Beakinoftruth: personal finance books

10 Riskiest Places to Give Your Social Security Number "Here's how to lower the chances of your number falling into the wrong hands — and what to do if it does."

Holiday Non-Shopping: 7 Items Worth Waiting For [Money Watch] "Here are the top 7 items that you may want to put on your post-holiday shopping list."

How to Pick Your Next Computer [Smart Money] "Here is my annual fall computer buyers' guide, a simplified road map to the key decisions shoppers must make."

10 Things Recruiters Won't Tell You [Wall Street Journal] "#1. There are better ways to find a job."

20 Places to Find Free Books Online [Northern Cheapskate] "The following sites provide free books that can be enjoyed online, downloaded to your computer, or transferred to an e-reader or MP3 player."

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

Austin is home to the biggest spenders in the country—the average resident of Texas' liberal enclave blows over $67,000 per year, and that doesn't include mortgage or rent. Austin is followed by Scottsdale, Arizona and San Jose, California, according to rankings compiled by Bundle.com based on household expenditures for shopping, eating, drinking, transportation, healthcare, and entertainment. Detroiters spend the least, around $16,400 per year, with New Yorkers and Angelenos right in the middle.

The 2010 Bundle Report: The 25 top-spending cities in the U.S.

3. Conservatives donate 30.4 percent more money to charity than liberals do.

According to Syracuse University business professor Arthur C. Brooks, whose book cites this figure, conservative American households give $1,600 a year on average, compared with the $1,227 given by liberal households. Brooks adds that Americans who believe the U.S. government spends "too little money on welfare" (e.g., liberals) are less likely than those who believe the government spends "too much money on welfare" (e.g., conservatives) to return extra change to cashiers or give money to homeless panhandlers.

Arthur C. Brooks. Who Really Cares? The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. New York: Basic Books, 2006, page 36 and page 57.

4. People who consistently shop online spend 24.6 percent more than people who shop in stores.

According to a National Retail Federation survey, online shoppers also start their holiday shopping earlier than brick-and-mortar shoppers and are 4 percent more likely to buy things for themselves while holiday shopping on the Net. Among those who own smart phones, 27 percent will use them to make holiday purchases. "Online shopping is a magnet for compulsive buyers," warns psychologist April Benson, author of To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop. "Anonymity is a big factor, because when you shop online, no one has to see how much you're spending or what you're spending it on."

National Retail Federation 2010 Holiday Survey (link is to full study)

5. People from Connecticut are the nation's biggest spenders, outspending Montanans by 112 percent.

Residents of the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and California are the USA's second, third, and fourth biggest spenders—all states known for encouraging a pricey lifestyle. Not so Montana, where the average resident spends only $27,000 per year. West Virginians spend the very least, according to this study, a mere $24,500.

The 2010 Bundle Report: Annual household spending by state

6. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults spend 26 percent more on holiday gifts than heterosexuals.

In a Harris Interactive survey that was conducted last year and whose contrasts are so steep as to reflect consistent patterns, 31 percent of LGBT adults surveyed said they planned to spend more that year than the previous year on holiday gifts for relatives, compared to only 5 percent of heterosexual adults surveyed.

LGBT Households Remain More Optimistic about Finances (2009), compiled by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications (full study not available online)

Shoppers wait in line while shopping at Toys"R"Us during the Black Friday sales event on November 27, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tom Pennington / Getty Images)

7. Americans aged 50 to 65 spend 74 percent more money per year than Americans aged 18 to 25.

• 15 Best Stores for Black FridayThe average 50 to 65 year old spends over twice what the average 18 to 25 year old spends on healthcare, and nearly three times as much on housing. Each age group divvies up its expenditures differently, with the younger set allocating 21 percent of their everyday spending to food and drink, more than any other age group. While all other groups allocate about 24 percent of their everyday spending to shopping (a category that includes clothes, shoes, electronics, hobbies, and other merchandise), seniors allocate the least: 16 percent. The 50-to-65 crowd also spends a startling 78 percent more than the 18-to-25 group on shopping, and over twice as much on travel. No big surprises here, Benson says. After 50, "people have accumulated money for travel, and their health is starting to decline. And how many seniors are going out drinking?"

The 2010 Bundle Report: Annual spending by age

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

personal finance books

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