Why Do People Care?

Newt is right, after all. Not intentionally paying more taxes than you legally owe is both immoral and stupid. All moral people, both rich and poor, always pay more taxes than they legally owe. Have you ever heard of anybody ever going to any amount of effort to claim all the credits and deductions to which they were entitled? Me neither. It’s unheard of because everybody knows the only ethical course of action is to overpay your taxes.

I mean, it’s much worse than that ethics violation Newt was reprimanded for, becoming the first Speaker of the House to ever be disciplined for ethics violations. Besides, Newt paid $300,000 in fines for that little issue. All’s well that ends well, right? The fact that Mitt Romney didn’t cheat on his taxes in the past gives we the people a lot of insight into how horrible of a president he will be. What a slimeball! Newt’s ethics violations, however, are completely irrelevant. Once an abuser of power, always an abuser of power? Please. That’s racist talk! Romney legally paid all the taxes he was required to pay and not a penny more! That bastard!

People Don’t Really Care, Which Brings Me To My Point…

In case you couldn’t tell, I was being sarcastic above (and yes, I have to explicitly state that because I’ll get angry email otherwise). I don’t care what either candidate has paid in taxes, so long as they did so legally. And despite all the vitriol, neither does anybody else. Newt’s supporters (and Obama’s by extension: just wait and see) don’t care that Romney only paid 15% in federal taxes. What they care about is that it gives them an opportunity to take a jab at him in order to support their own side. Some of them have probably even managed to convince themselves that Romney’s tax rate is a big deal. It’s not. How many truly independent voters have complained about Romney’s tax rate? None. It’s all partisan squabbling (and yes, it can be partisan squabbling even though it is within the Republican party.

Do You Care About Romney’s Tax Rate?

I’d like to issue a challenge to anybody who actually believes Romney’s tax rate is an important issue. Why do you think this? Is it because you believe it makes him greedy? If so, you’d better be able to produce your own tax return showing the extra amount of tax you paid to the IRS beyond what you legitimately owed.

Do you think it makes him a tax dodger? Again, present your own tax return showing excess tax paid before you make this argument.

Do you think it means he’s not paying your fair share?

What is it? Why does it matter to you? Give me specifics, not meaningless BS generalities like “oh, well it shows his lack of character and that he’s out of touch and that he hates puppies.”

Can anybody give me a legitimate reason why I or anybody else should care?

Oh well. I’m voting for Obama anyway.

I’m All For The 99%

I certainly don’t make anywhere near enough money to be part of the 1%, so in that sense, I am definitely a 99 percenter. I am for things like universal health care, restoring reasonable financial regulations such as the old Glass-Steagall Act (although I think it should be reworked and not merely reinstated), limiting the influence of capital on the political process, etc. So yeah, I agree with some of what many of the protesters are after. However, there are a few things I am adamantly against.

• Putting the “criminals” in jail - This is straight up childish and I hear it repeatedly. Perhaps some of the bankers didn’t make the wisest decisions, but with a few glaring exceptions, they aren’t criminals. And hey, it’s not like you’ve never made a mistake yourself. All this rabble-rousing for “throwing the criminals in jail” is silly and it’s rooted in revenge, not justice. I’ve even heard people seriously call for some of these bankers to be executed a few more times than I’m comfortable with. Seriously, people? Grow up.
• Ending free trade - It very well may be that free trade has been eroding American living standards, but guess what? Americans don’t have any more right to a high-paying job than anybody else. The poor need those jobs way more than we do. I’m fine with it and you should be too. Think of it as repaying the rest of the world for centuries of exploitation.
• Mandating a guaranteed living wage – I’m not sure exactly what this means, but it’s a stupid idea. Stop screaming about it and claiming you’re doing it for the 99% (of which I’m a part). No you’re not. You’re doing it for you.

