Pursuing a Ph.D. is a big undertaking and it’s worthwhile to consider WHY you want a Ph.D. One of my friends referred to our having gotten Ph.D.’s as “financial suicide”, which I certainly don’t agree with. HOWEVER, I think there’s some merit in the perspective that you should only pursue a Ph.D. if you want […]
Your Relationship With Your Adviser
People’s relationship with their supervisors during their Ph.D. is a complex issue. There are elements of teacher / student, boss / employee, friends, and sometimes even quasi-parental. Every pair seems to have its own dynamic. Dysfunctional Relationships It isn’t hard to find graduate student / adviser relationships that don’t work. One man I know from […]
Dealing With Rejection in Academia
A big part of academia involves making a case for yourself, I hesitate to say selling, when you apply for a graduate program, grant, job, or submit to a conference or journal. Eventually, this comes down to someone saying “yes” or “no”. For many people in academia, who have been quite successful in their life, it can […]
All But Dissertation (ABD) Job Hunting
It’s very common, once a thesis is written and submitted, to start thinking about finding an academic position. Oftentimes, while waiting for committee members to read the work and for the defense to happen, doctoral candidates will have more free time than they’ve had in years. So, why not start job hunting? I don’t think it’s […]
Applying to a Graduate Program
For the nuts and bolts of what you have to do to apply for graduate school, do a google search on the name of the school you’re interested in attending, the name of the department there, and the word “admissions”. It should bring you to a page that details what the expected background is for students […]
A Practical View on the 4% Rule
In the February 1998 issue of the Journal of the American Association of Individual Investors an article called “Retirement Spending: Choosing a Sustainable Withdrawal Rate,” by Philip L. Cooley, Carl M. Hubbard, and Daniel T. Walz (all professors at Trinity University in Texas), appeared. It has been nicknamed, the Trinity Study, and the central finding was using an annual 4% withdrawal rate, […]
Qualities of a Good Job & Life
I tend to like “life advice”. Whether it’s an article describing someone’s insight, a good graduation address or a book with general strategies for common issues I’m usually intrigued. At the same time, I have contempt for quite a bit of “self help” and have written damning reviews of books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. A few books […]
Whom to Trust?
SINCE THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED, MONEYSENSE HAS DISCONTINUED THE PROGRAM DISCUSSED HERE. When I used to blog on Money Smarts as Mr. Cheap, I wrote some posts dealing with the topic of trust. It’s an area I remain interested in. As the world gets bigger and we’re more often doing business with people we don’t know, it becomes […]
My Experiences with Republic Wireless
This review of a cell provider is non-affiliate and unsolicited, I receive no compensation of any kind (including samples or discounted service) for this post. THIS IS A REPOST OF A 7 YEAR OLD REVIEW FROM ME. IT’S PRESENTED FOR HISTORICAL INTEREST AND A VERY GENERAL VIEW OF THE COMPANY. NONE OF THE INFORMATION ABOUT […]
HYIP – Avoid at All Cost!
Years ago I came across High Yield Investment Programs and was shocked at their existence. They somehow continue to exist and after I had a twitter account promoting them start to follow me the other day, I thought they would make an excellent scam warning post. There are certain things people who have been investing for a while will […]