From the Treasure Islands blog:
It’s a point I’ve made repeatedly, in Treasure Islands and elsewhere. But I just looked up ‘rent seeking’ and this is Wikipedia’s contribution:
In economics, rent-seeking is an attempt to obtain economic rent by manipulating the social or political environment in which economic activities occur, rather than by creating new wealth . . . attempting to enrich oneself by increasing one’s share of a fixed amount of wealth rather than trying to create wealth . . .the extraction of uncompensated value from others without making any contribution to productivity . . . people accused of rent seeking typically argue that they are indeed creating new wealth
Goodness me. Tax avoidance and evasion: doesn’t the shoe just fit perfectly?(And for those who aren’t familiar with ‘rent-seeking’ – economists regard it unequivocally as a bad thing.)
Loyal customers of American Express have, on occasion, found that their accounts in good standing have suddenly been suspended. Only later have they learned that they are the subject of American Express’s financial review process. In order to have their accounts reinstated and to receive any pending rewards, it is imperative that cardholders succeed in satisfying American Express.
The first step to passing an American Express Financial Review is to take the procedure seriously. In some cases, cardholders are initially informed of this process by a poor quality call from an overseas representative. That person claims to be from American Express and asks cardholders to verify personal information. Understandably, cardholders are reluctant to divulge this information to unverified individuals. Nevertheless, cardholders should hang up, and call the number on the back of their card. W
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By Amanda Morrall (email) or on Twitter @amandamorrall
As it is Christmas, I thought it was fitting to write on the subject of giving.
I had initially wanted to write about five worthy charities but there are simply too many good causes out there to narrow the pool down to five. Instead, I thought Id write about five ways to give that can be just as meaningful, if not more.
1) Time
I believe this to be the most valuable gift above all. It is finite, precious and it is increasingly scarce amid the busy-ness of modern life.
With whom and how you choose to spend your time, is one of the most important decisions you can make. Never underestimate just how valuable it is when you are fully present.
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Heres a piece from US News that gives five ways to be a bridesmaid without going broke. The first one is an idea that I LOVE but that most people (especially women) will hate. It is:
Just say no. It may sound harsh, but sometimes its the best solution. Ask yourself if youll still be friends with this person in 10 years. If the answer is no, consider responding with a polite decline.
Ha! How many times has this happened? Probably none.
But think about it. How many people do you still keep in contact with from high school? 2? 3? How many from college? 2? 3?
In other words, friends change over time. So the “10-year rule” is actually a good one. If you really cant afford to be a bridesmaid and/or would rather skip it anyway, why not simply decline? Odds are you probably wont be friends in 10 years anyway.
And, if you say no youll likely speed along the breakup of your friendship.
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“How much does probate cost?” That question is hard to answer. More and more attorneys charge a fixed fee for work they perform, but you can really only do that if you know how long the work will take. For instance, I charge a fixed fee for estate planning — because I have been practicing for almost 15 years, and I can predict pretty accurately how many hours it will take for me to draft your documents and implement your plan.
Probate? That’s court stuff, potentially involving other parties, and court + other parties = uncertainty. I can tell you what it will cost if there are no hiccups, but most attorneys (myself included) will not guarantee a certain price regardless of the time spent. I do charge a fixed fee to open a probate estate, but once it’s open, all bets are off — anything can happen (claims, Will contests, fights over the actions of the personal representative, etc.).
Another option would be for the attorney (or the personal representative) to charge a fee based on the size of the estate in question — let’s say, 3%.
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