This video provides an interesting and insightful view on why people are so concerned with the spending plans of the Obama administration. Granted, the video does not account for projected repayments of TARP funds, which we have already seen the start of, but it does provide a good reason to be concerned and give real thought to how much we need to spend some of this money.

This 20/20 report by John Stossel contends that in some situations, college is actually a rip-off. I tend to agree. Not everyone was meant to go to college, and not every job requires a degree. In fact, I would argue that MOST jobs could be done competently by people without a degree. What do you think?

Feel free to leave your comments.

Last month, Paypal quietly began charging new fees to customers with personal accounts. PayPal did this without actually notifying them of the change. The new fees apply to payments marked as “Goods” or “Services.” Such payments were previously free. Now these payments will be charged a fee of about 2.9% plus 30 cents. When confronted, Paypal claimed the new fees had been announced in email, news articles, and Paypal’s own blog. However, that turned out to be untrue. The only thing mentioned in those announcements was Paypal’s decision to allow its customers with premium accounts to make personal transfers for free.

“We didn’t want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing change, because we weren’t really adding any fees, and we were hoping it would be a more useful experience for people…” Charlotte Hill, PayPal’s PR manager said.

That is completely inexcusable. When Paypal, or any company, makes a decision that is going to cost its customers money, the first thing they need to do is communicate this to those customers. I’m not sure how Paypal thinks taking more money from its customers equates to a more useful experience either. I get payments via Paypal from my clients every month and Paypal always takes a chunk for themselves. I think they need to be charging people who send money via Paypal, not those who receive it. Paypal gets a good $50 or so a month in fees from me each month, fees that come from money I’ve earned.

Yes, I know it states in the User Agreement that they reserve the right to make changes without notifying the customer, but for them to actually do so seems very sleazy to me. In rough economic times the last thing a small business owner needs is higher taxes from PayPal.

How do you feel about PayPal’s fee structure? Do you think its fair or not? Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

This is an excellent series about money’s ascent to the level of importance it currently has in our daily lives. Money was not always such a central staple to society. So how is it that it got to be so all powerful? This series will reveal that, and explain the development of the current world-wide economic crisis. It’s well worth the time it takes to watch the six part series, produced by the BBC.

So what do you think of the current economic crisis? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think, and whether or not you feel we are on the right track as a nation.

If you have not yet filed your taxes this year, you may be interested to know about a new program being offered by the IRS. If you purchased a new home in 2008, you may be eligible to get back up to an additional $7,500 on your taxes. There are some details on how the amount is calculated, but basically, if your home is worth $150,000 dollars or more, then you should qualify for the maximum benefit.

Now, what you need to know is that this money is a loan… It is an interest free loan being extended to new home owners who purchased their homes in 2008, and will also be extended to those who buy a home in 2009. The loan is interest free, and is paid back over the course of 15 years. So the $7,500 you get back from the IRS will be paid back at a rate of $500 per year for 15 years.

This is a great opportunity if you spend the money wisely. You can use it to pay down debt (especially high interest credit cards), or you can use it to renovate your home. You can even just put it in a savings account or better yet, max out an IRA where your interest free loan will EARN interest FOR YOU! And that’s like getting free money.

In my opinion the smartest choice is always to pay off any credit card debt you may have. That alone will create huge savings for you.

Finally, there is one more catch about this year’s new program… If you sell your home before 15 years, you will have to pay the remaining balance in one lump sum. Which hopefully, will be easy to do if you are selling your home. Either way, this is a great opportunity for the wise investor and is well worth the time to look further into it.

This is a post borrowed from “My Money Blog“, an excellent site about personal finance. The post makes an excellent point that far too many Americans don’t seem to understand these days. We currently save less than any generation before us, we are becoming enslaved by debt. Saving is more important now than ever, but it can be difficult with the government constantly urging us to spend, spend, spend… Perhaps it is time we worry less about “keeping up with the Jones” and worrying more about preparing for our future and trying to attain economic freedom.

Take Pride In Being Financially Different!

Recently, I ran across an article called the 5 Steps to Early Retirement. Written by a couple who retired at 38, here are they are:

1. Track your spending.
2. Save a lot.
3. Invest wisely.
4. Put peer pressure into perspective.
5. Keep your eye on the prize.

At first glance, these steps may seem obvious and common sense. However, I would say there is a lot of hidden wisdom in the 4th step, in which they explain:

Social pressure to spend can be subtle and pervasive, and it can divert you from your commitment to retire early. Marketing specialists tell you that if you only buy this new product, car, house, or membership, your lifestyle will improve. It’s reasonably easy to tune out that marketing message, but you have to handle your friends with a little more tact. Trying to match the spending of our peer group is a surefire way to derail financial goals. Decide now that you don’t have to keep up with their consumption to fit into the crowd. The choice is yours — not theirs.

In other words, if you want to be different from everyone else – have more savings, retire earlier, whatever – then you have to act differently from everyone else. Here’s a quick anecdote. A friend of my wife recently told her:

“You make good money, you should stop buying your dresses from Target… Check out my new Louis Vuitton purse!”

The same friend later in the same week said:

“How the *%& do you have $100,000 (20% down) saved up already for a house?”

She didn’t make any connection between the two events. I’m not saying everyone should buy dresses from Target, but I do think everyone should pick their battles and be proud of them. Maybe it’s not leasing that shiny SUV or brown-bagging the lunch more often. Maybe I’m weird, but I love it when people judge me by my outward appearance. One day, perhaps that same friend will say:

“What!? You’re only 48 and you’re retiring?”