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Saturday, January 26, 2013
Liberia exposes finances with city billboard
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) ? Liberia's people have a novel way of finding out how their government is spending their money.
On a bustling street in the capital, people can look up at an electronic information billboard that relays how state funds are being spent.
The U.S.-supported project in Monrovia aims to improve state transparency, and the government of Nobel laureate President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wants passers-by who might not normally read newspapers or surf the Internet to see what government projects are under way and where its money is being channeled.
Hundreds turned out Wednesday as the Harvard-educated president switched on the billboard, which is connected directly to the Finance Ministry's database, for the first time.
The billboard amounts to another step in the country's reconstruction following back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003 that killed an estimated 250,000 people, displaced millions and devastated the economy. Founded in the mid-19th century by freed American slaves, the impoverished country has received hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid since the civil war.
The bright, colorful, viewer-friendly screen shows how tax dollars go to hospitals, roads, schools or agriculture, and how Liberia shapes up by sector compared to its West African neighbors.
Finance Minister Amara Konneh said the ultimate ambition is that Liberians "will hold public officials accountable for results." He acknowledged it won't be an antidote for corruption, but could help make inroads against it.
"The official corruption in our country is entrenched," Konneh told The Associated Press. "What we are doing by putting this symbol of openness out is to prevent; prevention is better than cure."
As Monrovians stopped to ponder the new billboard, some struggled to see the point or sensed a public-relations stunt.
"I don't see any significance," said James Smith. "Government should find another means to really educate people rather than plant billboards."
But Marie, a hairdresser who preferred to give only her first name, said: "Liberians should learn to appreciate a small beginning .... We were never being told of how our money was being spent. This is a way to start creating the awareness."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/liberia-exposes-finances-city-billboard-182243790.html
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Goat knocks over TV reporter
By Anna Chan, TODAY
Reporter Linda Carson of ABC 7 in Florida may have once thought goats were friendly animals, but after taping a segment at the Manatee County Fair in Palmetto on Tuesday, she's probably a little bit more wary of them now.
While filming in a pen filled with several goats, she learned that the animals didn't quite appreciate her being in their personal space. As she was signing off, she looked down at one of the goats and asked, "Would you not eat my pants?! .... Aaaaagh!!!!"
No, the goat didn't nibble on her slacks, but it did take a step back ... then headbutted her and knocked her over! And once was apparently not enough for the irked animal. As Carson picked herself up off the ground and had a good laugh about it, the same goat charged her again.
Watch the outtake that ABC 7 uploaded to YouTube:
Fortunately, the reporter was unharmed.
More in The Clicker:
Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/01/25/16701677-goat-knocks-over-tv-reporter?lite
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Friday, January 25, 2013
Opinion: Workplace-Giving Campaign's Shift to E-Giving Is Risky ...
January 24, 2013, 10:57 am
A proposed overhaul of the Combined Federal Campaign, the U.S. government?s workplace charity drive, could significantly reduce contributions by over-emphasizing new technology, a Washington Post columnist writes.
The Office of Personnel Management plan, now under review by the Obama administration, calls for eliminating cash, check, and money-order contributions in favor of giving by electronic means.
Joe Davidson, who writes the Post?s Federal Diary column, says the proposal is aimed at streamlining CFC operations, but he notes that in 2011, only 22 percent of the $272-million pledged came from electronic giving. Mr. Davidson quotes charity leaders who are concerned about the impact of shifting to exclusively electronic giving.
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NASA's Opportunity Rover Begins Year 10 on Mars
The older, smaller cousin of NASA's huge Mars rover Curiosity is quietly celebrating a big milestone today (Jan. 24) ? nine years on the surface of the Red Planet.
NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars the night of Jan. 24, 2004 PST (just after midnight EST on Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. Spirit stopped operating in 2010, but Opportunity is still going strong, helping scientists better understand the Red Planet's wetter, warmer past.
"No one could've imagined how good the exploration and scientific discovery would be for this vehicle, looking from the perspective of nine years ago," said John Callas, Opportunity's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "It's been a phenomenal accomplishment."
The headline-stealing Curiosity rover, for its part, touched down on Aug. 5, 2012, marking the next step in Mars exploration. The car-size Curiosity weighs about 1 ton ? five times more than either Spirit or Opportunity.
Long-lived rovers
Spirit and Opportunity were originally supposed to spend three months searching for evidence of past water activity on the Red Planet. The golf-cart-size robots found plenty of such signs at their separate landing sites, showing that Mars was not always the cold and arid planet we know today. [Most Amazing Discoveries by Spirit and Opportunity]
For example, in 2007 Spirit uncovered an ancient hydrothermal system in Gusev Crater, suggesting that two key ingredients for life as we know it ? liquid water and an energy source ? were both present in some parts of Mars long ago.
And Opportunity is currently inspecting clay deposits along the rim of Mars' huge Endeavour Crater. Clays form in relatively neutral (as opposed to acidic or basic) water, so the area may once have been capable of supporting primitive microbial life, researchers say.
"This is our first glimpse ever at conditions on ancient Mars?that clearly show us a chemistry that would've been suitable for life at the Opportunity site," Opportunity principal investigator Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, said of the discovery at a conference last month.
The rovers rolled far beyond their 90-day warranties. Spirit finally stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010, after getting mired in soft sand and failing to maneuver into a position that would allow it to slant its solar panels toward the sun over the 2009-2010 Martian winter. NASA declared the rover dead in 2011.
But Opportunity keeps chugging along. It has put 22.03 miles (35.46 kilometers) on its odometer since landing on Mars ? just 1 mile (1.6 km) off the all-time record for most ground covered on the surface of another world. The Soviet Union's unmanned Lunokhod 2 rover holds that mark, traveling 23 miles (37 km) on the moon back in 1973.
The great engineering that allowed Spirit and Opportunity to keep roving for so long is a big part of the six-wheeled robots' legacy, mission team members say.
"These are magnificently designed machines," Callas told SPACE.com. "We really have greatly expanded the exploration envelope by having a vehicle that can not only last so long but stay in very good health over that time, such that we can continue exploring."
Still in good health
While Opportunity is showing signs of its advanced age, such as an arthritic robotic arm, the rover remains in good shape overall.
"Its health right now is miraculously good," Callas said.
Still, the rover team is treating every day as a gift at this point, knowing that Opportunity could conk out at pretty much any time. Indeed, the sun will rise one day without a message from Opportunity, and its handlers will have to face the rover's death and the end of an amazing mission.
"It's going to be hard; it'll be the end of a great era," Callas said. "But we'll have to remember that we've had such a good run."
Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall?or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?and?Google+.?
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasas-opportunity-rover-begins-10-mars-125036382.html
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It's a dog's life when man's best friend becomes his fattest (Science ...
There seems to be a link between our diet and that of our dogs. Researchers found that people with excess weight are more likely to own or care for an overweight pet. Image: cmannphoto?/iStockphoto
A study published in Nature offers further insight into how dogs became domesticated. The comparative analysis of human, canine and wolf genomes suggests that humans and dogs have evolved in parallel as a response to the increasingly starchy diets on offer after the agricultural revolution. Such a wholesale change in diet has not necessarily been benign for either species.
As our waistlines have expanded, so have those of our pet animals. In fact, the rising incidence of obesity in humans and dogs seems to be linked; people at high risk of obesity are more likely to own and care for an overweight canine companion.
Problems and solutions
The problem of excess weight in dogs isn't just a matter of aesthetics. As with humans, obesity in dogs is linked to conditions such as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. This makes excessive weight gain in pet dogs both a veterinary medical and animal welfare issue.
In biological terms, obesity in pet animals occurs for the same reasons it does in people. Affected individuals eat more than they need, and might also have a genetic susceptibility to putting on weight.
Current approaches to addressing canine obesity involve restricting the number of calories owners give their animals. This typically involves a proprietary "diet" food and owner education.
A weight-loss industry for pets has emerged in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Canine boot camps and dieting clubs have sprung up to help owners achieve their dog's weight-loss goals.
At the same time, "fat dog" stories have become a news staple. Indeed, overweight pets have become collateral casualties in the ongoing war against human obesity.
Interestingly, the emphasis in this coverage revolves around one or more of three basic causal stories about people who own overweight animals: they buy and feed their dogs the wrong types of foods, they overfeed their animals to compensate for their inability to look after them properly, or they're morally culpable and are partaking in a form of abuse.
Despite a concerted campaign by animal health professionals, the incidence of canine obesity remains much the same. And efforts to make people "own the problem", including prosecution, have done little to curb canine excess.
