Mon 31 Mar 2008
Just in case you missed them the first time around…
Niche Personal Finance Blogs: Where Money Meets Lifestyle
Mon 3 Mar 2008
Election Season Means Open Season On Corporations
Fri 7 Mar 2008
Measuring A Nation’s Wealth: Alternatives To The GDP
Wed 12 Mar 2008
The High Cost Of Dying In America
Tue 25 Mar 2008
Would You Trash Your House Before The Bank Takes It Back?
Mon 31 Mar 2008
Mon 31 Mar 2008
The chickens of creative mortgage financing are coming home to roost and there’s no bottom site for the housing market yet. That means many Americans are having to decide if they can and will tough it out til the market comes back or if they will bail out of their mortgage. Sites like Walk Away Plan and You Walk Away are popping up to aid people in giving their house back to the bank.
But some of those who walk away aren’t leaving without a parting shot at the banks- they vandalize their own house before giving it back to the bank!
No one is going to be happy about losing their home but that doesn’t justify the vandalizing or cannibalizing of the property before leaving. No one forced them at gunpoint to take that mortgage. The people who are being foreclosed on chose that house and accepted the terms of the loan. Its certainly not going to help the lending market recover if banks have to be concerned that a house might need thousands of dollars worth of repairs if it goes into foreclosure.
When someone vandalizes a house or removes assets like wiring and appliances, it is criminal and it should be prosecuted. It is theft and vandalism of of someone else’s property. It’s not the property of the person who abandoned their mortgage, it is the property of the bank. Sometimes we love to hate on the banks but the bottom line is, they are necessary businesses with property rights.
If we start accepting the violation of businesses’ property rights as justifiable when done in anger and frustration, we open the door to violating anyone’s property rights, including yours, for any reason.
Sun 30 Mar 2008
Check out this documentary that aired on Dutch national television. Its reportedly based on the scenario of how the US dollar could collapse within 24 hours.
There have been a number of documentaries in the past few years that look at the problems with American debt as individuals and as a nation. I know some will have a knee-jerk reaction to the above doc because it was made by another nation but most of the documentaries about our debt issues are American made.
The above doc makes it look like we’re all in a state of denial and that no one here recognizes the threat posed by our indebtedness to the world. While that’s far from the truth, our government seems to be in no hurry to try to restore a trade balance or pare down our foreign debts. In fact the opposite appears to be true.
As Americans we tend to have a feeling of imperviousness when it comes to our economy. Sure we experience downturns but eventually, we coming storming back. I certainly hope that will always be the case but if we want that to remain true, we have to maintain a certain level of economic vigilance. The reality is we are no longer the the only giant, fast-growing economy on the planet. We have competition. If the nations of the world become too unsure about our debt levels, we could wake up one day to find the dollar has been supplanted.
Click here if you’d like to see the current account balances of the world’s nations. It’ll help put the situation into perspective. You’ll find the USA at the bottom of the list.
Thu 27 Mar 2008
I first heard about the “Rich Dad” series of personal finance books
But in the personal finance blogosphere, the “Rich Dad” books generate some controversy, at least from what I’ve seen. Well, I’ve got one paperbabck copy of “Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant”
To enter for a chance to win a copy of this book, just follow these few steps…
1. Fill out your name and email address in the comment form - your email address will remain private and visible only to me
2. Answer the question, “What book has most influenced your personal finances?” Feel free to elaborate!
3. Do not post your address as an actual comment! By entering, you accept the legalese below.
Contest is open to residents of the U.S. & Canada only, age 18 and over. Contest subject to all applicable laws and is void where prohibited. Giveaway entry period concludes at 11:59pm on April 10th. Winner will be notified via e-mail. Moneyclipped.com is not responsible for any winner notification that is lost, intercepted or not received by the potential winner for any reason. Undeliverable e-mail or failure to respond to prize notification within 24 hours will result in disqualification and the selection of a new winner. PO Box addresses cannot be accepted due to delivery purposes. Moneyclipped.com is not responsible for prizes lost or damaged by postal service. Many will enter, only one will win.
Please - only one contest entry per person!
Tue 25 Mar 2008
Love the idea behind the campaign but I fear their mascot!
Seriously, I’m all for a marketing campaign to urge Americas to save money but can’t we do it without a super-creepy, anthropomorphic pig?
My porcine reservations aside, FEED THE PIG (as in putting money in a piggy bank) is a clever idea from the The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as part of their 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy program. Despite the swinophobia-inspiring aspect their videos, they’re pretty amusing. This is my favorite of the bunch:
In addition to the TV PSA’s, there is feedthepig.org where you can download a printable savings calendar, watch the various TV spots, and sign up for a weekly e-mail savings tip. It also has links to numerous resources related to personal savings and a couple of calculators. So if you know someone in need of a little help or inspiration to save, directing them to this site would be a good start.
Tue 25 Mar 2008
Having recently been in the position of dealing with the death of a relative, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the how exploitative the whole funeral industry appears to be.
We have a tendency to avoid thinking of things like funeral expenses until we’re suddenly confronted with a death in the family. I decided to try to get a little perspective on things and found this interesting article on the history of the American funeral industry. I also found this entertaining little look at the business of death:
In recent years there have been more and more people expressing concerns that funeral industry exploits the grieving.
This site on funeral rip-offs was featured on the SHOWTIME series Penn & Teller’s Bullshit! in an episode entitled “Death, Inc.“. This epsidode is available in three parts on YouTube and you can watch it here: Penn & Teller’s Bullshit- Death, Inc., part 1
While death and funerals is a grim topic that no one particularly enjoys discussing, its a good idea to take the time to learn something about the funeral industry and many of the funeral customs we have adopted here in America. This is one estimate I found for funeral costs:
Average cost of funeral in U.S.: $6,500
Typical cost of funeral plus burial: $10,000
Average cost of cremation, including casket/container: $1,800
Here are some of the expenses that you can face:
$ Professional Service Charge
$ Embalming
$ Other preparation (cosmetology)
$ Visitation/Viewing
$ Funeral at funeral home
$ Transfer to funeral home
$ Hearse (local)
$ Service car or van
$ Acknowledgment cards
$ Casket
$ Burial Vault
$ Cemetery Plot
$ Other expenses (digging and refilling grave)
You need to look at what type of funeral arrangements you’d like for yourself and your loved ones and then investigate the costs together. Its important to have frank discussions with your loved ones now so you or they don’t get caught unawares and are put in the position of having to make decisions about death expenses while grieving. The last thing you want is for your burial to be a financial burden on those you leave behind or to be put in the position of weighing what you can afford against what you feel obligated to spend on a loved one’s funeral.
As hard as it can be to talk about such things, once you have, you’ll find that there’s a certain peace of mind that comes with knowing that you and your family won’t have to struggle with such issues at the worst possible time.