Steadfast Finances

 Public Awareness         4 comments

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Texas hedge fund manager Bill Perkins dropped $80,000 — of his own money — to take out another full page ad in today’s New York Times.
Why?
To ask simple, potentially inflammatory, questions about the use of the TARP bailout funds.
Here are the questions to date:
Question #1: Does anyone else find it troubling that a …

 Consumer Education, Cutting Expenses, Saving Money         6 comments

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No wonder everyone is wondering why their paycheck disappears so fast.  The cost of everything seems to be doubling lately.
Especially when it comes to overpaying for cable TV.
Marc Hedlund (from the Wesabe Blog) posted a small, yet highly informative graphic that gave me one of those Aha! moments that …

 Auto Sales, Cutting Expenses, Frugal Living, Green Living         3 comments

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For approximately one year now, my old friend Dave and I have had a running bet.
I bet Dave that he would go completely nuts when he gave up his car for public transportation for an entire year.
Now that the weather has been below freezing in the DC area for the …

 Dividend Investing, Financial Planning, Index Funds, Investing 101, Retirement         13 comments

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If you think the stock market doesn’t behave in consistent (possibly predictable) boom and bust economic cycles, this graphic might change your mind.
Going as far back as 1886, this chart indicates that bull markets and bear markets routinely plague our economy.  Aptly named Supercycles, they come and go in a somewhat predictable pattern.  …

 Financial Crisis, Politics, Taxes         No comments

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Normally I give forwarded emails a quick glance and a quicker delete, but today I received this hilarious picture from a friend and had to post it.
I immediately thought — Hey, this is what I feel like as a taxpaying citizen!
If you have ever given a single dollar to the U.S. …

 Index Funds, Investing 101, Investor Psychology         11 comments

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You would know a bursting bubble if you saw it?  Right?
Take a look at the following chart and tell me what you think.  Doesn’t it look a little suspicious?
Has a bubble formed, or even worse, has it just popped?  Take a good look and tell me what you think.

I know… you’re about …

 Consumer Education, Documentary Films, Financial Crisis         No comments

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Niall Ferguson’s popular book, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, made it’s debut as a documentary film tonight via PBS.
I will not bore or insult you by doing a review, because quite honestly, the film is so well done that it would take several days for me to write a review that …

 20s Something Advice, Consumer Education         3 comments

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For anyone who has grandparents, or perhaps technophobe boomer parents (like mine), you’ve probably received more than a few phone calls for technical service.
Whether it’s asking for something as simple as a Google web search or rewiring a jumbled mess of cables behind their TV, it can be a bit …

 20s Something Advice, Consumer Education         3 comments

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I made a huge mistake this week.
I incorrectly answered the “Am I Fat?” question.
Ashley, a good friend and reader of this blog shared some photos of her vacation to Florida over the New Year’s break.
After viewing them, she promptly posed the question “How do I look in the red bikini …

 Buy on the Dips, Long-Term Stocks, Market Themes         3 comments

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As someone who spent most of their career working in the biotechnology industry, I occasionally forget that my salary was paid by some unfortunate soul who had a pretty nasty disease.  Diseases like cancer, extreme hemophilia, or multiple sclerosis were used in everyday conversation, so after a while, you just became …

 Consumer Education, Financial Crisis, Mortgages, Real Estate         No comments

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As I’ve said numerous times, anyone who didn’t see the housing bubble coming was either blind, not paying attention, or simply got caught up in the buying frenzy.
Or perhaps they were affiliated with the National Association of Realtors and just didn’t give a damn because they wanted to cash one more bloated commission …

 Faith Based Investing, Politics         No comments

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OK, so I’m lying my arse off.
But seeing that statement in a big, bold headline just makes you realize how dumb some people must be!
For those not in the know, Pat Robertson recently came out with his economic predictions for 2009 based on his annual conference call with the Almighty.  …