While the application of surgical solutions to human obesity is rising rapidly, so far the consensus is that weight-loss surgery for dogs is unethical and that drugs are a shortcut for lazy owners.
A bigger issue?
The emergence of a canine health problem that reflects cultural and socioeconomic patterns is significant. As well as sharing our capacity for weight gain, pet dogs share our homes and built environment, our leisure activities and lifestyles.
We know socioeconomic status maps onto differences in health across human populations. The increasing rates of obesity in people is now recognised to involve a complex mixture of biology, individual choices, socioeconomic drivers of food consumption and declining levels of physical activity.
Studies in Britain and the Netherlands suggest these same factors are at play in the growing proportion of pet dogs that are overweight. And because people at higher risk of obesity are more likely to own an overweight animal, links between canine disease and the environment provided by the owner raises an ethical dilemma for companion animal veterinarians.
Recent controversies in the livestock and horse racing industries signal a major societal shift in attitudes towards animal welfare. If the way people live puts their pets at increased risk of debilitating disease, are we going to start regulating companion animal ownership on the grounds of future animal welfare? We might also wonder if it's fair to deny some people the benefits that come from sharing life with a pet animal.
These questions point to a number of unresolved tensions in our relationship with companion animals and the role vets play as protectors of animal welfare.
Treating disease in animals in our care is clearly the right thing to do. And since prevention is better than a cure, more attention needs to be given to the drivers of weight-related health problems in pets.
Experience with human populations indicates that teaching people how much to feed their animal may only be part of the solution. If vets are serious about reducing the burden of obesity-related disease in pet dogs, then the profession needs to take a larger role in public health.
Vets need to engage with community-based approaches to human and animal welfare. These could conceivably involve a role in urban planning, the framing of animal by-laws, and even directly promoting beneficial human health behaviours to encourage health and well-being across species boundaries.
Source: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20132401-23994.html
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Immigration fallout from saying no to health care law | Alabama's 13
WASHINGTON --
(AP) - There's another quirk in the federal health care law.
?? ?
Here's the glitch: Governors who reject health insurance for the poor under the federal overhaul could wind up in an awkward position on immigration:
?? ?
Some U.S. citizens would be forced to go without coverage, while legal immigrants residing in the same state could still get it.
?? ?
It's the result of how last year's Supreme Court decision changed the Medicaid provisions of President Barack Obama's health care law. Medicaid was complicated enough before the overhaul. The Supreme Court decision made it trickier.
?? ?
Arizona officials called attention to the problem last week, when Republican Gov. Jan Brewer announced she would accept the law's Medicaid expansion. The Obama administration confirmed Arizona's interpretation.
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Jose Mourinho writes off Real Madrid's title hopes
By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 12:48 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2013
PARIS (AP) -Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has written off his team's chances of catching Spanish league leader Barcelona and has turned his attention to helping the club win the Champions League for the 10th time.
With the Spanish league more than halfway through, Barcelona is 15 points ahead of Madrid, which won the title last season but is now in third place behind crosstown rival Atletico.
"It's impossible to win the league this year. We have to think about the Champions League and the Copa del Rey," Mourinho said Wednesday in an interview with French radio station RMC.
However, he warned frustrated Madrid fans not to build up their expectations ahead of the match against Manchester United in the last 16.
"It's an objective for me (to win the Champions League), but I don't think you should be obsessed," he said. "You have to understand that other teams can win the competition. They also have the potential to do it."
Madrid's difficult season has increased speculation that he could leave the club at the end of the season. He has previously expressed an interest in returning to coach in England one day - where he turned Chelsea into United's main challenger and led it to two league titles - and has also been linked to the Paris Saint-Germain job.
"England, I know it. I like it a lot and I want to go back one day. Because I only spent 3 1/2 years with Chelsea, and I want to go back and work (in England) one day," he said.
While Mourinho said he would welcome the chance to work in France, he distanced himself from speculation linking him with the PSG job - for now - out of respect for PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti and sporting director Leonardo.
"I am a friend of Carlo's, a friend of Leonardo's," Mourinho said. "I want success for them and for everything to go well. I want it to be so that they don't need another coach."
The 49-year-old Mourinho, who led FC Porto to the Champions League title in 2004, would relish a return to Portugal later in his career, but only to take charge of the national team.
"I would like it. Not now, but one day I would," Mourinho said. "I think people in Portugal are also waiting for this moment. It's an experience I want to have, a World Cup, a European Championship."
Mourinho said he was twice close to taking charge of the England team but appeared to rule out taking over England at a later stage.
"Nearly, in 2007, nearly in 2008. But for me it's Portugal," he said. "You can never say never in football, but I think it is Portugal."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsKlinsmann to Dempsey: 'Show me'
PST: U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann pulled no punches in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, particularly when it came to his stars.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45447222/ns/sports-soccer/
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Inauguration Quotes
Quotes on Inauguration Day:
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"Our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it." ?President Barack Obama, during his second inaugural address.
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"It's going to take some give-and-take. I hope they're not too proud to do so." ?Army Maj. Phillip Santoni of Fort Carson, Colo., just returned from Afghanistan, said about Obama and Congress as he waited to enter the parade route through a gate at 17th and H streets NW, near the White House.
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"The president's second term represents a fresh start when it comes to dealing with the great challenges of our day; particularly, the transcendent challenge of unsustainable federal spending and debt...Together, there is much we can achieve." ?Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
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"There were more people last time, but everybody has the same feeling." ?Michael Kimbro of Atlanta, Ga., who traveled to Obama's first inauguration in 2009.
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"It's great to see the young ladies they are becoming and how well they handle themselves. They seem to be great role models for our youngsters." ?Meteza Owens, 40, of Charlotte, N.C., said about Malia and Sasha Obama while waiting with her husband, Andre, and two young sons, 10 and 7.
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"I come down just to soak up what I consider to be very positive national pride. It feeds me. It energizes me." ? Paul Sutterlin, a 6th-grade social studies teacher from Middlefield, Conn., attending his third inauguration.
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"In his first term, Obama was left to take care of everything that Bush left unfinished. Now in his second term maybe there'll be more progress visible to the public so they'll see that he is a good president for our country... I hope he does more for the job market, the economy and helping the homeless." ?Richmond Tolbert, 19, a homeless man from Olympia, Wash.
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"He made the same promises as last time. It's worse than four years ago... My grandkids will be in debt and their kids will be in debt." ? Frank Pinto, 62, of Wethersfield, Conn., watching the inauguration at a bar in Hartford, Conn.
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"We ask that you grant our president the will to act courageously, but cautiously when confronted with danger, and to act prudently, but deliberately when challenged by adversity. Please continue to bless his efforts to lead by example in consideration and favor of the diversity of our people." ? Myrlie Evers-Williams, activist and widow of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers.
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"There was such a split between the two candidates that if it had gone against Obama there was going to be such a huge change to the country. I thought the election really made a difference this year... I'm not a rich person. I'm a person who wants everybody to have the right way of living in their country. You shouldn't have to have money in order to have medical care." ? Anne Fenno, 62, retiree from Tumwater, Wash.
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"This is the dream that Dr. King talked about in his speech. We see history in the making. ... This is something he spoke about, that all races come together as one." ?Joyce Oliver, visiting the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn.
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I think the country's less enthused this time around; we've been there done that in terms of electing the first African-American president. ... I think everybody's tuned in, in terms of other things. They want to make sure the government gets done what we elected them for." ?Beniam Fantu, 34, of Dallas, Texas.
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"I think he's been doing an OK job, if he just takes that and continues it should be OK... Just a better economy, maybe a winding down of the wars, more general peace, less fighting with everyone, maybe better relations, that's about it." ?Joel Bates, 32, of Grand Prairie, Texas, on what he's looking forward to in Obama's second administration.
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"I have my political feeling, but I also feel President Obama is the president of the United States. We respect the Constitution and democracy and we have to respect the position." ? Kendall Gregory, a Millsaps College senior from Biloxi, Miss., who voted for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
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"There is no mob, no coup, no insurrection. This is a moment when millions stop and watch." ? Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., co-chair of the inaugural committee.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/inauguration-quotes-194318294--politics.html
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Observatory: Some Shark Embryos Can Detect Predators
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Late-stage embryos of brownbanded bamboo sharks were able to use their electrical receptors to detect the signals of predators.
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Calico - Eve - Medium - Adult - Female - Cat | Hendersonville | eBay ...
