http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp Everything to do with thickening your wallet by entrepreneur turned President of an Investment Company Fri, 16 May 2008 09:00:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you believe the media, oil has now hit a price point where it is beginning to change our behavior: we drive less, buy smaller cars, car-pool etc. which means less consumption and a return to some semblance of more normal pricing (one hopes). But the general public continues to ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/16/after-oilwind-power/ A friend of mine runs a business loaning money to businesses. Every once in a while, he asks me to baby-sit a file for him or to help him interview a potential borrower (I don't loan the money, my job is to vet the candidates who needs loans if he ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/15/how-not-to-get-approved-for-a-loan/ To paraphrase Albert Einstein, the way to get out of a crisis is not to employ the same thinking that got you into the mess.  Lawyers tend to be a sully lot because they help clients get out of messes, whether self-inflicted or not, so they spend their days in ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/14/getting-out-of-a-mess-financial-or-otherwise/ EnCana is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world which, at oil and gas prices being what they are, also makes it one of the largest companies in the world (Forbes Magazine ranks it as one of the 200 best companies in the world). On Sunday, ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/13/why-do-companies-split-themselves-up-and-is-it-good-for-the-investor/ I ended up having some drinks with a friend of mine who has moved from the bank to an investment counsel firm. An investment counsel, in plain English, manages money for rich people (their legal standard of care is higher than an investment advisor and, with such higher exposure to ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/12/whats-wrong-with-the-mutual-fund/ I am on rather extensive business travel this week. It is one of those weeks where I have to remind myself where I am when I wake up in the morning (and, unfortunately, I am asking the question in a context different than the college days). Thus, this is the ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/08/what-happens-when-financial-goals-collide-with-bad-economic-times/ People hate lawyers for a billion reasons. Lawyers charge too much. Lawyers aren't human. Lawyers don't speak English. Lawyers only care about themselves and on and on it goes. But I have always suspected the real reason why people hate lawyers is that they related seeing a lawyer with bad ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/06/when-should-i-see-my-advisor/ When you get to a certain age, doctors recommend that you starting seeing them for an annual physical to assess your personal health. This is a very good suggestion but when was the last time you did a check-up on your personal finances? I am not talking about an annual ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/05/the-personal-finance-check-up/ Just an odds and ends Friday, where I clean out various items across my blogging desk: As pointed out by one of the commentators, question 7 in yesterday's Debt Management and Savings Test, asked about the size of retirement contributions which did not consider that those in their 20's and ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/02/odds-and-ends/ Yep, I am giving all of you, dear readers, a quiz on your debt management and savings practices. The rules are easy; There's 10 questions. For every question, you give yourself one point if you answer it "right." A 10 is a perfect score. Some of the questions are based ... http://www.thickenmywallet.com/blog/wp/2008/05/01/the-debt-management-and-savings-test/