Len Penzo dot Com

Experiencing a financial emergency but don't have the cash to hand to sort it out? Yes, a payday loan gives you access to fast cash -- but for the "opportunity" you'll be charged an exorbitant amount in interest. So before you head down that route, ...

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Grandfather Says: Western Civilization Is Out of Fashion

By RD Blakeslee

Western civilization seems unfashionable in most colleges these days. "Diversity" is now the revealed truth. Anyway, Grandfather trotted out an old college textbook of his, Readings in Western Civilization, Knoles and Snyder, J.B. Lippincott 1951, ...

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5 Things to Think About Before Starting Your Own Business

While starting your own business may seem like an exciting prospect, those who are just getting started do not always have a strong idea of how much effort it will take to reach their desired objective. Such an endeavor is a major challenge, but when ...

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Pinpoint Your Home Energy Hogs and Replace Them with These

By Jennifer Tuohy

Keeping it cool or warm used to be far and away the biggest energy expense a home could claim. However, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration over the last 25 years, the percentage of energy the average household uses on heating and ...

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5 Crazy Ideas That Resulted in Million Dollar Paydays

The economy may officially be in the dumps, but you can still make a whole lot of money if you've got a great idea. In fact, there are many examples of strange -- and often ingeniously simple -- business ideas that have earned their owners millions ...

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Black Coffee: Watching a Monetary System In Its Death Throes

It's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe ... Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what's been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Don't be fooled by this week's market ...

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The 5 Hidden Costs of Owning Rental Property

Having rental properties gives you a steady flow of income every month. When you are still in the planning phase, you would not even think about the possible costs of owning a rental property. Yes, owning a rental property comes with a lot of ...

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7 Ways to Elevate Your Forex Trading Skills

By Tex Freitag

In today's digitized world, anyone can become a forex trader as long as they have a computer and Internet access. And it's no wonder many people want to do so -- forex trading can be an exciting, educational and profitable activity if you know how to ...

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How to Manage Your Finances During a Depression

By all measures, it has been a bad month for the American economy. Whether or not we're about to enter a deep full-scale recession -- or possibly even a depression -- isn't quite clear yet. However, it's fairly obvious that the coronavirus pandemic ...

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What Kind of Experience Do You Need to Start Trading?

Anyone can trade, but not everyone can trade successfully. If you want to be a successful trader, it will take time and effort and a lot of practice. You can start out trading with no experience at all, but make sure you have set yourself up with ...

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How to Withdraw from Your 401(k) Without Losing Your Savings

By Barri Segal

Your 401(k) is your retirement plan -- but sometimes you just need to use those funds before you retire. If you make a withdrawal, however, you'll not only reduce your balance, but if you're not 59.5 or older, you'll get an extra 10% penalty fee ...

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Black Coffee: The Reckoning Is Here

It's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe ... Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what's been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Here we are, more than a fortnight ...

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8 Common Portfolio Protection Strategies

Investing is one of the greatest ways to grow your wealth. After all, the long-term average yearly return in the stock market has been around 10% -- and that's way better than any savings account! But as we've all seen, while the market can sometimes ...

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Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation’s Travails

By RD Blakeslee

Len has asked me to write about what I see as the prospects for our nation. If I were a believer in "credentials" I would desist, but I'm not. What I am is a man who has lived his life as independently of current fashion as possible and does not care ...

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Things You Should and Shouldn’t Consider Splurging On

Once you have a budget set and you start building up some disposable income, you need to figure out how you're going to use that money. Sometimes the perception of money management is that you're on the far end of two spectra. You either live ...

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Short Term Loans vs. Credit Cards: Which Is Better?

There are several reasons why you might want to take out a short-term loan or credit card. Perhaps you need to pay for an emergency repair, spread the cost of a big purchase, or consolidate your debts into one lump sum to clear them more quickly. ...

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How I Live on Less Than $45,000 Annually: Matt from Massachusetts

By Matt

My name is Matt and I'm a long-time reader of Len's blog. After a few years of planning to share my story of living on less than $45,000 a year, I finally came around to actually doing it now that the ol' 2020 budget is set and we're off to the ...

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Black Coffee: It’s Not a Bug, It’s a Feature

It's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe ... Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what's been going on in the world of money and personal finance. And the financial crisis rages on, so ...

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