So yes, I am a 99 percenter. We may be in the same boat, but you do NOT speak for me. I and I alone speak for myself and I resent you representing your movement as if you do. Let me repeat: you do not speak for me nor do you speak for anybody else. And I’m not the only one who feel this way.

Enter The 53% Movement

First let me state I do not back the 53% movement specifically. Just because you don’t earn enough to pay taxes every year doesn’t mean you are lazy or don’t deserve a say in how you are governed. That said, I can appreciate the sentiment they are expressing. Whilst many on the interwebs have dismissed the movement as a mere right-wing wingnut response to the Occupy Wall Street movement, I have seen no evidence this is the case. Hell, nobody would ever confuse me with a conservative and I love it! Specifically, what I like is the fact that a certain segment of the population is standing up and saying “wait a minute, I’m not rich but I don’t believe you represent my beliefs or best interest.” Bravo.

We can argue endlessly over which side is right and which side is wrong*, but that would miss the point. The point is, 99% of America is a massively heterogeneous group. No single movement could ever hope to represent the best interests of a group that large and diverse. In fact, I find it downright insulting that anyone would actually try. You are not the 99%. At most, you are the 0.000099%. Please don’t pretend you are something more, because it’s really annoying.

Does The 99% Movement Speak For You?

I have no doubt there are some people out there who completely agree with everything the 99% movement stands for. Good for you. But I also have no doubt that 99.999% people people don’t. Most people may agree with a few of the fundamental  tenants of the movement and disagree with others. And yes, there are fundamental tenants despite a lot of protesting to the contrary. Which side do you come down on? Or, if you’re like me, perhaps you come down on no side at all! There’s no wrong answer to this questions and, so long as we can keep it civil**, I think we can all learn a lot from each other.

* Oh, and for the record, both sides are full of crap. Now that we’ve settled that argument once and for all, let’s all do something productive with our time.

** I’m fully aware this isn’t possible on the internet, but it’s nice to pretend.

Sadly, no amount of financial wizardry can undo the fundamental relationship between risk and return. Simply put, low-risk investments tend to be low-paying investments while high-risk investments tend to be high-paying investments. Any investment product proposing to violate this fundamental law of finance is most likely a scam! Put another way, you aren’t going to earn high returns with a low-risk investment. You’re just not. Accepting this statement as undeniable fact will go a long way towards helping you avoid being ripped-off. If you train yourself to expect high-return investments to also be high-risk investments, your BS detector will immediately go off anytime some scammer tries to convince you otherwise.

Principles For Avoiding A Scam (Any Scam)

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…

Seriously, if it sounds to good to be true, it almost certainly is. Many people who fall for scams had this warning bell going off in the back of their minds the entire time but ignored it. Don’t ignore it.

Disbelieve Theories That Sound Logical But Don’t Have Independent Data To Back Them Up

Con artist is short for “confidence artist,” meaning they are skilled at gaining the trust of others. And it’s obviously easier to scam somebody who trust you than somebody who distrusts you. Hence, the best defense against con artists is to avoid any investment or system inherently depending on trust: trust of an investment manager (this rules out most active funds, btw), trust a salesman’s product will do what he says it’s going to do, etc.

But without trust, it’s impossible to accomplish anything. So if you can’t take people at their word, how do you know when something is legit? Simple: independent data. This could take the form of independent reviews of a product or service on the internet, consulting a trusted expert in the field (perhaps your nephew is also a financial advisor), or even an academic study on the topic by some esteemed professor. The point is that you should never take anybody’s advice when they have a direct financial incentive for you to follow that advice. If you ask an insurance salesman if you need more life insurance, he’s probably going to say yes. Similarly, a barber will probably tell you that you need a haircut. If you can’t verify the accuracy of any claim independently of the person making the claim, it’s best to pass. If a con artist can’t get you to trust him, he can’t con you.

