Welcome to the Curious Cat Investing and Economics Carnival: we highlight recent personal finance, investing and economics blog posts I found interesting.
- “New Normal” math: How your investing plans must change – “I don’t think the implications of changing stocks’ rate of return from 10% to 5% have sunk in. We acknowledge that stock returns will be poor, and yet all of our retirement advice – save 10% of your income… withdraw 4% in retirement – stays the same.”
- Manufacturing Output as a Percent of GDP by Country by John Hunter – “For the 14 biggest manufacturing countries in 2008, the overall manufacturing GDP percentage was 23.7% of GDP in 1980 and dropped to 17% in 2008… USA economy dropped from 21% in 1980 to 18% in 1990, 16% in 2000 and 13% in 2008.”
- Masters of Earning More – “Ben actually loves his full-time job, but still freelances on the side. Earning more isn’t just for people who hate their job or are in severe credit-card debt. He freelances because he enjoys it.”
- Five plays on the China Middle Class Explosion by Cody Willard – “The middle class in China now stands at nearly 25% of the population (which is 50 million new members a year!).”
- Who Educates The Investors? by Bill Waddell – “Who would want to listen to the insights of someone concerning a manufacturing investment who knows so little about the current state of manufacturing that he thinks Toyota introduced lean to reduce working capital over a five year period?”
- Refinance Now, If You Can by David Weliver – “If you currently owe $200,000 on your mortgage at 5.75%, refinancing could save you more than $100 a month on your payment and reduce the interest you pay over the life of the loan.” (rates are down a bit more since this example was posted – John)
- A Cheap Internet Stock With High Dividend Yield – “stock offers an impressive 6.8% dividend yield and yet the stock only trades at 5x consensus 2011 earnings estimates.”
- Personal Finance Basics: Avoid Debt by John Hunter – “Debt is often toxic to personal financial success. The simple step you can take to avoid the problems many face is to just not buy things until you save up for them. If you want some new shoes or new Droid Incredible or to go see a football game (American or World Cup style) that is fine. Just save up the money and then spend it.”
Related: Curious Cat investing articles – Curious Cat Investing and Economics Custom Search Engine – Curious Cat Investing and Economics Carnival #5