Luke “Flexo” Landes of Consumerism Commentary has a guest post over at Wealth Pilgrim on whether the government should have a ban on reward credit cards. The post had the flavor of a thought experiment, and I’m not aware of any talk to implement this. Nonetheless, the thought of that idea sends a cold chill … Read more
I met Mike Piper of The Oblivious Investor briefly at FinCon11 and he came bearing gifts. (I guess I was The Oblivious Conference Attendee and did no such thing myself.) I snagged two copies of his newest book, Can I Retire? (I’ll offer the second copy to a randomly-picked subscriber of my newsletter soon, so … Read more
This article on the NPR Planet Money blog discusses the projected federal budget deficit as compared to the maximum deficit reduction discussed in recent debt-ceiling negotiations. If we cut to the chase, there is a $9 trillion shortfall over the next ten years. The most stringent deficit reduction measures discussed don’t even come close to … Read more
Our church has been focusing on the topic of money in its sermons and study groups for the past several weeks. Today’s sermon started out with some facts I hadn’t known before about the history of the motto that appears on all proper examples of today’s United States money. First, a very condensed history. The … Read more
A friend and I got to chatting about investments over lunch recently. After lamenting about the stock market, 401(k)s, and so forth, we talked a bit about precious metals. Like most people whom I’ve talked with about this subject — including myself, I suppose — we wish that we would have bought more $300 gold … Read more
The authors were kind enough to get a complimentary copy of Living the Savvy Life into my hands a while back. Subtitled “The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Smart Spending and Rich Living,” Melissa Tosetti and Kevin Gibbons have a lot to say in this 219-page book. The book’s primary audience is indeed as advertised in … Read more
Baker posted a link on his Google+ profile to this CNN Money article. Denise Townley received a letter from Discover Card less than two weeks after her mother had passed away seeking to settle her mother’s debts. It would be an understatement to say that Ms. Townley wasn’t pleased by this behavior. The Discover letter … Read more
A couple of months ago, the headlines reported that that babies born today have a 40% chance of living to be 150 years old. That’s about 25% longer than the oldest living humans in recent history. Experts base this claim on the advancement of regenerative medicine and the like. Let’s just say for grins that … Read more