Be Skeptical Of ANY Claim Regarding Low-Risk/High-Reward Investment Opportunities

As noted above, a fundamental relationship exists between risk and return. A con artist can no more circumvent these rules than defy gravity. Any claim that a high return can be earned with little risk should be met with intense suspicion for this violates one of the fundamental laws of finance. Do you really think you can earn a 40% return on your money with no risk from some guy

Always Compare Past Performance Claims To A Reasonable Benchmark (Usually Not The S&P 500)

One common trick salesmen use is to compare the performance of their product to an inappropriate benchmark, often the S&P 500 index. Now if the investment in question invests solely in the large-cap blend portion of the style box, the S&P 500 is probably a reasonable benchmark. Otherwise (and this is usually the case), it’s probably not. Who cares if an investment trust owning mostly small-cap emerging market stocks beat the S&P 500 over the past 10 years? That is an apples-to-oranges comparison with the sole intent being to trick you into thinking the investment you’re being pitched is better than it really is. This is a huge red flag because if the investment opportunity were really as good as claimed, they wouldn’t need to resort to misleading statistics in order to sell it.

Ask Yourself: If This Is So Profitable Why Do You Need Me?

This one should be obvious. Have you seen those banner advertisements around the web promising 20% monthly returns (or some other ridiculous number)? Chances are, you have. Now ask yourself this: if these people could really earn 20% per month on their money, why do they need to take on external investors at all? Earning 20% per month, a $1,000 initial investment would yield over $411 BILLION in 10 years! By investing only $1,000 of their own money, these “investors” could become the richest person in the world 10 times over within a mere decade. Tell me, with prospects like that, why do they need your money?

I’ll tell you why, because their system doesn’t work. Their profits come from scamming you!

It’s easy to forget that most people don’t live in that world. Indeed, most people live in a world where money is never discussed in polite company. A world where blindly buying the three best-performing funds in your 401k is what passes for asset allocation. A world where most people will spend more time agonizing over where to go to lunch than planning for their retirement. The vast majority of people in this world need a financial advisor.

That said, financial advisors are not miracle workers. In my mind, financial advisors have one very important duty and several almost-as-important duties and responsibilities. But there are also some things most people seem to believe financial advisors can do for them that just aren’t realistic.

What A Financial Advisor Can Do For You

• A Financial Advisor can help calm your nerves. This is by far the most important job of any financial professional, in my opinion. They should keep you grounded and your emotions in check. Did you panic and sell everything when the market dropped a few years ago? A good financial advisor’s primary responsibility is to keep you from shooting yourself in the foot.
• A Financial Advisor can help you keep disciplined. It’s often been said the biggest enemy of a good plan is the quest for the perfect plan. A good financial advisor should help you come up with a reasonably good financial plan, implement it, and most importantly, help you stick to it over the long haul! It’s the sticking-to-it part that’s the most important. And most difficult. It’s counterintuitive, but constantly tweaking your portfolio and jumping in and out of various investments is one of the worst things you could do.
• A Financial Advisor can help you choose an asset allocation - This one is important. How much should you allocate to stocks? What about bonds? Real estate? More than anything else, the mix of assets you choose to invest in will determine whether or not you meet your retirement goals (But only if you can stick with it – see above).
• A Financial Advisor can help you choose investments – Most people would rank this one highest on a financial advisor’s list of responsibilities by a long shot, but it’s actually one of the least important things they can do for you. It’s your asset allocation that will determine the vast majority of your portfolio’s performance over the long run. Choosing the right mix of assets will boost your risk-adjusted returns a lot. Choosing the very best mutual fund within each asset class will only boost your risk-adjusted returns a little. Of course, I highly recommend low-cost index funds over actively-managed funds.

