September 2021 sees a special edition of my link roundup. In July, I read John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
The book was a little heavy on guilt for my taste, but was otherwise quite compelling. He suggested or cited most of these sources, except the last couple.
Enjoy this guest post from David of NeighborhoodWeek.org! A quick Google search tells me that places like Auckland and Yunnan Province (in China) are still experiencing lockdowns for COVID. So, unfortunately, this advice is still timely.
Take it away, David:
Practical Financial Management Tips
to Survive the Pandemic
No one needs to tell you that we’re living in uncertain times. Along with the health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, countless Americans are experiencing changes in their income. While each family’s situation is unique, you can take some general steps to help you make it through the pandemic on a solid financial footing.
The Froogal Stoodent shares some tips to consider for your situation.
The Best-Performing Asset Classes
If you’re like me, you’re wondering what the best investments are.
It’s easy to find a lot of opinion, but not a whole lot of hard facts.
Articles abound on websites like Forbes, CNBC, and even Morningstar—but they ended up confusing me. They compare only a couple asset classes, and they frequently refer to different timeframes. For example, they look at the past 10 years for the S&P 500, the past 7 years for value stocks, and the past 13 years for growth stocks.
How am I supposed to make sense of that gibberish? I’m not looking for a load of blather; I want facts! Comparable, unbiased, non-cherry-picked facts. Is that really so hard?
Apparently, it is!...
I’ve had to do a lot of research to find some reliable numbers that can be compared. I got a great start with Paul Merriman’s excellent website, especially this set of charts [PDF].
While Merriman’s data was very helpful, I wanted data on more asset classes than the ones provided on that set of charts. I want all the asset classes!
How else are you supposed to make an informed decision?...
