(allegedly coined by Brian O’Driscoll, captain of the Ireland Rugby team)
TILE’s take: It’s important to know your financial facts, but it’s even more important to figure out how apply them to your own life.
Check out this Newsweek article about Branson’s new hobby.
Watch out, climate change. The businessmen are coming for you.
photo credit: FlyingSinger
“Let’s assume the odds [of climate disaster] were only 50/50. If you have a 50 percent chance of getting knocked over by a car crossing the road, you’re going to take out insurance, or you’re not going to cross the road.”
and:
“I think the world is moving much more to a world where the business community has to work closely with governments in helping them get a lot of problems resolved. And I’m a strong believer that business should be a force for good, not just a money-making machine for its shareholders.”
Sounds like socially-responsible investing to us.
What’s a few billion here and there?
Click to see the whole image.
“You’re probably not doing things right unless the other people in your world are at least slightly uncomfortable with some way in which you’re challenging its assumptions.” – Conor Friedersdorf
Did you see this Style profile of 19-year-old New York debutante Hadley Marie Nagel? She’s kind of amazing, with skills (skeet shooting?) and interests (like lobbying for a James Madison monument on the National Mall) all over the map. Being wealthy allows her to pursue these activities, and apparently to throw awesome dinner parties.
But according to Mr. Friedersdorf (who unfortunately gets Hadley’s name wrong in his opinion piece), having a lot of skills and interests won’t necessarily win you a good life. Important decisions about career and family are more complicated than having a sparkling resume, he says.
Having wealth and connections can score you all kinds of opportunities, and we think you’d be crazy not to take advantage of them. But those advantages can also lead you down a path that’s just not “you.” So before you start making the big decisions, do a gut check. Do you really want this, or do you think someone else wants it for you? (Or for themselves, for that matter.)
A monopoly is a company that has control over all sales and distribution of a product – to the extent that no other company can compete with it. For example, if your cable or utility companies are the only sellers of their service and you can’t really choose another company to buy from, they hold a monopoly on that particular service. Remember the game Monopoly? The goal was to own EVERYTHING.
Click to see the whole story.
Credit: apium
Sticking to a budget is more or less like sticking to a diet: It sucks, and you’re almost guaranteed to fail.
BUT! There’s another way. With a few simple tricks, you can take control of your spending and avoid feeling guilty all the time. Here’s what Tara Siegel Bernard from the New York Times has to say:
Best Quote:
“Ultimately, what we want our money to be is an energy source. It should help us get somewhere or do something.” – Amanda Clayman, Financial Therapist (only in New York!)
This guy followed a single $10 bill as it changed hands across Middle America. It’s amazing how far and how fast the bill traveled, but what’s more amazing is that people actually let this writer follow them around until they used the bill to pay for something. Which was sometimes days later.
Click to read: http://bit.ly/eO3hhB
We wonder if “maths” includes personal finance?
Daily chart: which country has the cleverest kids? Since 2000 the OECD has tested school pupils in rich countries every three years on reading, mathematics and science. This year, students in Shanghai topped the chart in each discipline.
“Another perspective on the “american education is better than you think” is that many countries test young and track kids into special schools and into specific skill sets. For say, in Germany, one kid may go into a trade skill job and the other may go to school to prep for college. The USA treats every. single. kid. like he or she is college track, and we’re actually KILLING OFF vocational/trade programs. It’s senseless.”
What do you think? Should we be preparing every child in America for college instead of investing in vocational schools for students that are interested in them?