“Ayn Rand took government assistance while decrying others who did the same” and other links…
Mark Frauenfelder: “An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand's behalf she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O’Connor (husband Frank O’Connor).”
“Trulia.com Rent vs. Buy Housing Ratios: First Quarter 2011”
MyMoneyBlog: “Buy vs. rent? It’s still a tough question for a lot of folks. According to real estate website Trulia.com, one rule of thumb is to divide the median list price compared with the median rent of similar properties. If the price/rent ratio is over 20, you should rent because buying is too expensive. From 16-20, it can be a grey zone, depending on a variety of factors. If it is under 15, you should consider buying. Very rough, but it’s a place to start. [see XHTML application]”
“Don’t Get Rich Any Slower Than You Have To”
Robert Brokamp: “My experience talking to friends, family, and, yes, even Motley Fool colleagues is that most investors have only a vague idea of how their portfolios have performed. I’ve found confirmation in a survey of German investors conducted by professors Markus Glaser and Martin Weber, who also were able to analyze the investors’ online brokerage accounts. They found that the returns were an average of 11.5 percentage points worse than the investors had thought; only 5% of survey respondents reported negative returns, but in reality 25% had losing portfolios.”
“Indian Reserve Bank panel seeks changes to microfinance”
BBC: “The operating style of many microfinance institutions (MFIs) has been criticised of late. There have been accusations of charging unreasonable fees and using loan sharks to collect outstanding payments.”
“8 Money Myths That Mess Up Your Life”
Mary Hunt: “If you don’t buy things on credit, you won’t have something, all right; you won’t have debt! If you want something badly enough, save for it first.” I have learned this hard American lesson but too little savings perhaps too late…