A couple of thought-provoking posts on inheritances at Yet Another Blog About Money and Crazy Money. YAB About Money has thought about the inheritance he might receive, but says that its presence does not affect other financial plans. Crazy Money, on the other hand, doesn’t think about the inheritance at all and prefers not to … Read more
The dynamics of the collector’s market for the new Presidential $1 coins are fascinating to me. The initial release of the $1 coins has an initial frenzy that dies down to a more orderly numismatic market for unopened rolls, high-grade specimens, and error coins. The standard errors in previous coins, like off-center striking, double-die errors, … Read more
… I’d consider buying Maynard Ferguson’s 1994 Cadillac DeVille. Normally I’m not a car aficionado but I used to play jazz trumpet a lot more than I do now and Maynard Ferguson was one of my favorites to listen to. Ferguson died last year and parts of his estate are being auctioned off on eBay. … Read more
No, I haven’t started a hot-tip newsletter. I’ll give you the whole secret right now. You probably already own this investment vehicle. Maybe a bunch of them. Maybe a whole jar-full of them. Lincoln pennies. You might have heard about this essay from Francois Velde, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: What’s … Read more
This is probably unusual advice. Maybe even bad advice. Seems silly to get out of home ownership into renting. The American Dream is just the opposite: getting out of renting into home ownership. Renting has a lot of disadvantages compared to home ownership, and under most circumstances it’s better in the long run to try to buy a home. Rent … Read more
And not just to make sure that the cashier gave you the right amount back for your purchase! It doesn’t happen very often, but the change you get back could be worth more than face value — sometimes a little, sometimes a lot — because the last person who spent the money didn’t recognize its … Read more
Michael Mihalik’s Debt is Slavery is a short book that has a ton of great insights packed into its 123 pages. The second post in this series deals with the importance of money in our lives. This is one of several observations that Mihalik makes in his book that makes so much sense, but goes … Read more
Our daughter was invited to her first outside-of-the-family birthday party this weekend. The party had a Mad Hatter Tea Party theme and the entertainer — dressed to the nines as the Queen of Hearts — had costumes available for each of the children. Our daughter dressed up as a butterfly, complete with wings. Needless to … Read more