Wise Money Decisions

Recommended reading from Jeremy Siegel.  Very interesting long-term data on stocks vs. bonds.

The latest going-ons in “big law” are starting to draw interest from the mainstream press. 

This week Yahoo Finance put up an article about big firms asking their incoming first-year associates to defer their start date, in some cases up to a year.  Many firms are paying a partial salary or stipend to retain their associates through the deferment.  Reportedly some stipends are as high as $80,000, which would be half the first-year salary at most big firms.

In many cases the associates do not have a choice.  But suppose you did.  Which would you rather, $160,000 to work as a “big law” junior associate, or $80,000 to do your own thing for a year? 

As a former big law associate, let me assure you there is only one right answer.  Defer for a year, and then see if you can get them to defer you a few more years.  Thirty would be ideal. 

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of index ETF’s vs. mutual funds (including both active and indexed mutual funds), you will appreciate this 6-and-a-half minute presentation from Vanguard. 

If you are already well-versed in the benefits of indexed ETF’s, the presentation doesn’t cover any new ground.  

Even so, if you like numbers as much as I do you will find some fascinating data in the presentation.

I got a laugh out of the warning at the bottom of each slide:

“FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS ONLY.  NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION.” 

Clearly information this powerful should not be handled by the public at large.