Home Mortgages
FEBRUARY 7, 1998

As 1997 came to a close, mortgage rates dropped lower than they had been all year, according to HSH Associates in Butler, New Jersey. With 30-year fixed-rate mortgages flirting with 7.00% and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages even lower, many homeowners will be tempted to refinance existing mortgages in the new year. And new homebuyers should be attracted to the marketplace as well. Find out how to find the best mortgage deal for your own circumstances on this edition of Sound Money from mortgage advisor Roger Harrington. He'll join Bob Potter to take calls.

• THE NEWS & VIEW OF CHRIS FARRELL "Diversification is a far more powerful and subtle idea than simply creating a margin of safety. We know from our everyday experience of going to work and dealing with our families, from reading the newspaper and history books, that we face many more risks than volatility in the markets. Diversification is a technique, an approach that allows you to embrace the risks you are willing to accept and to insure against the risks you’d prefer to minimize. We are all individuals when it comes to diversification."
• SURVIVING THE 90S Beth Kobliner, author of GET A FINANCIAL LIFE: PERSONAL FINANCE IN YOUR TWENTIES AND THIRTIES, with advice about paying back student loans. READ a transcript of this commentary on the Sound Money web site, www.soundmoney.org. YOUR MONEY MANAGER Erica Whittlinger answers the question, "Can you be too rich?"
• SMART CHOICES Mortgage advisor Roger Harrington takes calls about refinancing home mortgages. ON THE WEB: www.harringtonsmortgage.com
• SMART CHOICES QUOTE "Choosing a lender is the principal point that you need to work with. You can get a fantastic deal on a loan, make the application, and get ready to close. Then suddenly the market turns and if your lender wasn’t reliable, you might find them out of town. The important thing is to have someone with ties to the community or to a financial institution, and if they have a good reputation, that’s all the better."
• BUYERS MARKET "Buyers Market" is no longer a broadcast feature, but you can find information about low interest credit cards and high yielding savings here.

Your Money Manager, Erica Whittlinger
FEBRUARY 14, 1998

If you're in doubt about your personal finances, Erica Whittlinger can help. She's been Sound Money's money manager for more than a decade, in addition to being the president of her own money management firm in Minneapolis. She'll join Bob Potter to calm your financial fears, soothe your money worries, and help you sort through your asset allocation on this edition of Sound Money.

• THE NEWS & VIEW OF CHRIS FARRELL "The best economic news last week came from the government's number crunchers: productivity rose at a 2% annual rate over the past two years. Now, "productivity" is hardly a household word. Yet it is productivity that matters - at least when it comes to economic growth and living standards. The more workers can produce an hour the more companies can pay workers without raising prices or slashing profits."
• SURVIVING THE 90S Robin Leonard, author of CREDIT REPAIR (Nolo Press, Berkeley), with information for divorcing couples about property division.
• YOUR MONEY MANAGER Erica Whittlinger has observations about current market conditions.
• SMART CHOICES Erica Whittlinger answers personal finance and investing questions.
• BUYERS MARKET Buyers Market" is no longer a broadcast feature, but you can find information about low interest credit cards and high yielding savings here.

Get a Job
FEBRUARY 21, 1998

With unemployment low and a healthy economy, college graduates and career changers should have little trouble finding interesting, challenging, and rewarding work. But how can you know that the job you take will deliver on what it promises? One way is to check out The Job Vault (Houghton Mifflin/Mariner Books, 1997), co-authored by Mark Oldman, one of the authors of America's Top Internships. It provides an insider's look at more than100,000 job opportunities, going beyond what the recruiting brochures present. Oldman will join Bob Potter to take calls on this edition of the program.

• THE NEWS & VIEW OF CHRIS FARRELL "In recent decades, a major focus of federal tax policy has been to boost savings and investment, largely by sheltering capital from taxes. Today, investment is strong, especially in high-tech equipment, and the stock market is at an all-time high. Now may be a good time to encourage more investment in human capital by easing back on the payroll tax."
• SURVIVING THE 90S Julie Garton-Good, author of THE HOME BUYING GAME (Dearborn Publishing, 1997), on when it pays to remodel your home.
• YOUR MONEY MANAGER Erica Whittlinger tells us why it’s so difficult for some people to get rid of losing investments.
• SMART CHOICES Mark Oldman, co-author of THE JOB VAULT (Houghton Mifflin/Mariner Books, 1997, www.vaultreports.com or 1-888-JOB-VAULT), takes calls about finding a job. SMART CHOICES QUOTE "What we've seen over the last couple of years is that people are really preparing, doing their homework on companies, finding out exactly what the companies have been up to and why they would make a great fit with the companies. It's about customizing your resume, it's about customizing your cover letter. And it's about being aggressive and pro-active and passionate about the companies you apply to."
• BUYERS MARKET Buyers Market" is no longer a broadcast feature, but you can find information about low interest credit cards and high yielding savings here.

Jim Rogers' World
FEBRUARY 28, 1998

Jim Rogers gave Sound Money listeners a look at the world in his book Investment Biker, a chronicle of his travels around the world on a motorcycle. On his most recent visit to the program, he discussed investment opportunities in Russia, Mexico, Africa, and eastern Europe. This time around we'll ask him to turn his attention to southeast Asia. How will events there affect the health of the world's economy? Where are the bargains to be found? Find out what he thinks and get answers to your questions, too, when Jim Rogers joins Bob Potter for Sound Money.

• THE NEWS & VIEW OF CHRIS FARRELL "Wall Street loves to portray itself as rational, analytical, and tough-minded. But investing is as much a social activity as it is a money making endeavor. The chatter in the markets is incessant. Rumor. Research. Gossip. Information. Bad jokes. Data. Because there is so much noise in the markets, fads, fashions, and capriciousness sometimes rule. The economy remains on solid ground. But I wouldn't get carried away with the stock market's record-making run. Asia could take a dangerous turn. Clinton could appear more vulnerable. Passions could cool. Caveat emptor."
• SURVIVING THE 90S Peter Brown, author of JUMPING THE JOB TRACK: SECURITY, SATISFACTION AND SUCCESS AS AN INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT, with information about the home office deduction.
• YOUR MONEY MANAGER Erica Whittlinger explains the risks of investing in bonds.
• SMART CHOICES Jim Rogers, on international investing.
• SMART CHOICES QUOTE "We're going to have economic effects from Asia later in the year - there's no question about that - and that will lead to problems in the financial markets. At the moment the financial markets are pretty blind to anything except going higher. The central banks around the world are printing a lot of money, and that money has to go somewhere, so itâs sloshing its way into the financial markets. People are still a little bit afraid of Asia, so by default they're putting it into European and Asian markets."
• BUYERS MARKET "Buyers Market" is no longer a broadcast feature, but the information about low interest credit cards and high yielding savings will continue to be on the Sound Money web site (www.soundmoney.org)