linklings, economic end game edition
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photo credit: Shiny Things
I have been working in the financial services industry for several years now, and times are getting grim. Bear Stearns is probably days away from disappearing into a division of another bank, despite Federal efforts to prop them up; other grizzly old banks that have been profit-making machines almost on the level of oil companies are staggering. I think all of this talk about a recession is actually optimistic - we have to worry about fundamental weaknesses in the American economy that could create some sort of horrible new economic downturn. I don’t want to say depression, since that’s categorized by high unemployment as well, but in a sense Americans are losing their jobs - they are losing their jobs as skilled mechanics or middle managers and replacing them as burger flippers. The currency is going to be worthless if the Fed keeps pumping funny money into the system. Read here if you are still optimistic about the near-term economy; after you read that you won’t be. Between the war and the collapsing economy, it’s hard to understand why anyone would want to be president of the United States over the next four years. Ah, gloom on a Saturday!
New Flexible Spending Account Strategy - Personal Finance Review » Money Smart Life
- Sometimes you get those head-slapping moments when you say “duh, yes” about something - finance, fixing the wobbly leg on your chair, etc. This idea was one of those - if you’re trying to wipe out the dribbles left in your FSA account at the end of the year this might just work. It might not - you’d have to check in your situation - but I sure wish I had thought of this a year ago, when I ended up letting a small amount of cash disappear into FSA purgatory.
- I’m always glad to hear that something I wrote or a mindset or belief I hold resonates with someone who knows what they are talking about. I am a firm believer that saving is important, but that it can only get you so far - sometimes you need to think about increasing your earnings to make progress to your goals. If someone who earned 7 million in 7 years agrees with me, then I feel like I’ve had a good idea…
- At one point I was guilty of misusing the phrase “passive income,” and Lazy Man points out that even the broader phrase “alternative income” sometimes gets confused with the more apt description “second job.” I like to think of alternative income as something more than just wages for a side job - it’s money generated by a decreasing amount of labor on your part.
Serious Savers Who Died Very Wealthy
- OK, when I talk about being rich, these types of people are exactly what I DON’T have in mind. The crazy dude who lived in a studio apartment his whole life, eating cat food and working until he was 78 as a toll booth operator - then dying and leaving $8.6 million to Doctors Without Borders. I mean, I respect the desire to give to charity, I do. But really, would anyone - ANYONE - fault you for using a wee bit of that money to retire at 71 instead of 78? Or even - forbid the thought - at 64? I guess if you get “crazy frugal” it just takes hold at some point, but it still seems a dark and joyless way to spend your money. Put your niece through college or something…
The Smith Manoeuvre Money Flow | Million Dollar Journey
- I was reading this post by Frugal Trader and realized that at least in one tiny section of our tax code Americans have something to be thankful for - deductible mortgage interest. Canadians apparently have to arrange a very complicated maneuver to do that.
Peer-to-Peer Lending and Bloggers Ethic | Moolanomy
- Glblguy started a contentious (but very interesting) debate with his post Why I think P2P lending is a bad idea last week, and now Moolanomy picks up a rebuttal. I still fall very much in what I will call the “dangerous items” category. I can cut onions with a knife, or I can kill someone with it. How I use the knife is up to me - the knife is not inherently good or bad. I think P2P lending is similarly neutral - it’s all in the intention of the people who use it to borrow OR lend.
- Just in case you were getting hopeful about the state of our government, and their ability to steer the fragile economy through the current storm, read this piece and wonder why $42 million dollars needed to be spent for mailings to tell you information that’s been blasted all over the news for weeks already.
- Sun has a good point here. I was one of the people who recoiled when I saw the 401(k) debit cards, thinking it was another attempt to get people to buy a plasma TV with their retirement savings. It probably is - but it could also be useful for someone who faces losing their home. I would never advise drawing against a 401(k) - unless it was for a last-second critical situation like a foreclosure. Interesting take on a card that, at first glance, seems horrific.
And not a link, exactly, but just an announcement I was really excited about:
How to Change the World: Announcing (Formally) Alltop
Guy Kawasaki, one of the original Apple employees and now a very successful venture capitalist/entrepreneur (as well as uber-blogger) has launched a new site, Alltop. The site is a news aggregation feed that pulls stories on the most popular topics on the web. I was extremely happy to hear from Guy that Brip Blap was included in the personal finance section as a “top site.” It’s a cool site and I’m thrilled to be part of it.
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