Calico - Eve - Medium - Adult - Female - Cat
Eve is a one year old female. She is really really sweet! She does fine with both cats and dogs. She would be good with kids, because she just wants somebody to love on her and give her attention. Eve has a gentle nature and is ready to love!
CHARACTERISTICS:
Breed: Calico
Size: Medium
Petfinder ID: 25048655
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Pet has been spayed/neutered
CONTACT:
Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary | Hendersonville, TN | 615-664-2380
For additional information, reply to this ad or see: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=25048655
Brought to you by Petfinder.com
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Thursday, January 17, 2013
U.S. Military Stops Sending Some Detainees to Afghan Custody
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Source: www.nytimes.com --- Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Setbacks on detention issues that have created tension between the countries, and to years of international efforts to promote humane treatment of prisoners. ...
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Video: What's Bernanke Worried About?
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50496543/
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New Service Offers Video Calls Via Twitter, Chrome
A new video calling service has recently been launched to accommodate both Twitter and Google Chrome users.
The Twelephone platform works via the Google Chrome internet browser without having to go through other programs.
Currently, the video calling service is only available in Google Chrome, being the only web browser that offers support for WebRTC.
Twelephone incorporates the new standard for WebRTC and is actually one of the first to do so.
Twitter and Chrome users will discover the convenience of talking to family and colleagues through this app. There are also others who are cautious about the new barrage of requests that might be spawned by the new service.
But whatever the reason for the hesitation or the excitement, Twelephone ushers in a new wave of communication tools that will likely have more Internet users prefer Twitter and Chrome.
Twelephone was created and developed by Chris Matthieu (@chrismatthieu), who initially brainstormed a better way for people to communicate without using Flash. The new standard WebRTC made it easier to make video calls, both for personal and business purposes.
Some of the notable contenders in the industry include FaceTime and Skype. As long as the creators find a way to get rid of unwanted spam, Twelephone might quickly become one of the most preferred services on the web.
In the following months, Twelephone is expected to be also available using Opera and Firefox. Other internet giants are still contemplating about the use of the new service.
Apple has not provided any statements yet if their users should expect Twelephone to be available on Safari soon. Microsoft, however, was giving hints that it might introduce the software for its users in the near future.
There is a huge potential for the video calling service, considering that to-date Chrome only has 18 percent market share of internet users worldwide.
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Source: http://www.hashtags.org/platforms/twitter/new-service-offers-video-calls-via-twitter-chrome/
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Video: Apple 'Entering Growth Purgatory': Top Tech Analyst
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50470752/
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Energy Outlook 2030 webcast
We would like to invite you to a live webcast of the launch of the BP Energy Outlook 2030 on Wednesday, 16 January 2013 at 1500 GMT.
The Energy Outlook contributes to the wider debate on global energy issues by asking key questions. What will the world's fuel mix look like in 2030? Where is the growth going to come from? What are the implications for oil and natural gas markets of the US ?shale revolution? and can the US experience be replicated elsewhere? Will renewables continue to grow rapidly?
We plan to understand the story behind the data, prompting a frank and valuable discussion about the future of energy.
We hope that you can join us, you will need to register for the webcast, which we recommend doing in advance:
Bob Dudley, Group Chief Executive
Christof R?hl31, Group Chief Economist
For further information, please visit: www.bp.com
Source: http://www.pandct.com/media/shownews.asp?ID=35432
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Riffing On the Tradition: Blues In the Air | NolaVie - Life and Culture ...
When I first came here in the mid '90s, a fellow California ex-pat, bassist Matt Perrine, gave me a two-page list of work contacts. One of them ended up helping me with a full season of Carnival work. It was, I felt, the tail end of an era.
There were a couple of balls with original tableaux music and elegant sets by Henri Schindler instead of the Blaine Kern stuff, even some parties and parades that actually used New Orleans music. But, within two years, most Mardi Gras gigs found me playing more tambourine or cowbell than saxophone or clarinet because, after all, who needs 14 horns playing the background riffs for "Soulman"?
At any rate, in the upcoming 2013 Super Bowl & Mardi Gras season, whether you?re among those who have been asked by one of the NFL sponsors to dress down and pretend to be street musicians, or if you're smart and promoting good non-Downtown shows for our locals wanting to avoid the French Quarter nightmare, suck as much money out of the 1 million visiting "big-ass beer" drinkers as you can.
The end. Next item of business:
It?s time to start moving swiftly toward making the most out of the festival season, when visitors will actually be coming for our music. To this end, the music community needs to know about some recent developments at Sweet Home New Orleans. For those of you who are not aware of an important shift in the organization's focus, you can read about it on its website. In a nutshell, they are seeing the rise of digital distribution outlets and the decline of the? ?record label? paradigm as a potential boon for new, much-needed revenue streams. The evolving organization is much more about developing economic sustainability and infrastructure.
Because its staff knows that more thorough education for self-promotion and protection of our work is badly needed, Sweet Home?s new ?Economic Empowerment Education Program? is currently accepting applications from New Orleans musicians for two highly competitive courses on the subjects of accessing the many available revenue streams that many of us are missing and training in the art of fan-based funding. The deadline to apply for these highly competitive, bi-weekly courses taught by leaders and innovators within the music industry is Thursday (Jan 17). Don?t miss out on this huge opportunity. Your songs won?t register themselves or get into films or TV automatically. And if you?re a fan, please share it with your favorite musicians who you think might benefit from this.
The Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MACCNO) is continuing efforts to arm the cultural workforce with information about getting along with City Hall. They will do a teach-in on the tedious subject of zoning this Wednesday (Jan. 16) at noon. This is a very open group and for all culture-workers, including musicians, street artists, venue operators, Mardi Gras Indians and Social Aid & Pleasure Club members. And it?s the best way to keep an eye on news such as this ?fine print? from the Superbowl Permit Guide:
?Mayoralty Permit from the Bureau of Revenue is required for the following categories of vendors: Artists and others conducting business or promoting themselves or their art in the City of New Orleans including live entertainment (live music, DJ?s, music ensembles, etc); Street entertainers...?
Do we know for sure if this really means street performers will have to be permitted? No, but? participating in MACCNO and being a part of the dialogue that shapes our culture is the best way to stay informed on these issues.
I think this relates to the most important thing to remember: Cultural expressions are, and have always been, constructed by discourse within the community about its needs and aspirations. Furthermore, the expression in our work feeds the soul of our unique community, and this is why we need to have a stake in determining how it develops.
Thank you Sweet Home & MACCNO for helping.
Evan Christopher is a noted member of the New Orleans music community and a founding member of Nola Art House Music. Click?here?for his holiday performance schedule. He writes ?Riffing on the Tradition? for?NolaVie.
Source: http://nolavie.com/2013/01/riffing-on-the-tradition-blues-in-the-air-57570.html
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Tri-Cities Real Estate Agent, Mary Saleh ? Coquitlam & Tri-Cities
Tri-Cities REALTOR? ?Profile: Mary Saleh, a
Team 3000 real estate agent servicing TRi-Cities of?Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.
As a leading Tri-Cities real estate agent ?and REALTOR?,?Mary Saleh?s outstanding results speak for themselves. Choosing the right real estate agent ?is paramount in getting the results you desire when selling your home in Tri-Cities. My results speak for themselves ? achieved because of my unique marketing platform and dedication to what I do.
I am passionate about my job and dedicated to helping my clients buy and sell residential, Commercial and investment properties in the Tri-Cities or other parts of Greater Vancouver, BC. However it is the relationships I have formed along the way that has made my Real Estate career so special for me over so many years. You can use my website to search Coquitlam homes for sale on the MLS system.
With all my clients nothing is ever too much trouble for me ? need a builder, cleaner, furniture, movers, lawyers, accountant, mortgage broker, picking up from the airport etc. I will help because I LOVE being with you every step of the way.
No matter how small or large my listing or purchase is I am completely focused on giving you exceptional service, getting the results you expect and as an accomplished negotiator the price you want. Average days on the market for all Mary Saleh?s listings is less than 10 with many listings sold before they went to market. If you are looking for a dedicated REALTOR? in the Tri-Cities area, I will be happy to be of service to you.
I have great people skills and I will respect and support you as an individual, tailoring my services to get you exactly what you want. My core values of honesty, hard work, respect, diligence, thoughtfulness, patience, understanding, inner strength, tough negotiating skills and love of my family represent who I am.