What A Financial Advisor Can NOT Do For You

• A Financial Advisor can NOT beat the market – I should qualify this by saying that yes, I realize there will inevitably be some financial advisors that do end up beating the market. The problem is, you won’t be able to pick them out in advance. Beating the market should not be any financial advisor’s primary goal. Rather, their goal should be to get you where you need to be with as little risk as possible. If an advisor tells you they can easily beat the market or promises large returns with little risk, run don’t walk to the nearest exist, being sure to keep a hand on your wallet the entire time. Anybody claiming they can easily and reliably beat the market is either a.) Warren Buffett, or b.) a liar. And if you manage to talk Warren Buffett into managing your portfolio, I want in on that.
• A Financial Advisor can NOT do better than a knowledgeable and disciplined individual investing by themselves – If you have the the knowledge to intelligently design your own portfolio following the principles of modern portfolio theory and the discipline to stick to your chosen plan no matter what, a financial advisor probably can’t help you. Why? Because of costs. Advisors don’t work for free, and no matter how invaluable sound financial advice can be for unsophisticated individuals, it’s not worth much to experienced DIY’ers. All else being equal, the portfolio with the lowest costs will always come out ahead, and very few honest advisors are going to be able to earn enough excess return to compensate for fees they charge. A word of caution, however:  be sure you don’t overestimate your abilities! There’s no shame in asking for advice if you need it.

So Who Needs An Advisor?

You definitely need the services of a good advisor if you:

1. Panicked and sold out after the last market crash. If you sold out after the last crash, you don’t have the discipline required to invest effectively on your own. There’s nothing embarrassing about that. As it turns out, most people don’t. It is what it is.
2. Can’t name at last  3 different asset classes and how they fit together in a portfolio. If you can’t name at least three different asset classes (the fewest I would ever recommend anybody owning) and explain what each brings to the table relative to the others, you aren’t knowledgeable enough to invest on your own. You should either educate yourself by reading a few basic books or seek out a qualified financial advisor. For books, I recommend The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein, All About Asset Allocation by Richard Ferri, and Oblivious Investing by Mike Piper.
3. Just plain aren’t interested. Most people probably fall into this category. If you simply aren’t interested in the topic, chances are you’ll never learn enough about it to do it effectively. After all, people tend to have a hard time studying a subject they don’t enjoy. Financial advisors were invented for people like you.
4. You have unusually complicated estate or tax issues. Some people just have more specialized needs than others. An example of a complicated situation that begs for the involvement of  a professional would be if you were the primary guardian of a disabled child or adult and wanted to make absolutely certain they were provided for if something were to happen to you. This just isn’t a situation most people are going to be able to handle on their own.

BASED on the novel ‘The Accidental Billionaires’, The Social Network is a movie about money and success – and the effect it has on friendships.

David Fincher’s film documents the founding of Facebook and was critically and commercially acclaimed when it was released last year. This year it has won a deluge of Oscar and Bafta nominations in the run up to the awards season.

Watching the film recently (it was just released on Blu Ray and DVD in the UK), it occurred to me that the film serves as a cautionary tale, and that there might be a few things we can learn from it – not least, about money.

With that in mind, here are four things The Social Network taught me about money.

1. Don’t borrow money from friends

Although it will never happen on the same scale as that portrayed in The Social Network, borrowing money from your friends can change the dynamics between pals.

In the movie, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin lends the website’s creator Mark Zuckerberg $19,000 to get the project started. The film then depicts Saverin’s gradual phasing out of the company, eventually leading to him take legal action against his former friend to claim back the Facebook shares he believes he is entitled to.

Borrowing from a friend can make the burden of debt feel greater, as you care about the person you are borrowing from. Similarly, lending money to a friend can create an uneasy atmosphere when it comes to collecting the debts.

2. Make investments

Though the film portrays the ugly aftermath of the falling out between Zuckerberg and Saverin, Saverin reportedly owns a 5 per cent share in the website as of January 2011, worth around $2.5 billion.

By my calculations, this means Saverin (eventually) got back 131579-times the amount he invested. Obviously this was a once-in-a-generation opportunity, but even if you just open a savings account and reap the interest your savings accumulate, you will be making money from your money.

