Blog
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Make our kids rich?
Continuing my theme of children this week … what can parents do to teach their kids financial smarts? I don’t see any way to guarantee our kids will be wealthy, and I’m not even sure that’s an admirable goal. But we can certainly teach our kids financial smarts, and help them stay out of financial…
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When Money Buys Access beyond Washington
“You have to bloom where you’re planted.” — Bill Clinton, about life after his presidency I’m catching up on my past New Yorker magazines and I’m embarrassed to admit that there is still an issue in the stack from May. This profile on Bill Clinton written by David Remnick first ran in Sept and is…
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WWYD: Picking Up the Check
I’m curious how you handle the awkward situation of the pick-up-the-tab-dance. Picture the scene: you’ve gone out for a nice dinner with friends. Along comes the check and suddenly the tug of war beings: “I’ll get it.” “No, I’ll get it.” “You shouldn’t.” “What do I owe you?” “Nothing…” “OK, thanks…I’ll get it next time.”…
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Saving for College
My niece Kate is in 8th grade. That means freshman year of college is slightly less than 5 years away! Sounds like a long time to me, except when I think about saving up thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. If she goes to a private college, that might just be enough for the…
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Save Money by Cutting Down on Food Waste
“Don’t waste money, don’t waste time, don’t waste food, don’t waste energy.” — Sri Sathya Sai Baba Yesterday on NPR, Ted Robbins interviewed Timothy Jones, an athropologist that suggests ways to stop wasting food. He says, “If you’re feeling guilty about all the food you ate on Thanksgiving, don’t dwell on it. Instead, Jones would…
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‘Tis the Season to Shop
“We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls.” — Bill Bryson Last Friday was Buy Nothing Day. What is Buy Nothing Day? Its organizers explain, “Every November, for 24 hours, we remember that no one was born to shop. On November 24th and 25th — the busiest days in the American retail calendar…
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Adjust Your Attitude
I was reading that crazy little publication “Stages” that Fidelity Investments sends to people who are enrolled in a 401K administered by Fidelity. It is a small quarterly publication that seems to want to educate people at the most basic level about financial issues and investing. The articles are written for the novice and the…
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The Onward Surge of Thanksgiving
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” — John F. Kennedy According to AccountingWEB.com, the cost of Thanksgiving has increased this year. They report, “Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the rest of a dinner for 10 people,…
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WWYD: Boycotting Homophobia
I’m really curious to hear your take on this. After I learned about Cracker Barrel (in 1991) and Olive Garden (in 1998) firing gay employees purely because they were gay”and winning the associated court battles because of lack of legal protections in those states”I resolved to boycott them. And I have for years, not one…
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Splurging for Babs
“Spending is quick, earning is slow.” — Russian Proverb The best way to save money is to avoid spending money. But sometimes you have to splurge. In a previous post, I mentioned that we bought tickets to Barbra Streisand for $200 a seat. The concert was last night. Was it worth it? Every penny! Would…
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