When I went to graduate school, an MBA was still an achievement – it almost guaranteed getting the job you wanted and conferred an impressive status (at least in the business world) on anyone who held one. Consequently, the popularity of the MBA grew and grew over the last couple of decades. In today’s corporate [...] Read more »
when does intellectual curiosity stop?
From bookstatistics.com: 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school. 42% of college graduates never read another book. 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year. 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. If you’re like me, [...] Read more »
college student finance tips
This post is part of The Money Writers‘ college student finance tips group writing project. Everyone likes to think that with the passage of time they become an expert. Simply by virtue of their own experience, they become an expert in an area that could be the subject of full-time study. That’s what giving financial [...] Read more »
Guest Post: Education – a curse or a cushion?
The following is a guest post from AJC of 7million7years.com. He only recently started blogging but he’s already one of my favorite daily reads. If you’re the type who likes RSS, you can subscribe to his blog here. People often ask me what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Probably the best book that I [...] Read more »
10 things to tell a graduating high school senior
Oh, young mind, how we envy you! The world is your oyster, and who doesn’t like oysters? Here you are, venturing out into the world. Freedom, independence, adventure are all just around the corner! Mom’s not there to do the laundry anymore, but who cares! Nobody will yell at you when you sleep til 2pm [...] Read more »
best financial move in college, part 2
Patrick, of Cash Money Life fame, has tagged me to give my best financial move in college. This “organically growing” meme was started by plonkee. The first part was posted yesterday. Best Financial Move In College #2: Learning an “exotic” foreign language. If you read this blog, you probably know that I’m a Russophile. I [...] Read more »
best financial move in college, part 1
Patrick, of Cash Money Life fame, has tagged me to give my best financial move in college. This “organically growing” meme was started by plonkee. This will be a two-parter because I didn’t want a post that looked like a short novel… I have what might be an “unallowed” answer, so I’ll give both of [...] Read more »
are American kids stupid about personal finance?
American kids are stupid about financial matters. That’s what a Federal Reserve study says. From the Washington Post: High school seniors, on average, answered correctly only 48.3 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. That was even lower than the 52.4 percent in [...] Read more »
Can I tolerate my son’s religious education?
My family lives in an urban environment with failing schools. The schools in our city were so bad that the state seized control of them a generation ago and has never let go. The state, amazingly enough, did nothing to improve the poor test scores and today the schools in our area struggle to meet [...] Read more »
a clear and present danger: the humanities
The US government currently has a debt of over $9.2 trillion dollars. In every measure of economic growth the US lags behind Europe and the emerging economic superpowers of India and China. At the same time, over $90 billion dollars will be spent in 2008 on financial aid. At least some of that money will [...] Read more »
how to talk to your teenager about personal finance
If you have children or younger relatives – particularly teenagers – then this thought probably crossed your mind at one point: “if only they would do some of the things I wish I had done!” Maybe you always dreamed of visiting Mongolia or taking a year off after high school to backpack around Europe. Perhaps [...] Read more »
is college worth it? (part 2)
Note: Fecundity took a look at the spreadsheet I used to calculate these numbers and found one formula error and a couple of simplifying assumptions that she refined (she built a more realistic tax calculation, for example). None of the changes affected the conclusion, and in fact it tilted things a bit further in Paul’s [...] Read more »