3. You have to spend money….

It’s a huge cliché of course, but it does seem to be that you have to spend money to make money.

In the movie, Mark Zuckerberg asks Eduardo Saverin for more money for server upgrades to deal with the kinds of traffic he knew the site would generate – acknowledging the reputational damage that could be done to the site if it was offline because it couldn’t deal with the numbers.

Of course Zuckerberg’s traffic forecasts were accurate, and the rest – as they say – is history.

4. Money isn’t everything

Of course that’s a hollow sentiment if you’re sitting on a behemoth like Facebook, but there are constant allusions to the fact that Zuckerberg didn’t care about money when he was creating Facebook. Instead the film portrays a character desperate for friendship and acceptance from his peers.

It’s great to be financially stable, but we’re not all going to be .com billionaires like Mr. Zuckerberg. Value your health, and relative prosperity compared to people in other parts of the world.

A recent study publicized by Smart Money shows that the portfolios of congressional members trails the market by 2-3% per year. Nothing particularly surprising about that fact. After all, beating the market is extraordinarily difficult and most congressmen presumably aren’t intelligent enough to embrace indexing (the electorate appears to prefer electing unintelligent types).

But what shocked me when I read the above story is this: congressional members aren’t subject to insider trading laws!

Insider Trading Is Legal?

That’s right: insider trading is legal.  Well, not if you’re Martha Stewart. But if you happen to sit on the world’s most powerful legislative body, with the realistic possibility of actually being able to effect wide-spread legislative change for the sole purpose of lining one’s own pockets, insider trading is perfectly legal.

Does that make sense to you?

Now I’m sure what Martha Stewart did was probably wrong. And  some fat-cat somewhere probably had to fore-go a built-in spa for his Lear Jet as a result of his stock holdings declining a few percent. But really, aren’t we missing the forest for the trees here?  The laws that prevent little Johnny from buying 20 shares of stock based on what he overheard in the executive bathroom do nothing to prevent Congress from blatantly manipulating the stock market!

Talk About A Conflict Of Interest

Okay, so maybe this little loophole has never hurt anybody.  Maybe no senator has ever tried to sneak a provision in a infrastructure funding bill that would increase the value of his shares in some construction company a couple of percent (anybody buy that?). Maybe no congressman has ever given a no-bid contract to a publicly held company he owned stock in. But doesn’t the knowledge that this kind of thing is even possible kinda piss you off a little?

But yeah, even with the ability to blatantly cheat and get away with it, congress as a whole still can’t beat the market.  Idiots.

Thankfully, there are several public service websites that have aligned themselves against the fraudsters and offer their findings free of charge, for the betterment of the Internet. The following sites contain substantial resources and content libraries to help you learn how scammers are operating and stay safe online.

Rip-Off Report

Ever wish you could do your part to fight back against the scum of the Internet? If you’ve been taken for a ride and feel the burning urge to exact your vengeance, head over to Rip-Off Report – one of the Internet”s largest active databases of consumer reported scam stories. By signing up for an account, you can tell the world your story of deception and expose the culprits to the world in hopes that future would-be-victims see it before suffering a similar fate.

Doing some shopping on eBay, Craigslist, or a small, questionable website? Rip-Off Report lets you run seller names and website addresses through through their database and check for negative reviews. If the seller or website has a history of thieving money from people, they should come up in the results, giving you a chance to re-think your purchase.

The Consumerist

The Consumerist is a full-fledged consumer advocacy website that reports on poor consumer shopping experiences with most major brands. Shoppers should check out the company directory and browse the reports filed for each company they do business with. Some reports are clearly isolated incidences, but others reveal patterns of unethical treatment that you need to be aware of to avoid getting ripped off.

Not only does the company directory post reports of scams and shiesty behavior, it also lists hard to find contact information for customer service complaints such as executive phone numbers and email addresses. Additionally, The Consumerist publishes its own stories about safe online behavior and trends in the shopping world to help make you a smarter, more careful consumer.

