Fourteen-year-old Emily was thrilled. After six months of intense lobbying, she finally convinced her parents to buy her a cell phone. Emily’s parents gave her a cell phone with the stipulation that she could use only 500 minutes per month. They warned her not to go over her minutes and showed her how to check [...]
I received a phone message from a friend the other day. He was preparing a talk and he asked me how I would define the word “AGENT”? Agent? Define Agent? That seemed to be a strange request, but knowing my friend, Dave (always expect the unexpected) it didn’t seem too farfetched. [...]
It’s sort of cold and dark and rainy here today. I am reminded of what that means to me.
A long time ago, seems like a lifetime ago really, I spent part of a summer on the Navajo (that’s our name for them, they call themselves the “Dine’ ”) reservation in the middle of the [...]
The basics of personal finance are simple. Regardless of how troubled their financial lives, I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t already know what they should be doing. Everyone knows they should save for the future and not spend more than they make. Despite hundreds of books, thousands of newspaper articles, and prime time [...]
I recently ran across a quote that got me thinking (always a dangerous moment). The quote was “Your words determine your destiny”.
“That’s a pretty big statement,” I thought. My resistance and defensiveness were called up to the front lines instantaneously. How about where I was born? Who my parents were? [...]
Someone suggested that I go see Michael Moore’s latest movie, “Capitalism”, and tell them what I thought of it. First of all, I have always enjoyed his work. I first became aware of him when I lived in Michigan and he published an alternative newspaper in Flint called, as I recall, the “Flint [...]
Times are tough. The economic recession is having an impact on all of us. Tourism is down, budgets are being trimmed, layoffs are on the rise, and jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. Many of us are worried not just about our financial future, but about our ability to meet our monthly expenses. All of this [...]
A few years ago my wife gave me the gift of a lifetime. A trip and tour of Europe. A very special one. A World War II Tour, complete with an accompanying historian from West Point (Vietnam Veteran) and a number of WWII veterans who were there in 1944, a Silver Star [...]
Tis the season to overspend. We know better, but we just can’t seem to help it. But responsible financial behavior is no mystery. We all know we shouldn’t spend more than we make and we need to save for the future. However, this knowledge is not enough to make the average American do the right [...]
“What would you like as a gift to celebrate the holiday season?” “What would you like for your birthday?” If, like me, your mind (or a loved one’s) tends to go blank at that kind of question, you are not alone. There are a fair number of us. This “not knowing” [...]