My Passions:
My passions say a lot about who I am, so I am pleased to give you this insight into the person you will be trusting to help you with one of the most important financial and emotional investments you can make, your home. These are the people and things that are closest to my heart.
If you are looking for a Tri-Cities?REALTOR? and?want to experience the difference I bring to the table in terms of marketing, negotiating, client care, and after market service then feel free to give me call. My energy and experience will make the process easy, fun, and exciting. Helping you buy or sell your property is my number-one commitment?always.
I will also be happy provide a no obligation complete market analysis of your home, current market conditions, helpful pre-selling hints and market statistics all presented in a presentation binder for you to keep.
YOU ARE MY # 1 PRIORITIES.
You can contact me, your neighborhood real estate agent in Tri-Cities ?at?604-626-8461 or email me.
Return to homepage.
Source: http://www.team3000coquitlam.com/2013/01/tri-cities-real-estate-agent-mary-saleh/
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Enlightened, Season 2
As Amy?s manic effort to bring down Abaddon kicked in during Enlightened?s season premiere, so did Tyler?s reluctance to get drawn deeper into her game. Amy?s perennial sidekick?even after she rebuffed his fumbling advances?Tyler often seems even more hapless than our ostensible heroine. Amy tries to plunder more private emails of Abaddon?s higher-ups, but he balks, as only Tyler can: ?My aunt died and I just found out I got her timeshare, so I?m going to go to the Bahamas for two weeks a year!?
Tyler?s objections are at once pathetic and hilarious, as so much in Enlightened is. But when he finds out that he will lose his job whether or not he helps Amy, he allows himself to be drawn back into her grandiose, self-centered scheme, apparently because he detects a loneliness in Amy that mirrors his own. ?I don?t know anything else,? he tells her when she asks if he wants to stop feeling invisible. When Amy suggests that Tyler could become Time?s Person of the Year, he shares an eye roll with us, but his lingering stare also betrays a sense of longing that clearly gets his wheels turning.
If there is any real hero in Enlightened, Tyler has to be it. Amy?s enthusiasm for crushing Abaddon arises from a self-professed sense of ?obligation? that?s clearly her own need for self-renewal. She fits the self-righteous profile we often associate with whistleblowers, but Tyler is a complicated figure that may have more in common with whistleblowers in reality: He?s so used to being marginal that the alternative no longer seems appealing to him. He?s exactly the sort of broken-down drone Amy hopes to liberate, a fact that escapes them both. Not only does Tyler supply the means to bring down Abaddon (even with the password, Amy can?t figure out how to print the files), he also seems to embody the soul of the effort?and, crucially, provide an abiding reason they deserve to succeed.
Series co-creator Mike White cast himself in the role almost as an act of pity; he spares other actors the grim duty of playing a guy so broken that he accepts regular humiliation because his employee card helped get him a gym membership. White?a gaunt, pallid writer who occasionally acts?tends to write roles for himself that involve peripheral characters with a detached, sometimes ominous edge (if you haven?t caught his most famous role, in Chuck & Buck, do so immediately). That persona couldn?t be further from the man himself, if his unlikely bid on reality TV with his dad is to be believed, and yet he plays on his naturally eerie screen presence to revealing effect. The performance is so insistently unshowy that it?s easy to overlook the quiet, dutiful compass Tyler has become?both for Amy and for us.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=be1ac9a4ea4e1f7511587e83dab3ec6c
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CONSOL Energy?s 2013 Plan: Spend Lots on Marcellus & Utica Shale
CONSOL Energy today released it?s spending and operations plans for 2013. Among them: They will spend $600 million to continue developing their Marcellus Shale operations, of which $415 million will go for drilling new wells. They plan to drill 126 new Marcellus wells this year, 90 of them in the liquids-rich portion of the play. CONSOL also plans to spend $122 million on their joint venture with Hess to drill 27 new wells in the Utica Shale.
Today?s CONSOL announcement:
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MarcellusDrillingNews/~3/9ucPFQ51vj4/
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UM Could Learn NCAA Allegations Soon
The 400-million dollar upgrade would make Sun Life a 1st class stadium for the next 30 years-but the team faces an uphill battle getting tax dollars to pay for improvements thanks to all the fallout from the new Marlins fish tank.
But this is a much different endeavor. The Dolphins pledge to put up a significant part of the price tag themselves-with owner Stephen Ross personally committing to 50-percent.
And the tax dollars aren't coming out of the pockets of local taxpayers. The public side of funding is expected to come from a hotel bed tax-with none of the funds taken out of city or county coffers.
The upgrades include adding a partial roof -lighting upgrades and a redesign of the seating configuration to at track big events like Super Bowl 50.
Source: http://www.610wiod.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122821&article=10694773
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US military suicides hit record in 2012
Washington: The number of US troops committing suicide set a record in 2012, exceeding the number of combat deaths, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The Pentagon said 349 active-duty troops killed themselves in 2012, up more than 15 per cent from 2011 despite renewed efforts by the military to stem the suicide rate. "This is an epidemic that cannot be ignored," said Senator Patty Murray, who championed legislation last year to improve suicide prevention efforts and mental health care for troops and veterans.
"As our newest generation of service members and veterans face unprecedented challenges, today's news shows we must be doing more to ensure they are not slipping through the cracks."
The Army, as the largest service, counted the biggest number of suicides, with 182 soldiers killing themselves in 2012, according to preliminary figures. The Navy had 60 suicides, the Air Force had 59 and the Marines had 48. The figures were first reported by the Associated Press.
The Pentagon pointed to steps to bolster suicide prevention efforts, including expanding a suicide prevention hotline. Still, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last year acknowledged that the suicides were the most frustrating issue he had faced since taking over the Pentagon in 2011.
"Despite the increased efforts, the increased attention, the trends continue to move in a troubling and tragic direction," Panetta told at a joint Pentagon-Department of Veterans Affairs suicide prevention conference in June.
The suicide figures far surpassed the 237 US troops killed in action in 2012 in Afghanistan, as well as the 313 killed in support of the Afghan war more broadly, a figure that includes deaths outside the country. It was the highest number of suicides since the United States went to war in Afghanistan in 2001.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that, roughly, a veteran commits suicide once every 80 minutes in America, a trend that may be worsening. In 2012, Reuters reached out to every state in the United States to inquire about suicides among veterans. Data collected from 32 states showed an increase in suicides between 2005 to 2010.
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Who is the oldest coach in the NFL, and how old is he?
Who is currently the oldest coach in NCAA Football?
Bill Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is the head ...
Who is the oldest, active college football coach?
Joe Paterno, at the age of 83, is the oldest co...
Who is the oldest cheerleading coach?
I found no listing for the oldest cheerleading ...
Who is the oldest coach in the NFL?
Romeo Crennel the coach for the Cleveland Brown...
Who are the top 3 oldest NFL coaches?
The average age of NFL head coaches is 50.41. W...
Who is the oldest head coach in the NFL?
The oldest NFL coaches are Romeo Crennel of the...
Who is the oldest NFL head coach?
Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants is age 65 (...
Who is the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl?
65-year-old Tom Coughlin is the oldest coach to...
Who was the oldest person to coach a NFL team? How old was he?
The oldest coach in the NFL right now is Joe Gi...
Who is the oldest head coach in all professional sports?
71-year-old Frank Robinson is the oldest manage...
Who is the oldest head coach in the NBA?
Nelson is currently the oldest active head coac...
Who currently is the oldest nfl coach?
Joe Gibbs the coach for the Washington Redskins...
Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/who-is-the-oldest-coach-in-the-nfl,-and-how-old-is-he
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Monday, January 14, 2013
Better care from doctors who are culturally aware
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 14-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Alexander Brown
alexander.brown@springer.com
212-620-8043
Springer Science+Business Media
The quality of HIV care is better for ethnic minorities treated by doctors who are culturally competent
HIV patients from ethnic minorities receive better quality of care from doctors and other primary healthcare professionals who are the most competent at caring for patients from diverse backgrounds those who are "culturally competent." These patients also tend to manage both their treatment and condition better, according to a new study by Somnath Saha from Portland VA Medical Center, and the Oregon Health & Science University in the US, and colleagues. Their findings appear in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.
The authors explored whether cultural competence a combination of awareness, attitudes, skills and behaviors related to doctors' ability to care for diverse patient groups can result in more equitable care, with a focus on HIV patients specifically. HIV infection is a leading contributor to racial inequalities in both health and life expectancy in the US. This is due in part to the fact that minority individuals with HIV/AIDS are less likely than whites to receive antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, and to stick to their ARV regimens once prescribed. These differences in treatment inevitably lead to disparities in health outcomes for these patients, including viral suppression, progression to AIDS and death.
