Are We Losing Our Ability To Think Independently?

January 27th, 2012 by Money Reasons 1 comment »

I see so many people repeat what they’ve seen on TV like it’s fact, that it got me wondering if we are losing our ability to think independently or really even think for ourselves at all?

Case in point, a friend that I know works in the financial industry.  He told me exactly how he perceived what caused “The Great Recession” and I agreed with his logic.  Now just a month ago, he’s telling me and entirely different story because he was a documentary on it.  Well, a documentary versus living through it with connections to what was happening… hmmm.

Here is a man, that actually was part of the financial system, saw and heard what was going on, but since seeing the documentary, changed his tune and blamed it all on the banks.  It really was more than that banks…

Oh sure, there were some unscrupulous lenders, but if you think that they were all like that you are sadly mistaken.  I think that it was mainly the construction of the complex derivatives that caused the problems and made it so the rating companies didn’t have a clue (nor did the companies peddling the stuff), but I digress…

The thing that kills me is my buddy, who was much closer to the financial downturn I ever was, basically forgot what he lived through and instead change his entire mindset based on a documentary!  Like those documentary creators were unbiased and were in the middle of what was going on more-so than he was…

It reminds me of the “Jedi mind trick” from Star Wars.  “Believe what you watch, you will” says Yoda…

The thing is we’ve all been influence by what we watch on TV.  I know that after watching certain movies I get pumped and want to work out.  I’ve even acted out a few dangerous scenes when I was younger with friends (ah, those teenage years).  Now that I’m older I realize how incredible stupid that was of me to do.

I wonder how much of our life is misguided by fantasies and make believe magic that we watch on TV and the movies than reality.  Most of us look up to actors, not really innovators in our country that improve our lifestyle.

The real question is how do those of us in the middle get back on a productive and reality based track again (if we were ever on that track to begin with)?

Perhaps less TV and less online time is the answer?  Perhaps trying to think outside of the box a bit (or a lot) more?

Hard to tell, I’m still experimenting myself…

MR

 

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Why Taxing Dividend Income Hurts The Elderly

January 26th, 2012 by Money Reasons 13 comments »

Let’s say it’s thirty years from now, and you’ve been a solid middle-income earner your entire life.  You were able to put some money in dividend stocks and mutual  funds that pay a dividend.

With your dividend portfolio, you get by fairly nicely.  You might even be able to go on vacation every now and then.

But times have changed and even though you worked hard your entire life, the government and certain people in the population want to tax those dividends now because they view dividend income as a rich person’s income stream.  But what those who want to tax dividends at higher rates don’t realize is that there are also adverse side effects of doing this.

Believe it or not, but when you don’t have money in retirement and you are hunger, you still have to pay for the food somehow.  If your dividends income stream is cut because of higher taxes on them, then you might have to go back to work.  This in turn makes it harder for young people to get jobs, since the elderly and the young compete for the same entry-level jobs.

I have friends with retired parents who told me a few years ago that it was getting financially harder every year because of the cost of living and inflation.  You see, to them increases in gas prices and food have a direct impact on what they can afford.  I’m sure they aren’t going to be happy once they see that their small dividend portfolio provides less money because of the possibility of dividends being taxed.  I wonder if you’ll see them working at McDonalds soon?  Perhaps not, they getting pretty old.  It’s harder to work when you are older…

Dividends provide them with only part of their income steam.  Luckily they have pensions, and a Social Security income steams.

Too bad we won’t.

What do you think about taxing dividends at a higher rate?  After all, money to pay dividends is already taxed once as company income (double taxation anyone?)…

Share your thoughts,

MR

 

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Frugality Taken Too Far – The Great Egg Switcheroo

January 23rd, 2012 by Money Reasons 21 comments »

Frugality isn’t robbery, or at least being inconsiderate of others!

As I mentioned in a previous articles, I’m starting to lose weight, trying to alter my lifestyle.  Part of my routine is eating two eggs in the morning for breakfast during the work week.  My morning stable has been two eggs.  I’ve actually always been a big fan of eggs, so I’m very familiar with both the weight and the shape of extra-large eggs.

