Monday, 9th October 2006 (by J.D.)
This article is about
Spare Change
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An argument against the obsession with the “Latte Factor”. Sent in by a GRS reader.
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This guide is UK based, but the concepts apply to the US, too. Sent in by a GRS reader.
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Cap’s right when he says we need to accept personal responsibility for our actions. But I think he’s wrong when he says “It’s as simple as that.” It’s not simple. Advertising exists to manipulate people; young people often lack basic financial education;
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October 9th, 2006 at 8:44 am
I LOVE Guy Kawasaki! Wish I would have read The Art of the Start before I launched my first business instead of afterward! LOL Very practical, a must read for anyone thinking about starting a business!
October 9th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Advertising does not exist to manipulate people. In its simplest form, advertising makes people aware of a possible solution for a need they have. Lots of advertising is manipulative… but then, there’s plenty that isn’t, too. The problem is that we allow ourselves to be manipulated even by things that aren’t particularly persuasive. We know damned well that nothing Taco Bell makes really looks that good, but we go anyway. Blaming ads is as bad as blaming your credit cards; they don’t make you do anything. They’re just a temptation. The hard part is, as with just about everything else in life, resisting the temptation.
As an aside, didn’t there used to be a way to link directly to NY Times stories without the login thing? BugMeNot seems to be down and I really don’t want to have to register just to read that.
October 9th, 2006 at 9:29 am
New York Times Link Generator:
http://nytimes.blogspace.com/genlink
although for some articles (including the one here) it cannot generate a link.
October 9th, 2006 at 9:33 am
A-ha! I just plugged the full title, in quotes, into Google and got Google to do it for me. Their link into the Times articles through Google News apparently bypasses registration. So, if anybody else wants to look without the rigamarole, that seems to work.
October 9th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
As to the mortgages article: while the basic concepts are the same (a loan is a loan is a loan, right?) there are a *lot* of differences in detail, terminology, and practice between UK and US mortgages.
The list of questions at the end are fairly universal, but the body of the article is very specific to the UK mortgage industry.
(For example, note the comment angrily accusing the poster of misdescribing fixed-rate mortgages. Not so: in the UK mortgages very rarely have the rate fixed for the entire term, as they do in the US. Rather, a mortgage typically offers an introductory period of a few years at either a fixed rate, a discounted rate, or a capped rate before reverting to the lender’s standard variable rate — sometimes with a further lock-in period before the borrower can remortgage to a new deal.)
So, good for the basics, but watch out for the details! It’d be interesting to read an introductory guide to US mortgages — particularly for me as a transplant to the US, but also for anyone who’s starting out and confused. (For example: what are points?)