I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Cavalcade of Risk #45 ~ Is Love a Risk?

Welcome to I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… and the 45th Cavalcade of Risk! The Cavalcade of Risk is a blog carnival that collects the very best posts from the past two weeks on risk and how it relates to finance. Being the Valentine’s Day edition, I was hoping for a little love risk thrown in, but alas, I have some very serious bloggers on my hands this edition.

So without further ado, let’s get the risk-taking started! There were a lot of great finance submissions that I could not include in this edition for they did not focus on risk. These were the best of the best, the riskiest of the risky…

Editor’s Choice:

• The Digerati Life: Can Cheaper Goods And Lower Prices Put Us At Risk? A Photo Essay. What is it worth to save some money? Lead paint on toys? Healthcare in a back alley? SVB examines this with a companion series of compelling photos.
• The Frontal Cortex: Excessive Risk Taking. An interesting (and provocative) take on the risk-friendly environment that led to French financial giant Societe Generale’s recent major meltdown.

Healthcare Risk:

• HealthCare Economist: Should the NHS pay for medical procedures for smokers and the elderly? Should the National Insitute of Health pay healthcare expenses for those high risk categories? Read the pros and the cons here.
• Health Business Blog: Hospital dangers – Turns out, medical professionals aren’t all using those alcohol sterilizing dispensers… ugh.
• New York Personal Injury Attorney Blog: How Medical Malpractice Gets Covered Up. Are hospitals reporting everything that happens in them?
  
• Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog: Health Insurance Co-Payments Studied. Copayments may serve a purpose, but do even nominal ones deter people from getting preventative procedures?
• Health Insurance Insider: Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission Report Finalized. Recommendations for fixing the uninsured problem in Colorado. Most people are surprised by the findings and recommendations.
• Diabetes Mine: Accord Study: Wrong and Wronger. Why is the media so willing to mischaracterize the risks of glucose control?
• Regulating Insurance: Should We Be Focusing on the Individual Health Insurance Market? Does the attention focused on the individual market really make a difference?

Investment Risk:

• FIRE Finance: Our 7 Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes! Learn from these mistakes how not to make your own.
• Money Blue Book: Is My Money Or Broker Account Safe If E-Trade Fails And Goes Bankrupt? Understand this very valid concern in uncertain times.
• KCLau’s Money Tips: Withdraw EPF Money for Home Loan Installment: How it affects your Retirement Fund. Should you use retirement money to finance a home?
• LIVING OFF DIVIDENDS: Why The Government Wants A Weaker Dollar. Learn here how this will impact your investments and why it matters.
• Forex Strategy Secrets: Forex Trading Risks | Forex Tips. The Forex market is risky, and with risk can come rewards. Learn here how the author suggests to mitigate the risk.

Other Insurance Risk:

• Sound Money Matters: Should You Buy Life Insurance for Children? There may be some instances where this is a good idea… decide for yourself here!
• Insurance Buzzer: Per Location Aggregates on Liability Insurance Policies. Can you use this policy enhancement?
  
• InsureBlog: Get Your Motor Runnin’. Maybe motorcycles don’t get a fair shake in the insurance world… decide for yourself here.

All Other Risks:

• Sox First: The brain: hard-wired for risky trades. Can risky behavior be blamed on how we are wired?
• My Wealth Builder: Risk Management Applied To Personal Finance. See how risk management techniques can be applied to sound personal finance practices.
• American Small Business News: 5 Steps to Building and Maintaining Positive Business Credit. Use these tips to mitigate risk in building credit for your business.
• Alfa King Memories: Always wise after the event. A poignant view of how hindsight is in fact 20/20 related to a weather disaster.
• Can US Economy Survive Doomsday: Cold Steel Raw Buck Naked Economics 101. You just have to read it for yourself – a very intriguing read.
• Personal Finance Claims: How Credit Card Companies Are Making Millions Just By Overcharging. Honestly, highly disturbing. Don’t let this happen to you.
• Two Pennies Earned: Making Use of Credit Card Benefits, Part 1: Rental Car Insurance. Mitigate the risks and the costs of renting a car by taking advantage of your credit card company’s cardholder benefits.
• Workers Comp Insider: Independent Contractors: New Hampshire Defines, FedEx Whines. Is a worker an employee or an independent contractor? Read what New Hampshire decided.
• Calculated Risk: Let’s Talk About Walking Away. A simple story about folks “walking away” from their mortgages became a mainstream media blitz on “moral hazard” in lending.
• Gary A Scott: Ecuador Risk Assessment. An interesting post on the nature of risk, using Ecuador as a backdrop.
• Symantec: Dispelling Myth 3 IT Risk Management Can Be Solved By Technology Alone. There’s no “magic bullet” that will mitigate IT security risks.

Thanks to everyone who took part in this week’s Cavalcade!