Rich People are Evil : Proven by Science!

I'll apologize right off the bat for the title of this article.   No rich people are not evil and it hasn't been proven by science.   But my title here sums up my perception of  this article:  Wealthy More Likely To Lie or Cheat: Researchers.

The article from Bloomberg via Yahoo discusses a study some scientists did that they claim shows that :

The "upper class," as defined by the study, were more likely to break the law while driving, take candy from children, lie in negotiation, cheat to increase their odds of winning a prize and endorse unethical behavior at work

Yes thats right.   Someone actually tested whether or not rich people would steal candy from babies.  Well maybe not babies but at least children.  Its more or less the same thing. If you're an evil rich person and predisposed to stealing candy from children then taking from babies would of course not be off limits either.  Thats just common sense.

But don't worry, they do explain that not ALL rich people are cursed with a black heart, and they say : "Piff and his colleagues also said the associations they found were likely to have exceptions".    Well thats refreshing to know that they opened the door to the possibility that everyone with money isn't necessarily a jerk.

I tried to find the actual study.   Best I came up with was an abstract.   But its one of those deals where they want you to pay money for the full document.   I'd like to have read the entire article but I'm too cheap to spend good money on something like this.    I will just have to be satisfied with mocking the study as reported by the news media.

I suppose the authors next project will determine whether or not handlebar mustached wearing landlords are or are not likely to tie poor helpless girls to railroad tracks.   Stay tuned!


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Net Worth Update : February 2012 = $698,548 at a New High

I track my net worth on NetworthIQ.

At the end of February 2012 our net worth was $698,548.     That is a substantial increase of $46,897 versus the last time I reported our networth in September 2011.  


This value of $698,584 is a new high for our net worth.   For nearly the past two years our net worth has mostly bounced around $650,000 give or take $10,000.   Most of that was due to the real estate and stock markets.   Having our net worth go up substantially over the past few months is a nice change.

Our assets are up across the board compared to September.   We've accumulated more cash mostly due to year end bonus money I get from my job.    Our retirement accounts are all up pretty significantly since the stock market has been doing fairly well lately.    Our home is worth a bit less but our rental properties are up overall.   My stock options at work are also worth a fair amount more since my employers stock has been rising steadily lately.

Here's the graphic chart from NetworthIQ :

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Vehicle Cost Calculator at AFDC

Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (AFDC) of the Dept. of Energy has a Vehicle Cost Calculator.   The calculation allows you to specify your mileage and how you drive and it figures figure the cost of fuel.   It lets you pick the car you want by year, make and model.  They also add in various other costs of the car including maintenance and depreciation.   This results in a 'total cost' of ownership style of calculation to figure your accumulative cost over many years.

I like that they give you the ability to customize for your own driving usage rather than just assuming typical average American driving pattern of logging 12,000 miles a year 40% in the city and 60% on the freeway.  If you're looking at an electric car like a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt the calculator also takes into account variable electricity costs for different locations across the USA.

I'm going to try out their calculator and compare three different cars across three different driving scenarios.   The cars and driving scenarios I'm choosing are mostly just arbitrary to give en example of how the calculator works and what we can do with it.   You can pick cars of your own to compare and then plug in your own driving scenario to get results that would be meaningful to your own needs.

For all cases I'm using a gasoline price of $3.50 per gallon and I arbitrarily picked an area that has relatively inexpensive electricity of just 7.5¢ per kWh.   Most places in the USA have higher priced electricity. 

Three example cars

Car 1 : Chevy Volt.  I'm assuming a price of around $32,500 after a $7500 tax credit. - electric drive train with gasoline backup
Car 2 : Toyota Prius  sticker price $26,400 - the most popular hybrid with high MPG
Car 3 : Ford Fiesta , retail cost of $15,990 - an inexpensive compact car with good MPG

I then chose 3 different scenarios with differing driving habits.

Case 1 : Fairly Typical
This is meant to be the average driving amount.  I'm guessing a typical driver usually puts 20 miles or sow on their care in a typical day and maybe half of that is on the freeway.   They may take another 4000 miles of other trips with 80% freeway driving.

Case 2 : My Dad
This is a lower driving amount with low freeway miles.   I'm using my on Dad as the model.  My Dad drives around town quite a bit but he doesn't use the freeway much and doesn't really take out of town trips .   I would make a rough guess that he might drive around 40 miles a day.  I'd put his freeway driving at only about 10%.    I added in 0 miles for additional trips.

Case 3 : Heavy commuter
This case is like case 1 but instead of just 20 miles a day they drive 75 miles a day for work and 90% of it is freeway.

Here are thee resulting graphs showing the cumulative cost for the 3 cars in my 3 scenarios.  Click on each of the graphs to see the full size image.

