Tales from the Rushmore Kid

A Nugget from One Writer’s Beginnings - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the bookshelf of
Barbara Jean Hicks

The marvelous writing memoir of southern novelist and short story author Eudora Welty (1909-2001), published in 1984 by Harvard University Press, is a treasure trove for a working writer.

One Writer’s Beginnings is based on a set of lectures Welty delivered at Harvard in 1983, ten years after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel The Optimist’s Daughter. Here’s one passage I especially resonated with:

Peter Tanous - Money Tip of the Day

Sometimes creative people and money don't mix. I asked my buddy, financial expert and author, Peter Tanous to give us a Money Tip of the Day. Not surprisingly, it is about gold.

To be properly diversified, portfolios should have some allocation to Gold since the metal acts differently compared to other market influences. Gold is at an all time high so best to average in. That is, decide how much you want (5% to10% of the portfolio may be appropriate) and buy over a period of several months just in case there is a pullback in the short term.

An investment in gold will protect against political uncertainties, inflation, and higher demand form India and China.  There are two ways to buy gold cheaply: one is through the ETF symbol GLD which is a pure investment in Gold, and also in another ETF symbol GDX which is an investment in a basket of gold mining stocks.  Buy both.

Dr. Elisa Lotter - Memory Loss

If you are like me, sometimes you can't remember what you did yesterday let alone last week. I keep a pad next to my bed to write down all the good writing ideas that blaze through my brain before I forget. Nutritionist, Dr. Elisa Lottor, specializes in memory loss and is starting clinical trials.  I thought I would ask Dr. Lottor a few questions for the blog.

Why do some people have problems with memory?

So many people have problems with memory because we not only multi-task, and have too much to do and on our minds, but also because our nutrition is not what it should be.

Peter Tanous - Money tips for Writers.

These are scary times with the economy. Since artist and money usually don't mix, I asked my buddy, financial expert, Peter Tanous to give us some more tips.  In last year's interview for the blog, Peter recommended  buying oil stocks when oil was seventy one dollars a barrel. So if you listened to him then, you made a pile of dough.  I am so pleased that Peter Tanous agreed to answer a few questions.

With these tough economic times costing us more and more just to live, what financial tips can you give to the average Joes to invest the little money that they have?

Don't try to  guess when the market will bottom.  You'll only know looking back at  it.  Make sure your asset allocation is right for you and for the  times.  You shouldn't be 100% in stocks--that's too risky. 

William Hanna: Money tips

I have known William Hanna and his wonderful wife, Barbara for many years.  Smart, charming and a banker extrodinaire, William has been a money guy for almost 30 years.  He is President of the Los Angeles Region of Pacific Western Bank and I thought I'd tap his wonderful brain and get a few money tips for us writers.

With all the identity theft we hear about, how safe
is electronic  banking?

Electronic banking is safe. There are very few
instances of theft or other problems using electronic banking. By carefully choosing a password, and changing it on a regular basis (we recommend every three months), problems can be avoided.