By 2 Cents on December 16th, 2011 | Category: Spending | The following is a guest post. While it speaks to American consumerism, there may be some food for thought for debt-laden Canadians here too.
The economy is in shambles, and while many would like to blame the deterioration of our economy on big government and big business, a large percentage of the blame also lies in the spending habits of the American people. As a whole, we spend too much, borrow too much, and save too little.
“Look at consumption levels and control for purchasing power over the last several decades, and America is simply in a league of its own.” states Sheldon Garon, Princeton Professor and recent author of Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves. “The only people who come close are people in Britain, but they are about 85 percent of the level of American consumption. Germans, French and others [...]
Read on and enjoy … America is the Most Indulgent of Any Other Country
By 2 Cents on November 1st, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | I hope everyone had fun on Halloween. (I’ll probably be living with a sugar hangover for the next couple of days.) There were too many great articles this month for me to include even a fraction of them here, so I tried to choose a selection that included some new sites that you might not be familiar with yet, as well as some continuing favourites.
As always, if you want to know more about what I’m reading, you can follow me on Twitter @BalanceJunkie. Enjoy this month’s collection!
1. Jackie from Money Crush had some sage Advice from Yoda as part of her 31 Days to a Better Bank Balance project. I wasn’t into Star Wars at all until my 3 boys came along, but now I’m very fluent in all things related to the saga. Yoda is without a doubt [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from October 2010
By 2 Cents on October 1st, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | Another month has passed all too quickly and it’s time to round up a few of my favourite articles from September. How quickly 2010 is slipping away! It seems like just yesterday I was writing up a few ideas on 2010 What Ifs for the New Year. Now it’s time to start thinking about what 2011 might hold!
I read a lot of great articles everyday. I can’t include all of them here, but I usually highlight them on Twitter. You can follow me @BalanceJunkie.
1. Canadian Finance Blog has recently launched Money Index, a website that aggregates all kinds of financial content for you. It’s a great resource for anyone interested in personal finance and investing. I’ve added a widget to get you there on the right sidebar. In case you’re interested, you can find Balance [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from September 2010
By 2 Cents on July 19th, 2010 | Category: Economics |  Economic advance is not the same as human progress.
~ John Clapham
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance #267 at Beating Broke. Thanks!
We’ve heard a lot about bubbles in the economic world over the past decade – so much, in fact, that it seems like we might be facing a bubble of bubbles. But what does that mean to the average person? We’ll take a look at some of the issues and implications of our bubblicious culture this week and try to figure out how to handle it all.
What’s a Bubble?
The term bubble has been tossed around pretty liberally of late, with just about every asset class having been labeled a bubble at one time or another. All the while some analysts keep insisting that some of these bubbles are just bugaboos [...]
Read on and enjoy … 5 Financial Bubbles: Are We Facing a Bubble of Bubbles?
By 2 Cents on May 6th, 2010 | Category: Economics | I will not be as those who spend the day in complaining of headache, and the night in drinking the wine that gives it.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Capitalism’s 3 Children are at it again, and this time it’s much more serious. We’re no longer talking about name-calling and spit balls. We’re dealing with molotov cocktails and fatalities now. This is for real folks. The scenario that’s unfolding before us is exactly the type I feared when I wrote 2010 What Ifs and 10 Reasons to Be Cautious Right Now. Blood in the streets is no longer just a trader’s euphemism for falling markets.
Back then, I said that sovereign debt would be a huge issue this year and warned that we have not fixed the root problems that led to the financial crisis. I urged caution with your investments and care [...]
Read on and enjoy … Civil Unrest: Where’s Mom?
By 2 Cents on April 1st, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | Here’s my monthly gathering of 10 of my favourite articles from around the web. The bad news is: there are usually way more than 10 articles that I could include here, so some great ones inevitably get missed. The good news is: I just joined Twitter, so I’ll be able to share articles with you throughout the month. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m @BalanceJunkie. Enjoy!
1. Man vs. Debt had a guest post from Carmen on 8 Effective Ways to Raise Frugal Kids. There are some great ideas here, but I don’t see many of the parents I know implementing them. That makes it a lot harder for others to try them out. I guess #4 (socializing with like-minded families) would help a lot.
2. If you want to elicit angry and sometimes downright nasty comments, mention anything to do with [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from March 2010
By 2 Cents on March 9th, 2010 | Category: Planning |  Retirement: It’s nice to get out of the rat race, but you have to learn to get along with less cheese.
~ Gene Perret
Update: This article was featured in the Money Hackers Carnival #108 – Dare or Truth! at Eliminate the Muda. Thanks. I love that theme! It was also included in the Carnival of Financial Planning Edition #133 by The Skilled Investor. Thank you!
I’ve had a lot of inquiries about this lately, so I thought I would address it today. I’ve written about RRSP Basics and RRSPs vs. Paying Down Debt, but these articles dealt mainly with general issues and new contribution money. I haven’t directly addressed the question of whether or not you should actually withdraw money from existing Resgistered Retirement Savings Plans in order to pay down credit card or mortgage [...]
Read on and enjoy … Should You Take Money Out of RRSPs to Pay Off Debt?
By 2 Cents on February 16th, 2010 | Category: Planning | Today, there are three kinds of people: the haves, the have-nots, and the have-not-paid- for-what-they-haves.
~ Earl Wilson
RRSPs work best for the haves. The have-nots might be better off starting with TFSAs, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-haves should pay down debt first. That would pretty much sum up my general view of using RRSPs. I recently did a telephone interview with LuAnn LaSalle of the Canadian Press on the topic, but I’m so much more coherent in writing.
LuAnn was kind enough to print what I said anyway, and the Canadian Press article did a great job of getting people to question the wisdom of contributing to an RRSP every year no matter what. Even David Chilton, author and retirement savings advocate, feels like debt is the biggest problem in personal finance right now. It seems like this is a question that a lot of [...]
Read on and enjoy … RRSP vs. Paying Down Debt
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