Investment & Personal Finance Info & Tips
Be Wary of Forecasts and Economists
Nassim Nicholas Taleb recently said in a New York Times article entitled “
In Volatile Times, Investors Tune in All and Any Predictions”:
I cannot find a single convincing argument that tells me that astrologers won’t do better than economists. The problem is the arrogance of these economists. They’re making people rely on theories that have not worked, do not work, and are really dangerous.
If you are not familiar with Taleb, I highly recommend
his book, The Black Swan.
FatCat Investment Basics
Two new articles on timely subjects:
Safety of Banks & Insured Deposits and
Raising Extra Cash.
Stock Investing Basics
A new section about stock investing basics starts with
What Is Stock?,
What Are Dividends? and
Reducing Your Risk When Investing. I wrote these after hearing my mom tell my young son some terribly wrong info about stock and investing.
Sales People Must Sell
Nearly all financial dealing involve someone trying to sell you something. They may not always know their product well, or
have your interests in mind.
Be wary of all who offer financial products. This is an important fact that you should know
about whether you are investing, buying life insurance, getting a mortgage, refinancing, buying a house.
Read more …
Smart Investment Advice
From
Naked Capitalism blog
with words of wisdom for everyone. Of particular note is this comment:
Ben Grahman’s little book, The Intelligent Investor
, is very much worth reading. It gives some commonsensical guidelines (you’d need to update them for the existence of index funds) but the most important is either spend very little time on investing, do a few simple things with your money or make it your second job. Anything in the middle is worse, for you will overtrade and reduce your returns.
Quick Tip for Mutual Fund Investors
Small improvements in the performance of
mutual funds make a huge difference over
the long-term. Spend 5 minutes to get smarter and be better off, espcecially if you are picking investments for a
401(k).
Corporate Bond Mutual Funds Can Carry High Risk
High risk corporate bonds are especially risky right now and, thus, so are
mutual funds that invest in high-yield (high-risk) corporate bonds.
Another Reason to Say “No!“ To credit card offers
Here is another reason to just say “no!” to credit card offers.
Handy Definitions of Credit Words
Quick, no-nonsense
definitions of common credit words relevant to credit cards, home equity lines
of credit, mortgages and car loans.
Help With Life Insurance
Know how to
select a life insurance policy with confidence and knowledge.