Scam Busters

Online fraud isn’t a stagnant problem that you can learn about once and always be protected from. Instead, scams are an ever evolving issue that require a keen eye and up-to-date information to spot. Scam Busters is a website dedicated to keeping up with the latest online fraud and informing web surfers on how to keep safe in their travels online.

The site maintains a frequently updated collection of articles and resources on every con, including identity theft, viruses, phishing, and more. Perhaps best of all, Scam Busters offers a weekly newsletter that keeps subscribers up to date on the newest dangers to be on the lookout for. According to the site, this is the most popular weekly publication of its kind, and it’s 100% free to receive.

The Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a national organization dedicated to investigating and reporting on the practices of business both online and off. A favorable review from the BBB can send a company’s business through the roof, whereas a negative investigation could dissuade people from becoming customers and hurt the business’ bottom line. The BBB website offers an easy way to search establishments in your local area and check for any unsavory reviews before you decide to become a customer.

If you feel you have been unfairly treated by a business big or small, the BBB wants to hear your story. Informing the organization of your issues could get them recorded on the website, which is your way of fighting back against unfair and deceptive business tactics.

Stop-Scammers

Not all Internet scams are shopping related — online dating fraud is a serious issue that could result in stolen identities, lost money, and a ton of wasted time. Anyone using an online dating site should be familiar with Stop-Scammers, as it is one of the best ways to determine if your new cyber sweetheart is true love or a con artist in disguise. The database catalogues known scammers by website they belong to, their names and aliases, their age, and even the fake pictures they’re known to put up.

Though it certainly can be a hard pill to swallow when you’re in the throes of early attraction, online dating can be risky business and you owe it to yourself to make 100% certain you’re not dealing with a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Use the Stop-Scammers search interface to check out your new partner. If he or she is a known phony, there’s a good chance they will appear on the site.

Romance Scam

Similar to Stop-Scammers, Romance Scam is a website that helps you identify fake online dating partners, as well as nigerian email scammers and other online fraudsters. One especially useful feature of the site is the email checker — a tool that will tell you whether the email address of the person contacting you is known to be in use by scammers. Romance scam also maintains a robust database of fake pictures and names of both email and online dating scammers to help protect you from falling into their trap.

The Romance Scam forum is a useful resource for talking with fellow victims and learning what to look out for to spot con artists out for your money and identity. Forum members share their stories, articles, related news items, and even offer donations to the site to support the cause.

About the Author: Jeremy Wright is a freelance writer for FundingUniverse. Funding Universe matches qualified entrepreneurs to banks, investors and other funding sources. Funding Universe helps small businesses avoid scams and rip offs by securing funding from trusted national banks and financial institutions.

Wall Street (1987)

The film: One of the most famous finance films every made, Wall Street graced our screens in 1987, and its lead actor Michael Douglas is infamous as the sinister Gordon Gekko. The film follows the life of a college dropout who has been taken under the wing of a ruthless stockbroker. In my opinion the script and acting are simply phenomenal and the line “greed is good” will go down in movie history.

What it taught me: Wall Street is one of those films where I routed for the bad guy and the films message is really a question of morals. The young college student has to question his principles after he’s told “What’s worth doing is worth doing for money”, will you question your morals after watching Wall Street?

Brewster’s Millions (1986)

The film: Could you spend $30m in 30 days in order to inherit $300m? Well that’s what Brewster has to do, and there’s one catch, you’re not allowed to have any assets at the end of the 30 day period, whether that’s in the form of fixed rate bond savings or in the form of a house, you’re allowed no assets what so ever… it’s harder than it sounds! Brewster’s millions is a fantastic family film starring the late Richard Pryor, who as always is insanely funny.

