Weekend Reading: May 15, 2010

I’ve been spending some more time in the past couple of days reading other people’s posts and commentary, so the weekend reading is coming a little bit later this week. I have some interesting ideas and questions in my mind that have come from this reading:

• What moves do you make in an immoral economic environment? When can an intuitive response actually be harmful?
• We live in an age of increasing technological superiority. Past lifespans and life trends should not be extrapolated into the future. When lifespans are potentially indefinite and lives are extremely mobile, how does this affect your financial plan?
• Non convertible fiat currency is slowly being exposed for the sham it is, not because of operational concerns (inflation, etc…) but because people are slowly tiring of performing for the circus master. Where do we go from here?

Here is your weekend reading:

Beating the Index: I Fired My Financial Planner

Mich, I wanted to link to a specific post, but your hosting sucks! I keep getting 500 internal server error, and this isn’t the first time this has happened. Ok, now that Mich’s hosting is back up, here’s the post I wanted to show you guys: Mich talks about what happens when you are ignored by a professional who doesn’t have the time of day for you.

My Financial Objectives: Debt Snowball RESULTS!

Ditto! Now that his site is back online as well, My Financial Objectives has some great results to share.

Financial Sense University: Inflation; A positive development for the astute investor

Sol Palha of Tactical Investor examines how to take advantage of inflation. Although the analysis is missing a couple of key items (taxes on nominal gains, real asset deflation), it is still an interesting read.

Andrew Hallam: Financial crisis—time to panic?

Andrew Hallam recounts history and brings some wisdom to the table, showing why dark clouds ahead can be a good thing in a sense.

Lifestyle Shock: Most Inspiring 10 Minutes in a Long Time

This is a good, inspirational compilation of clips on Will Smith; well worth watching.

InsightFULL Blog: Is your bad posture sabotaging your success? And how to fix it.

As an office worker, I can relate!

Singularity Hub: Stephen Wolfram is Computing a Theory of Everything (video)

The guy who brought us Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha is now working on a grand theory of the universe.

Kitco: Gary Dorsch: Greek Wildfire Engulfs the Euro in Flames, buoys Gold

Commentary about the recent market turmoil.

Kitco: Jon Nadler: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Jon Nadler also chimes in with his commentary.

The Star: Vending machine dispenses pure gold

This is just cool… only in the middle east!

The Wealth Artisan: Creating Space Series: Relationships

The Wealth Artisan touches on the topic of relationships and finance, and why it is important to work together as a team.

The Wise Buck: The Greece Mess – why we should care and what we can learn from it.

This is an interesting guest post by Mr Credit Card on The Wise Buck about the current mess in Greece.

Frugal Zeitgeist: Does A Minimalist Lifestyle Breed Laziness?

Forest at Frugal Zeitgeist wonders if a minimalist lifestyle breeds laziness. I think that humans, like any other optimizing system, seek the lowest-cost (in terms of effort) route. It was crucial to our survival back when food was scarce. I don’t think it matters too much if it breeds laziness or not, as long as you’re happy with yourself and not making others unhappy.

7 Million 7 Years: The Myth Of Saving Your Way To Retirement …

Adrian takes a jab at conventional wisdom and all of the frugal savers out there. While I disagree with the headline (there is no myth here), he does make a point that more risks need to be taken if you want to move beyond “comfortable” and into “wealthy”. On the other hand, reducing your expenses doesn’t hurt, either.

PF Firewall: How to Boost Your Saving Power

Four good tips on how to boost your future savings power.

See you guys next week.