Forbes: Ten Things To Learn From Hunter S. Thompson

By SIMON CONSTABLE

I’ve long been a fan of Hunter S. Thompson, author of such classics as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Hell’s Angels.” So when I saw a book by his son, Juan F. Thompson, published in January I itched to get a copy.

The book, Stories I Tell Myself by Juan F. Thompson: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson, is a fine read. In some ways, it’s a love letter to his departed father. Perhaps more important, is that for us as outsiders it paints a three-dimensional portrait of a literary giant. People are complicated; Thompson Sr. more than most. 

Read more here.

Forbes: Worst Boss Possible -- Part 10

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Part ten of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can be an appalling manager. Read part nine here.

Apparently, there are more than a few awful bosses out there. Jobs site Monster.com just released a survey showing that almost one third of respondents said their boss was quote “horrible.”  The survey was conducted from December 7 through December 21 and asked the question, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your boss?” The results they sent to me were as follows.

WSJ: Are Too Many Choices Costing 401(k) Holders?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

In investing, choice usually is a good thing. But new research suggests that having too many choices in a 401(k) retirement plan could be costly for participants.

Researchers studied a 401(k)-type plan that reduced the number of mutual funds it offered by close to half. They found that investors who were forced to shift their money out of the funds being eliminated from the plan tended to move into funds with lower fees—even though the funds available after the plan was streamlined had almost exactly the same range of fees as the menu of funds before the choices were reduced.

Read more here.

WSJ: What Is Capital Flight?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors might hear the term “capital flight” a lot more this year. It’s important to anyone who has invested in emerging markets, especially China.

So what is it? Capital flight is the term for unusually large amounts of money leaving a country to be invested elsewhere. It often happens when investors en masse lose faith in a country’s economic prospects.

Read more here.

U.S. News: A Shoebox of Penny Stocks and Other Investing Horror Stories

By SIMON CONSTABLE

So very often the mantra of personal finance is simple: Make small changes now, and decades from now you'll make some huge gains. 

It might not be as thrilling as riding the Coney Island Cyclone, but it seems to work. Slow and steady wins the day, at least financially. 

But what about when all that prudent advice goes out the window? What happens when the counsel of trained financial whiz-kids and seasoned sages is ignored? The following real-world examples from financial advisers across the U.S. should give you an idea. And here's a hint – it's not pretty. Read more here.

TheStreet: How Obamacare is Cutting Your Salary -- And Your Vacation Budget

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Economic reality is catching up with the  Affordable Care Act, aka  Obamacare, according to two recent reports. 

The problem is that while acts of Congress can be repealed, the basic laws of economics cannot. In this case, the law in question is one that most students are taught on the first day of economics class: There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays. 

Obamacare is proving no different. First, people with employer-based health insurance are paying in the form of lower salaries because of the extension of coverage to dependent children through age 25. 

Read more here.

Forbes: Why We Need To Stop Managing People Like Widgets -- Book

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When I first came to the United States, what was notable to me was the amazing conformity exhibited by employees. This manifested in terms of the way many spoke, what clothes they wore, and what hobbies they had (sometimes none.) In the land where individuality supposedly ruled, it was often absent on the surface in a lot of my colleagues. At least that’s how it seemed at the time.

What I now realize is that it was the managers that wanted conformity (and the employees complied in a  shallow way). For managers that meant it was easier to manage people. If two people were viewed as basically the same then they could be moved into each other’s roles. In some sense, the managers were treating people in the way that Henry Ford treated car parts — they needed to be interchangeable. The problem is that people aren’t made in moulds.

That reality is the focus of a recently published book, The End of Average: How We Succeed In A World That Values Sameness by Todd Rose.

Read more here.