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Tue, July 13, 2010
The death of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner this morning provides his heirs with a huge windfall: an estate with an estimated in excess of one billion dollars, inherited in a year when there is no Federal estate tax. Read the full article
Thu, September 17, 2009
Figuring out which cell phone plan to buy can be a huge pain. There's no point in paying for services that you don't use, and if you pick the wrong plan, you're stuck for as long as two years unless you pay a termination fee. Over at the Flowing Data blog, there are some graphs that help simplify the process. Read the full article
Wed, August 26, 2009
A number of behavioral finance studies have shown that men tend to take greater levels of investment risk than women. Researchers at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University have added to these observations with new evidence that high testosterone levels are associated with risky investment behavior. Read the full article
Wed, August 05, 2009
Probably we could have avoided last year’s economic crisis if only everyone had watched Saturday Night Live a few years ago. Read the full article
Thu, July 23, 2009
When I moved to Boston, I was surprised to discover that despite the severity of New England winters, ice cream is a regional obsession. Here’s a useful resource for finding the area’s finest ice creameries as you travel this summer. Read the full article
Tue, July 21, 2009
The IRS is drawing attention to the fact that the cost of sending your children to a summer day camp can qualify you for lower taxes via the child care tax credit. Read the full article
Tue, July 14, 2009
New social media, like many relatively recent offspring of the internet, are in some ways an invention in search of a need. One thing that social media can be useful for is as a means to support and encourage your favorite charities. Read the full article
Mon, July 06, 2009
Several weeks ago I found time to read Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Fooled By Randomness. This book, entertaining and eminently readable, is something between a memoir and a treatise on the pervasive human tendency to discern patterns in places where they don't actually exist. Among many examples, he shows how easy it is to mistake a lucky idiot for a skilled investment manager. Read the full article
Thu, December 25, 2008
Christians traditionally celebrate the birth of Christ by giving gifts. I’ve never been able to determine whether this custom originated because of the gifts the wise men brought to the infant Jesus or because Christ’s incarnation was a gift to the world. In either case, I’m taking a break from financial matters in this post to give a gift to my readers: one of my favorite recipes. Read the full article
Fri, December 05, 2008
I wasn’t the only one to make fun of the NBER’s not-too-timely announcement that we are in a recession. Following on the heels of many others, David Merkel (Alephblog) gave his own raspberry to the NBER today. He provided a link to a very funny clip on the recession announcement from CBS Radio’s Dave Ross. Like David, I normally don’t care for audio links, but this is a worthy exception. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…. Read the full article
Wed, December 03, 2008
Sometimes, a well-meaning gift giver just doesn't know enough about a recipient’s needs to select “the perfect gift.” A gift card or gift certificate seems like a nice solution in that situation, but what if the retailer that issued the card subsequently goes bankrupt? In the present economic climate, it seems likely that a few retailers will go bankrupt in the next few months. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind as you consider giving a gift card. Read the full article
Tue, August 12, 2008
Jobfox.com, a site that helps match professionals with potential employers, generates a monthly list of the 25 professions most in demand. The site recently released an analysis of twenty professions that have remained in high demand despite the recent slowdown in the economy. Read the full article
Mon, July 28, 2008
Once in a while, I write about things that are only vaguely related to personal finance. Today I found a really neat site that allows you to visualize the popularity of US baby names. Ever worry that your child won't be the only "Emma" in her class? Read the full article
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