Review of 2011 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 8th 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. This year has been all about Social Security as much as anything. As you know, in October I released A Social Security Owner’s Manual, and many of you have picked up copies, thank you! 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 2012: more of all the wonderful income tax, IRA, Social Security and other retirement, investment and financial planning articles that you’ve come to expect; completion of the print edition of An IRA Owner’s Manual; guest experts from time to time will contribute posts on areas complimentary to the subjects of this blog (contact me if you’d like to write an article, I’m always looking for more!); book reviews as a part of an arrangement with McGraw-Hill (more on this in the new year); and continuing the pace of approximately 175 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 2011. A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone that has taken part in this blog over the years!

General Statistics for 2011

• 176 total posts
• 164 comments & trackbacks
• 148,842 page views – averaging 408 per day (2010: 75,774 views, 207 per day)
• 300 RSS subscribers

Top 10 Most-Viewed Posts for 2011

1. Charitable Contributions From Your IRA in 2010 and 2011
2. The File and Suspend Tactic for Social Security Benefits
3. IRS Table I (Single Life Expectency)
4. Proposed Social Security Wage Base Increases
5. The IRA Owner’s Manual
6. Social Security Legislative Bulletin 106-20
7. Student Loan Interest Deduction Changes in 2011
8. The Spousal Benefit Option for Social Security Benefits
9. Earned Income Tax Credit 2011 Style
10. A Little-Known Social Security Spousal Benefit Option

Top 10 Referrers for 2011

1. thestreet.com
2. figuide.com
3. thefinancebuff.com
4. forbes.com
5. news.yahoo.com
6. stumbleupon.com
7. facebook.com
8. twitter.com
9. rwinvesting.blogspot.com
10. obliviousinvestor.com

Top 10 Search Engine Terms for 2011

1. ira charitable contributions
2. charitable contributions from IRA
3. social security file and suspend
4. social security wage base
5. life expectancy tables
6. windfall elimination provision
7. social security spouse options
8. government pension offset
9. qualified domestic relations order 401k
10. social security pia

Top 10 Most Popular Links Clicked in 2011

1. jct.gov
2. ssa.gov/legislation/legis_bulletin_022900.html
3. bfponline.com
4. socialsecurityownersmanual.com
5. createspace.com/3657057
6. blankenshipfinancial.com/forms/Financial Stuff Organizer.zip
7. iraownersmanual.com
8. irs.gov
9. socialsecurity.gov
10. irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf

That’s it for 2011 – Happy New Year to all, and thanks again for all your support! – jb

Photo by dalvenjah