There has been a push by healthcare professional organizations to increase the cultural competence of their members, i.e. the effectiveness with which they deal with patients from diverse backgrounds. Saha and team's study assesses whether cultural competence does indeed lead to better treatment and outcomes for minority HIV patients.
The researchers surveyed 45 providers and 437 patients at four urban HIV clinics (Baltimore, Detroit, New York, and Portland) who took part in the Enhancing Communication and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) study. The medical professionals rated their own cultural competence on a 20-item questionnaire. The researchers measured patients' outcomes, including whether or not they were on ARV therapy, how well they adhered to their regimen and whether or not their viral load was suppressed.
Overall, minority patients treated by providers with medium or high cultural competence were more likely to be on ARVs, to better self-manage their condition and to adhere to their prescription, than were those treated by doctors scoring low on cultural competence. There were also racial disparities in viral suppression among those patients treated by less culturally competent providers. In this group, non-white patients were less likely to be on ARV therapy, to manage their medication well, and to have a suppressed viral load, compared to whites. Among those treated by more culturally competent providers, treatment and outcomes were similar for white and non-white patients.
The authors conclude: "Our findings suggest that, through either training interventions or through efforts to diversify the healthcare workforce, increasing healthcare provider cultural competence holds the potential to reduce racial disparities in both the quality of health care, and the health of diverse patient populations."
###
Reference
1. Saha S et al (2012). Primary care provider cultural competence and racial disparities in HIV care and outcomes. Journal of General Internal Medicine. DOI 10.1007/s11606-012-2298-8.
2. The Journal of General Internal Medicine is the official journal of the Society of General Internal Medicine.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 14-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Alexander Brown
alexander.brown@springer.com
212-620-8043
Springer Science+Business Media
The quality of HIV care is better for ethnic minorities treated by doctors who are culturally competent
HIV patients from ethnic minorities receive better quality of care from doctors and other primary healthcare professionals who are the most competent at caring for patients from diverse backgrounds those who are "culturally competent." These patients also tend to manage both their treatment and condition better, according to a new study by Somnath Saha from Portland VA Medical Center, and the Oregon Health & Science University in the US, and colleagues. Their findings appear in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.
The authors explored whether cultural competence a combination of awareness, attitudes, skills and behaviors related to doctors' ability to care for diverse patient groups can result in more equitable care, with a focus on HIV patients specifically. HIV infection is a leading contributor to racial inequalities in both health and life expectancy in the US. This is due in part to the fact that minority individuals with HIV/AIDS are less likely than whites to receive antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, and to stick to their ARV regimens once prescribed. These differences in treatment inevitably lead to disparities in health outcomes for these patients, including viral suppression, progression to AIDS and death.
There has been a push by healthcare professional organizations to increase the cultural competence of their members, i.e. the effectiveness with which they deal with patients from diverse backgrounds. Saha and team's study assesses whether cultural competence does indeed lead to better treatment and outcomes for minority HIV patients.
The researchers surveyed 45 providers and 437 patients at four urban HIV clinics (Baltimore, Detroit, New York, and Portland) who took part in the Enhancing Communication and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) study. The medical professionals rated their own cultural competence on a 20-item questionnaire. The researchers measured patients' outcomes, including whether or not they were on ARV therapy, how well they adhered to their regimen and whether or not their viral load was suppressed.
Overall, minority patients treated by providers with medium or high cultural competence were more likely to be on ARVs, to better self-manage their condition and to adhere to their prescription, than were those treated by doctors scoring low on cultural competence. There were also racial disparities in viral suppression among those patients treated by less culturally competent providers. In this group, non-white patients were less likely to be on ARV therapy, to manage their medication well, and to have a suppressed viral load, compared to whites. Among those treated by more culturally competent providers, treatment and outcomes were similar for white and non-white patients.
The authors conclude: "Our findings suggest that, through either training interventions or through efforts to diversify the healthcare workforce, increasing healthcare provider cultural competence holds the potential to reduce racial disparities in both the quality of health care, and the health of diverse patient populations."
###
Reference
1. Saha S et al (2012). Primary care provider cultural competence and racial disparities in HIV care and outcomes. Journal of General Internal Medicine. DOI 10.1007/s11606-012-2298-8.
2. The Journal of General Internal Medicine is the official journal of the Society of General Internal Medicine.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/ssm-bcf011413.php
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How to deal with a troubled teen family contract
A teenager is skin stretched over hormones, stress, confusion, anxiety over what future paths they need to take and the desire to be treated as an adult when it benefits them but as a child when that would give them the greater advantage. YIKES! What?s a parent supposed to do with one of those?
Love them, that?s what. With that love, however, there needs to be equal amounts of guidance, expectations and communication.
Of course the more prevalent these parenting skills have been in your home prior to your child reaching the ?magical? teenage years, the easier they will be to enforce, but if you are facing a difficult teen, a family contract may be just what you need.
What is a family contract
A family contract is just what the name implies-a contract between family members that outlines the rules, guidelines, expectations for your home/family and the consequences/benefits of living in or out of the same.
Who should write the family contract
Every member of the family should have input as to what goes into a family contract. But?every home needs a leader and you, the parents, should be the leader(s) of your home. Everyone?s opinions and needs should be taken into consideration, but as the parents, you do have the final say.
What should a family contract accomplish
- A contract is between two or more people-meant to serve the greater good for all parties involved.
- A contract is meant to bring all involved parties into agreement on the matter(s) at hand.
- A contract involves concessions for all parties involved; give a little, get a little.
- A contract can and should be amended from time to time
- A contract is meant to make expectations (for parents and children) clear-not filled with trickery and deceit.
What should your family contract say
The date and the name of all families involved should be entered into the contract. Also to include in your binding paper?
Statement of beliefs: Your family contract should have a statement of beliefs or principles. This might include basic beliefs in regards to your faith, your commitment to your marriage and a declaration of your love for your children. It doesn?t have to be anything formal or technically correct. Let it come from the heart and soul.
List of concerns being addressed: These include grades, jobs, dating, chores around the house, driving privileges and responsibilities, physical well-being, cell phone usage, media usage, money, friends and religious practices. Each of these concerns should be outlined as to what is expected from EVERYONE involved-children and parents alike.
Acceptable methods of accountability: Care and attention needs to be given to respect of privacy vs. hiding a serious problem and respect for the fact that there are times when parents have privileges teens simply don?t have yet. How will family members be held accountable? Family meetings? One-on-one conversations? Care needs to be given to make accusatory confrontations and public humiliations taboo.
Punishments and retributions: Each infraction and violation of the family contract must carry with it a punishment or retribution. Otherwise, the contract is completely and utterly useless.
The ability to amend the contract and a procedure for doing so: Your family contract needs to read in such a way that changes can be made to the contract when done following a pre-approved procedure. An example of this might be dating and curfews.
Signatures: A contract isn?t a contract unless it has been signed. The signatures are testimony that those who sign are in full agreement with the contents of the contract. Signing not only makes it morally binding, but it is the first important step in making the contract a statement of who you are as a family.
A last resort
If your teenager is already too steeped in negative behavior and poor (even dangerous) choices including addictions or illegal activity, outside intervention may be necessary. If this is the case, contact your clergy, professional counselors or healthcare professionals to seek appropriate treatment.
One last thought?don?t give up on your teenager. Letting them know that your love for them is unconditional and that your desire for them is to get them the help they need and deserve to be happy, healthy, productive teens and adults is your top priority.
Other teen related issues:
Teen sells body for dinner and drinks
Signs of teen drug abuse
Dealing with an angry teen
Tell us what you're thinking...
Source: http://sg.theasianparent.com/handling-a-troubled-teen-a-family-contract/
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Tools, Accounts, and Books I Use in My Personal Finance Journey
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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the "About" or "First-Time Visitor" pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can?subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Click here?to enter my free $51.95 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is January 31st, 2013.
Often times, I get asked about the?various tools, accounts, and books that I personally use?to organize and manage my personal finances/life (which often become very intertwined!) on a day-to-day basis.
Currently, I have two Roth IRAs - one with?Vanguard?that I contribute to on a regular basis (I HIGHLY recommend Vanguard. Read more below about Vanguard if you're interested) and one with?Capital One Sharebuilder?that I opened back when I first started my investing "career" back in 2007.?Sharebuilder has had quite a lifetime! First, it was an independent company, then it was purchased by ING Direct, which then got swallowed up by CapitalOne only recently.
