What's Left in Your Wallet?

Some wise words from The Daily Show's Demetri Martin -

Harvard Squash and Happiness

The following list comes from NPR's website. Just today, I heard Diane Rehm interview the Harvard professor who teaches the prestigious university's most popular class, "Positive Psychology".

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar revealed during the interview that he was a varsity squash player in college, so I was pretty psyched to hear that. I looked him up and it turns out he was national champion in 1995 (he attended Harvard). Not bad.

I have found several references over the years to the idea contained in number 2, and I believe it to be extremely important.

I also think you should listen to NPR if you have any time to do so during your day. You'll learn a lot that you might never have heard about.

Six Tips for Happiness

Advice from Tal Ben-Shahar.

1. Give yourself permission to be human. When we accept emotions -- such as fear, sadness, or anxiety -- as natural, we are more likely to overcome them. Rejecting our emotions, positive or negative, leads to frustration and unhappiness.

2. Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable. When this is not feasible, make sure you have happiness boosters, moments throughout the week that provide you with both pleasure and meaning.

3. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on our state of mind, not on our status or the state of our bank account. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on (the full or the empty part of the glass) and by our interpretation of external events. For example, do we view failure as catastrophic, or do we see it as a learning opportunity?

4. Simplify! We are, generally, too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Quantity influences quality, and we compromise on our happiness by trying to do too much.

5. Remember the mind-body connection. What we do -- or don't do -- with our bodies influences our mind. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.

6. Express gratitude, whenever possible. We too often take our lives for granted. Learn to appreciate and savor the wonderful things in life, from people to food, from nature to a smile.

To Your Health (Revisited)

More news on the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption on WebMD.com -

"Drinking three or more alcoholic beverages per week may reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a study shows."

"The study also shows that greater reported alcohol consumption was associated with even lower risks of developing RA. But researchers caution that they are by no means encouraging excessive alcohol consumption."

"The findings were presented here at the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Barcelona, Spain."

"While the exact protective mechanism of alcohol is not known, it may act by reducing inflammation, [Henrik Kallberg, a Swedish PhD student] says."

It's Electric, Boogie Woogie, Woogie (Revisited)

I forgot to mention one of the most attractive qualities of an ING Direct Electric Orange checking account, and that is the lack of overdraft fees. In an age when hardly anyone balances his or her checkbook, it is easy to lose track of pending purchases and not have enough money allocated in one's checking account to cover those charges, especially when waiting for a deposit to clear. With Electric Orange, you don't pay a fee if you go into your reserve, which you can set at different intervals. You pay back the amount at a very small interest rate.

It's Electric, Boogie Woogie, Woogie

My brother got me to open an ING Direct (Orange) savings account some time ago. It's an online savings account that earns a high yield (unlike one you would get at your neighborhood bank). The current yield on an Orange savings account is 4.5%. If you'd like to sign up, send me an email and I'll invite you to join (since you'll get $25 for signing up, and I'll get 10, sweet.)

I recently received an invitation to the "ING Savings Summit" in Miami. The CEO of ING Direct, Arkadi Kuhlmann, was there, as was personal finance and debt expert, Jean Chatzky.

I signed up my brother and me and we headed over to the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts to check it out. It seemed like the kind of thing WhealthWatcher$ should be attending.

Once there, we were greeted by friendly, outgoing employees of the company and Arkadi walked around and mingled with anyone willing to talk with him. You can tell that it's a great company from the attitudes of everyone working there.

We were turned on to Electric Orange, the ING Direct online checking account that was just launched, and which pays a 4% yield. Not bad compared to the fees you likely pay Bank of America (by the way, if you do have a B of A checking account, as long as you have a scheduled, automatic deposit each month [it can be just a few dollars], then you don't pay the standard monthly fee).

If you have an Orange Savings account, starting an Electric Orange account is simple and hassle-free. You will be able to pay bills, transfer money instantaneously from your Orange Savings to Electric Orange checking, and have access to any All Point ATM around the country. They have an ATM finder on the site so you can find out where you can withdraw money without paying an exorbitant fee. In Miami, most of the pharmacies have All Point ATMs.

