February 2006 Archives

NY Times: As the job market tightens many owners of very small businesses find they cannot compete with the salaries and perks offered by larger companies.

The Christian Science Monitor: Several government reports this week tell the story. For the first year since the Great Depression, the personal savings rate went negative in 2005. Pay and benefits, meanwhile, rose just 3.1 percent last year - the lowest rate since 1996 and not enough to outpace a 3.4 percent jump in the consumer price index.

Charity Navigator: We help charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing information on over five thousand charities and by evaluating the financial health of each of these charities.

Philip Greenspun is an interesting writer. His latest piece is about retiring early. Retirement forces you to stop thinking that it is your job that holds you back. For most people the depressing truth is that they aren't that organized, disciplined, or motivated.

Years ago, he wrote Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing, a book I read and re-read when it was new. Another good article is Why I'm not a writer.

WSJ: Larry Ellison's Leveraged Lifestyle Revealed in Lawsuit Documents

In mid-2000, for instance, documents originally prepared by Mr. Ellison's personal financial adviser, Philip Simon, show that the Oracle co-founder and chief executive owed a total of more than $1 billion to five different banks, just $328 million shy of tapping out his line of credit. At the time, Mr. Simon anticipated additional spending by Mr. Ellison of more than $700 million over the next three years, including $20 million a year for "lifestyle," $194 million for a new yacht and $80 million for Mr. Ellison's America's Cup yacht-racing team.