One of the niftiest book websites ever

http://growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain/books_literature/index.html

 

Disturbing words lead to arrest

Straight-A student arrested for essay that disturbed teacher:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070425essay,1,696682.story?ctrack=3&cset=true

 

Fool School

See this site on investing.

And below is some random financial advice I emailed my siblings (for whatever it’s worth):

Never carry a balance on credit cards. Pay off every month. Credit card companies exist only to screw you over.If you can, shop around for a card that has little or no fee, and has bonuses like airmiles or cash back. Make them give you something rather than the other way around.

Try to put $1000 per year away in a Roth IRA, starting now. That’s less than $100 a month. If you can’t do that much, then do something, b/c it’s better something than nothing.

For info on Roth IRAs, see here:http://polycrit.wordpress.com/2006/08/02/have-you-opened-a-roth-ira/

It’s scary ridiculous how much compound interest on even $1000 a year adds up to after just a few years. I wish I’d invested earlier [cut and paste follows]Let’s say you invest $1,000 a year, earning an average of 8 percent. After 10 years, you would have contributed $10,000, and your account balance would have grown to $14,487. After 10 years, the annual earnings on your account would exceed your $1,000 in yearly contributions (assuming you can maintain an 8 percent annual return on investment). By the 15th year, your total account earnings would almost equal your contributions. And, after 25 years, your account earnings would be double your contributions to that point.For a savings account, consider INGDirect.com or HSBC online — unlike your standard bank (e.g., Arvest), you can get interest that’s slightly above the inflation rate. My ING Direct account is around 4.5%, while my bank offered a savings account rate of something like .5%, if even. That was a joke, so I closed that account promptly once I found out about ING. It’s a good idea to keep some cash readily accessible in savings as an emergency fund, especially the more independent you get. You never know when something might happen, and having 2-3 months of expenses covered before having to dip into credit is a necessity.For long term investment, consider an index fund rather than any one or two stocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_fund   Less risky than one or two stocks, and little to no broker’s fees as opposed to standard mutual funds.

Don’t buy new cars. Shop around and buy a good used one. New cars depreciate so fast that it’s not worth it. (by the way, property tax on my 47-yr old car last year? $5.00) (not that I’m advocating buying an antique car — mine is a hobby as much as it is a daily driver, and though it’s not depreciating and probably is actually appreciating, it takes a bit more $$ and effort to keep up than a 10-year old Honda would) Another thing about used cars — insurance will be less, especially if you are in a position to forego high comprehensive and collision coverage — retaining liability, of course. For more on that, see here: http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/Used_Car_Insurance

Buy used stuff that you need when it’s not necessary to get new stuff — Buy your underwear new. However, there’s a hell of a lot of good deals out there on craigslist.org and ebay.com and abebooks.com for stuff besides undies. (save money on books for school and pleasure at abebooks.com, amazon.com used sellers, and half.com)

Read the fine print — it may look like a great deal on ebay, but how much is shipping?  Good question to ask.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Cum grano salis. (hint, it’s not naughty — it’s Latin) (as is Caveat Emptor)

 

Have you opened a Roth IRA?

You should really consider it.  Man, I wish I’d started investing even $1000 a year back when I was 20.  This stuff adds up.

 On Roth IRAs at INGDirect.com:

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/personal-finance/to-do-open-a-roth-ira-at-ing-directcom-156683.php

 

Graduate Study in Environmental and Urban Geosciences

I’m thinking of applying for this program next spring:

 http://www.umkc.edu/umkc/catalog-grad/html/as/geo-sc/9999.html

I find that I’m getting more and more interested in urban planning and sustainability.  I can trace this interest back to an undergraduate sociology course (sophomore or junior year?) I had called “Images of the City,” which not only looked at the impact of skyscrapers and urban landscapes on the ways we live, but also had an overview of attempts by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier to design livable urban areas.  One of the texts was Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262560232/102-5834303-4575342?v=glance&n=283155.