Month: August 2008

With the latest Democrat tax proposals, a growing national debt and continued increases in government spending, taxes are going up sooner or later. Despite all the political mutterings, rising taxes seem a certainty. Tax hikes will be rising to finance our high national debt and to pay for long term…

Here is a short story I wrote in my journal a few years ago covering how I successfully made money from my Math tutoring (part-time) job. This got me to thinking on how my approach to tutoring paralleled my current success in personal finance blogging. Following the guest post excerpt,…

Submitting my US Citizenship papers was a big step for me as I adopted this country as my permanent home. Something I feel very proud to do. It had taken about 7 years since I started the immigration process to finally becoming eligible and submitting for citizenship, with the biggest…

Reverse mortgages are becoming an increasingly popular financing offering with our aging baby boomer population, looking for ways to unlock the value from their homes. Simply defined, reverse mortgages are a special type of home loan that lets a homeowner convert a portion of the equity in his or her…

The financial media are again harbingers of more doom and gloom today, citing a Barron's article and host of so called "experts" predicting that the financial crisis is not only far from over but could actually get much worse, bringing more big shocks to the US economy and stock markets.…

A colleague recently sent me a WSJ article covering a new calculator on the Social Security's administration's web site that gives a much-improved picture of what social security benefits could look like in retirement. This calculator is all part of a major upgrade of the Social Security Administration's systems and…

The online WSJ recently ran a piece on the rising costs of bankruptcy: Individuals who have filed for bankruptcy protection since Congress overhauled U.S. bankruptcy laws in 2005 have faced a more expensive process as attorneys' fees have risen by roughly half, according to a government report. In a report…

At some point, we’ve all hit that wall—those moments when our job or career feels more like a chore than a passion. And now, in a post-pandemic YOLO world, this feeling can be stronger than ever. As people rethink their work-life balance, a record number are ditching the traditional 9-to-5…

Dubai, the shining light of the Middle East, is going gangbusters. It has enjoyed two decades of rapid growth, going from a small desert city to a western society representation of the riches the Arab world has to offer. The economic growth has fueled strong demand for foreign workers and…

As oil prices drop the sense of relief is palpable for most consumers as they see sub $3 gas at he pump. Media headlines have also done an abrupt about turn, with headlines changing from "When will crude hit $200..." to "How fast can oil prices come down..". The 20%…

"I just sold my house and lost $100,000...""I can't sell my house after 12 months, even after lowering the price by 30% ""I am going to go broke if I can't sell my house....""Why can't the government fix this housing crisis...""I thought a house was a safe asset that went…

Here is literally the A to Z of good personal finance rules that I try to live by. Think of it like my saving and investing philosophy. Writing this list provided a good opportunity for some introspection and I have already identified a few things I need to do to…

With the Olympics just around the corner, here are some interesting financial facts and figures around the 2008 Beijing Olympics. For a sporting event, some of the numbers are massive and the Olympics is one of the few events (like the Soccer world cup) that can actually make a significant…