Your morbid questions of the day
July 22, 2008
When do you think you’ll die?Will you be happy with the life you lived?
These aren’t my questions. They’re from John E. Girouard, the president of Capital Asset Management Group in Bethesda. He’s also the author of “The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation.”
Apparently, part of Girouard’s retirement planning and financial services work is getting clients to consider those questions people really don’t like to consider.
“‘I begin working with clients by asking them to write their full name and the age at which they guess they will die. Then I ask them to write down the five things they wish they had been known for, had accomplished, had achieved, or been doing in the year before they died.’
“Girouard says this exercise is often sobering, provoking people into converting secret fears into action so that the financial planning process can be geared toward making sure those five important things happen before they die.”
It’s off-putting, but I see the benefit in the process. How about you? Any mountains to climb or seas to cross before shuffling off?
(My current plan is immortality. It’s working so far.)
JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist
Sphere: Related ContentRecession: Are we there yet?
June 30, 2008
On the way to work today, I was talking with a co-worker about recessions. Are we actually in one, and, if so, how can we tell?
Most economists say that it can take several months of being in a recession for experts to actually determine that we’re in one, and sometimes we don’t know for sure until well after they’re over.
If you’ve heard and believed forecasts that the economy will bounce back in the second half of the year, Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein has some bad news for you.
Unlike some financial gurus (see: Warren Buffet) who say the limping economy and announcements of job cuts are a sure sign that we’re already in a recession, Pearlstein writes in Friday’s Post that the trouble has just begun.
Pearlstein says the only way we can get the economy back in shape is by “letting the dollar fall to its natural level, wringing the excess capacity out of industries that overexpanded during the credit bubble and allowing real estate prices to fall in line with incomes.”
What do you think — are we already in a recession, or is the worst yet to come?
DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentThe global pool of money
May 27, 2008
I try to listen to NPR podcasts regularly. I admit, it’s partly because I feel obligated as a Web-based journalist - but it’s also because the content is top-notch.
I’m a fan of This American Life, a weekly radio program (and cable TV show, now) out of Chicago. (It airs locally on WYPR, Sundays at 4 p.m.) The show excels at what the radio medium is best suited for: storytelling.
But this blog post isn’t about how great TAL is, it’s about a podcast I listened to last weekend (on the treadmill, no less) that knocked my socks off.
A couple weeks ago, TAL did a show entitled “The giant pool of money.” It was in collaboration with NPR news, and it explains the mortgage crisis by talking to the actual people who got everyone into this mess. Or, as they put it, “the human beings who accidentally created the international financial crisis.” You can listen to a promo here.
Now, most - if not all - of the readers of this blog probably understand what a NINA loan or a mortgage-backed security is better than I do, but there’s more to be reaped from the 60-minute episode than a global understanding of how the foreclosure crisis came about.
The show asserts that the subprime crisis has connected the people facing foreclosure and the higher-up finance guys. Along the chain there were bankers, brokers and homeowners, all of whom deluded themselves. During the program, the NPR producers ask (and answer) “How did it even work?” and “What were they thinking?”
This is how you would find out what it felt like to be Mike Gardner, a former bartender-turned-mortgage broker, during the so-called “Valentine’s Day massacre” at Silver State Mortgage, when the Nevada employer defaulted on its loans and, without warning, laid everyone off.
Give it a listen and tell me what you think.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentGen X losing to the Boomers
May 20, 2008
I’ve spent the last two days with a man named Bill from Kansas City - or, as he referred to it, “Toto Land.” Bill served 30 years with the U.S. Air Force before taking a position as a trainer for Skillpath seminars. Now he travels 200 days of the year, teaching courses on project management and leadership.
I liked Bill. He won me over when he said he’d read the Kansas City Daily Record, one of our sister publications. I learned a lot from him in just two days (in some cases, fighting an urge to roll my eyes at his antics - reminiscent of Chris Farley as a motivational speaker in the infamous SNL skit).
Yesterday Bill talked about the differences between the generations in the workplace - a topic that’s been on our minds on this blog and in our paper lately. Bill talked a lot about how companies are adjusting to fit the needs of Millennials. Naturally, I thought of him tonight when I read about a new study on Generation X in USA Today.
OK, so the study’s first finding isn’t that surprising, though still alarming: Gen Xers (ages 27-43) aren’t saving enough for retirement, largely due to consumer debt. In a recent Charles Schwab study of more than 2,000 Gen Xers, 45% said they had too much debt to think about saving.
No, here’s the reality check: The current standard of living that Gen Xers have achieved falls short of their parents’ standard at the same age. Yes, the median income for men in their 30s, once adjusted for inflation, is 12% lower than what their dads earned three decades ago.
From the story:
Why did income decline just as Gen Xers began their careers? A key reason is that pay had risen so steadily while many of them were children — thanks to women entering the workforce in greater numbers — that pressure for wage growth had declined by the time the Gen Xers began working.
….Gen Xers also had the unfortunate timing of becoming adults in a period when the share of income that Americans spend on what most people see as essential needs, such as a home, health insurance and cars, has soared. Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor and expert on middle-class finances, has concluded that the soaring inflation-adjusted price of such necessities has negated the extra spending power that female workers provided.
Are you surprised? Or do you think the concerns about Gen X’s finances are overblown?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentBankruptcy judge hopes he’s bad for business – his own
April 22, 2008
A federal bankruptcy judge, concerned about the number of young adults in his courtroom, started the Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) Program several years ago to help high-school seniors and college freshmen — and many older adults, as well — appreciate the difference between a credit card and an ATM.
