In today’s NY Post slugged ‘its basically impossible to find a rental in Manhattan’ we are alerted to an average rent of $4,081. This comes on the heels of the SFChronicle announcing $3,458 being the average for the Bay Area. These headlines may (I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt) be factually correct, but I […]
Dealing with Financial Services complaints (Part 2)
This is a guest post by the secret lover of Elizabeth Warren, and the second installment of ‘Dealing with Financial Services complaints’. Start with Part 1 here if you missed it. How to Complain / get your rights Even before you start your complain process, 2 critical things that you should think about: how were you […]
Dealing with Financial Services Complaints (Part 1)
This is a guest post by Elizabeth Warren’ s secret lover. Enjoy! What do the following scenarios have in common? When applying for a mortgage, you are asked to close a specific credit card with the mortgage company rep on the line Your Paypal accounts got shutdown or frozen with hundreds of dollars that you are […]
Dropping the iPhone 5 for the Moto X
I recently tested a Moto X from Republic Wireless, and was so impressed that before getting around to writing this review I have already bought one from them. I’ll be buying the second as soon as I am free from the chains of my old AT&T contract, which happens next month. In the 5 years […]
Is there enough regulation within Electronic Finance Frontier?
I was speaking recently with someone who was seeking to leverage credit card arbitrage to reduce monthly HELOC balances. He was wondering if his plan to leverage the monthly interest free cycle of a credit card and use those funds to offset his HELOC balance was sound. In essence it was, but I suggested that […]
Save Money with Apartment Group Rates for Cable/Internet
I cut the cord on Cable back when I thought it would be a cool blog post, and I like to practice what I preach, and somehow have managed to survive with a mix of Hulu and meditation. However, I can’t live without internet, and today found out that yet again, I have been over […]
Chasing Alpha – how to optimize cash investments to beat the market
This post was motivated by two very different conversations that I have had in the past week. The first was an idiotic approach to Emergency Funds that people told me was savvy, and the second was a chat about returns from bank bonuses. What I like about keeping the conversation on the emergency fund/loose cash […]
Small Victories – changing habits one step at a time
I recently spoke with the Director of the Pro Bono Committee for the Financial Planning Association of New York, and we shared some stories on volunteering. The Pro Bono committee is a fantastic group of people who go out into the community to help support the vulnerable by providing financial education to them. It has […]
Flat Fees and Percentages
Maybe this is obvious to you, but a core part of pricing strategies and profitability is how a fee is built into a sales price. Even though it may be no surprise, understanding this concept better, and internalizing these pricing strategies can save you considerable amounts of money, and allow you to negotiate like a […]
Financial Boat Drill – what to do in the event of a real emergency
I hate boat drill. It’s that time when on a cruise, just after you have got to your cabin and are ready to plop yourself down on a deck chair with a whopping portion of ice-cream and a bucket of beer that an alarm sounds, and you must go to your muster station.Life Boat Drill […]