What it taught me: As well as being a great fun family film, Brewster’s Millions also has a great financial message behind it. The film basically details how not to spend your money, and how easy it can be to waste. I think you can really relate this message to any amount of money, whether it is $30 or $30m, and it’s a film that will be watched for years to come.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

The film: Glengarry Glen Ross is a film that I first watched while at college and my first reaction was, wow! Some of the greatest actors of the nineties including, Al Pacino, Ed Harris and Jack Lemmon deliver powerhouse performances to really bring the film to life. The film revolves around a group of real estate brokers who find out there’s a change to the months sales contest, 1st place gets a Cadillac, 2nd place gets a set of stake knifes, 3rd place is ‘you’re fired’.

What it taught me: The message behind Glengarry Glen Ross is brilliant and it’s plain to see, that pressure to succeed financially, no matter the environment can cause even the best to crumble if they make the wrong decisions. The film outlines that you should think carefully before making any big financial decisions that could affect you in the long run.

American Psycho (2000)

The film: A brilliant black comedy/thriller, American Psycho is based around an accounting executive who hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends. It is a fantastic film, but to understand the message behind it you really do need to watch the film closely as it does get confusing. ** SPOILER WARNING ** To explain the message behind the film I really need to divulge the end, basically at the end of Patrick Batemans killing spree, he confesses to his lawyer and friends, but everyone just believes he’s lying, why? Well that’s what the film taught me.

What it taught me: American Psycho has many themes running throughout the movie, but its main theme is materialism. Based around the rich and powerful many of the executives dress and act exactly the same way. Everyone looks like everyone else, has similar jobs, everyone dresses the same, listens to the same music, goes to the same clubs and hairstylists, etc. They literally cannot tell one another apart and this is mainly down to the stress and pressure behind competing to big top dog, and because every single one of them operates with this belief, mistaken identity occurs on a daily basis, hence why Batemans employees believe him to be lying. I hope I’ve made the message clear but you really need to watch the movie fully understand the message behind it.

Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

The film: Weekend at Bernie’s is one of my favourite films from the 80’s, I remember watching and re-watching my VHS of the film when I was young. It’s based around two guys who carry around the dead body of their boss for a weekend, whilst trying to convince everyone he’s still alive, it make for fantastic viewing. The two are employees of an insurance company, while the dead body is that of the owner Bernie, and by dressing up the body to make him look alive, they get involved in a series of crazy little adventures.

What it taught me: The film is basically about how someone can be consumed by a quest for money, as did Bernie (owner of the company) and his employees. It teaches us that greed can take over to an extent that it just comes naturally to you, and money isn’t the most important thing that matters.

This guest post was written by movie fanatic and writer Andreas Nicolaides.

MC Hammer has been one of the biggest names in the decade of 1990s and most of his songs remained top among the charts for weeks at an end. Unfortunately, for this singer of the nineties whose entourage was so huge at the time that it could probably beat the Queen of England for it, the heavy expenses came with consequences. MC Hammer was reported to have the habit of paying approximately 300 people an amount of $50,000 a month but he couldn’t keep it up so in 1996 he filed for bankruptcy in order to avoid having to pay the $13 million that he owed.

One of America’s most recognizable television stars, Burt Reynolds is probably best known for his role in movies like Smokey and the Bandit and The Longest Yard. His celebrity life which included a ranch in the state of Florida, a helicopter and mansions on both coasts finally had to come to an end. The divorce he got from his wife hit him pretty badly financially and in 1996, he filed for bankruptcy when he owed more than $10 million.

An interesting bankruptcy case happens to be Larry King who in the 1970s was in a pretty bad situation; charged with grand larceny, accused of stealing money from his business partner and accompanied with a scandal, King filed for bankruptcy. However, he eventually found success and wealth again after making some smart moves.