This past weekend, my wife went shopping and I asked her to pick me up a carton of eggs, since I was down to my last two.  So she returned from the store, and my extra-large carton of eggs was in the fridge as expected.  Today, I decided to hardboil my eggs for my breakfast meal for next week.  I picked up the carton out of the refrigerator, and had a feeling something was wrong.  I open the carton up, and all 12 eggs were there as expected, so I chalked it up to nothing and started getting ready to cook them.

 

white egg

 

So I proceeded to cook up a batch of 12 eggs.  After my 15 minutes of cook time, I drained the eggs and was putting them in the carton when it hit me!  The eggs were wrong!  They were much to small and light.  Actually I think it was when I put the eggs back into the carton and they were so loose that I realized that someone has switch the extra-large eggs for a smaller size (guessing I would say they were medium-sized eggs)!

This cheap act that someone performed means that I only get 75% or less of what I would normally eat if I were to have two extra-large eggs.  I was steaming mad!

So some person swapped out the extra-large eggs that should have been in the carton for medium eggs (or large eggs).  Such a moved probably saved them 20 cents per carton.  So this darkly frugal person, saved less than a quarter and in the process ripped me off.  Nice…

So if you find yourself in the store getting eggs, make sure you open the carton and even take one of the eggs out, because who know what kind of unscrupulous person may have performed an Egg Switcheroo on you too!

Be forwarned friends!

MR

 

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Are You A Money Hoarder?

January 23rd, 2012 by Money Reasons 9 comments »

First let me start by saying I have the potential to be a money hoarder!  The only thing preventing me from being a money hoarder is I don’t have much money…

Honestly, since freeing myself totally from debt, I’m still finding it hard to spend money.

Oh sure, usually we go out to eat once a week, charging the expense on one of my best reward credit cards.  But if an occasion arises where we might have to go out again during the week for a second time, to meet friends or whatever, I’ll excuse myself from going and stay at home so I don’t have to pay the extra money to cover the cost of eating me eat out twice.  This might not see like a lot, but it is considering that our kids still eat off of the kids menus, and my wife usually gets a lunch portion.

Hoarding Money At Home

 

Money Hoarder

 

I run a fairly frugal game, but I don’t hoard money at home.  The most in the entire house is probably $500.  I know a lady that has over $100,000 stored at various location around her house, sometimes even in gifts!  Once year, we did a gift exchange and she gave us a cheap blue jar.  But when we opened the jar, it had $5,000 in it!  Boy were we shocked, and once we told our friend she instantly wanted the money back saying that she made a mistake, and that was one of her hiding places.  Of course we did return the money, but it left us wondering if she has done that before.

Another time while visiting the same lady, I noticed something barely visible at the top of her kitchen cabinet ledge.  Thinking it was a paper that was attached to the furniture, I reach up and grabbed it to read what it said.  Wouldn’t you know it!  It was a couple of fifty dollar bills.  This particular time, I just put it back and made sure it wasn’t visible and kept quiet.

After the mishap with the jar gift, I asked my friend why she keep so much money hidden thought the house, and she said that it made her feel safe!  I on the other hand though that money could go out of the house in the pockets of burglars (if they got wind of the amounts that she kept in her house), or up in smoke if the house were to somehow catch on fire!  I’m pretty sure in the case of a fire, the insurance company would say “Sure you have over $100,000 stored at home instead of a bank”.

Symptoms of Money Hoarding

You see these types of people in the news all the time.  Such and such lived in a small one room house and looked like they were homeless their entire life.  They use discarded newspapers for blankets and picked through restaurant garbage for food, but then once they die, surprise they are very rich and leave all of their money to some college or charity.  That’s not the way money is meant to be used.  I’d rather be poor and live a balanced life than be rich and living like I’m poor!

I know when I spend money on merchandise, I get a little ill if it’s an expensive item.  Usually, I use to get a little light-headed and my stomach churns on a purchase such as a big screen TV.

I think the average person look down on those money hoarding, Scrooge types.  But perhaps it’s actually some form of hoarding illness or disorder?

Others are products of how they were raised (this is my case), and while you are able to change a bit more easily than those that are actually suffering a hoarding disorder.

In my opinion, hoarding money is just as bad as spending money and getting in massive debt.  The correct path is somewhere in the middle…

Cheers,

MR

 

 

 

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Happy Chinese New Year Friends!

