A Low Cost College Plan for Dummies and Slackers

President Obama and his educratic team are on record as stating that: (1) more American citizens (and resident invaders) should be going to college; and (2) taxpayers need to fund more  loans and grants to make that happen. I don’t like the President’s plan. I have a better one. Read more

The Illusion of Credit Card Rewards Programs

Credit card rewards programs are popular with card users. Many personal finance sites and bloggers devote considerable attention to evaluating the merits of different credit cards that reward users based on spending levels. In the case of some bloggers, those evaluations rise to the level of outright promotion because of affiliate advertising relationships between the blogger and card issuers. I am a contrarian and believe that the awards benefits of these programs are, on balance, an illusion. Let me explain this hard truth. Read more

The New American Dictionary of Financial Phrases

The more I read and listen to Americans discussing the economy and their financial lives, I sense a change in language. The events of 2008 and 2009 have caused transitions in our use of financial words and phrases. I have compiled a list of some of the old phrases and how they have been changed to conform with today’s economic environment.  Read more

White House Driving Chrysler to the Junk Yard

Let’s review the fantastic Chrysler re-structuring deal pushed through by White House finance thugs this past week. Read more

Spendthrift Colleges Getting What They Deserve

I read two interesting and ironically related articles in the business section of today’s paper. Both articles highlight the lousy jobs that many of our colleges and universities do in managing money and in delivering value to their students. Read more

Back to Basics and Mutual Fund Survivorship Bias

We have friends visiting this weekend – the “went to high school together – stood up at your wedding – still likes you after 44 years” kind of friends that everyone should be so lucky to have. So I am not spending a lot of time writing. (I’m sneaking this in during visitors’ nap time.)  It’s back to the basics of doing what is most important in life, and talking about money is getting outranked right now. Read more

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