Comments on: To Make Good Financial Decisions, Think Like Mr. Spock but Act Like Captain Kirk

By: Dividends4Life

Dividends4Life — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 01:47:54 +0000

Wonderful article! I was born in the early 60′s so I can relate to the Star Trek theme.

Best Wishes,
D4L

By: DR

DR — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:18:06 +0000

Laura, I’m more of a Spock person, too. You’ve hit on the important point, though, and that is to know whether you’re more like Mr. Spock or Captain Kirk.

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:20:22 +0000

I love this article! It’s a great explanation of the two forces in personal finance. I’m more of a Spock person, so I need to incorporate some Kirk in my decisions.

By: DR

DR — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:41:22 +0000

Nice point, JM. I wouldn’t trade owning for anything.

By: JM

JM — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:27:52 +0000

You know, one thing rent-vs-buy calculators fail to take into account is the likelihood that your downstairs neighbors will buy Rock Band and play it loudly until 4:30 am every night.

When my renter friends tell me about things like that, I, the homeowner am the one grinning like the cheshire cat.

By: DR

DR — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:49:34 +0000

Rob in Madrid, MMND’s series is interesting, and thanks for linking to it. I personally view the current wave of “renting is better than buying” sentiment to be nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to the falling housing market. But I do agree that we shouldn’t view our home as a significant source of retirement. The fact remains that in some areas buying is best and in some areas renting is best. If you save diligently, though, you can certainly make renting a great option.

By: Rob In Madrid

Rob In Madrid — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:41:20 +0000

Millionaire Mom Next Door did an excellent serries on renting vs buying. Her take renting in retirement beats even a paid off house. very interesting serries.

Dispelling The Myth That Home Ownership Is Your Best Investment

http://millionairemommynextdoor.blogspot.com/2007/10/dispelling-myth-that-home-ownership-is.html

By: DR

DR — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:36:29 +0000

Free From Broke and Paul: Thanks for pointing out my obvious mistake. The terrible thing is that I actually thought about Dr. versus Mr., and for some reason I thought Spock was referred to as Dr in several episodes. It’s been a long time since I watched on old episode. Maybe I was just confused with my own initials!

This also gives me a chance to explain how I edit already published articles. If I make a change within the first 30 minutes after publication, I usually don’t document the change unless there is good reason. If somebody points out a mistake in the article, as here, I will document the change either in the article itself or in a comment. Since the change here was in part to the title, documenting it in the article is not practical and would, I think, just be plain annoying to the reader.

Thanks for keeping me honest!

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:09:35 +0000

I believe that it it “Mr.” Spock to whom you are referring, not “Dr.” Spock. Dr. Spock was the baby doctor of the 1950′s.

By: Free From Broke

Free From Broke — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:06:40 +0000

Duuude! It’s MR. Spock. Dr. Spock was the parenting author. Sorry, that’s the geek in me.

My wife and I are contemplating buy vs. rent. We own a co-op but we are going to need more space. We have to figure out if we should sell and buy a home with the proceeds or sell and rent investing the proceeds. We’ll have to check out that calculator. Thanks!