Case 1 : Typical

Case 2 : Dad

Case 3 : Commuter

In all 3 cases you can see that the cheap Ford Fiesta is the overall cheapest car from start to finish.   Gradually over the years the Fiesta starts to catch up in cost due to its higher fuel costs.   However the charts go out to 15 years and that seems like a fairly reasonable practical maximum life span for a car.  I really wouldn't expect a car to last you longer than that. 

Again, the 3 cars are just an example comparison.   I'm not trying to make a point about these three cars nor am I going to insist everyone go buy a Fiesta.   You should compare cars of your own choosing in your own driving scenario.  Maybe your comparison would be between a hybrid Ford Escape and a Honda Minivan which you might use for your flower delivery service.   Or maybe you want to compare various family sedans in your own suburban driving needs.

Bottom Line :   The vehicle cost calculator at the AFDC website is another tool to use to compare the overall costs of different vehicles.   I like that the tool lets you fine tune the driving usage and considers variable electric costs.

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Do You Need Jewelry Insurance?

A lot of people own some jewelry.   If nothing else you may have an engagement ring of considerable value.  What would happen if you were to lose that ring or if it were stolen?    If you have insurance coverage for your jewelry then it can help protect you against such a loss.

Do You Need It?

I honestly can't say if anyone would really need jewelry insurance.   I don't know how often people actually lose jewelry or how practical insurance is.  If I think about it one way, I would say that since jewelry is not a necessity there is no need to have it and therefore no need to replace it if its lost.  You might enjoy an expensive heirloom broach but if you lost it you would only be out the cash and would not experience any kind of hardship.   Another way I would think about this is that the best option financially is to not buy or own expensive jewelry in the first place, which saves you money all around.   In most cases I think insurance for jewelry is not necessary.  Thats just my opinion on the topic.

On the other hand accidents can happen and insuring against risks can make sense. Some people really enjoy jewelry and if they can easily afford it then who am I to say they shouldn't own the things they like.  If you do own expensive jewelry then considering the risks of losing it might make sense.   Maybe you are particularly prone to losing things and there have been a rash of burglaries in your neighborhood.   In such a situation maybe insurance makes good financial sense.   Another reason to buy insurance is simple peace of mind.  If you are a jewelry lover and have a collection worth a fair amount then not having insurance could be stressful and make you worry far too much about potential loss.   If you really feel you need insurance and you can afford it then I don't see a problem with buying it.


You May Already Be Covered
First thing to do is to check and see if your existing insurance coverage may already cover your jewelry.  If you have home insurance or a renters policy then it may provide some coverage for lost or stolen jewelry.   You may have enough protection there already to cover your jewelry.   However such coverage often has limitations and is not likely to cover the full cost of a more expensive piece of jewelry.  

Riders to Existing Policy
If your existing policy doesn't have enough coverage then you can check how much it would cost to add a rider to the policy to increase the coverage for specific pieces of jewelry.  You may need to get an appraisal or at least provide proof of the purchase cost for the items in question.

Buying a Jewelry Specific Coverage Policy
Another option is to get separate insurance just for the jewelry.   At least one insurer known as Jewelers Mutual will write policies to cover one or more individual pieces of jewelry.    They will even give free quotes for policies online without having to call and talk to an agent.    Just for example sake I got a quote off their site for a $10,000 ring with a $1,000 deductible.  The annual cost for such a policy was quoted at $86.00.   It may vary based on location and thats just a quote.   They even have the policy available to view online.
[note : I don't have any dealings with Jewelers Mutual so I can't endorse them personally]

Shop around and read policies

As with anything you should do your research and shop around.   Look for reviews of insurance companies and compare prices from multiple providers.  Specialty insurance can be very expensive or quite practical depending on where you get it.  You should also make sure to read the actual insurance policy and fully understand what it actually insures.  It would be a waste of insurance payments if your insurance doesn't even cover what you want and expect it to.

Take Reasonable Precautions
Your first line of defense against a loss is to be simply careful.   I am no expert on being careful with jewelry but I can at least mention some common sense tactics.  You should of course not leave your expensive jewelry laying around so anyone can see it. If a burglar or other thief gets into your home and finds all your jewelry nicely displayed on your vanity in an open jewelry box then you've unnecessarily aided them.   Being careful with jewelry on the beach, in swimming pools or in other active pursuits like sporting events is also smart so you don't lose a ring or other piece of jewelry.   Making sure your rings are property sized so they don't accidentally slip off is a good idea as well.

Bottom Line  : Whether you chose to get insurance for your jewelry is up to you ultimately.   If you do get insurance then make sure to shop around and consider a specialty insurer and compare to coverage through your existing policies.

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