In the "The Planet Money Workout" podcast, it explains how people think they workout much more than they do. This is because gyms tend to trick us and manipulate us, and this usually leads us into buying memberships. Gyms love when people have memberships, but they love it even more when those people do not come to the gym. So if gyms make their prices low they will not be losing money because most of their customers do not even go to the gym. If someone buys a membership but does not actually workout then the gym has less to maintain and pay for, so they are saving money. People use opportunity cost in deciding to buy a membership or not. The low price is the cost, but the benefit is getting that "dream body". Gyms have a lot more members
In the article “The Case For Free Money” James Surowiecki expresses that Universal Basic Income is a tool to fight against poverty and help the economy and should be recognized as a helpful welfare program. Surowiecki starts the article with an example of a successful trial of U.B.I from the past called Mincome to show the idea in the real world. The experiment paved way for others to jump onto the idea of a U.B.I. Surowiecki goes on to show that U.B.I.s have been a popular idea to ending poverty with past American leaders and that today's people on both sides of thinking politically see the program as a way to fight poverty or end it. The article also explains that the idea of U.B.I.s is becoming more popular and America isn’t the only one
I choose Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey because my family, in particular, my father and brother have read several books by Ramsey and have always said really great things about them. My younger brother has made fairly wise financial decisions for a 22 year old after going through his class. My father had trouble back in 2008 with his small business he had owned for over 17 years. He adopted this idea of debt free living and is living what seems to be a less stressful and more secure work and home life.
The Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme is a well-known case and is known as one of the biggest Ponzi scheme’s. In summary the scheme occurred for many reasons that I will some up into 3 points; A lack in competency by regulatory agencies, a lack of regulation, and finally a breach in ethics by Bernie Madoff himself. To explain further, the regulatory agencies like the lawyers and SEC are supposed to prevent schemes such as this one from happening but because they lacked the skills to correctly assess the situation, interpreting the number of tips they had received regarding scheme that had been filed, and to act on those in an efficient manner. One of the tips was made by Harry Markopolos in 2000, of who correctly predicted that Madoff was guilty of fraud. Even after this tip from Markopolos, Madoff was not arrested until 2009. Many family members were also a part of the fraud along with some non-family members such as Frank DiPascali and a team known as the 17th floor team, who helped Madoff carry out his fraud. The idea behind Madoff’s fraud was that he would produce false statements of their investments and when people wanted to pull out their investments, the money wasn’t actually there, which rightfully rose more than a few eyebrows and ultimately led to his arrest.
I chose to do my book review on Brad and Ted Klontz’s “Mind Over Money: Overcoming the Money Disorders That Threaten Our Financial Health” because I have observed, and participated in, bad financial decisions that have greatly impacted my family for decades. I’ve taken many personal steps to attempt to break the cycle of destruction that ended my parents’ marriage, and to raise my children in a debt free environment. Unfortunately, it has not been an easy task. I have read many financial self help books and attended seminars on the subject. This book caught my attention when it said that simply learning how to budget and pay off debt isn’t enough, that one has to first understand our psychological relationship to money, and then move beyond the financial constraints we put on upon ourselves. For years I had struggled with debt and money management. I had always assumed it was my lack of education that held me from moving forward. Reading this book has been a welcome eye-opener.
