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February 08, 2012

Amazon to open real-world store this year: report

Amazon doesn’t need any PR bumps, but let’s give it one anyway, shall we?

A_com_logo_RGBMy favourite Amazon story goes like this: one weeknight in 2010, I caught a late-night showing of The Social Network. Certainly, it was the year’s best movie, and so inspired was I that I came home and said, Hey, I oughtta read the book that was made from.

So sometime after midnight, well into the a.m., I placed an order for Ben Mezrich’s “The Accidental Billionaires.” Before the end of the next work day, it was at my door.

I’m not a paid Amazon advocate, just a fan of its convenience. So why, then, would a service as punctual as the web retailer actually open its own bricks-and-mortar store?

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Posted at 12:36 PM in Consumer news, Current affairs, Shopping | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 23, 2011

Kevin O’Leary’s four reasons to cut holiday spending: keep more by giving less

An old holiday adage says that it is better to give than to receive. I disagree. Giving is costly. This holiday season, give your kids the lasting gift of common sense instead of the short-term satisfaction of their entire wish list. Read my four reasons for why you should cut down on the time and money you spend at the mall during the holidays.

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Posted at 11:25 AM in Behaviour, Books, Buying behaviour, Buying tips, Debt, Education, Family finances, Frugal living, Money management, Personal finance, Saving tips, Wealth | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

November 10, 2011

How to write a persuasive message

Suppose you must write a message that you want the recipients to believe. Of course, your message will be true, but that is not necessarily enough for people to believe that it is true. It is entirely legitimate for you to enlist cognitive ease to work in your favour, and studies of truth illusions provide specific suggestions that may help you achieve this goal.

The general principle is that anything you can do to reduce cognitive strain will help, so you should first maximize legibility. Compare these two statements:
Adolf Hitler was born in 1892.
Adolf Hitler was born in 1887.

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Posted at 03:33 PM in Behaviour, Books, Marketing, Science | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 09, 2011

Are you working more now than you ever have?

Feel like you're always at work? Well, you're not alone.

AdA recent survey released by Towers Watson found that two thirds of Canadian and U.S. companies admit to  asking their employees to work longer hours. And it's slowly killing them.

"In the short run, having employees work extra hours can increase productivity, but in the long run, extended hours can negatively affect employee well-being and retention," Towers Watson’s Laurie Bienstock told Benefits Canada.  

Overall, 60% of Canadian respondents report that employees have been working more hours over the past three years, and just under half (47%) expect this trend to continue over the next three years.

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Posted at 10:33 AM in Books, Business news, Career, Economic news, Unemployment, Workplace | | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

October 05, 2011

Forget who gets the car, birth order may impact your career

If only the kids would get along, instead of blaming everything on their brothers or sisters.

Ad But the reality is that all siblings aren't created equal and they don't get treated as such. Firstborns, for example, often get shafted because parents are stricter with them, while later-born kids often have fewer rules to cope with.

Now, however, it turns out that those first-born kids are the most likely to earn six figures and hold a top executive position among workers with siblings, according to findings from jobs website CareerBuilder.

Meanwhile, middle kids are the most likely to report holding an entry-level spot and earning less than $35,000.  

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Posted at 09:07 AM in Books, Career, Compensation, Economic news, Workplace | | Comments (24) | TrackBack (0)

September 01, 2011

Being content with less creates its own set of problems

The story of addictive behaviour is not always one of more: it can also manifest as the relentless pursuit of less, claims David Krueger, author of The Secret Language of Money: How to Make Smarter Financial Decisions and Live a Richer Life.  

Broke In other words, don’t get used to being broke. Do something different. Break out of your comfort zone.

A financial comfort zone is a familiar pattern of behaviour — one that’s predictable and automatic — so you always know the outcome even though it may not be beneficial.

Most of us have such a set zone with our weight, what we order at our regular restaurant, or the difficulty of starting a savings program. And sometimes this holds us back.

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Posted at 02:49 PM in Books, Family finances, Frugal living, Personal finance | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

August 25, 2011

North Americans lacking when it comes to self control: Study

From a coterie of self-sufficient farmers and thrifty merchants, the United States has evolved into a country where people not only want more than they have but generally want more than is good for them.

Book So says Daniel Akst, in his new book We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess.

It's an interesting treatise on how Americans (don’t gloat; Canadians fare almost as poorly) have slowly become consumers who simply don't know when to stop — even though their habits are bad for their health, finances, and the planet they live on.

Akst estimates that overeating, smoking, unprotected sex, drinking too much alcohol and similar excesses contribute to close to half of the deaths every year in the U.S.

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Posted at 06:39 AM in Books, Buying behaviour, Family finances, Personal finance | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

March 08, 2011

Innumeracy: The fear of all sums

John A. Paulos, the author of amusing and yet depressing books "Innumeracy" and "A Mathematician Reads a Newspaper", coined the term "mathematical illiteracy" or "innumeracy" to describe an endemic deficiency of our society, namely a lack of grasp of numbers.

Numbers And that lack of understanding costs consumers millions of dollars each year.

For instance, it appears that those who were less numerate were more likely to foreclose on their homes during the recent U. S. housing crisis, The Economist reports.

Stephan Meier, one of the study’s authors, posits that the innumerate may be worse at managing their daily finances, leaving them with little room for manoeuvre when things get difficult.

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Posted at 01:41 AM in Books, Education, Money management, Personal finance | | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

January 18, 2011

Getting paid to shed those pounds

While Canadians can boast that we're not as fat as our Krispy Kreme-loving neighbours to the south, we’re really not all that far behind. 

Fat So it’s good to know that HealthyWage, which makes money through advertising and sponsorships, is there to help us with the promise of at least $100 if we lower our body mass index from at least 30, which is considered obese, to below 25, the normal range.

If you’re willing to pay $300 of your own money, you can possibly see as much as $1,000 if you realize your weight-loss goal.

But do such inducements work? Apparently so.

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Posted at 12:19 PM in Books, Compensation, Consumer news, Credit cards | | Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)

January 10, 2011

How to make your own luck

Over the past eight years, Ric Wallace has won thousands of dollars in various lotteries, as well as a dream home. You, too, can do the same, he believes.

Shoe And, for a price, he’ll tell you how through his Lotterysquirrel site, where you’ll find a host of betting schemes and talismans to help you score a big payday.

Bunk? I certainly think so.

What about the idea of creating your own luck though? Do some of us think and behave in ways that create good fortune in our lives?

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Posted at 07:30 AM in Books, Business news, Science, Workplace | | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

December 28, 2010

Is real estate actually just like sex?

"What do college students talk about with their roommates?''

House Sex, according to author Marjorie Garber.

Twenty years later, what’s the main topic of conversation with their friends and associates?

You got it: Real estate — and with the same gleam in the eyes, she declares in her book Sex and Real Estate.

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Posted at 11:09 AM in Books, Housing prices, Mortgages, Real estate | | Comments (57) | TrackBack (0)

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AUTHORS
Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...

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