http://www.slate.com/id/2134007/?nav=tap3
Okay, I just added this one late, but it is worth the wait. I think it’s a decent article. I agree with some of what he says, and struggle with other parts. Yes, the economy is changing. Yes, there have always been hardships to deal with as you start your careers, but I liked the end of the article. For all the complaining that the author did, she sure ended up okay. Married to a software engineer at Google? Probably not getting food stamps. It’s all relative, I guess.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/credit
Can’t everyone just save a buck or two? Nearly 5% of consumer credit accounts are delinquent? I sure wish people would spend a little less and save a little more.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive
Robert Shiller believes we still haven’t learned our lesson about irrational investing. He evaluates the long term P/E of the S&P which is around 15 and points out that the current P/E is near 25.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/10/news/companies
Home Depot to buy Hughes Supply Inc.. Also acquired Chemdry. It appears that Home Depot wants to be that one company to service everything in your home. I wonder how that will impact the competition.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/
5 extreme portfolio makeovers. Highlights 5 families and talks about their goals and how they should alter their portfolio.
http://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_3386309
Outstanding consumer debt is down for the second month in a row. Article believes it’s due to a slowing of auto sales. I have to wonder if the increase in minimum payments might be contributing as well.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/13583264.htm
Simplicity and automation are the key to investing for most people. Lifecycle funds and other simpler approaches should help.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display
The dreaded AMT will hit more people this year. We stayed under the minimum by my wife being a stay at home mom, and through aggressively investing “pretax” in our 401k. The other big deduction that helped us reduce our taxable income by over half, was our mortgage deduction. (paid an extra payment in 2005 which increased deductible interest)