My emergency fund and self-employed/income tax savings are stored in a 'high yield' online savings account with?Dollar Savings Direct?(part of Emigrant Bank).
Often times, in my personal finance endeavors, I'll need to email scanned copies of forms carrying my signature for tax/financial account application purposes and print off numerous pages from the Internet in order to learn more about specific topics.
Personal Finance for Dummies by Eric Tyson, MBA
Looking back on it all, I believe this was the first book I ever read prior to getting in to personal finance. In this book, Eric Tyson us with a very good, high-level look at pretty much every financial topic you could ever need to know about - investing for retirement, mutual funds, retirement accounts, educational funds for your children, insurance, life insurance, car loans, house loans, etc. This is one of those books that I like to keep around the house for the random questions that come up about topics that I forget about since they only come up every year or two (should I have term life insurance?, for example). Definitely worth the money to buy your own copy (used of course).
Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach
Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel
In my opinion, this book is the best investment book ever written, and definitely deserves a place on any My Personal Finance Journey followers' book shelf. This is essentially the closest thing to an "investment bible" on the market today.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel
The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein
The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read by Daniel Solin
This is a great little book (170 pages and a very quick read at that!) that basically grazes over all of the topics in the books of Stocks for the Long Run and A Random Walk Down Wall Street. However, Solin keeps it to the high level view of things, and doesn't delve in to the details that the others do. So, it's good for getting a general message across, begin to set up your investing system with index mutual fund, find your correct asset allocation, and learn why stock brokers and active money management do not work!
The Intelligent Asset Allocator by William Bernstein
Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the "About" or "First-Time Visitor" pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can?subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here?to enter my free $51.95 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is January 31st, 2013.
Often times, I get asked about the?various tools, accounts, and books that I personally use?to organize and manage my personal finances/life (which often become very intertwined!) on a day-to-day basis.
In order to facilitate this sharing, I've decided to use this page as the central location for this information (also available via the Favorite PF Tools, Accounts, and Books tab at the top of my site). One thing I realized while putting this list together was that while I've discussed a lot of these topics on my site, I've never shared the specific companies that I use to make them happen in a central place (which I think may be of some value to people that are trying to figure these topics out in their own personal finances).
If there are any categories of things that you think I might be leaving out, definitely let me know!?Let's get started, shall we?!
CHECKING/SPENDING ACCOUNT
For my checking account, I use good ole'?Bank of America. Although Bank of America is not perfect and might not offer the best perks around, the main reason?I'm still using Bank of America is that they are truly everywhere in the United States. They are in Arkansas where my parents live, they are on the East Coast where my sister and I live - they are everywhere.?And, the fact that Bank of America is everywhere has made it very easy on me over the past few years since I have moved three times.Often, I have considered moving my checking account to an online bank since they offer much better interest rates and other features.?However, there is something to be said about having a physical bank if I need a certified cashier's check (I just checked, and online banks such as ING Direct's do not offer certified checks) to buy a house or pay a moving company. Additionally, I question the security of mailing a check through the Postal Service in order to make a deposit. On top of this, Bank of America has never charged me a monthly account maintenance fee since I have always met their?required criteria.?
CREDIT CARDS
As far as credit cards go, I generally use only 3 credit cards on a regular basis (even though I have close to 15 of them which I rarely use and keep in an envelope. I only opened these to take advantage of the $50-$100 cash back bonus that came with opening the account. Some nice easy money!).If you're interested in learning more about these credit cards or opening an account for yourself, I'd encourage you to first compare your options at?CreditCards.com?to make sure they best suit your needs.
- For the majority of my purchases (except ones at gas stations and Amazon), I use the?Chase Freedom Visa Credit Card. This card offers:
- No annual fee.
- $100 cash back bonus after you make $500 or more in credit card purchases within the first three months (not very hard to do if you use it for all purchases).
- 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers for the first year.?
- 5% cash back on up to $1500 in purchases each quarter in rotating purchase general categories (examples are gas, groceries, restaurants, etc).
- Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases; rewards never expire.
- For all my gas purchases for my car, I use the?Chase BP Visa Credit Card.?
- First, aside from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill fiasco (which may or may not have been BP's fault), I believe that BP is a fairly "good" company as far as big oil goes. They have a very active renewable energy (wind, solar, etc) program compared to Exxon Mobil, and are also located nationwide in the event that I have to move around.?
- The card offers no annual fee, $0.15 per gallon rebates on every $100 spent at BP gas stations that can be redeemed in the form of discounts on gas purchases. This is sort of a confusing payout system, but if you sit down and do the calculations, I figured out that it equates to about 3% cash back. Not as good as the 5% cash back that it used to give, but still pretty competitive compared to the?other cards available!?
- For all of my Amazon purchases (cheap used books and Christmas/birthday gifts), I use the?Chase Amazon Visa Credit Card.?This card offers:
- No annual fee.?
- $30 cash back bonus upon signing up for a card.?
- 3% cash back on all Amazon purchases.?
ROTH IRAS
Currently, I have two Roth IRAs - one with?Vanguard?that I contribute to on a regular basis (I HIGHLY recommend Vanguard. Read more below about Vanguard if you're interested) and one with?Capital One Sharebuilder?that I opened back when I first started my investing "career" back in 2007.?Sharebuilder has had quite a lifetime! First, it was an independent company, then it was purchased by ING Direct, which then got swallowed up by CapitalOne only recently.
In my opinion, I both love and hate?Sharebuilder?all at the same time.
- I?love?that they 1) have no required account minimums, 2) make it incredibly easy and affordable to?invest?new money in to stocks and ETFs through recurring automated investing plans (commissions of $4 or less per buy transaction, happens only once a week on Tuesday), and 3) often times offer?$50 account opening bonuses.?
- However, I?hate?the fact that it costs?$10 per trade?to sell out of any shares or purchase new shares in a market order fashion. This high "share leaving cost" is one of the primary reasons why I have kept my Roth IRA with Sharebuilder all of these years.?
- So, the verdict on Sharebuilder essentially is that if you're investing/buying for the long, long term, Sharebuilder is a good, simple alternative. However, if you're looking to buy and sell more frequently, there are other cheaper discount brokerage options available out there (will discuss more below).?
ROLLOVER IRA, INDIVIDUAL 401K, AND TAXABLE MUTUAL FUND ACCOUNT
For my Rollover IRA (rolled over from my Fidelity 401k at my job before graduate school),?Individual 401k, and taxable mutual fund accounts, I proudly and very loyally use?Vanguard.I really cannot recommend how good Vanguard is enough.?They are the industry leaders in offering low-cost, passively managed, index mutual funds (often times lower than Fidelity), which is the type of investing instrument I use as part of my?passive investing strategy. They have?very good, responsive customer service, never?charge transaction fees, and waive account maintenance fees for portfolios over $50,000 in value.
LIFE VALUES,?DOGGIE EMERGENCY FUND,?PROPERTY TAX, AND?HOUSE?MAINTENANCE?SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
I store my cash funds earmarked for my?life values,?doggie emergency fund, condo property tax, and?house maintenance?savings purposes in an?HSBC Advance Online Savings Account?that I opened up back in 2007 or so.Although the interest rate it pays (currently 0.20% APY as of 12-Jan-2013) is lower than some of the market leaders (it used to pay one of the highest rates around when I first opened the account in 2007) such as?Ally Bank?(0.95% APY) and?EverBank?(0.76% APY), HSBC does offer a nice user interface along with no monthly account maintenance fees or minimums and automatic savings transfers.
While there are now better options around in today's market for online savings accounts (one of them being ING Direct, discussed below), HSBC is acceptable enough for me to stick with them for the time being for these accounts. Additionally, I figured I could invest my time in to more value-added activities than chasing returns, as recommended by Ramit in his book,?I Will Teach You to Be Rich.
LIFE DREAMS SAVINGS ACCOUNT
The 3% of my take-home pay that I save for fulfilling my?life dreams?is stored in a high-yield online savings account with?ING Direct?(recently purchased by Capital One).I am a very big fan of ING Direct (this and?Ally Bank?are my two favorite online savings options). They offer a very high, competitive interest rate of 0.75% APY, no fees, no minimums, automatic scheduled transfers, and a very simple yet elegant online user interface. Another good thing about ING Direct is that people seem to be more aware of this company as compared to the other online-only banks, which seem more?obscure?to people that aren't plugged in to the online finance world as much.
