Every day I read a lot (a lot) of blog posts in the personal finance space. I have also been known to read in other subjects. Sometimes I even remember to save some of my favorites. Today I want to share a number of posts that tickled my fancy.
On Giving
This is an article from a few years ago from The Guardian, all about Handel and his oratio, the Messiah, and how allowing it to be played in a benefit concert led to a greater audience for his work. In fact, the article suggests that had he not lent support to charity, the Messiah might be a footnote in music history. A win-win, indeed.
I am happy to report that my very first grants from my donor advised fund, as part of Physician on Fire’s yearly giving event, have gone out. That’s one thousand dollars going out into the world to make it better. Also, because of the nature of the fund (it is invested), the amount currently available to make grants has dropped by less than $1000. The marvels of the DAF. If you are intrigued by this phenomenon, I wrote about starting mine at Fidelity a few weeks ago.
For people who prefer lists, Money Bites has a list of reasons supporting charitable giving: 10 Reasons You Should Donate Money.
This article is from the New York Times (so may be behind a paywall). But coming right after Giving Tuesday, and in sync with all the year-end appeals from charities, I loved this article on Troll Philanthropy. Whatever one might think about Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates, it is true that everyone seems to have opinions about what they should do with their money. I also enjoyed the historical notes about other very wealthy people and charitable giving.
On Saving
Forget the latte factor, The Financial Imagineer shows how an artificial Christmas tree can save you plenty of green, in addition to being (maybe) better for the environment.
I am not sure how I feel about the change Humble Dollar has made to the site–more short posts, fewer long posts. However, this post: An F in Retirement spoke to me the morning I read it, especially point 1. After the past year and a half of dealing with the pandemic, I have really been appreciating many of the low cost (free) joys I can find in life.
I don’t know how I feel about the rest of the article, but this post from The Evidence Investor quotes Morgan Housel (reference here): one of the highest forms of wealth is having a career that allows for intellectual honesty. It makes me very grateful for my career as a physician.
On Preparing (for problems)
I have been thinking more about mortality recently, now that my mother in law passed away. Especially considering how little she and my father in law had considered their mortality, or planned for it, I was especially interested in this article from Humble Dollar: Do It Anyway. This is more about planning for incapacity, but still–these issues sometimes seem so far away, and then, suddenly, they are a big problem. The Mr. and Mrs. from team Monevator write about planning for the inevitable mortality too, in Why you should think about your legacy and write a will. They seem to be real planners, and have some pretty detailed tips on what you should arrange to make things easier for those left behind. We at the PiN household may have to revisit our plans and documentation.
In the PiN household we have been “going long” on some staples for a while (I thank Andrew Tobias for this concept). It is a great way to save money if prices are going up, and it saves time–no running to the store for toilet paper or sardines (very important to the household) at the last minute if we have our mini-store. Donna Freeman points out that this is also a great way How not to Starve in an Emergency.
Other Ways to See the World
I clicked on an article on the cost of living in Belgrade, Serbia, and found this entire series on personal finance in different countries from FinMasters. I love seeing the little details about life in another country that I would never think to ask.
Who knew that watching sports on TV would keep you abreast of breaking international politics? But Mr. PiN and I watched the early reporting on the Peng Shuai story, and saw the commentator (nearly) promote the idea of a new revolution. This Substack article from Bari Weiss is a little more careful, but no less scathing.
This article from the New York Times (possibly behind a firewall) about people getting snowed in at a pub with the band they had come to hear just tickled my fancy. I think it made me think of the sleepover parties when I was a girl. Only better.
I hope you enjoyed some of these posts as much as I did. Let me know if you have a favorite, or another you want to share.
We have had the same artificial Christmas tree for 10 years, and it should last another 10 at least. Far better than cutting down real trees, in my opinion.
Many thanks for following my blog.
Best wishes fron England, Pete.
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