Good Stuff from Around the Web (and a Question for You)

Here are some worthwhile articles I've seen lately that I don't have time to write a whole post about:

• Lending to a friend? Look out - My advice: don't do it. I'd GIVE a friend/relative money way before I'd lend it to them.

• Who Do You Blame When You Lose $6 Million Overnight? - Answer: yourself. Another great example of why you shouldn't put too much into your company's stock (or any company for that matter.)

• 5 Reasons why you don't need to write a book - Seems like everyone and their brother is writing a book these days. This post is very interesting reading in light of that fact.

Question for you all:

I read TONS of financial articles and only have time to post on a few. There are several great ones each day that I have to pass by. Do you like posts like this one -- where I link to a few articles and comment quickly or do you think it junks up the site and/or your RSS reader? I'd be interested in your comments.

Comments

[Dorotea]

I don't have an RSS feed, so I can't comment on that, but I do appreciate posts like this one. I'm a "one-stop-shop" on the Internet kind of girl, so getting headlines in one spot is very convenient. The major bonus is that you've got superb editing skills -- the links you do post are either relevant (to me), or at the very least, interesting.

[rick]

love it.

[Flexo]

Thanks for the link!

[Kimberly]

Three, maybe four links is okay. Avoid laundry lists of links. I breeze right by those.

[pink panther]

I agree - DO NOT WRITE A BOOK! I tried that once. You will lose money unless it is a runaway bestseller. Your advance will give you pennies per hour of work you put into it, and the odds of even selling the first print run are slim unless you're really into a system. You won't make money unless your book sells a lot of copies over the long term.

You're much better off writing something and releasing it under the Creative Commons license. At least then you don't lose money and it's a labor of love. Take the money out of it. Don't try to get published. If you do want to get published, go with a print-on-demand service and typeset the book yourself in LaTeX.

I wrote my book during the late 90s when the Internet thing was going on, and the opportunity cost for what else I could have been doing was huge.

When I look at my book now I want to throw up!

[kitty]

Depends on your friends/relatives and how well you know them. I have friends including one I grew up with whom I lend money in a heartbeat (and did it without any problems). Within reason, of course - I'd be nervous about lending 5- digit amounts without some note that would enable me to get something from their estates if something happens to them.

Three of my friends called and offered to lend me money when I totalled my car. I managed without it as I only needed to add 5K to the check I got from insurance, but it was nice to know I can count on my friends. One time that I did need cash - my parents' (very) old car broke down and I gave them mine and bought myself a new one - a friend did lend me the money at bank's CD interest so that I could pay cash. I did have enough in savings but it was all locked up in CDs. This way I didn't need to break any CDs.

As to relatives - I don't have brothers or sisters, but I don't even think twice about parents nor do my parents think twice about giving or lending money to me. In fact, we have a couple of joint accounts, and in those we know perfectly well which money are mine and which are my parents. But then I am from Russia and our relationship with our parents seems to be much closer than in the US. At least on the average...

[rebel]

I personally like these short article/blog with summary type posts. I think once a week is plenty. I like to see what some of my favorite bloggers are reading. I can't find everything out there and you might find a gem I might have missed.

[Thankful]

I like your short lists, and most importantly that you add a little value in the description. I find it's the best way to find new-to-me sites.

I usually skim through huge lists. If it's just links and no extra info, it's pretty hard to stay interested, especially if the blogger reads many of the same blogs that I do.

[Laura]

Love it.. keep it up! :)

[guinness416]

Agree with the others. A laundry list (like your star money articles) makes my eyes glaze ove, no matter what blog or on what subject. Links with a short paragraph of summaries/thoughts - I love those posts, whether it's three links or a dozen.