It is pretty hard to imagine that somebody like Donald Trump ever had to go through a bankruptcy in his life, but yes, it is true. Trump has made a lot of money through his real estate ventures and his casinos. However, in 1992, then again in 2004 and then again in 2009, his casinos filed for bankruptcy and through these, he did lost billions but as smart a man as Trump is, his other ventures kept him wealthy enough to keep his extravagant lifestyle.

Willie Nelson also had a problem of keeping a huge and well paid entourage; in fact, his drummer is reported to have been the world’s highest paid drummer for his job. In 1990, however, Nelson did not exactly file for bankruptcy but the government seized his bank accounts, his gold records and his ranch in Texas when he failed to pay an approximate sum of $16.7 million in taxes.

Although, these gentlemen top the list of celebrity bankruptcies, some other names include Don Johnson who owed $14.5 million in debts; Mike Tyson, the heavyweight champion who owed $13.3 million only to the IRS; Wayne Newton who filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and owed about $25million at that time; Kim Basinger whose entrepreneurial ventures turned bad and she had to file for bankruptcy in 1990 and last but not least, Cyndi Lauper, who filed for bankruptcy in 1980s but soon was back up on her feet again.

Richard Jacobs is a chief editor since early 2007, and he currently works for MyDUIAttorney. A website that helps you to find the right DUI lawyer, you can search for a Cincinnati DUI Lawyers or for New Jersey DUI Lawyer online, anytime!

Having just experienced the Global Financial Crisis, the challenges of that time are still fresh in people’s minds. Australia managed to weather this crisis better than many countries, partly due to circumstance rather than good management. It is worth reflecting on Australia’s experience during the Great Depression of the 1930s, for any modern day lessons. Australians’ personal debt levels remain very high by world standards, with any deterioration increasing the chances of debt collection being required.

Dependence On Exports

In the 1920s it was wool and wheat. Now it is coal, iron ore and other resources. Australia’s economy is largely dependent on the export of primary resources. When demand for Australian exports faltered following strong demand during the wartime years, Australia’s balance of payments was affected. While Australia’s economy is now much more diversified, demand for natural resources still has a major bearing on Australia’s prosperity. Further diversification is needed to reduce this reliance.
Dependence On Limited Trading Partners
Australia had traditionally exported a majority of produce and resources to Great Britain. It was Britain’s lethargic economy, in the post World War One slump that reduced demand for Australian goods. It is now China that is becoming increasingly important to Australia. Australia escaped the worst of the Global Financial crisis (such as the high unemployment seen in some countries) partly thanks to China’s resilient demand for Australia’s natural resources. While this is fortunate, it is also a cause for concern, should China’s rapid development somehow be impeded.

Government Spending and Debt

Government spending on several major projects, having been delayed by World War One, began in the 1920s. These included building the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This temporarily masked issues surrounding reduced demand for Australian exports, but when these issues came to the fore (in higher unemployment, labour unrest) and needed to be dealt with, the government of the day was saddled with high debt from these infrastructure projects, and therefore restricted in what it could do.

To combat economic contraction during the Global Financial Crisis, the Federal Government started spending as part of their A$40 billion stimulus package. While it is arguable as to how effectively this money was targeted, it certainly had some positive effect on the local economy. This needs to be weighed up against the deficit the government has incurred in doing this, and, like in the 1930s, how much this will restrict future government spending when required.

Unemployment

Australia’s unemployment rate was around 30% at its worst, during the Great Depression. With so many people out of work, major hardship and poverty faced many Australians. There is no comparison with an unemployment rate peaking around 6% in Australia during the Global Financial Crisis.

Debt levels in Australia are high. If inflation gets out of control and interest rates necessarily need to rise to curb demand, many Australians could be vulnerable to defaulting on their debt obligations, requiring debt recovery. If this becomes widespread, high numbers of defaults could affect the economy, and eventually jobs. The experience of the Great Depression has shown what is possible when the economy falters. It is vitally important for Australians to keep their debts in check, lest this be a trigger for an economic downturn.