WHAT’S YOUR ANNUAL HEALTH INSURANCE COST INCREASE?: I just got my annual benefits package from my employer–I’m looking at an increase of 15% this year, though I’m not going to complain since I’m only paying $205 every two weeks, and you can do a lot worse than that. If you want to see how others are doing there’s a Fatwallet thread here where everybody’s posting their numbers, and you’re of course welcome to post your numbers in the comments below.
FREE WALL STREET JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTION: Courtesy of My Money Blog, here’s a free 26-week subscription to the WSJ. It’s offered by RewardsGold.com, the same site that offered that free BusinessWeek subscription a while back. I have no idea what their business model is, all I know is I filled out some basic info and I now have a BusinessWeek subscription. Ladies and gentlemen, the internet!
WOULD YOU LIVE IN A HOTEL?: Over at One Mile at a Time, there’s an interesting discussion on the pros and cons of living in a hotel.
IPAD SALES DECLINING: This was a surprise to me, as I’m not used to seeing “Apple” and “sales decline” in the same sentence:
“NEED-BLIND” COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: The latest shocking revelation from the sordid world of college financing:
Less than a month after George Washington University began construction of an enormous $130 million “Super Dorm,” the D.C. university admitted today that its admissions office had deliberately lied for several years about whether the school considered applicants’ financial need when assessing their fitness for admission.
The University admitted publicly for the first time Friday that it puts hundreds of undergraduate applicants on its waitlist each year because they cannot pay GW’s tuition.
Administrators now say the admissions process has always factored in financial need. But that contradicts messaging from the admissions and financial aid offices that, as recently as Saturday, have regularly attested that the University remained need-blind.
The real shock here is that anybody is surprised by this. If the controversy over paying college athletes has shown one thing, it’s that colleges and universities are effectively for-profit institutions, except instead of going to shareholders the profits are re-invested in the schools… and in the administrators’ pockets, of course.
The “non-profit” rot isn’t limited to colleges, either. A German bishop recently made headlines by building himself a $42 million house, while here in my hometown a local pastor named Steven Furtick built himself a 16,000 square foot home for $1.7 million. Naturally, the church refused to reveal how much Furtick is paid. Oh, and Goodwill has numerous people making mid-six figures.
GOOD PRESS FOR PFD: In the interest of shameless self-promotion, I would like to point out that yours truly was quoted in a creditcards.com article. And Saverocity was named to the prestigious “Blogs I Like” list over at TravelBloggerBuzz–way to go, Matt! The “Blogs I Love” list is also worth a look.
That’s all for this week, have a great weekend!
We’re heading for the big time! If only we had made it onto the blogs George loves rather than has a passing fancy for I think we could have all hung up our hats and called it a day…
Congratulations on the press quote!