A baby’s vocabulary consists of random, painfully high-pitched cries. TRANSLATION: several. A child’s vocabulary consists of the word “mine.” TRANSLATION: “My parents haven’t taught me to share.” A teenager’s vocabulary consists of the word “stupid.” TRANSLATION: “I lack the ability to deal with the discomfort/dislike of the situation so I’ll try to denigrate it in [...]
A recent study by Legg Mason about investor attitudes, concerns and choices yielded this little nugget: the average investor spends about 90 mins/day thinking or worrying about money while the top 10% spend 2-3 hours per day. That means having a financial plan in place and a planner creating/monitoring/adjusting it could save the average person [...]
In a drive to improve accuracy and fairness the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) announced changes to the way they will do business. The changes while minor are a step in the right direction paving the way for more accurate credit reporting which, in turn, should lower borrowing costs on [...]
Bo Diddley asked us, “Who do you love?” In life it’s our friends, family and companion animals. How do we choose our friends or which family to marry into? It’s typically because of fit – liking the same food or music, sharing the same outlook on life, etc. We gravitate towards people most like us [...]
If your formative years were the 1980s and/or your insomnia has you watching movie reruns at 3:00am then you’ve undoubtedly suffered through WarGames. (EDITOR’S NOTE: The movie is like a car accident – so horrifying that while you know you shouldn’t watch you can’t bear to look away.) One of the movie’s iconic moments comes [...]
A little tongue in cheek thought to get this dreary Wed morning (at least in suburban Philly) off to a fun start: It’s been said we should be nice to people who handle our food. We never know what they might do to it. What about the people who provide us with financial advice? Here’s [...]
Back in 2002 The Wall Street Journal ran a provocative piece: “If TiVo Thinks You Are Gay, Here's How to Set It Straight.” The clever title aside it was an interesting look at the way advertisers use the information we voluntarily provide. Today TiVo may be as fashionable as carbon paper but the premise remains [...]
In many ways technology has lowered the cost of service delivery. For a nominal cost the friendly automated voice of the credit card company allows us to “press 1” to find out our balance. Similarly we can contact a customer service rep halfway around the world when we need to speak with someone. The question [...]
Arguably the greatest invention of the last 1,000 years is Gutenberg’s printing press enabling the rapid dissemination of information and subsequent enlightenment of the many and far away. If true then in a similar fashion arguably the worst inventions of the last 1,000 years are things like Twitter and Facebook. To paraphrase an old reporter’s [...]
The annual arbitrary ritual of making resolutions is nearly upon us. Sometimes we succeed. Most times we fail. Want to make ‘em stick? Give these a try. Happy New Year!!