Month: March 2010

The Best Defense is a Calculated Defense

 

Not quite how the saying goes – “Best defense is a good offense” – why does one strategy have to replace the other?  As argued in Maximizing Value and Earn More, Spend Less – you need both components to be most effective.

Keeping with the analogy, think of the top team in your favorite sport.  What do they have that sets them apart from the rest?  Most likely, it’s strong offensive AND defensive players.

Bad news is you’re your own team.

Good news is you can play both roles.

Read more

Financial Lessons From Engineering

After reading an article on a newly-published engineering book, I decided it was finally time to do a post in appreciation of my profession.

The nine-page article focused on Henry Petroski’s newest book

The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems

Dr. Petroski has written over a dozen books on the topic of engineering, and his first,

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design

was also my first introduction to his work.

Earlier today I was reading another book review over at Free From Broke, and was thinking of the similarities drawn between the book’s focus – leadership, and our focus here – personal finance. Much to the same regard, I wanted to highlight excerpts from Dr. Petroski’s article and apply them to personal finance. I’ve gone ahead and highlighted key points in bold.

Read more