This week I celebrate freedom: 我考完试! I’ve finished my exams, and my evenings are wide open once again. I’m not completely satisfied, because I realized that I studied a bit too much of one area and not enough of another when doing the test, and our oral group completely got our asses kicked by the Cantonese in the class (though others still say that we were funny and good)… nonetheless, I had fun during this class, and I’m probably going to take some time during the holidays to review everything that I’ve learned, so that it sticks.
Posts of the week
- Is Low Fat Yogurt Really That Good for You? – Is it better to eat low-fat yogurt? Not necessarily… have you looked at the ingredients list lately?
- 3 Unconventional Investment Moves to Make in 2011 – What could be the best investment moves to make in 2011? Well, nobody can know for sure, but in the spirit of challenging conventional thinking, here is my guess at three unconventional moves to make that could pay off. This article was mentioned at The Globe and Mail; thanks to Rob Carrick @ The Globe and Mail for the feature.
- Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland – This was part of a Christmas writing experiment at First Gen American.
- Book Review: The Great Credit Contraction – This is a review of the book by Trace Mayer, J.D., which covers the idea of the ongoing credit contraction, what it means for us, and the role that gold plays in all of this.
Giveaways
The Financial Blogger is celebrating four years of blogging with an iPad giveaway!
Weekend Reading
- How Banks are Fleecing You with a Smile (Beating The Index)
- This is a funny post on how financial advisors pat you on the back with one hand and smile, while stealing from your wallet with the other…
- 7 Dividend Stocks With Fantastic Balance Sheets (Dividend Monk)
- Looking for a nice dividend stock with a great balance sheet? The dividend monk has 7 recommendations.
- A Panhandling Story (101 Centavos)
- This is a great story by 101 Centavos on helping out those in need.
- Am I A Financial Hypocrite? (Roshawn Watson)
- Is he?
- Bar Stool Economics (The Biz of Life)
- The Grouch shares this entertaining story about a group of drinkers at a bar and redistributive policies.
- Don’t lighten your wallet with inefficient bulbs (Sustainable Personal Finance)
- This post makes the case for CFL bulbs. I personally prefer incandescents for indoor lighting; check this thread from Frugal Zeitgeist and read the comments for more info. Still, I think they can be decent options for say, outdoor lighting and places like that where lighting quality isn’t really an issue.
- Getting $10,000,000 and Losing It All. Proof Money Does Not Always Buy Happiness (Everyday Tips and Thoughts)
- Landing into a windfall of money can sometimes be a curse, depending on your temperament and the vultures surrounding you!
- How I Prioritize My Finances (The Amateur Financier)
- The Amateur Financier tells us how he prioritizes his finances.
- I Almost Became Famous (DIY Investor)
- This is a quite interesting post about the effect that both luck & skill can have on one’s investment adventures.
- Project management and personal finance parallels (My Own Advisor)
- My Own Advisor shares the parallels he sees between project management and personal finance.
- Should You Give Money to Beggars and Homeless? (Get Happy Life)
- Here’s another interesting story on giving to the homeless.
Further reading
- 3 Poor Savings Habits and 4 Tips on How to Overcome Them (Spruce Up Your Finances)
- 45% Couldn’t Last More Than A Month If Laid Off (The Wise Buck)
- Discussing active asset allocation using ETFs with Terry Shaunessy of Shaunessy Investment Counsel (Investing Thesis)
- Don’t Let Your Vehicle Get Caught Out In The Cold! (Buy Like Buffett)
- Figuring Out How Much You Need for Retirement (Personal Dividends)
- Health Tips | Boosting your brain, living longer, and why dark chocolate is good for you (KurzweilAI.net)
- How To Select A Financial Advisor (Andrew Hallam)
- Nasa new life form (Frugal Zeitgeist)
- Preparing for a One-Income Household (Canadian Finance Blog)
- Stop Making Paper and Start Making Things: Bill Gross (Balance Junkie)
- The Value of Gold (FOFOA)
- War Machines: Recruiting Robots for Combat (New York Times)
- Vick living on meager budget to pay back creditors (The ¢entsible life)
My roundup includes sites that mentioned Invest It Wisely over the past week; thanks for including me, and please let me know if I forgot to mention you!
I am grateful for all of the great commentary, feedback, and mentions that I get from each and every one of you, and I greatly appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by, and if ever you have any questions or feedback, just let me know!
There is no video of the week this week due to a lack of viewing. Hope you are all enjoying the weekend. 🙂
Thanks for the mention Kevin and congrats on finishing the course! Studying mandarin requires a lot of bravery 🙂
Haha, nah… but perhaps some determination and perseverance!
Thanks for the mention. My brother is in China right now for a two week trip both for business and pleasure. He’s staying at his friends house there to save money as well. He’d like to study Cantonese or Mandarin when he comes back.
Mandarin would definitely be cool especially if he goes there on business! He must be having a blast over there…
Hey Kevin, what are you suggesting??? Thanks for the link… I think JK!
😛
Thanks for the mention once again Kevin!
Glad to help! 🙂
Once again Kevin, thanks for the mention and keep up the great work!
Mark from My Own Advisor
Will try. 😉
Thanks for the mention.
Np, Biz!
I watched your video last week 🙂
You can practice with your girlfriend, right? Does she speak Cantonese or Mandarin?
Cantonese is a super hard language to learn (most people find Mandarin easier, I think), so good on ya!
Yep Cantonese is probably harder, but the Cantonese people in my class definitely have a leg up on me. My girlfriend is Taiwanese, but born and raised in Canada, so while she can speak Mandarin, the pronunciation is a bit different and her writing is not as strong. She can still help me though, agreed, when she doesn’t make fun of me. 😛
Kevin,
Glad to hear you’ll have some free time. I remember those days well.
Thanks for the mention.
Mike
Until I enter into the next course or MBA. 😉
Wow, color me impressed. Mandarin is super extra hard. I can only manage hello, thank you, and cold beer please. Thanks for linking to my post!
It’s mainly the writing that can be really tricky, but the speaking isn’t so bad. The grammar is simpler than English!
Thanks for the link, and what a fantastic roundup!
Thanks, Kris!
Thanks for the link! Congrats on the Daily Crux inclusion!
Thanks, Mark!
Congrats Kevin, just relax now and don’t be dissatisfied, sure learn from it but concentrate on the good.
About the first post you linked, those yoghurts are full of crap so great one to link! The words LOW FAT, REDUCED FAT are like giant red lights saying stay away. We need fat in our diet so I don’t know why everyone is so scared of it, take it from Yoghurt, a little cheese or non-dairy sources if you are dairy free and stay away from the big macs and fries and all should be fine.
I agree 100%! The whole “let’s replace fat with refined sugar and sucralose” thing is retarded. Why not just eat some fruits with that yogurt if you have a sweet tooth? 😉
Kevin,
Well done on the class completion. And good luck with the book give-a-way. I’m so impressed by the quality of your blog. It’s truly superb. It’s hard to imagine how busy you must have been lately, with working, blogging and studying.
Thanks, Andrew! Well, that’s why in part I have a bunch of comments to catch up and why you might not have seen me around as much…. but I’m catching up on all of that now! 🙂
Congrats on finishing up your courses! Doesn’t it feel AWESOME to have your evenings back again? I went to bschool on Saturdays for 3 long years.. now, it’s like very weekend is an extended VACATION!
Thanks, Sam! It definitely feels like I have a lot of free time in the evenings, now! It’s funny in a way…
Did they pay off in the long run, Sam?