Category: Rants
Have You Stress-Tested Your Financial Situation Lately?
In 1961, the year I was born, our national debt was $289 billion. Today, it’s $21.1 trillion. We clearly have a problem living within our means. We also have a problem managing our public pensions and our premiere safety net program, Social Security. Consider the following: According to Bloomberg, only two states in the union…
Second Wednesday of the Month Politics: Trump’s Tax Overhaul
Mrs. Groovy and I have a very simple tax situation. Our income is $30K a year—$20K from my New York State pension and $10K in dividends from our brokerage accounts. We own our house outright, have no kids, and pay very little in state and local taxes ($3,000). Since our tax deductions are so low…
Just Because Someone Has More Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Have Enough
Several years ago I had a problem. I wanted to get into shape, but I didn’t want to spend a dime on a gym membership or drop some serious coin on a home gym. To solve this problem, I fired up Google and did a search on “building muscle without equipment,” or something to that…
Ten Reasons Not to Invest Time and Money into Professional Sports
When I was growing up, I was a sports fanatic. I literally had to be dragged from the street by my mom if I was in the middle of a baseball game and dinner was ready. And I lived and died by the fortunes of my teams. If my team won, all was right with…
Second Wednesday of the Month Politics: We Suck
Those familiar with this blog know that I’m not a fan of government. I worked for a municipality on Long Island for twenty-one years. The politicians and department heads I worked for, and the co-workers I worked with, were largely a disgrace. The biggest concern for the politicians was staying in power. For department heads?…