Greetings everyone. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend and did not participate in the madness known as Black Friday. Here are some posts that I enjoyed this past week:
–Government Record $41.3 Billion in Student Loan Profit by The Student Loan Sherpa: Sobering post on the profit made from student loans. While the argument can be made that this number is not entirely accurate, the idea of the government actually profiting off student loans is baffling. An educated population is a key factor in driving a country forward. You would think this would be enough of an incentive rather than profiting off its citizens and making them poorer.
–How I Overcame the Lure of Lifestyle Inflation by Green Money Stream: Lifestyle inflation is probably the main reason most people are in debt nowadays. Once we get that job we’ve been working so hard for, we want that new apartment, car, furniture and various electronics. This is a great post by GMS describing her brief foray into lifestyle inflation and how she reacted by cutting her expenses and vowing never to get into it again. She was in a great position not having any credit card or student loan debt to begin with, but many Americans are not so lucky and once they fall into the trap of lifestyle inflation, it can take drastic measures to get out.
–The power of speaking up by Kristin Wong: This article has some great examples of the power of just asking. Our economy is a consumer driven one, which means any organization worth their salt will do what it takes to please the customer. From getting credit card interest rates reduced to free hotel room upgrades, simply asking for something more will have a good result. And what’s the worst case scenario? They say no. You will live to fight another day.
–Why I’m leaving PNC Bank for Simple.com by MoneyMattersMan: As you can see from my last full post, I’m heavily biased towards online banks. This post by MMM showcases yet another example of how an online bank blows the big banks out of the water. He focuses on the lack of fees with Simple.com, an online bank I have not heard of but will definitely check out. Chalk up another one for the online checking account.
–Passive vs Active Investing by Making Money Fast and Slow: This article really clarifies the age old debate of active vs passive investing. Being a passive investor myself, active investing seems like a huge risk to me, but many people have made lots of money with active investing, so there is definitely some value to be had. Because of time commitments with work and family, passive investing seems like the way to go for me. If I had a good amount of time (and of course money) to spare, I could see myself doing some active investing.
Wow, thanks so much for including me Syed! Great list of articles this week!
My pleasure! You deserve it completely it was a great post.
Thanks a lot for including us!
You’re welcome it was a great post.