Some highly effective people have most of their Christmas shopping done before the Halloween pumpkins are even carved. Others dillydally until the literal night before Christmas. Either way, almost everyone who's ever shelled out hundreds of bucks for gifts that might not be appreciated has wondered if Christmas -- at least the annual gift-giving orgy aspect of it -- is really worth it.
Wharton School economist Joel Waldfogel hasn't just wondered. MORE
David Futrelle - Dec 23, 2009 4:58 PM ET
Personal finance from around the Web:
Scrambling to find that perfect last-minute economic-meltdown-themed gift? Just buy one of the best financial-crisis books of the year. [USA Today]
If billionaires don't feel guilty about walking away from their debt, why should homeowners feel bad about defaulting on their mortgages? [Slate]
Illinois 529 college savings plan investors burned by Oppenheimer's investments will be suffering bigger losses than they previously expected. [Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis]
The MORE
George Mannes - Dec 23, 2009 11:30 AM ET
Question: When our sister died ten years ago, my brother became the trustee of her five-year-old daughter's trust. Drew invested Mandy's money in a business he was starting, and Mandy received stock in return. The business folded this year, and now the stock is worthless. Shouldn't Drew repay our niece the money he lost? He says what happened is nobody's fault.
Answer: That's just the way the investment cookie crumbles, is MORE
Jeanne Fleming, Ph.D., and Leonard Schwarz - Dec 22, 2009 4:52 PM ET
Personal finance from around the web:
You've read countless stories about adult children needing financial help from their parents. But a new study indicates that maybe this is not really the norm. [Bucks]
Insurance myths debunked: Contrary to what you've seen in the movies, suicide can be covered by life insurance. [Financial Highway via The Consumerist]
Get your fix of 2009's best "recession porn" -- weird stories about the odd ways the MORE
Ana Patricia Ferrey - Dec 22, 2009 1:47 PM ET
Personal finance from around the Web on Monday:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? American Medical Association persuaded senate to add a 10 percent tanning tax in place of the 5 percent tax proposal on elective cosmetic surgery. [Washington Wire WSJ Blog]
When you're hot, you're hot: Here's a list of the best-performing exchange-traded funds of 2009. [ETFdb]
The real estate recovery is threatened by a "shadow inventory" of millions MORE
Beth Braverman - Dec 21, 2009 10:28 AM ET
Personal finance from around the web:
Do you toss all those missives from your credit card company, without even reading them? Now, as changes abound, it could really cost you. [The Wall Street Journal]
Blippy, a new social networking service from someone who wrote a hilarious book about the turn-of-the-century Internet bubble, helps you tell other people, via Facebook and Twitter, what you're charging on your credit card. But why would you MORE
Ismat Sarah Mangla - Dec 17, 2009 1:53 PM ET
On Monday, I sat in on a value investing talk given by hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt, best-selling author of The Little Book That Beats the Market. He's started a money-management firm based on the "Magic Formula" outlined in the book, and the talk was attended by a smattering of reporters, financial advisers, and academics.
If you haven't read the book, it's a good primer on value investing, though the conclusion MORE
Joe Light - Dec 17, 2009 1:00 PM ET
It's no news that earmarks are an entrenched part of Congressional politics. Each year billions go to legislators' pet projects, ostensibly to spur economic growth, if not one's popularity back home (see: Bridge to Nowhere). So far, disclosed earmarks tacked onto fiscal 2010 spending bills are nearly $6 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. And that's even before the notoriously pork-laden defense spending bill has been accounted for.
Call me MORE
Carla Fried - Dec 16, 2009 10:01 AM ET
From MONEY Senior Editor Walter Updegrave:
The late Paul Samuelson, America's first Nobel Laureate in economics, will rightly be remembered for the mathematical rigor he brought to his field and for helping turn the dismal science into one that -- occasionally at least -- can brighten people's lives by helping shape public policy.
But I can tell you from first-hand experience that Samuelson, who died this Sunday at the age of 94, MORE
A Money Editor - Dec 15, 2009 2:57 PM ET
Personal finance from around the Web:
2009 was the year of cheap-chic-living. Here is a summary of frugal trends that took over the year. [It's Your Money]
Three-year default rates for federal student loans were released yesterday and the numbers are not pretty. For loans that entered repayment in 2007 the three-year default rate is at 11.8% up from the two-year default rate of 6.7%. For-profit schools had the largest percentage of defaults MORE
Ana Patricia Ferrey - Dec 15, 2009 1:49 PM ET
Personal finance from around the Web on Monday:
Charity begins at...eBay? As Christmas approaches, the auction site contains a growing number of listings that aren't selling anything, but instead are asking people to donate money to families in need. It's unclear how many of these requests are authentic and how many are simply scams. [The Red Tape Chronicles]
A loophole in the Senate health care bill would permit insurers to put annual MORE
George Mannes - Dec 14, 2009 11:13 AM ET
Personal finance from around the web:
Is a $6,500 tax credit enough of an incentive for homeowners to buy and sell during real estate's off season? Doubtful, according to some industry experts. [Inman News]
Getting the best deal used to mean scanning circulars and making multiple trips to retailers. These days Internet sites will do the legwork and get you organized before you head out to buy your holiday gifts. The MORE
Beth Braverman - Dec 11, 2009 11:58 AM ET
When I was working on MONEY's annual Best Jobs in America project a few months back, I was frustrated by a major shortcoming of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' long-term employment forecasts: They didn't take into account the nation's economic meltdown, which will no doubt have a huge impact on the nation's job market for years to come.
The problem was that the BLS's Employment Projections Summary comes out every MORE
Donna Rosato - Dec 10, 2009 5:11 PM ET
Personal finance from around the web:
Financial "innovation"? Yeah, right. Former Fed chair Paul Volcker told some of the world's top bankers this week that the only innovation in the last 20 years has been the ATM machine. He also blasted other complex products like credit default swaps. [Seeking Alpha, Times Online]
NPR looks at the world of exclusive, secret frequent flier programs: The "Skull and Bones" societies of the sky. [Morning MORE
Ismat Sarah Mangla - Dec 10, 2009 12:17 PM ET
I recently did some some reporting on the debate over buy-and-hold investing vs. market timing. I'm mostly in the buy-and-hold camp. But here's my biggest takeaway...
There are two basic sales pitches on Wall Street:
1. Stocks are always a good buy. So pay me 1.4% of your assets per year to put you in stocks.
2. Stocks are sometimes a good buy, sometimes not. Pay me 1.4% to tell you the time.
Which MORE
Pat Regnier - Dec 10, 2009 11:46 AM ET
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