situation in the United States and an unfold story about his family money stash , I can relate to
"Whether the issue is consumer privacy, a Patients' Bill of Rights, environmental pollution, or a prescription drug benefit for older Americans, soft money donors will get their opinions heard on Capitol Hill and at the White House. Soft money is drowning out the voices of average Americans -- it is time to put an end to the corrupt soft money system"
People spend money the way they want to spend it; they forgo expert advice and instead, rely on their own intuitions and judgments when making a purchase. However, the opposite occurs in all other aspects of dealing with money. They pay high sums of money for experts to advise them on how to save their money and before they invest their earnings. Elizabeth Dunn, an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Michael Norton, an associate professor of marketing at the Harvard Business School, decided that spending money should not be considered an “easy” task and wrote a book of expert advice on how to spend money. Using behavioral science research, Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending focuses on the relationship
Costco has many competitors with the primary two being Sam’s Club, a wholesale business being managed by Walmart, and BJ’s wholesale club. Sam’s Club is offering the same services as Costco. They offer their customers lower prices than traditional stores and like Costco they sell their products in bulk to keep members interested. What makes them a threat to Costco is the cost of becoming a member to shop at their stores. For Costco’s basic membership, known as a Business membership, a price increase had to occur to outweigh price increases from their suppliers. This led to the Costco Business membership annual fee being set at $55. When looking into the case study assembled by Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, and Strickland (2014) they point out that Sam’s Club is able to offer similar benefits ...
Americans have created programs like jenny craig and weight watchers to influence others to become healthier. But in reality no one wants to spend numerous amounts on eating programs when paying their house payment in this economy has become difficult. If the nation as a whole would realize that paying 8 dollars for a hamburger and paying 1 dollar for a hamburger could make a big difference in the future. The cheaper hamburger will be the root cause in more doctor bills. So you see the more expensive hamburger cost more upfront but is more cost-efficient in the future. Or even eating the cheaper hamburger, if one eats the cheaper hamburger then a gym membership should be in the question. Gym memberships are about 30 dollars a month and could gradually increase your health: heart, metabolism, etc.
In the movie “Living on One Dollar” many topics which I can not relate to are discussed such as lack of nutrition, lack of education, shared savings account, and dealing with disease and sickness. When lack of nutrition was discussed in the movie my first reaction was to feel bad. The children who are undernourished don’t even have enough energy to play. The kid's diets were not proportioned, and healthy because they were eating tortillas and salt every day. This was due to the unstable jobs which most people in the community had. There seemed to be no solution to this problem because the adults needed to get an education for a stable job, and while they're getting an education they need someone to provide for the family. This made me realize how important food is to my everyday life and every time I waste food I realize how large of a sin I am committing.
Human thinking can influence everything and especially the way people handle money. While money certainly brings status, it’s acquired mostly for the purpose of attaining personal liberty. However, the biggest thing holding back most people from succeeding and flourishing in terms of money are their thoughts, beliefs and philosophies. Siebold claimed that a person can feel shame, if he/she is “getting rich” in poor communities. Some people who were born poor or in the middle class are still stuck or remain that way because of the way they think about money. It is nearly impossible to contradict the fact that the rich think about money is distinct and unique from everybody else. In this paper, the researchers will not only highlight the differences
The Visit is a play by Friedrich Durrenmatt that is following events that partake in the town of Guellen. The protagonist Claire pursues to seek revenge on her past lover Ill who essentially robbed Claire of her life. When the relationship had ended Ill left her with nothing and her hometown Guellen turned her away. She lost her freedom, child, and was forced to rebuild her life. After leaving Guellen out of shame, she returned to punish Ill. In The Visit Durrenmatt uses the symbol of money to elucidate the gradual change in morals the town of Guellen undergoes with Claire’s return.
The low prices at fast food restaurants may at first glance seem low, but the
...things like Hamburger or sausages, than to peel and boil potatoes, cook vegetables and make a meatloaf. Finally, poor people don’t have enough money to join fitness centers. Fitness centers as everyone knows, cost a lot. Especially that he or she needs a personal trainer, which will also coast them much more money to pay. In addition to that, anyone who joins a fitness center needs to go on a certain diet, and this means those poor people need to buy healthy special food, which they certainly can’t afford.
Saving money brings security for any future expenses. The earlier in life an individual begins to save, the better they will be set financially in the years to come. There are several reasons why it is important to save money. A few of these reasons are for emergencies, retirement, and simply for luxury spending. Having money will benefit each of these examples.