Bursting Your Bubble
As a former history teacher I am all too aware that history has a tendency to repeat itself. In fact, it was one of the things that fascinated me most about the subject. Amazingly, some of those same characteristics apply to the world of personal finance and the economy as [...]
Keep Eyes on George
In my older age, I have mellowed some in my perspective and expressed opinions about most areas of politics. If you think I exaggerate, you should have heard me in my younger years. The verbal rockets still being fired following the (legal or illegal) election of President Trump really are [...]
The Future of Your 401(k)
Recently a friend mentioned he was considering cashing out his 401(k). On the outside I remained calm and quietly listened to his plans for the money, on the inside I was screaming NO! He explained that he was leaving his current job and because he didn’t have a large amount [...]
The Message of Valentine’s Day
Did you know that approximately $13 billion dollars is spent every year celebrating Valentine’s Day? That’s 180 million cards, 198 million roses, 58 million pounds of chocolate, and 36 million heart-shaped boxes. But, as anyone who has ever given a gift knows, the recipient’s heart-felt appreciation and mutual affection is [...]
Money Saving Ideas
None of us need to be reminded that a penny saved is a penny earned. My goal isn’t to tell you what you already know to be true in some elegant way that triggers you to change old habits. I’m no Tony Robbins, so I won’t pretend to be the [...]
January Barometer Redux
A few weeks ago, I described the stock market January Effect test as an indicator of the probable direction of indexes for the rest of 2017. Since one-twelfth of the year has zoomed by, let’s look to see what happened. By the way, the indicator is infinitely more accurate than [...]
What’s the Emergency?
Henry Buckley once said “Save a part of your income and begin now, for the man with a surplus controls his circumstances and the man without a surplus is controlled by his circumstances.” We all know we should save for a rainy day. We heard it repeated often by our [...]
Capitalism at Its Finest
Our present culture, especially media, generally views business through a dirty lense. I watch too many who-dunit television programs and if there is a corporate exec, business owner, or even professional person in the cast, two-thirds of the time there is your evildoer. The only thing to flesh out is [...]
Application of the January Effect
For long term readers of this column, you might remember the stock market January Effect from prior years. The basic premise is that if the stock market is higher after the first five trading days of January, and if it ends the month higher than the end of December, odds [...]
Climbing A Wall of Worry
I must be getting very mature in annual lap counts. Even though I do not feel old at all, the New Year’s Day celebrations are clicking off with but a few days in between them. Seems like a couple of months ago that I was saying good riddance to 2015 [...]