1. What Does Retirement Really Cost?
This September 2011 article by Moshe Milevsky is a must read. It starts out saying, "If there is one question that has captured the wallets and imaginations of baby-boomers contemplating retirement, it must be: Do I have enough … or will I live longer than my money? …Unfortunately, a growing number of the retirement planning "tools and philosophies" that are widely used to answer these questions often give misleading results.2. The Demise of Your Social Security Benefits Is Greatly Exaggerated
Readers email frequently asking my thoughts on Social Security. Will it be there at all? These readers are within a few years of claiming benefits. Too much irresponsible information about Social Security has them far too worried. That's what makes this article a breath of fresh air. Finally some common sense! It was posted on July 28, 2011 by Michael Kitces, an academic with more letters behind his name than you'll find in a bowl of Alpha-Bits cereal.
3. Bush Administration The Least Fiscally Responsible In History
Times are scary. Everyone wants someone to blame, and the current President takes the brunt of the criticism. This video and article takes a more objective, scientific look at things.
It was posted to Yahoo's Tech Ticker on 3/31/2010 by Aaron Task. It's worth the read.
4. Ignorance Is Not Bliss - Health Care Reform
I posted this blog on 3/31/2010 because I was so fed up with the garbage people were passing along as gospel in regards to the health care reform bill. My blog has links to three summaries of the health care reform bill that give you facts, not fiction. Check it out.5. Why Stocks Are Surging As Jobs Disappear
"Stocks are up. Jobs are down. So if you're an investor you're enjoying a vibrant recovery and if you're a worker it still feels like a grinding recession. So are job losses good for the stock market? Actually, yes. At least for awhile..."
This article offers practical insight into the disconnect between the market and the economy. It was posted in US News And World Report by journalist Rick Newman on 10/15/2009.
6. Can We Save as Much as the Chinese?
"You've probably heard about how much higher the personal savings rate is in China than in the United States. But have you ever wondered whether you could save that much, and if so, what you'd do with it? China is the yin to America's yang. At about 25% of disposable income, China's savings rate is the highest in the world by far. In the U.S., meanwhile, savings rates have declined steadily since 1982. But we Americans have been better savers at times..."
This challenging article will make you think. It was posted on the Motley Fool by journalist Karl Thiel on 9/2/2009.
7. How Feer and Greed Can Derail Your Investment Plan
"Those are the emotions that rule the markets, and changes in stock prices simply reflect the swing of the pendulum between the two extremes. Only lately the swings have arrived with more violence than a Transformers movie... And therein lies the real problem: Crazy markets can drive you to do dangerous things. Warren Buffett calls fear and greed 'super-contagious diseases.' If you catch either one, you risk serious damage to your financial health."
This is a fabulous must-read article written by Janice Revell of Money Magazine and posted in July 21, 2009 at CNNMoney.com.
8. Will You Make Your Money Back?
"The harsh math of a 50 percent decline is that it requires a 100 percent gain to simply get back to even. Sure, a mere 100 percent gain seemed easy enough not so long ago.
While Fed chair Ben Bernanke is pulling every lever possible to get us through the financial crisis, interest rates must eventually rise, not fall, from here. We Americans need higher rates to convince our creditors (including China and Japan) to keep buying our ever-growing debt. As rates rise..."
This is a fabulous must-read article written by Carla A. Fried and posted in June 2009 at CBSmoneywatch.com.
9. Stay The Course
"This is the third time in history that a major economy has found itself in a liquidity trap, a situation in which interest-rate cuts, the conventional way to perk up the economy, have reached their limit. When this happens, unconventional measures are the only way to fight recession. Yet such unconventional measures make the conventionally minded uncomfortable..."
This article was written by Paul Krugman and posted on June 14, 2009 in the New York Times.
10. Why Home Prices May Keep Falling
"Homeprices in the United States have been falling for nearly three years, and the decline may well continue for some time. Even the federal government has projected price decreases through 2010," says author Robert Shiller.
This article was posted on June 6, 2009 in the New York Times, and gives a solid historical perspective on housing price cycles.
