As the economy slows, it’s obvious that some of our grown children are going to be asking for financial help. Some folks are going to lose jobs while others may have working hours reduced, thus affecting their pay. Still others are just flat overextended. Regardless, some parents are going to be faced with the issue of kids asking for financial help. You may have already faced that with your kids. Continue Reading…
Time to Pass the Hat for Ed McMahon!
If Ed McMahon shows up on your doorstep in the near future, it’s probably not because you won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. It’s more likely that he’s needing money! You may have heard of Ed’s problems recently. He’s roughly $650,000 behind in mortgage payments on his house and facing foreclosure. While probably best known as the guy that introduced Johnny Carson each night, Ed was also a pitchman for Publishers Clearinghouse and various other products. He also emceed Star Search. By all appearances, it seems Ed had a highly successful career, one that made him a lot of money over the years. That doesn’t even count $7 million plus that he won in a lawsuit over a moldy house that caused the death of his dog (maybe he could release a country and western song off that story!) Yet in spite of all of this, at age 85, Ed still owes roughly $5 million on his house in Beverly Hills! Continue Reading…
26-Year Winning Streak Over: Clements Finally Retires!
After a successful 26 year career, Clements is finally retiring! By the way, I’m not talking about Roger Clemens, the baseball pitcher and recent object of Congressional attention. Rather, I’m talking about Jonathan Clements. I know many of you have never heard of him. But for 26 years he wrote the weekly personal finance column for the Wall Street Journal. It was the main column I looked for when I picked up the Journal. I termed it a winning streak because, for those who followed his basic themes of advice over time, I’m sure they have done well. Continue Reading…
The Millionaire Next Door?
In the mid-70s, two professors were hired to study the habits of wealthy people. The idea was to uncover certain characteristics of the wealthy in an effort to better market products to that group. So the professors set out surveying folks in upscale neighborhoods across the country. What they discovered was totally contrary to what they expected to find. The folks living in the upscale neighborhoods weren’t wealthy at all. They appeared wealthy to the outside world but, in reality, they spent their income living high on the hog. Continue Reading…
Money For Nothing! How the Grinch Stole Your Retirement!
It’s that time of the year again to come up with your list of New Year’s resolutions. In addition to the loseweightstopsmokingexercisespendmoretimewithfamily list of choices, financial resolutions are a top priority for many. While you may not see anything new here, perhaps the fact that you see them again will cause you to take action. Continue Reading…