Curious Cat Investing, Economics and Personal Finance Carnival #18

Welcome to the Curious Cat Investing, Economics and Personal Finance Carnival: find useful recent personal finance, investing and economics blog posts and articles. If you want to have an post considered for the next carnival please submit it to quixperito: money.

• How I live on $7,000 per year by Jacob Lund Fisker – “If I had to venture a guess, I’d say I’m more frugal (the way your grandparents were frugal—in fact what I do wouldn’t be considered very extreme by your grandparents or great grandparents—I’d probably be average from their perspective) and I adhere more to a do-it-your-self ethics.”
• Invest in Communities to Advance Capitalism by Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks) – “It is no longer enough to serve customers, employees, and shareholders. As corporate citizens of the world, it is our responsibility — our duty — to serve the communities where we do business by helping to improve, for example, the quality of citizens’ education, employment, health care, safety, and overall daily life, plus future prospects.” [similar to Dr. Deming ideas from decades ago on the purpose of organizations, which I share - John].
• My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine by Rob Fitzpatrick – “The vending machine didn’t magically make me want to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to be a video game designer, then an engineer, then a video game designer again, and then an academic. I get the impression kids are a bit slippery in that regard.
  But when I stumbled into the startup world two decades later, the dots began to connect. Cashflow wasn’t a new concept.”

Forest Glen Preserve, Illinois, Illinois by John Hunter

• Disability Insurance is Very Important by John Hunter – “When I would have had gaps in coverage from work, I have purchased disability insurance myself. I am all in favor of saving money. About the only 2 things I don’t believe in saving money being very important are health and disability insurance.”
• What Other Dividend Lists Exist Besides the Dividend Aristocrats? – “companies that have increased their annual regular dividends for at least the past 10 consecutive years and have met specific liquidity screening criteria… The members of the Dividend Champions List include, those stocks (not limited to the S&P 500) that have increased their dividend for the past 25 years.”
• Buying a New Home and Converting Your Current Home Into a Rental Property by Philip Taylor – “By refinancing our mortgage, we reduced our mortgage payment by enough to allow us to rent out the property by at least a hundred more per month than all of our expenses: mortgage, property taxes, insurance, home owners association dues, repairs, and property management fees.”
• The perils of near monopoly by Joshua Gans – “Had Qantas had market shares akin to airlines in more competitive markets, the shut down would not have had the external spillovers, publicity and also the ability to shield Qantas — both managers and workers — from personal long-term consequences of such brinkmanship.”
• Is a Costco Membership Worth The Cost? – “Comparing the $401 Costco bill to a potential $690 Safeway bill means that I am saving 41% over the lowest prices I could find at Safeway – and this is over a huge swath of groceries. After subtracting the membership cost, I probably still save close to $1000 per year.”
• Anti-Market Policies from Our Talking Heads and Politicians – “When we allow them to discredit free market capitalism by equating anti-market policies as being free market capitalism we risk losing a great benefit to society… When people get the message that collusion, anti-competitive markets, political special interest driven policies… are what free market capitalism is we risk losing even more of the benefits free markets provide (than we are losing now).
• 3 Robot Stocks That Could Make You Rich – “Robotics are no longer science fiction. There are plenty of publicly traded companies that specialize in futuristic gadgetry improving industries today. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is the company behind the da Vinci robotic arm that is transforming the way surgical incisions are done in some procedures.