By 2 Cents on May 28th, 2010 | Category: Life Balance | . . . noise, in Western society, is considered a symptom of healthy economic activity. . . The opposite is the case. Noise kills, excessive input does real damage. Information overload clogs our ability to function effectively.
~ George Michelson Foy
Update: This article was featured in the Money Hackers Carnival – BBQ Edition posted at Saving Money Today.
Today’s Friday Food for Thought comes from an article I came across a while ago in Psychology Today on Why We Need Silence to Survive. I know that some of us (usually introverts) require quite a bit of time in solitude in order to function effectively. Still, all of us could probably benefit from a little more silence in this era of loud marketing, social media and general input overload.
As noted in the opening quote, we tend to [...]
Read on and enjoy … Silence Is Golden: How Quiet Can Be Profitable
By 2 Cents on May 14th, 2010 | Category: Book Reviews | Throughout the years, feedback from individuals continued to underscore the idea that this course was not simply about retiring early but about thinking in new ways.
~ Prologue, Your Money or Your Life
Update: This review was included in the Forethought Edition of the Festival of Frugality #280 at Penniless Parenting. Thank You!
This book has become a personal finance classic with a bit of a cult following. It first came out in 1992, but a new edition was released in 2008. With Phase I of the financial crisis unfolding at the time, I guess it just looked as if we really needed it again.
The book was originally written by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. It was based on principles that Joe used to retire at age 31. While Joe unfortunately died in 1997, Vicki worked with Monique Tilford on [...]
Read on and enjoy … Book Review: Your Money or Your Life
By 2 Cents on May 3rd, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | I can’t believe how quickly April passed! It’s already time for the next edition of 20 Cents. This is a collection of 10 articles from around the web that I thought you might find interesting. Obviously, I can’t highlight every great post, but I point out some good ones each day on Twitter. You can follow me @BalanceJunkie. Happy Monday!
1. Don Sutton at Canadian Business had a great article asking this very timely and poignant question: Will You Be Pulled Under If U.S. Banking Reform Fails?
2. Canadian Capitalist posted Book Review: The Big Short on Michael Lewis’ newest book. It details the events in the mortgage market that lead to the U.S. housing crisis and subsequent economic meltdown. Check out the 60 Minutes video he has embedded at the end of the review. I watched the same [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from April 2010
By 2 Cents on April 26th, 2010 | Category: Financial Literacy | The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
As I mentioned in our last update, April is Financial Literacy Month in the United States. In Canada, the Task Force on Financial Literacy has been busy holding consultation meetings in cities across the country. Before I get to the roundup of great financial literacy articles, I’d like to remind you that you can win a copy of Your Money Ratios by Charles Farrell. Just comment on the book review by the end of the day this Friday, April 30th. I’ll randomly select the winner on Saturday and announce the winner on Sunday.
Here are some of the financial literacy articles I’ve found around the web since our last update:
Ellen Roseman testified at [...]
Read on and enjoy … Financial Literacy Update #4
By 2 Cents on April 23rd, 2010 | Category: Book Reviews | Don’t lapse into a high school math class coma; this is easy to grasp . . . If you know how old you are and how much you make, you can master your retirement planning.
~ Charles Farrell, Your Money Ratios
If you’re not a math fan, you might be turned off by the very title of this book: Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security. Ratios? Simple? You’re kidding, right? This book is probably full of the charts and mathematical formulae that I happily put aside after graduation. It’s for all those propeller heads who are turned on by calculators, computers and endless numerical analysis.
I had some of the same apprehensions when the publisher of this book offered to send me a copy for review. Many of my concerns were put to rest once I began reading. Although I received a complimentary copy [...]
Read on and enjoy … Book Review: Your Money Ratios
By 2 Cents on April 22nd, 2010 | Category: Investing | Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you’re generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.
~ Donald Trump
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning #139 posted at Green Panda Treehouse.
Investing can be very confusing. At any given moment in time, you can find very smart people who will tell you that now is a great time to invest in stocks. These are the bulls. At the very same moment, you can find very smart people who will tell you that now is a terrible time to pile into stocks. These are the bears.
Today I’m going to present you with the opinions of [...]
Read on and enjoy … Bulls vs. Bears: Who’s Right?
By 2 Cents on April 16th, 2010 | Category: Life Balance | All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.
~ Prince Gautama Siddharta, founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.
For those who missed the first edition of Friday Food for Thought, this is a periodic series of posts in which I write about an article that I’ve recently read and found to be thought provoking. Today’s article comes from The Online Investing AI Blog. It was entitled The Financial Secrets of an Abundant Mind, and I really liked the gardening metaphor the author referenced throughout the post.
Like the author, I’m no gardener. I love to look at gardens and enjoy the colours, but I don’t like to touch dirt, I have a mortal phobia of bugs, and I’m allergic to a lot of stuff. Still, it’s springtime and my tulips are blooming and [...]
Read on and enjoy … Friday Food for Thought: How to Cultivate a Better Life
By 2 Cents on April 11th, 2010 | Category: Financial Literacy | Success will never be a big step taken in the future. Success is a small step taken just now.
~ Jonatan Mårtensson
It’s been a while since our last Financial Literacy Update, and there’s been a lot of activity on that front lately. For one thing, April is Financial Literacy month in the States, so a lot of American-based blogs have been covering the topic. Here’s a rundown of some interesting financial literacy links and news items that I’ve come across over the past couple of weeks:
If you’re looking for more financial information online that’s aimed at Canadians, Wealth Web Gurus offers a list of The Best of the Bloggers. I was honoured to see Balance Junkie included on the list. I already visit most of these blogs regularly, but there were a couple that were new to me. Each site provides a slightly different angle on [...]
Read on and enjoy … Financial Literacy Update #3
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