We were surprised at the end of the Savings Summit with a gift of $250 that was just deposited in my Orange Savings account yesterday. One gentleman in the audience went home with a check for $10,000. If you're invited to one of these things, go.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, the song by Marcia Griffiths is called "Electric Boogie" and not "The Electric Slide".

You've Got Gmail

This is from Gmail's "New Features" section on Gmail.com -

"It's a Gmail party and everyone is invited!
You can still invite your friends to enjoy Gmail's spam protection, 2.8 GB free storage and other great features, but now you can also just tell them to visit www.gmail.com and sign up without an invitation."

I highly recommend that you sign up for an account. It takes a little getting used to if you've been an AOL user for most of your email life, but Gmail is intuitive and it's easy to change settings, set up email alerts for topics that interest you, like, oh, say, "WhealthWatcher$".

Don't Call It a Comeback (It's Been Here for Years)

Though people are smoking less these days than before, young adults are the most likely people to smoke. That might surprise you, or it might not.

From today's article on WSJ.com, "The Twentysomething Paradox: We Smoke but We're Not Smokers"-

"According to the CDC, 28% of men and 20.7% of women between ages 18 and 24 reported smoking every day or some days in 2005 -- the highest smoking rate of all age groups. The vast majority of these young adults say they plan to quit in 10 years, according to a CDC survey."

Does the preceding quote apply to your or a friend? Consider this-

"Smokers today smoke fewer cigarettes, says Dr. Matthew McKenna, the director of the office on smoking and health at the Centers for Disease Control and Protection. 'You're going to have many more of these types of folks who smoke on an intermittent basis. The phenomenon has increased between 20% to 25% over the past 10 years. In the past, people were much more likely to say they smoked every day, and that has decreased.' He attributes the difference to changing social norms about smoking, the increased cost of cigarettes and the proliferation of smoking bans in public places."

I found this surprising (and I'm actually a bit skeptical of the point)-

"Whether a person smokes one cigarette a day or seven on Saturday night makes no difference, according to Dr. McKenna, who says the risks of heart and lung disease correlate to the number of cigarettes a person has smoked -- total."

I don't think there are many people who smoke one cigarette every day. I think if you're smoking every day of the week, you're probably smoking a lot more than someone who smokes just when he or she goes out drinking. I also think that your body can probably more easily cope with the toxins when spread out over a longer period than all at one time (like binge drinking versus moderate, regular alcohol consumption). The point, of course, is that you shouldn't smoke at all, so that's what we're supposed to take away from this article.

Thank You for Smoking

Not only is it an hilarious novel by fellow Portsmouth Abbey alumnus Christopher Buckley, but it's what England's NHS (National Health Service) is saying to that nation's smokers. Not only are smokers taxed at exorbitant rates there and in the US, but now they are subject to penalties if they fail to quit during the four weeks prior to undergoing surgery for non-life-threatening conditions. The reason for the new policy is that smokers have been shown to need much longer recovery time than non-smokers.

A quote from an online forum in this article on the Daily Mail website makes a salient point -

"What about drinkers, drug takers, people who eat too much and people who never exercise?"

I'm not sure that I used "salient" correctly just then, but it sounds good. This debate will intensify as personal behavior and lifestyle choices come under increased scrutiny vis-a-vis healthcare costs. The problem is that the line is difficult to draw, as shown in the aforementioned example in England.

Here's another example: Does the exercise benefit that comes with playing in a soccer league outweigh the risks of injury that come with it? Will people start being asked increasingly personal questions about lifestyle? Will EHRs (Electronic Health Records) destroy any shred of privacy that remains in our society? Do you think George Orwell is as smart as I do? Did I use "vis-a-vis" correctly in the preceding paragraph? Where is the accent grave on my keyboard?

All of these are important questions.