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The REAL dumbass du jour

Stalking Linkin Park pales in comparison to this tripe from Brett Arends on Street.com. (Thanks? to Shawn King for the link and the annoyance :-P)

What kind of idiot does this comparison for everything they buy? Does Brett? Okay Brett, what's the "real" cost of your glasses. What's the "real" cost of your car? I bet that 20-30K you plunked down could have earned you an assload of money at 5.5% over inflation for the next 35 years. Okay, so you'd be walking everywhere, but still, look at all the cash mo-nay you wasted on cars, eyeglasses, and clothing. Pfft, some "financial expert" you are.

This is a classic "I don't have anything to say that's worth a tinker's damn, so I'm going to create some inane proposition, and use it to criticize a popular gadget so I can sponge off the massive hit count increase that the word 'iPhone' brings you, even if it means I look like a goddamned fool." What Brett fails to tell you is the reason his "true price" is so inane: because it applies to everything you will spend money on other than a mutual fund.

No really. Take that money you spend on a car, and invest it. When you factor in what you'll save on cost of ownership, like gas, insurance, etc. alone in addition to all that juicy interest you won't be earning, why the very idea of buying a car instead of investing that money is the embodiment of a fool's errand.

...

Nope, don't hear the rumble of people running to sell their cars, or never buy another one and investing that money. Not even Brett. Why? Because face it, it's a stupid way to calculate the "true cost" of things. However, if you read the whole article, you realize that Brett's just fearmongering to scare you into saving more money. If you want to push his "logic" to a slightly more extreme example, the iPhone potentially costs you millions, because you could have used that money to buy the winning Powerball ticket. But that's stupid, and so is the rest of Brett's scare tactic. Getting people to save more is a good idea, one that deserves better tactics than the douchery Brett employs.

Sorry Brett, but fearmongering doesn't make you a responsible financial columnist, it makes you a douchebag, and it also means that you're the dumbass du jour, and winner of a brand new Technorati tag, just for you. How about the next time you don't have anything intelligent to say on a subject, you just keep quiet, and find another subject to not say something stupid about? Financial columnists should not use Dvorak as their spiritual leader.

Technorati Tags: Brett Arends - Fearmongering Douchebag, TEH STOOPUD

Categories: Other

Posted by John C. Welch at 15:02 | Permalink

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Stalking Linkin Park pales in comparison to this tripe from Brett Arends on Street.com. (Thanks? to Shawn King for the link and the annoyance :-P)\n\nWhat kind of idiot does this comparison for everything they buy? Does Brett? Okay Brett, what's the \"real\" cost of your glasses. What's the \"real\" cost of your car? I bet that 20-30K you plunked down could have earned you an assload of money at 5.5% over inflation for the next 35 years. Okay, so you'd be walking everywhere, but still, look at all the cash mo-nay you wasted on cars, eyeglasses, and clothing. Pfft, some \"financial expert\" you are.\n\nThis is a classic \"I don't have anything to say that's worth a tinker's damn, so I'm going to create some inane proposition, and use it to criticize a popular gadget so I can sponge off the massive hit count increase that the word 'iPhone' brings you, even if it means I look like a goddamned fool.\" What Brett fails to tell you is the reason his \"true price\" is so inane: because it applies to everything you will spend money on other than a mutual fund.\n\nNo really. Take that money you spend on a car, and invest it. When you factor in what you'll save on cost of ownership, like gas, insurance, etc. alone in addition to all that juicy interest you won't be earning, why the very idea of buying a car instead of investing that money is the embodiment of a fool's errand. \n\n...\n\n...\n\n...\n\nNope, don't hear the rumble of people running to sell their cars, or never buy another one and investing that money. Not even Brett. Why? Because face it, it's a stupid way to calculate the \"true cost\" of things. However, if you read the whole article, you realize that Brett's just fearmongering to scare you into saving more money. If you want to push his \"logic\" to a slightly more extreme example, the iPhone potentially costs you millions, because you could have used that money to buy the winning Powerball ticket. But that's stupid, and so is the rest of Brett's scare tactic. Getting people to save more is a good idea, one that deserves better tactics than the douchery Brett employs.\n\nSorry Brett, but fearmongering doesn't make you a responsible financial columnist, it makes you a douchebag, and it also means that you're the dumbass du jour, and winner of a brand new Technorati tag, just for you. How about the next time you don't have anything intelligent to say on a subject, you just keep quiet, and find another subject to not say something stupid about? Financial columnists should not use Dvorak as their spiritual leader.\n

Technorati Tags: Brett Arends - Fearmongering Douchebag, TEH STOOPUD