The illusion of control: Our compulsion to do something

February 2, 2010
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Take charge, seize the day, lose money If you’re stopping by from the Carnival of Personal Finance at Get Rich Slowly, welcome! Thank you for coming. Be sure to check out my other pop art. And hopefully, you’ll like what you see enough to subscribe! Have you heard about how much money you can make [...]

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Paralysis and other effects of distrust

January 28, 2010
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Hey! So it turns out I have double the reason to greet people today. First, hello to everyone from Consumerism Commentary! I really enjoyed writing that guest post for Flexo and am glad if it compelled you to stop by. Please remember to subscribe if you like what you see. And check out the gallery [...]

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Sumo-sized emergency funds: Are they necessary?

January 22, 2010
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Or, “Unemployment Benefits: Family Style” O.K., you need an emergency fund — let’s get that out of the way. Having cash for minor catastrophes, like a catalytic converter that goes kaput or the high deductible on a medical bill, is essential. This story isn’t about that. But lately, I’ve been questioning the conventional wisdom as [...]

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What investment return should you plan for?

January 18, 2010
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If you’re visiting from MSN’s Smart Spending blog, welcome! I’m really glad you’re here. Pop Economics is all about making complex money topics fun and interesting, and there’s no better way to keep up with our content (and killer artwork) than by subscribing! You can also sign up for e-mail updates on the right-hand side [...]

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Why crazy people rule the market, and how you can profit from it

January 14, 2010
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Welcome visitors from the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Million Dollar Journey! I’m honored to have you here and hope you enjoy your look around. Remember to subscribe if you like what you see. And make sure you check out today’s post, on why the “10% rate of return” on stocks is hogwash. P.S. [...]

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Crystal ball: Mortgage rates will rise in March

January 11, 2010
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Usually, there’s no telling where rates will go. But thanks to our federal government’s gazillion-dollar bailout of the capital markets, I (with the help of a few economists) can make a pretty good guess at what’s going to happen to rates in the next couple months. If you just want the answer and what to [...]

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The search for altruism

January 7, 2010
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The games economists play If you’re a college grad (or even in college now), you’ve probably seen tons of ads calling for volunteers for various experiments. When I was in school, I never took my professors up on it. Twenty bucks didn’t seem worth the two-mile trek to where an experiment was conducted, and if [...]

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2010: The Year of Euthanasia?

January 4, 2010
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No one expected it to come to this. Sure, 2010 was going to be the year of the Roth conversion. Congress created that loophole on purpose, hoping that they’d get a huge tax windfall from rich folks rushing to convert. But now, after economists and financial planners spent the whole year predicting otherwise, Congress is [...]

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Welcome to Pop Economics

January 1, 2010
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Now we’re all underwater. The year 2009 was chock full of economic events that you probably didn’t care for. Right now, on NBC’s New Year’s broadcast, Carson Daly is telling me that there’s reason for optimism for 2010, with the stock market turning around and all. I don’t know about you, but I’m not one [...]

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