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Welcome to edition eleven of The Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance, where every featured post is an Editor’s Pick!

This carnival is being posted on Super Bowl Sunday, which essentially is a de facto national holiday in the United States of America.

On Super Bowl Sunday, all over America, people host or go to parties and participate in football pools in a desperate attempt to make a little extra cash.  (Note to those of you living outside of the US:  Here in America, we play “football” with our hands and “soccer” with our feet.  I know, but what can I do?  We also drive on parkways and park on driveways.)

Personally, I could not care less about the Super Bowl.  I happen to live in Los Angeles, which hasn’t had a football team of its own since the Rams and Raiders both left town back in 1994.

Since I am a native of Southern California, I have no allegiance to any outside professional football teams either.

Well, I used to really like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but once they got rid of their creamsicle jerseys I abandoned them too.

Speaking of creamsicles, this month’s selections were based on those bloggers who correctly guessed the number of people living in America who would ever dare to admit that they considered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ old orange creamsicle jerseys to be the height of sartorial splendor.

The correct answer:  1   (Uh, that would be me.)

Try this on for size: For the month of January I received 109 qualifying articles for consideration, excluding the prodigious amount of spam, and other flotsam and jetsam that I typically receive every month.

As always, it was a pleasure reading everyone’s submissions again. Thank you all for contributing and if you didn’t make it this month, please try again next month!

Here now, in no particular order, are the best of the best in money and personal finance for January 2010:

Evan presents Is There Anything More Important than Money When It Comes to a Job? posted at My Journey to Millions saying, “(This is) a review of different factors that people should consider beyond just pay.”

We’ll kick off this month’s edition of the Best of the Best with this terrific article by Evan who shares with us all of the things he looks for in a job besides just the pay.  I noticed that Evan confessed that he is one of those people that could be bored at work if he made a big enough paycheck.  You’re an attorney, Evan.  What do you mean if you made a big enough paycheck?

Ronnie Kagan presents Parkinson’s Law – Do You Know How it Will Impact Your Life? posted at Ronnie Kagan’s Mentors Club.

Parkinson’s Law says “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”  I see this law in effect every day, but it can be applied to many different things.  Although this article isn’t about money per se, it is my opinion that Parkinson’s Law can manifest itself in the world of personal finance as “Expenditures rise to meet income.”   When put in that perspective, I think Ronnie’s post can be very helpful towards helping you think about those areas of your life that will help you ensure maximum return on your investment of not only time and energy, but money as well.

The Investor presents Financial Advisers: Swindlers and Leeches posted at Monevator saying, “When a mugger robs your wallet, he risks jail. When an adviser takes 7% of your savings, he’s called a professional.”

I was taught at an early age to never judge a book by its cover.  Likewise, never judge a blog article by its title.  So could it be that my favorite blogger from across the pond is only pulling our leg with this provocatively titled piece?  Is his assertion that financial advisers are “swindlers and leeches” a bit of tongue-in-cheek hyperbole?  Was the Investor joking with his carnival comment equating financial advisers to muggers?  Finally, is it possible that he has, in actuality, written a post about financial advisers that implores us to consider all of the magnanimous things they do for the benefit of mankind?  In a word: No.

Alan Johnson presents Market Timing Manipulation posted at The Reasoned Investor.

Hey, lookie here!  I believe our next article is from an, ahem, financial adviser.  Alan over at The Reasoned Investor examines the logic behind the claims often used to support a buy-and-hold strategy.  For example, he wonders why it is always assumed that an investor will miss ONLY the best performing months?  To prove his point, Alan runs a few very interesting scenarios to bolster his case that there needs to be better ways to demonstrate why market timing may not be such a good idea.  (And, um, Alan, if it will make you feel any better, I believe “swindlers and leeches” is not as bad as it sounds – I think it is actually a cockney term of endearment that means “peaches.”)

The BoBo presents Obama Does in 1 Year What Took Bush 8 Years to Accomplish! posted at The BoBo Files saying, “(Here is) a look at the out-of-control spending done by this current administration compared to the out-of-control spending done by the previous administration. If things don’t change soon, this country is headed for bankruptcy.”

This one is going to ruffle a few feathers.  Yes, George Bush allowed the National Debt to get out of hand, but things aren’t getting any better under the new administration.  So just how bad is it?  The Bobo notes that, with the recent passage of the bill that raised the debt ceiling to $14 trillion, the US National Debt can be expected to reach seven times the total revenues taken in during 2009.  Would you be able to pay all your bills if your obligations were seven times your total household revenues?  It would be difficult, if not impossible.  Now consider that social security, government-sponsored health care, and other contractual obligations – they aren’t included in the National Debt totals – raise that figure to $70 trillion.  Scary.  It’s not too late, but time is running out on us all.  The Bobo has a solution though and I agree with him.  Check it out and let him know what you think.

Ray presents 7 Money Lessons From Monopoly posted at Financial Highway saying, “Monopoly is not only a fun game, but also a very educational one. Sharing 7 money lessons I learned from monopoly and many other lessons my twitter followers learned.”