EMERGENCY FUND AND?INCOME AND SELF-EMPLOYED INCOME TAX?SAVINGS ACCOUNT
My emergency fund and self-employed/income tax savings are stored in a 'high yield' online savings account with?Dollar Savings Direct?(part of Emigrant Bank).
As was the case with HSBC, I opened this account probably 5 years ago when Dollar Savings Direct was offering a very high interest rate compared to other online banks. However, in the present day, this is definitely not the case. They have more requirements ($1000 minimum) for accounts than?Ally Bank?or ING Direct, yet offer a lower interest rate (currently at 0.55% APY).
Nevertheless, since they don't charge any monthly account fees and the account is FDIC insured, I'm OK keeping this account?on-board?for the time being.?
INTERNET PROVIDER
While I'm not happy about it, my Internet provider is?Comcast. I use them only because they are the only Internet provider in my condo complex. I've?written many times?about how I don't particularly like them and think their customer service is less than stellar/a headache.However, their actual Internet service is not all that bad. Aside from that, they are always running promotion pricing deals which can be taken advantage of simply by calling every few months to see what is being?offered. At the present, I am taking advantage of a promo deal for Blast Internet at the price of Economy. Not too shabby!!!
CABLE TV PROVIDER (OR LACK THEREOF IN MY CASE)
In general, I think that?cable TV is a waste of money. Sure, it's a nice thing to have, but is it required and worth the money? For me, it's a significant expense that is not worth the money.Instead, I use?Netflix?to rent DVDs for entertainment! For $12.59 per month, I can rent 2 - DVDs at a time among Netflix's really good selection of both older movies and newer releases (just recently watched The Dark Knight Rises, a cool movie!). They even offer a?free trial membership?for new members if you're interested in taking a look.
CHARITY THAT I CONTRIBUTE TO (AND SAVINGS ACCOUNT I USE TO SAVE MONEY FOR IT)
The charity that I choose to contribute 5% of my take-home salary to each year is the?National Multiple Sclerosis Society Blue Ridge Virginia Chapter. 2013 will also be my 5th straight year of me participating in the MS150 Bike Ride Event here in Virginia in June each year. My goal for the 2013 event will be to raise $7500 for the cause!I got/stay involved with this charity for several reasons: 1) MS is in the same general category of neurological diseases for which I do research in graduate school (Alzheimer's disease), 2) there is a great team that I do the bike ride with here in Virginia each year, called Grateful Tread, 3) my?girlfriend?runs clinical research trials for MS, and 4) I've learned that MS is a disease that very greatly affects not only the patients, but also the caregivers which have to tend to the patients as their motor functions degrade. With everyone's help, I sincerely hope we find a cure for this disease in my lifetime! :)
As mentioned above, I donate 5% of my income each year to the MS society. To do this, I execute automatic monthly withdrawals from my checking account to an online savings account with?ING Direct(recently acquired by Capital One). As I stated previously, I am a big fan of ING Direct, and would highly recommend it to anyone reading this. I like it specifically for saving for charity purposes because it enables me to set up specific sub-accounts that I can name as I please in order to better organize my savings.
CONDO HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE?
I have my comprehensive?homeowner's condo insurance?policy through?Erie Insurance. I purchased this through a local agent here in Virginia because the price difference was no different than if I purchased it directly from the company.?I pay $36 per month for the coverage. The details of the policy are shown below:- $150,000 of personal property insurance.
- $1 MM of personal liability insurance.
- $5,000 in medical payments to others (each person).
- Loss assessment.
- Earthquake coverage, but not flood insurance.
- Replacement cost personal property.?
- Enhancement endorsement.?
- Identity recovery coverage.?
PERSON-2-PERSON / MICROLOANS
As part of my quest to achieve my life values each year, I invest $500 per year in microloans to help Latin American countries. I invest in these through?Microplace. I also have a small amount of money invested inLendingClub?in order to try out their platform.Overall, I am very satisfied with both LendingClub and Microplace. However, it is important to understand that they are VERY different!?Microplace?offers microloans primarily to help spur small business development and empowerment of poorer folks in 3rd world countries (which is why I use them to invest in causes in Latin America). On the other hand, LendingClub is geared at helping fund folks in the United States with repaying their credit card/automobile debt, build pools, and green projects.
From a pure investment-return perspective, you can likely get a higher rate of return at?LendingClub?(9% on some loans at LendingClub vs. 2-3% at Microplace). However, I like investing with Microplace because I believe my Dollars can make a big difference in these 3rd world countries. On top of that, I've never experienced a loan-default with Microplace, meaning that the investments are very safe/conservative. Microplace is also owned by Paypal, a company with which I have a lot of experience.?
INDEX-ETF INVESTMENTS
As you might have read?previously on my site, index-ETFs have quite a few advantages (including about a 0.1% lower expense ratio) over indexed mutual funds. However, these advantages only hold true if you can trade the?ETFs commission free (or with very cheap commissions), similar to the way you can trade the proprietary mutual funds with Vanguard or Fidelity.Because of this consideration, the two places I use for ETF investing?are?Vanguard?(primarily)?andSogotrade?(if for some reason there is an ETF I want to buy that is not a Vanguard ETF, such as the IAU gold ETF I invest in as part of my test run with Harry Browne's?Permanent Portfolio). Vanguard is great for ETF investing, offering?50 total ETFs?tracking a wide variety of indices and sectors (although sector funds are generally not necessary for good diversification). The best of all is that if you buy and sell these funds in a Vanguard brokerage account,?they trade?commission?free! Can't beat that (Sogotrade.com will be discussed more in the next section).
"PLAY MONEY" INDIVIDUAL STOCK INVESTMENTS
As a passive investor, I personally do not think that people have any business investing in individual stocks (even if they are following the advice of a stockbroker or stock newsletter) with large amounts of their retirement assets. Having said that, I do like to "try my hand" at different stock investing strategies from time to time, but when I do, I make sure to only bet money that I can afford to lose 100% of. This type of money is called "play money." I speculate with this play money in individual stocks in an online discount brokerage account.In my mind, the two best discount online stock brokerages are Zecco (recently merged with and is now called?TradeKing) and?Sogotrade,?with Sogotrade being slightly more favored by me since they offer cheaper commissions. Sogotrade offers unlimited stock and ETF trading for $3 commission per trade, along with no account maintenance fees or minimums. Tradeking also is very good, offering $4.95 commissions for each trade.?
HEALTH INSURANCE
Luckily, the cost of?Aetna Student Health Insurance?is fully covered through my graduate chemical engineering program. As I've posted about?previously on this site, buying independent health insurance can be extremely expensive, so I'm very grateful that this coverage is provided through my work!Being student health insurance, it's not necessarily the most comprehensive, especially compared to the coverage I had with the company I worked with prior to coming to graduate school. For example, you pretty much HAVE to go visit the student health center on campus prior to seeing any other doctor or specialist. This isn't too bad I suppose, but it is slightly restrictive. Even so, the coverage has satisfied my needs thus far while in graduate school.
LAPTOP COMPUTER
As you can imagine, all of the things related to my personal finances that I've discussed so far have been electronically based. Therefore, a good mobile laptop computer is required for me to ferry back and forth each day to the lab where I work in graduate school. The laptop computer I use is a?Toshiba Satellite L555D-S7930.I purchased the 17" screen laptop over 3 years ago now, and it still works great! The only "finicky" thing about the computer is the charging step. What happens is that about 1 out of every 10 times I plug in the laptop, the battery doesn't recognize that the cord has been inserted, and I have to plug and unplug it several times until it registers.
PRINTER / SCANNER / COPIER
Often times, in my personal finance endeavors, I'll need to email scanned copies of forms carrying my signature for tax/financial account application purposes and print off numerous pages from the Internet in order to learn more about specific topics.In order to accomplish all of these things with one device, I use the?Brother All-in-One DCP7065DN Printer/Copier/Scanner. As the name suggests, it is a double-sided B/W laser printer that also includes scanner and copying purposes. At $150, it was fairly inexpensive for all of the capability that I get with the machine. Additionally, the fact that it is a laser printer drastically reduces my printing costs per page! I would highly recommend. ??
