my normal business of posting retirement, tax and other personal financial planning topics to report on the blog itself and the statistics we’ve seen in this, the 9th year of publication for this blog. I’ll be back to regular programming with the next entry. – jb

Over the past year, this blog has seen continued growth as in years past. This year I released An IRA Owner’s Manual, and many of you have picked up copies, thank you! In addition, this year Sterling Raskie joined the staff here at Blankenship Financial, and he’s been adding content to the blog, giving you an additional perspective on all things financial.

In November we launched the first "1% More" initiative, rallying 23 other bloggers to publish articles encouraging Americans to save at least 1% more in the coming year. This was a fulfilling project and we look forward to doing it again in the future – hopefully it will make a difference!

Through your comments and email questions I have come to meet literally hundreds and hundreds of you over the years – and we’ve learned a lot together. I’ll take this opportunity to thank you for your tremendous support by reading, asking questions, and making comments on what I have written. I hope these interactions have been as fulfilling for you as they have been for me.

Planned for 2013: more of all the wonderful income tax, IRA, Social Security and other retirement, investment and financial planning articles that you’ve come to expect; an updated edition of A Social Security Owner’s Manual; more posts from Sterling, including a series he’s been working on relating to fiscal and physical fitness; book reviews as a part of the arrangement with McGraw-Hill; and continuing the pace of approximately 150 to 200 posts throughout the year. Please pass along any suggestions for new topics that you’d like to see written up and discussed.

Listed below are the Getting Your Financial Ducks in a Row end of year statistics and Top Ten lists for 2012. A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone that has taken part in this blog over the years!

General Statistics for 2012

151 total posts
289 comments & trackbacks
278,146 page views – averaging 760 per day (2011: 148,842 page views – averaging 408 per day)
1,018 RSS subscribers

Top 10 Referrers for 2012

Top 10 Search Engine Terms for 2012

annual gift tax exclusion
2013 social security wage base
qualified charitable distribution 2012
social security wage base
underpayment penalty
file and suspend
social security limit 2013
net unrealized appreciation
college
spousal social security options

That’s it for 2012 – Happy New Year to all, and thanks again for all your support! – jb

The books!

The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on Amazon at this link. This book includes all of the updates to retirement plans with passage of the SECURE Act.

A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on Amazon at this link.

Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at this link. This book is narrowly-focused on divorcee Social Security strategies and rules. It is also available in a Kindle version.

Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be purchased by clicking this link. The book is also available on Kindle, which you can find at this Kindle version link.

An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the paperback version, or the Kindle version.

Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the Amazon ordering page.

Queuing Waterfowl

In case you hadn’t already noticed, this blog doesn’t have much to do with ducks – or any waterfowl for that matter.

No, what we’re doing here is talking about all things financial; getting your financial house in order. Here in the Midwest, “getting your ducks in a row” implies organization, which is one of the outcomes of having a better understanding of your financial life.

I hope you find the answers you’re looking for among the articles here, and perhaps a smile. If you can’t locate your answer, drop me an email or give me a call – we’ll see what we can find for you.

And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.