Philip Brewer's blog

Update on money fund guarantee program

The key thing to know about the Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds that the Treasury announced 10 days ago is that it only guarantees the money that you had in the

Root cause of the financial crisis

Several times recently, Treasury Secretary Paulson (and many others) have claimed that the "root cause" of the current financial crisis is "the housing correction." This is comple

Me too, Secretary Paulson!

Dear Secretary Paulson: I've looked over the fact sheet on the proposal to give the Treasury the authority to purchase "troubled assets," and although I have some doubts about th

Deposit insurance for money funds

Early this morning, the Treasury announced deposit insurance for money market mutual funds, provided that the fund pays a fee. The money to provide the insurance will come from th

Peak Debt

Is there a limit to how much Americans can spend? Clearly there is: All they earn, minus savings and service on their existing debt, plus new borrowing. Since the Bureau of Econ

Need a game to learn to manage your credit?

Everybody learns best in their own way. Some by reading, some by listening, some only by personal experience--and there are always a few who never learn. But, if you're one of th

Money lost in money fund

For thirty years, people have treated money funds as being just as safe as a bank. On the rare occasions when money fund management made a bad investment, they've voluntarily coug

What your house is really worth

There are several things you can do with a house that you own. During the housing boom, most of the attention was focused on two of those things: You could sell it, or you could

Fund your own sabbatical

I never got a sabbatical. My dad was a college professor, so I knew from a young age what a sabbatical was. I always paid attention whenever one corporation or another would be i

Frugalize any recipe

My wife picked up a cookbook at the library--one of those beautiful cookbooks with a gorgeous pictures of each dish. It had an above-average number of dishes that appealed to me.

Health insurance: Two other numbers to look at

Most people, of course, have almost no control over their health insurance: They get what their employer provides (if they have a good job) or else they get nothing. Whether they

Three paths to being a digital nomad

I wanted to be a digital nomad before anybody--before the term existed; before the technology existed; before most people even imagined that it would someday be possible to earn a

Free and cheap things to do in Champaign-Urbana

Here's a sampling of free and cheap things to do where I live--Champaign-Urbana, Illinois--offered up for my neighbors (who may not know all these places), for visitors (who may no

Book review: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

Do you need a career guide? And, if so, do you need one written as manga? It almost doesn't matter--Daniel H. Pink has written one, and it's got enough good lessons packed into a

Deciding when to follow instructions

Anytime someone announces that they're looking to hire, there'll be instructions on how to apply--even if nothing more than a sign that says, "Inquire within." Often, they'll want

Think you can afford more house in the exurbs? Think again.

Many people who live in the far-out suburbs move there because they can buy more house for the money than they can in town. As an example from where I live, a house in Champaign-U

Why save during an inflation?

You can always tell when inflation has become ingrained in an economy--you start hearing people say, "Buy now before the price goes up!" I remember hearing that a lot in the late

Learn techniques for sustainable living

In the long run, we'll all be living sustainable lifestyles. Many of us are already moving that way--positioning ourselves to live more sustainably--at a pace of our own choosing,

Guest post at Get Rich Slowly

J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly asked me for a guest post on personal finance. What it turned out I wanted to talk about next, though, was productivity--and in particular, my evolvin

Simplicity and being cheap

People might look at how I spend money and say I'm cheap or a tightwad. If they do, though, they're missing the point. The fact is, I'm much more interested in simplicity than I