CELL PHONE AND CAR
Ok, so we're getting a little far out here, now describing what type of cell phone and car I use. However, I promised you above that I would be complete!You might think that being a PF blogger, I would definitely have a?high-tech smart-phone. However, I still rock out the?old school Samsung flip-phone with no Internet capability. I can send text messages and make phone calls though! On top of that, I am also able to email myself notes throughout the day if I am somewhere without pen and paper.?Additionally, I use a FREE transcription service through?ifttt.com, which enables me to call a voicemail, leave a message, and then it will automatically convert it to text and email me the transcript and mp3 audio file. Not too shabby for being free, eh!?
For my car, I drive a?2009 Toyota Rav-4, recently upgraded from a 2004 Honda Accord DX. My family is a big fan of cheap, reliable Japanese automobiles, even though most Toyotas are actually made in US plants nowadays!
FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION SYSTEM
To organize all of the hardcopies of my financial documents, I use a?self-created financial filing systemrecommended by David Bach in his excellent book,?Smart Couples Finish Rich. You can read more about ithere.EMAIL / CALENDAR MANAGEMENT
While I am definitely a big fan of Gmail, I choose to manage all of my email and meeting/appointment scheduling through?Microsoft Outlook. Actually, I have a Gmail email address piped in to my Outlook account. It works very nicely because all of my emails and meeting details are automatically backed up and sync'd in the Gmail 'cloud,' while I get to enjoy the good folder organization system that Outlook offers.?TAX PREPARATION
For preparing my taxes each year, I use an?actual accountant?as opposed to an online service, such as H&R Block at Home or TurboTax (both of which are very good programs for the do-it-yourselfer!).ZERO-BASED BUDGET AND NET WORTH TRACKING
In order to?track my net worth?each month and my zero-based budget, I use a simple,?self-created Google Docs spreadsheet. I prefer to track these things manually in spreadsheet format because a lot of the accounts I have are not available in the automated personal finance software programs available, such as?Mint?(free),?Manilla?(free),?SaveUp?(free),?Personal Capital?(free), and?Quicken Home?($). However, if you're looking to make this process a lot quicker, these programs can be a great alternative!?
BOOKS I USED TO CREATE MY OVERALL PERSONAL FINANCE STRATEGY
Personal Finance for Dummies by Eric Tyson, MBA
Looking back on it all, I believe this was the first book I ever read prior to getting in to personal finance. In this book, Eric Tyson us with a very good, high-level look at pretty much every financial topic you could ever need to know about - investing for retirement, mutual funds, retirement accounts, educational funds for your children, insurance, life insurance, car loans, house loans, etc. This is one of those books that I like to keep around the house for the random questions that come up about topics that I forget about since they only come up every year or two (should I have term life insurance?, for example). Definitely worth the money to buy your own copy (used of course).
Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach
Perhaps one of the most memorable movie quotes (to me personally) was the quote by Morgan Freeman in "The Shawshank Redemption" when he said, "Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. That's damn right." I really like this quote because when you think about it, life is really too short to not live it to the fullest.
In David Bach's book, "Smart Couples Finish Rich,"?I found it?very interesting to learn?about the personal finance strategy that he adopts with the people he advises in his financial planning business.?He calls?his strategy?a "Purpose Focused Financial Plan".
Essentially, what the strategy is all about is that people/couples should plan for their specific values and life dreams, as opposed to planning what material possessions are needed for life (can be easily influenced by contemporary culture).?I'd HIGHLY recommend anyone, even single people, to pick up a cheap used copy of this book and read it multiple times!?
BOOKS I USED TO CREATE MY INVESTING STRATEGY?
Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel
In my opinion, this book is the best investment book ever written, and definitely deserves a place on any My Personal Finance Journey followers' book shelf. This is essentially the closest thing to an "investment bible" on the market today.
In this book, Siegel analyzes everything - historical returns on bonds, stocks, mutual funds, the effectiveness of active money management, the performance of the stock market with Democrats vs. Republicans in the presidency, and methods for building an effective portfolio using Modern Portfolio Theory. It is also a great primer for explaining why individual stock selection (or active investing in general) simply does not work in the long term.?
What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know by Larry E. Swedroe
This was another book that I very much enjoyed. From reading this, I really would break this book up in to two sections - the first 250 pages of talk about stock market history and essentially serve to build a case/show evidence for why active stock management is a loser's game. ?The second section (last 150 pages or so) was the most beneficial for me since I already knew a lot about stock market history and the pitfalls of active stock investing. In this section, Swedroe goes about telling how to build a portfolio that will achieve superior returns and lower risk. As was the case with Stocks for the Long Run and A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Swedroe repeatedly emphasizes the use of index mutual funds. The most useful lessons learned in the 2nd part of the book are described below.
1. The method to use for rebalancing a portfolio - using the 5% rule.
2. Describes allocation % targets between REITS, US large, small, and value stock funds, and international stock funds. There is a very handy table that I printed a copy of on page 307. Be sure to get a copy of the book and check out that page!
3. For higher returns, tilt more towards value and small cap stock funds (index funds of course)
4. The idea that a bond fund may indeed not be the best engine for the fixed income portion of your portfolio. Swedroe suggests that nowadays, it is so easy to invest in the actual fixed income security (e.g. t-bills), that it is more cost effective to just go ahead and buy it directly from the source instead of paying for the 0.1% management fee
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel
This is another gem that I would highly recommend for anyone who is a big believer in modern portfolio theory and the?unlikelihood?of beating the market long term by investing in individual stocks.
Like most books of it's kind, the first part of the book is dedicated to proving that the market moves randomly, and that it is not possible to beat the market by buying and selling individual stocks or relying on active mutual fund management. One thing that I really like is how it takes the time to analyze the performance of both technical and fundamental analysis and how it compares to the performance of a mutual fund that matches the market indices.
The last 100 pages or so are where this book really makes itself worth the purchase. It describes in detail approximate target asset allocations for different age groups. For example, for mid-twenty year olds like myself, it recommends 5% cash, 20% bonds (5% of portfolio should be TIPS), 65% stocks (of this, 2/3 should be domestic, 1/3 should be international stocks with good exposure to emerging markets), and 10% real estate. As you can see, this goes in to a lot more detail about target asset allocations than the asset allocation calculators available on the Internet.
Another couple of key points that Malkiel discusses in part 2 of this book are 1) tax-managed funds for taxable accounts and 2) investing in the Wilshire index vs. the S&P 500.
1) Malkiel brings up the point that it is better to invest in Tax-managed mutual funds that fund houses offer if the account is taxable. This is a good idea for people that have more money at hand I believe. However, for myself, since my money is fairly limited, I do not have the $10,000 initial principal required to buy a tax managed mutual fund.
2) Malkiel also reinforces the important point that one should try to invest in the Wilshire 2000 index instead of the S&P500 index if you can only afford to have a limited number of funds in your account. The reason for this is simple: the Wilshire index represents a broader range of stocks, ranging from small cap to large cap, throughout the US markets. Therefore, this gives an investor more diversification than an S&P500 fund, since the 500 companies in the S&P are only very large cap stocks.
The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein
This was one of the first books I read on asset allocation and index mutual fund investing several years ago. It really was what got me interested in learning more about how it all works.
One of the things that I like about this book is that it dedicates more time to explaining how to build a portfolio vs. spending half of the book explaining why to invest in index mutual funds instead of active management. It goes in to a lot of detail about the different specific options of mutual funds available to an investor in each asset size/class.
It even goes as far as to address how to best approach investing, starting with say $1000 (when you can't afford to have 10 mutual funds). It then details how you build a portfolio piece by piece as you accumulate money over the years.
Highly recommended for a first book to read in learning to invest!
The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read by Daniel Solin
This is a great little book (170 pages and a very quick read at that!) that basically grazes over all of the topics in the books of Stocks for the Long Run and A Random Walk Down Wall Street. However, Solin keeps it to the high level view of things, and doesn't delve in to the details that the others do. So, it's good for getting a general message across, begin to set up your investing system with index mutual fund, find your correct asset allocation, and learn why stock brokers and active money management do not work!
The Intelligent Asset Allocator by William Bernstein
This is another great title from Mr. Berstein that addresses how to build and maintain a successful portfolio of index mutual funds. It has a nice section that addresses the importance of portfolio rebalancing as well. I especially also like the section of the book that describes in detail each of the recommended funds from the Vanguard fund family along with whether that fund should be held in a taxable or tax-shelter account.
Another very neat aspect of this book is the long list of investment resources at the end. Definitely worth taking a look at!
How about you all? What is your favorite personal finance account, tool, or book?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
Source: http://www.mypersonalfinancejourney.com/2013/01/personal-finance-books-tools-accounts.html
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