Wellness Blog: Al Jacobs

Dishonesty Proclaimed as a Revelation

Al Jacobs — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:55:02 GMT

News Item: Survey Reveals Students' Dishonesty. For those of you who imagined otherwise, high-school-aged youths will shoplift from a store or cheat on an exam. It's official now. The Josephson Institute, a nonprofit foundation based in Los Angeles, surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly chosen high schools throughout the nation. Within the past year, thirty percent acknowledged having stolen from a store while sixty-four percent admitted to cheating on a test. Understandably, all were queried anonymously. The institute's founder and president, Michael Josephson, expressed dismay at the findings.

A Rescue of Main Street

Al Jacobs — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:58:54 GMT

In the closing weeks of the election now thankfully concluded, attention focused on the failing economy and a need for the federal government to address the problems quickly and effectively. Amidst passage of the $700 billion bailout legislation, the Bush administration proposed purchase of "toxic mortgages" from major investors as a way to invigorate the economy. As expected, calls for government money emanated from those claiming to represent ordinary citizens, urging assistance for individual homeowners facing foreclosure. This dispute between Wall Street and Main Street remains heated as spokespersons from both sides press their demands.

The Financial Bailout: A View of Reality by Al Jacobs

Al Jacobs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:07:22 GMT

Are you watching as the nation's politicians work to solve the financial meltdown of 2008? Though they all have different opinions on what must be done, they seem to agree on one point: hundreds of billions in taxpayers' dollars must be thrown at the problem.

Staying on Your Family Budget

Al Jacobs — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:53:30 GMT

If you visit google.com, the Internet's most prominent search engine, and enter the words "Family Budget," you'll be referred to 93,800,000 websites.

As you see, there's a plethora of information on budgets. Visit some of the sites as I did and you can learn how to create them, revise them, refine them, interpret them, rationalize them, and conform to them. Nonetheless, the number of American families whose finances are out of control is staggering.

Coping With a Drop in Home Prices

Al Jacobs — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:35:04 GMT

Over the past year you've watched as real estate in your neighborhood dropped in value. It didn't really hit home, though, until last week when your next door neighbors told you they hadn't made mortgage payments for five months, that the bank was foreclosing, and that they'd be moving soon. For the first time you're looking closely at your own home, wondering what the future holds.