Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Personal Finance, Economics and Investing

What explains the difference in returns between stocks and bonds?

One theory is that the difference in returns is due to the safety of bonds when consumption declines (the so called ‘risk premium’ is built into stock returns). One of the issues with testing this hypothesis is that the most commonly quoted measure of consumption, the National Income and Product Account, is too nonvolatile to explain the risk premium on its own. Alexi Savov, a grad-student at Chicago, has produced a fascinating look at using residential garbage production in order to take a closer look at the correlation between stock returns and consumption.

Yesterday, California started to issue IOUs (technically, registered warrants) to creditors since it is ensnared in a major budget impasse. California has taken this step before, most notably in 1992, but they also issued IOUs during the Great Depression.

Since the warrants are unavoidable at this point, I’ll shift my focus to another issue- constitutionality. Is what California is doing legal under the terms of our Constitution? And what is a ‘bill of credit’?

Can states default on their debt? The state of California has been in the news recently because of a $24.3 billion gap in funding. Is it possible that we may soon hear of a state actually going ‘bankrupt’? What are the economic and political ramifications if California takes such a step?

There are three ways for a government to pay for debt: issue new debt, collect taxes, and cause inflation. Inflation is a ‘hidden tax’ on a populace- it decreases the value of future money, and allows governments to pay off their current debt with devalued money. The United States dollar, as the world’s reserve currency, gives the United States a unique temptation (opportunity?) to pay off their debts in a currency it can print. What exactly is inflation, though? And if you believe inflation is on the way, how do you set yourself up to counteract it?

A commonly heard refrain in the personal finance world is ‘Keep 3 months of living expenses in an emergency fund!’ If fact, this is heard so much it’s almost become a mantra for people taking control of their finances for the first time. Where does this ‘3′ come from? Why do you keep it? All this and more will be answered, read on…

If you come into money, don’t ignore paying down debt as an option. Oftentimes paying down debt can save you much more money than you can earn with another option. Additionally, paying off a loan in full will increase your future cash flow. Read on for a look at debt as an investment and a closer look at tax-equivalent yield.

However you got it, you’ve got it now. Cash, and a good chunk of it at that. The big question for you now… Where are you going to put it? When you realize the mattress isn’t a good place to stash it, read on for some ideas!