Yes, the US dollar is quickly becoming no more valuable than monopoly money.   In this fun post, Ray shares seven money lessons he has learned from the classic game of Monopoly.   As an added bonus, Ray got inputs via Twitter from over a dozen other bloggers on what they learned from the game.   I see Ben Bernanke didn’t provide an input, but I’m sure that playing Monopoly is where he learned that whenever the bank runs out of money, you can just print more of it.

Abdulrasool Sumar presents How to Retire as a Millionaire with your 401k Plan and 7 Strategies to Achieve Growth of your 401k Plan posted at Research 401k Rollover saying, “You do not have to be a Goldman Sachs CEO or a whiz kid on Wall Street making millions!”

When a father of five kids, Knute Iwaszko, retired from his $60,000 per year job at the age of 59, he did it with $1 million in savings spread out between his 401(k) and IRA accounts.   In this post, we learn how he managed to save that princely sum in his retirement accounts on such a modest salary, and how you can too.  The funny thing is, it’s not much of a secret.   What the article didn’t tell me, and what I am still dying to know, is how did somebody with the surname Iwaszko end up with a first name of Knute?

Mike Piper presents Asset Allocation with a 401(k) and IRA posted at The Oblivious Investor saying, “(This is) a system for managing a portfolio that spans multiple providers–one for your 401(k) and another for your IRA, for instance.”

After you learn about Knute’s secret, you’ll eventually need to learn how to properly allocate your retirement savings when they are divided between separate 401(k) and an IRA accounts.  So it’s a good thing that Mike wrote this article on how to do exactly that.  This article is a great example of why I appreciate Mike’s blog so much – he takes potentially complicated subjects and provides simple explanations that even dummies like me can understand.

Jeff Rose presents Should You Buy Mortgage Protection or Term Life Insurance? posted at Good Financial Cents saying, “With so many different types of insurance you can purchase nowadays, it’s very easy to get insurance poor. Buying coverage on your home with mortgage life insurance teeters on the fence of being a bit too much.”

Jeff is another blogger who is really good at explaining potentially complicated or confusing subjects.  This month he wrote a very enlightening article comparing mortgage life protection versus term life insurance.

Joel presents Are Credit Card Companies Evil if They Don’t Waive Fees on Haiti Donations? posted at Credit Card Chaser asking, “Should we really force credit card companies to waive card processing fees for charitable donations? Yes, its a good thing but many other companies profit by providing needed services to charities, right?”

Right, Joel.  Hey, somebody needs to stick up for the credit card companies. Over the past year credit card companies have been beaten up and bruised in the octagon of public opinion so badly that they look worse than Rocky Balboa after his fight with Ivan “I must break you” Drago in Rocky IV.  Count me as one of Joel’s corner men on this one.  As far as I’m concerned, in this case, his argument scores a knock out punch over those who say it’s outrageous and wrong for credit card companies to not waive their fees.  As I told Joel, people need to remember that many donations would never have been made in the first place if not for the convenience provided by the credit card companies.

MDP presents How to Break Free from Your Escrow Account posted at My Dollar Plan saying, “This article talks about the benefits of avoiding an escrow account in real estate purchases.”

I’ve always thought that if you were responsible enough to own your own home, you should be responsible enough to pay your own property taxes and home owners insurance without the need for an escrow account.  And before you send me nasty letters – please don’t misunderstand me.  I realize many people are forced into escrow accounts when they first buy a home because of loan regulations, or they simply prefer the convenience of having such an account.   Still, if you ask me, escrow accounts are an expensive convenience that I prefer to do without – especially when you consider the administrators occasionally forget to pay the tax and/or insurance bills.

Joe Plemon presents What Is The Real Cost of Debt? posted at Personal Finance By The Book saying, “Debt is costly in more ways than one may realize. This post examines not only the monetary cost, but other costs as well.”

In this article, Joe discusses the real cost of debt.   For example, debt is not only measured in terms of dollar costs, there are other costs as well, like those to your health.   Joe notes there are marital costs too.  Speaking of health and marital costs, that reminds me of a woman I knew who had an artist paint a portrait of her covered with lots of expensive jewels that I knew she didn’t own. When I asked her why she did that she said, “If I die and my husband remarries, I want his next wife to go crazy looking for the jewels.”

Speaking of debt…

Craig Ford presents 55 Compelling Reasons to Get Out of Debt posted at Money Help For Christians saying, “Sometimes people just need a little push to help them get out of debt. How about 55 reasons to get out of debt? Come on, Len, I know you’ll love this one!”

You’re right, Craig.  I love it!  By the way, I found number 47 – “You’ll get to read the menu from left to right, not right to left” – to be in error.  At least as far as me and the Honeybee are concerned.  I swear she still reads the menu from right to left because she always gets the most expensive thing on the menu.  Always.  She swears she doesn’t realize it, but as sure as the sun will set in the west, she does it every stinking time.  I like to tell her that if the highest priced item on the menu was a big bowl of dog poop, she’d still end up ordering it.   Well, it’s true.

And on that note, the January edition of the Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance is over…

Please send your entries for the February 2010 edition of the Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance using our carnival submission form. For more information, check out our carnival index page.

As a friendly reminder, please please please stick to the carnival guidelines. I receive several excellent articles every month that have to be disqualified because they were posted in the wrong month.

Submissions for the next carnival should include only posts written during the month of February 2010.