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Weekly Roundup – On My Own Edition

Written by Nickel - 3 Comments

This past week, I decided to part ways with the MoneyBlogNetwork. It was a completely amicable separation — I just decided that it was time for a change — and I wish them all the best. And with that, it’s time for a quick trip around the personal finance blogosphere…

Flexo provided firsthand evidence that you should never (ever!) expose short-term money to the stock market. In short, he dumped some cash into a charitable gift fund with the intention of disbursing it later this year. Unfortunately, he put it in a broad market index fund and it’s dropped 20%.
Jim talked about how to get out of jury duty. I’ve never actually been called for jury duty (knock on wood), but this was an interesting read nonetheless.
Trent talked about the dangers of rewarding children for normal behavior. Honestly, I think that his point goes far beyond material rewards. Far too often, my wife and I hear parents lavishing praise on their children for doing the most mundane things. While it’s important to be a positive influence in your child’s life, there’s no need to go overboard with congratulations for simply living life.
Jeremy warned against compounding your investment losses. As I’ve said in the past, it’s important stay the course, and avoid trying to time the market.
Finally, Ron has some great tips for getting ‘back to basics‘ in the face of our current financial crisis. It’s simple, really… Start living within your means, paying off your debts, and saving for the future.

And with that… I hope you all have a great week!

Published on September 28th, 2008 - 3 Comments
Filed under: Link Love

About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

3 Responses to “Weekly Roundup – On My Own Edition”

1
Ben Says:
October 1st, 2008 at 7:07 am
Being the father of two boys, nearly 6 and a few months shy of 4, I always verbally acknowledge, in a positive and polite manner without going slavishly overboard, them when they do things like take their dirty dishes to the sink without having been prompted by me. Small things like this greatly help building a harmonious family IMHO.

My stepfather used a harsh carrot and stick approach with me (i.e. pocket money and comics were always tied into making me complete household chores) and over a decade and a half of this treatment made me vow to myself that when I became a father I would stay well clear of his disciplinary style.

Over the top external motivational devices robs children of the chance to build a sense of internally motivated discipline.

Cheers
2
KYm Says:
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 am
your posts are still showing up on MoneyBlogNetwork as of today. just thought you should know
3
nickel Says:
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:38 am
Thanks Kym, I’m sure it just a matter of time before that’s rectified.

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