Author Archive | Matt Bell

In their quest to be cool, people choose products and brands that “signal” their membership in desired “in-groups” while carefully monitoring whether less desirable “out-groups” are starting to buy such products as well–a clear sign to stop using such products. That’s the conclusion of a marketing study described on _Knowledge@Wharton_, the Wharton School’s online business […]

Less than two-thirds of people eligible to participate in 401(k) savings plans actually do, according to an article in the _Wall Street Journal_. What’s most surprising is the fact that the participation rate hasn’t grown for the past six years, despite frequent warnings that many people are not saving enough for their future. h3(matt). Matt’s […]

Keeping vehicles for 15 years could save $20,000 over that time versus buying a new car every five years, according to Consumers Union (the organization behind _Consumer Reports_). Using a Honda Civic as an example, the organization factored in the purchase price, depreciation, taxes, fees, and insurance. It also most likely to make it to […]

Businesses put a lot of time, effort, and money into building brand recognition, and it seems that their efforts are paying off. _Time_ magazine reported on a study in which people were asked to taste peanut butter from three different jars. The jars contained the same peanut butter but had different labels. By far, people […]

Is the sippy cup stage too early to start teaching kids about money? Absolutely not. That’s the message of a recent _MSN.com_ article, which offered several helpful ideas for teaching pre-schoolers about money. The article suggested teaching little ones that there are three things you can do with money: spend, save, and give. To make […]

The high cost of owning a vehicle (the average household spends over $8,000 per year on transportation) is one reason why car-sharing companies are growing in popularity. The idea, which started in Europe in the late 1980’s, allows people to rent vehicles by the hour, and it’s gaining momentum in the U.S. Car-sharing companies now […]

Benefits enrollment season is fast approaching, and if you work for a large company chances are you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for a Flexible Savings Account (FSA). As reported in the _Chicago Tribune_, FSAs enable you to use pre-tax dollars for everything from doctor co-pays to aspirin, which can add up to hundreds […]

Coming soon to an ATM near you: no deposit envelopes. And no, they didn’t just run out, as is often the case. According to the _Detroit News_, the newest ATMs allow checks to be fed into special slots without envelopes. The machines then spit out receipts showing images of the checks. Cash can be inserted […]

With all of the online calculators available you’d think it would be easy to figure out how much to save for our later years. But with lots of calculators come lots of different answers, which is why _MarketWatch.com_ recently kicked the keys on several popular retirement calculators. While the article didn’t rave about any of […]