I bought a house in 1978 at 9.5%.  For several years, as the rate went up to 16% then down again, the loan was my best asset.

"If that breaks, my old percolator will do nicely." An old "Dripolater" would be much better.  Percolators tend to burn the coffee.

Fourty years ago "earning your age" (i.e. 35,000 by age 35) was a real sign of success.

Another advantage of a Roth is that, after the initial 5 year waiting period, you can pull out the amount you paid without penalty or taxes to cover any sort of emergency.  (The reporting is screwy untill you hit 59 & 6 months but it works.)  Also, you are not forced to make withdrawals after you reach 70 & 6 months so...more

Recommended New Law: o  Tax dividends, capital gains and inheritances as ordinary income. o  Charge medicare and Social Security tax on all income.  (However, set maximum Social Security pay-out at no more than the average adjusted gross income of all taxpayers in the most recent year for which data is available.) ...more

Sears hasn't been Sears since it was taken over by K-Mart in 1985.

I don't see why total un-bundling should cost the cable companies anything.  They can just include their full mark-up in the basic hook up fee and charge actual (pass thru) cost on a channel by channel basis.

From the customer's perspective, the best and simplest solution is in the last line: "Of course, you can opt out of the card, close the account and shop for a new credit card."

Visa & Mastercard should not be able to prevent merchants from providing a discount for cash.  Merchants should set nominal prices to include the highest transaction fee, and then offer discounts for cash and/or low cost transaction cards.