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Do I think it’s wise for you to pay off your mortgage early? You may as well ask me if I think it is a good idea if you paint your living room sage green. I used to think paying off your mortgage was an absolute no-brainer. Then I did a complete 180, changing direction like one of those day-glo orange heliport windsocks. Oh yes, I did. After resurveying the macroeconomic condition of the Continue reading 12 Good Reasons Why You Should (and Should Not) Pay Off Your Mortgage Early In this tough economy, businesses of all types are trying to nickel and dime us to death with add-on charges. Those charging the fees want you to believe that the fees are necessary to cover the additional costs of doing business, like pizza delivery fees. In reality, all these fees do more often than not is mislead the consumer by adding a hidden mark-up to the advertised price. Sometimes the fees are Continue reading 8 Stupid Fees Consumers Hate to Pay (But Often Do Anyway) Your savings are a long-term investment, and whether you have accounts for short term purchases to furnish your home or fill your wardrobe, or whether you have your emergency fund and bill payment funds saved in the same place, you have worked hard to earn your money. You have also worked hard to be disciplined enough to save it in the first place – so why would you allow your savings Continue reading How Fees Can Quickly Erode Your Savings Account Returns In a completely unscientific survey conducted by AOL, over seventy-thousand people responded to a poll asking if they collected US state quarters that were produced under the US Mint’s extremely successful 50 State Quarters program. Seventy-eight percent answered yes. According to the US Mint the program was launched in 1999, as part of a 10-year initiative that honored each of the nation’s states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or Continue reading The 5 Worst US State Quarter Designs This past week, the technologically ground-breaking 3-D movie Avatar was hailed across the globe as the new king of the box office world, “topping” Titanic‘s box office take by grossing over $1.859 billion worldwide. According to the media, this week Avatar will also surpass the $600 million mark in the United States and overtake Titanic as the domestic box office record holder as well. I understand why, when reporting box office totals, Continue reading Inflation 101: Why Avatar Isn’t the Biggest Movie of All Time (And What Movie Is) Have you ever looked really closely at the US one-dollar bill? If you have ever paid close attention, there really is a lot of stuff going on with that humble bill. Some of it is actually kind of creepy. Today I thought I’d try and unravel some of the dollar bill’s biggest mysteries for you. Okay, okay. They’re not really mysteries – 98% of this stuff is all over the internet – but Continue reading A Primer to Help You Unravel the True Meaning of a Dollar How many of these fun facts did you know about automated bank teller machines (or ATMs, for short)? 1. Believe it or not, the first cash dispensing machine was invented by Luther George Simjian way back in 1939. The mechanical dispenser was installed in New York City at the City Bank of New York but was removed after only six months due to lack of customer acceptance. 2. Simjian later lamented that, Continue reading 18 Facts You Didn’t Know About Automated Teller Machines The other day the Honeybee and I were watching the two-millionth episode of House Hunters (or was it Buy Me ?) when the host mentioned something that sent a shiver down my spine. Apparently, the unwitting owners of a condo found that their home was built on land subject to something called an emphyteutic lease. Of course, I had no idea what the heck an emphyteutic lease was, but I knew Continue reading What’s an Emphyteutic Lease? (And Why You May Want to Avoid One) How many of these 18 fun facts did you know about money and its history? 1. Before the use of paper currency, man used various items as a medium of exchange including cowrie shells, leather, cattle, amber, rice, salt, thimbles and decorative axes known as zappozats. 2. The first and oldest form of money used by man is cattle. There were several significant problems with using cattle as a medium of exchange, however. Continue reading 18 Astounding Facts You Didn’t Know About Money 1. The Federal Reserve System is the United States’ version of a central bank. Central banks, also known as reserve banks, are the entities responsible for the monetary policy of a country. The United States has not always had a central banking system. In fact, three separate central banks have operated in the United States at one time or another since 1791. 2. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was a Continue reading 18 Facts You Didn’t Know About The Federal Reserve System |
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