January 22nd, 2012 by Money Reasons 2 comments »

For those of us in the US, the Chinese New Year starts tomorrow (although it really has happened already in China since it’s 1/23/2012).

I think it’s cool that my son was born in the Year of the Dragon, so around every Chinese New Year, we have a small celebration by going out to eat at a Chinese restaurant.  Usually we go a few days before the actually Chinese New Year, but since it kind of popped up on us, we’ll try today…

The Chinese New year was also called the Lunar New Year.

Year of the Dragon

What I find interesting about the Chinese New Year is that the date actually varies and is not a hard date as we have in the European countries.

The great thing about the Chinese New Year, is it is a time for Chinese families to bond and have a feast together.  In honor of such a holiday, I decided to compile a quick list of bloggers I feel are like family or friends, see below.

Since it is the Chinese New Year, I think at this point it would be a great segue to go into links to other bloggers that would be considered family or great friends.

 

Bloggers that are like Family or Great Friends:

  • Financial Samurai – The Financial Samurai is one of the reasons that I’m still blogging today.  This incredible blogger was the second person to ever comment on my site, and through his creation of the Yakezie Network has given many personal finance bloggers a place to call a online second home.  All of that said, the blogger at the Financial Samurai remains one of most enjoyable and “mind opening” sites within the blogosphere.  This is the reasons that it’s almost a prerequisite that Sam’s site be mentioned first!
  • Everyday Tips and Thoughts- Kris is an incredible writer.  Her style of writing makes if feel like you are at a small quiet cafe talking with her about what is going on in life.  He knowledge and perception of matters runs very deep and she truly knows a lot about everything.  Personally, I find her material much like chocolate candy in the fact that I enjoy every bit of her posts!  I think I also like that Kris shares the same point of view on matters as I do.  As many other would state, Kris feels like a great friend online, and I’m sure if you have ever read some of her articles, you would be addicted to her site as I am.
  • Budgeting in the Fun Stuff- Crystal is yet another diamond in the ruff!  I encountered Crystal’s site through Kris’s site.  I’ve never encountered a person quite like the drive and capacity that Crystal has.  She is constantly amazing me with what she accomplishes!  Crystal’s site is a great read because of great material, but also because she is very open about what she is doing online, and all of her stats.  She has developed a very large and dedicated follow because of both her endless drive, openness and create content.  Reading her material is also like being in a Cafe talking with her about thinking going on in her life!
  • 20s Finances- Corey is a new surprise for me.  I was starting to think that my cast of sites that I visit on a reoccurring schedule was set, but Corey has taken both me and the personal finance community by storm.  In many ways his drive and style of writing reminds me of Crystal.  Perhaps that one of the reasons that I enjoy reading his material so much.If your watching for break out bloggers, Corey is the one to watch this year!  He too, fits the mold of feeling like he’s in a Cafe talking to me about what is going on both in his life and the world around us.  Great stuff!
  • MoneyPros.org – Each of the member bloggers at this site have content that I enjoy reading.  Although they all approach finances from a different age and lifestyle perspective, each are also similar in their core financial fundamentals.  Each of the members of this site, I would gladly call my friend.

 

Well, I’m know I’m just scratching the surface, not mentioning First Gen American, Well Heeled Blog, Wealth Informatics, Prairie Eco-Thrifter, Watson Inc, Frugal Confessions, Canadian Financial Blog, Money Crush, Bucksome Boomer, all the member sites included in the Yakezie, “Out of your Rut”, Barb Friedberg, the Millionaire Nurse, Len Penzo and many, many more!  But a local Chinese restaurant has my name on it, and I’m getting hungry!

 

Hong Kong Chinese New Year Fireworks

 

I think this start of the new year, I’m going to develop a reading queue of site that I will visit daily (when possible), weekly and monthly (or perhaps bi-weekly).  I think I will structure it so that the sites that I visit can float in and out of the three groups above.

Now you might be thinking “monthly” (again perhaps bi-weekly), how can I read all of the material on a monthly (or bi-weekly) schedule?  Well because of the really great but “without a lot of time” bloggers that only post new material weekly.  The incredible blogger at Watson Inc. is one such blogger and will be at the top of my monthly/bi-weekly list!

Happy Chinese New Year!

MR

 

Carnival Includes:

 

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