Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 4, Posts 19-22

Without further a due, let’s continue on with the 4th Stage of the 2011 My Personal Finance Journey Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as the competition.

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint) you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites.

I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post.

Here are today’s competitions:

• The SCAM Series: The Death Star Laser (Scam): Ever wondered how much the Death Star Laser would cost? If you have slightly nerdy tendencies like myself, then maybe you have. Then again, I’m kinda unique… but you should find out the answer to this incredibly intriguing question anyway! Hint: It’s a really, really big number. 

• This isn’t your grandparents’ recession (Grandparents): Ever since the recession began I think there’s WAY too much blaming of the victims. I’m good and sick of hearing pundits grumble about how lazy and soft Americans have become, and how we ought to take a few lessons from the Great Depression. Here’s the thing: The world was a different place back then. Heaven knows I’m no apologist for slackers, credit-card spendthrifts or people who won’t take anything but the “right” job, but a lot of the advice our elders offered/modeled isn’t relevant today. Plenty of folks are in big trouble not because they’re lazy, but because of complex personal, local, national and global economic issues.

• The Greatest Impact On My Finances And My Best Financial Tool (Tool): I’ve got a financial tool that not only will help me build wealth but makes me a better person as well.  Interested to see what I’m talking about?  Read on to find out more.

• Firefighters Let House Burn and Pets Die Over $75 (Burn): Firefighters allowed a home to burn down, taking with it pets, precious heirlooms, and memories…all because the owner forgot to pay $75! See the full story and share your thoughts on the “pay to spray” rule, and on the concept of insurance!

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamtraveller/3341178546/sizes/l/in/photostream/