“They’re 18 years old and they’re being bombarded with credit-card offers for the first time,” says Judge John C. Ninfo II, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western New York, in the April issue of The Third Branch: Newsletter of the Federal Courts. “They’re hungry consumers and they’re getting their first taste of freedom. They’re the ones who are really at risk. They treat a credit card as if it’s an ATM machine on somebody else’s account. They don’t even think of it as debt.”
The CARE Program’s Web site has a “Top 10” list of financial tips for high-school and college students, with some classic bits of advice (pay your bills on time; create a budget) and some that are bit more modern (avoid impulse shopping on the Internet; abusing credit cards can cost you a job or keep you out of graduate school).
With contacts in all 50 states, the program also can help arrange “financial literacy” seminars at high schools and colleges.
“Usually, judges only get involved with social problems after the problems have turned into disasters…,” one fellow jurist writes on the Web site; but the CARE program “allows judges to become part of the solution by helping young persons learn to manage debt before they are in over their heads.”
Sure, it might sound like wishful thinking or preaching to the choir – but do you have a better idea?
STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentUnexpected victims of the sub-prime mortgage mess
January 28, 2008
As owners lose their homes to foreclosure, their pets, too, are losing shelter, the Chicago Tribune reports. The newspaper found several animal shelters that have seen an increase in pets given up for adoption after the owners are forced to find new, un-pet-friendly living situations. In some cases, the animals are left to starve when the owners walk away from a foreclosed property.
The Humane Society even issued a public statement this month about the situation. “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen people abandoning their pets,” Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Washington-based humane group, told the Trib. “But with this increase in foreclosures, we’re going to see more of it.”
Some former pets may be lucky enough to end up in the care of people like Robin Moro, a Cincinnati artist who created ForeclosureCats.org after adopting two abandoned cats last spring.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentNow you can confess to your (financial) sins
December 28, 2007
Have you heard about Geezeo? It’s certainly gotten enough press in financial circles. The site - er, “web-based application” - allows users to aggregate all their finances in one location and set monetary goals with other users for support.
And this week, the site launched “Confessions,” a section where users can spill their guts about guilty indiscretions. For example: “I have too much credit card debt” or “I’ve got to stop buying coffee at work.”
And since the site accepts Google logins, you needn’t set up a new registration if you have a Google account.
Do you think it would help you to have community support to reach a shared retirement goal?
Would you feel safe inputting all your financial accounts into one secure site?
JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentScrooge McDuck tops Forbes’ fictional 15 Rich list
December 14, 2007
Soaring gold prices have lifted Duckburg’s Scrooge McDuck to the top of the Forbes’ “fictional 15″ this year.
Even Forbes notes that the duck’s hoard of coins and bullion - estimated at almost $30B - is “more than you can shake a tail feather at.” It’s worth following this link to read the rags-to-riches story of the Scottish-born duck.
Here’s the list:
Sphere: Related Content“Making it rain” sound financial advice
September 10, 2007
Rap mogul Russell Simmons is a genius at diversification. After co-founding Def Jam records more than 25 years ago, he’s become quite a businessman. He’s used his entrepreneurial spirit to launch a clothing line (Phat Farm), bring spoken word poetry to HBO and Broadway (Def Poetry), and even held a political reception last year for Maryland Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele.
To say Russell Simmons (pictured at right) wears many hats is an understatement. Over the weekend in Greensboro, N.C., an organization Simmons co-chairs called the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) held a financial investment seminar entitled “Get Your Money Right.”
The organization’s mission statement says, “The network is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of Hip-Hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the empowerment of youth.”
The summit featured current rap music artists including Jim Jones and Lil’ Mo explaining the benefits of home ownership, investing intelligently and trying to avoid debt.
I wonder if the current real estate crisis couldn’t have been avoided if there were more organizations like Simmons’ talking about the benefits of smart investing or trying to appeal to people through their current favorite celebrities.
Imagine if Madonna did a public service announcement saying: buy a home, settle down, invest your money wisely and retire when you’re 50. Or maybe if Britney Spears did one saying: I really love playing the stock market. Invest your extra pennies and you’ll always be able to take care of yourself.
It’s time we start demanding more from our celebrities and public figures. You wouldn’t expect sound financial advice from rapper Lil’ Mo, but at the summit she made a very sage comment:
“Everybody wants to make it rain, but they never have enough saved up for a rainy day.”
The phrase “make it rain” is taken from rapper Fat Joe’s album entitled “Me, Myself & I” and means to let dollar bills fall from the sky like it’s raining money.
So listen to Lil’ Mo, and hopefully others will follow her lead in offering sound advice for those of us who really want to “make it rain” common financial sense.
What favorite celebrity of yours would you like to see offering financial advice or investment tips?
-TODD ZIMMERMAN, Presentation Editor
Sphere: Related Content-
Business
Business postsLaw
Law postsRecent Posts
- Can the city support an NBA or NHL team?
- What’s in a name?
- A foot-stompin’ good time
- “Do you have any Grey Poupon?”
- Living with less international news
- What’s cooking at the old deli?
Recent Comments
- Anonymous: I think the recent rise in wine festivals is due to ever-increasing alcohol abuse. For some reason,...
- Anonymous: I know people who have tried overnight delivery of luggage with great success. Easy to check in, easy to...
- Anonymous: Newspapers will cater to their clientele. The unwashed masses prefer knowing the scores in last...
- Anne Riley: The intern takes offense.
- Jerry: I hope they have marble ryes.