I wanted to try something different with the blog. I’m doing two part interviews with bloggers on two of my sites. The first part is on my freelance blog at Vega Baja Productions and the second will be here on Green Panda Treehouse.
I was fortunate enough to have Phillip from Weakonomics answer a few of my questions on this new project. If you’re a blogger and wouldn’t mind being interviewed, please feel free to contact me.
Phillip, could you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Philip, I have a last name too but I can’t remember it. I was born in a college town but moved to another state at a young age. I’ve
lived in this state for my entire life now. It’s somewhere in the Southeast, but I can’t remember what it is. I have a brother who is much
more gifted at writing than I ever could be, he’s helped me with cover letters, college essays, and even provided the occasional edit to
Weakonomics. My parents are both educators. My mother is a teacher and my father is a college professor. I can’t remember which school it is, but I’m pretty sure it’s in the ACC. Needless to say, with so much education in my house growing up my brother and I were destined for great things. Too bad we let them down
lived in this state for my entire life now. It’s somewhere in the Southeast, but I can’t remember what it is. I have a brother who is much
more gifted at writing than I ever could be, he’s helped me with cover letters, college essays, and even provided the occasional edit to
Weakonomics. My parents are both educators. My mother is a teacher and my father is a college professor. I can’t remember which school it is, but I’m pretty sure it’s in the ACC. Needless to say, with so much education in my house growing up my brother and I were destined for great things. Too bad we let them down
I went to an in-state school where I majored in Finance and minored in IT. I met the wonderful and beautiful Sheconomist at college
and we’ve been together ever since. We are getting married this fall. We have a boxer, who as anyone who has heard of me knows, represents me
whenever I need to put up a picture of The Weakonomist. He is my best friend.
and we’ve been together ever since. We are getting married this fall. We have a boxer, who as anyone who has heard of me knows, represents me
whenever I need to put up a picture of The Weakonomist. He is my best friend.
What motivated you to begin blogging about personal finance?
In all honesty, boredom. When I graduated from college there weren’t many jobs in my town. I had to find a job elsewhere. My school’s resources were useless, and I remain bitter about that to this day. I consider myself lucky to have found a job with one of the largest banks in the world. We’ve all heard of it, but the name escapes me. My job offers sufficient challenges, but it didn’t keep me informed about all the interesting financial topics that kept me going to class at college. Weakonomics was born because I needed a way to stay informed, and publishing daily makes me accountable for continuing my education.
What are your favorite personal finance books?
Personal finance books are terribly boring. I can’t read one without falling asleep, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good and necessary
reading. To date, my favorite PF books are:
reading. To date, my favorite PF books are:
- Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes
- How To Correct Them and The Millionaire Next Door
Working in the banking industry, what is the worst mistake that banks and credit unions are making?
The biggest mistake being made by banks is the departure of the spread revenue model for a fee based model. Traditionally, banks make money on the spread, that is to say they borrow money from depositors (at say 1%) and loan it out to borrowers (at say 5%). The difference between the two is the spread, and that is income to the bank. Now spreads have been pushed very thin and banks chase after fee based revenue instead.
This act has lead to the cranking out of volume loans and sometimes selling a bad product in order to get the fee income up front. Fee income comes in the form of loan fees, overdraft fees, investment fees, trust fees etc, and it can account for as much as 50% of a bank’s revenue.
I’ve never worked for a credit union, so I don’t have anything as bad to say about them. Perhaps someday I will, and I’m sure I can find something then. For the most part of what I know, credit unions are very good, and I would prefer them for my personal accounts if I couldn’t take advantage of some employee perks at my bank.
What do you hope to accomplish in the next year with Weakonomics?
I don’t try to set too many goals for the website. At best I like to break even, not for the time I put in, but for merely the expense of keeping the
site running. This makes it a productive hobby, and by that measure I’ve been successful. My only other goal is to be published in print media
sometime during the next 12 months. This could be a newspaper, magazine, or book. I simply want to see “Weakonomics” somewhere in print. I’m not pursuing the goal, the idea is that it will come to me. If it doesn’t, I won’t lose sleep.
sometime during the next 12 months. This could be a newspaper, magazine, or book. I simply want to see “Weakonomics” somewhere in print. I’m not pursuing the goal, the idea is that it will come to me. If it doesn’t, I won’t lose sleep.
If you received a tax free $10,000 check, how would you spend/save it?
$10,000 tax free would be nice. At least a portion of it would go towards upgrading my honeymoon and buying my dear sweet Sheconomist a Macbook. The rest would be saved for an upcoming expense, but I can’t remember what it is.
What topic do you notice your readers gravitate towards?
My readers like it when I offer insight into financial and economic news. Whether it’s offering an opinion on the latest market rally, calling out
the oil bubble for being pumped up by speculators, or simply pointing out the hypocrites in Washington who helped cause this recession but now act like heroes for grilling finance executives. I guess you could say they are drawn to my personal opinions and insight. That might be arrogant of me to say, but the real world Philip is far worse than Philip The Weakonomist.
the oil bubble for being pumped up by speculators, or simply pointing out the hypocrites in Washington who helped cause this recession but now act like heroes for grilling finance executives. I guess you could say they are drawn to my personal opinions and insight. That might be arrogant of me to say, but the real world Philip is far worse than Philip The Weakonomist.
What’s the most important/practical financial tip someone should remember?
Spend less than you make. If everyone followed that basic idea most problems would disappear and most personal finance bloggers would be out of the job because they’d have nothing left to say.
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I would like to thank Phillip again for taking the time to answer my interview questions with honesty. I also wanted to share some of my favorite posts on Weakonomics with you:
- Weakon 115: Financial Industry
- How Banks Make Money Part I, Part II
- Income Tax: The Pros and Cons
Please subscribe to Weakonomics and chat with Phillip on Twitter.
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Thanks for interviewing me! It was a lot of fun.
We have a couple things in common, we both getting married this year, we both blog about $$ and we both have bad memories