Mr. Nice Guy. It's such an easy role to play, isn't it? Someone asks you for a favor -- like some extra time in repaying a debt -- and you feel compelled to say yes because we're humans and that's what we're taught to do from an early age -- be nice to one another. [...]
Many of the turning points in movies hinge on people waiting for the exact right moment to do something. Launch an attack, surprise an enemy, close a deal, cut the rope, take the dish out of the oven. People hold on until they feel the moment is right and then they decide to take action. [...]
Mr. Nice Guy. It's such an easy role to play, isn't it? Someone asks you for a favor -- like some extra time in repaying a debt -- and you feel compelled to say yes because we're humans and that's what we're taught to do from an early age -- be nice to one another. [...]
To be a consumer today is to be living in the most tumultuous financial period since the Great Recession nearly 15 years ago. Student loan debts are being canceled. Medical debts are being taken off credit reports. Inflation is forcing people to make hard choices about how to spend their money. The economy may be [...]
Nearly 20% of individuals nationwide have disclosed that they have skipped or delayed paying a bill in the past six months in order to meet their monthly expenses, or at least come as close as possible to meeting them, according to the results of a national poll. Those skipped expenses include not paying for medical [...]
Last time, we talked about the importance of making good financial choices, especially given the state of the economy, with everything costing a lot more than it has in the past. That is still true, and likely will be for the foreseeable future. Economists can debate whether we are in a recession or not, but [...]
The cost of meat, chicken, fish and eggs is 14% higher now than they were a year ago. The price of fruits and vegetables are 12% higher. The price of electricity is 12% higher. And gas was as expensive as it has ever been. Anyone who has been inside a store or tried to buy [...]
The horizon is an interesting concept. It never appears to get closer or further away — in a way acting like a fixed point in space — but we all know that the further we get away from an object, the smaller it gets in our field of vision. At a certain point, it disappears [...]
It’s likely one of the most demoralizing sights in a doctor’s office or hospital — the clipboard. The clipboard containing page after page of forms and information that patients are required to fill out. All too often, patients barely pay attention to what they are doing in an effort to make it look like it [...]
If you listen to an economist of any stripe, he or she will inevitably talk about cycles. Much of the economy runs in cycles and economists love to point this out. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have introduced new buying and saving patterns for consumers, old habits tend to die hard. And after spending nearly [...]
