In my recent survey, I solicited feedback from you readers about including links on Fridays.  I’m not going to start doing it every Friday, but I’ll do it every once in a while.  Maybe I’ll collect good links over the course a few weeks and post them up.  For this week though, I’m just going to post what I’ve found.  You people that said you wanted more personal finance in the survey should really take advantage of these links, because many times I’m linking to blogs that put more effort into personal finance than Weakonomics does.

So my featured link this week is actually from USA Today.  It’s a graphical interface where you put in your annual salary (and hit enter) and it draws a nice a pretty chart for you.  The chart tells you exactly how much of the taxes you’re paying to fund what programs.  I knew defense would be high, but it pained me to see how much goes to paying interest on government debt.  Another really cool feature is it adjusts your income for inflation all the way back to 1940 and shows how much your taxes back then would have gone to what.  It was a really fund graphic and I lost a good 30 minutes with it the other day.  Check it out.

Here’s the rest of the interesting things I’ve read lately:

Punch Debt In The Face creates an interesting debate about the morals of paying off mortgages in this recession.  Plenty of people can afford to pay their mortgages (even if they are underwater on it) but choose to walk away because in the long run they would save money by foreclosing and just buying a house at current prices.  Would you walk away from a mortgage, even if could afford to pay it?

Go To Retirement talks about an interesting tactic that the Obama Administration may start pushing towards people hitting retirement age. People want guaranteed income in the days without pensions, and annuities are a way to get them. This post talks a little bit more about what annuities are, and what you should look for in one.

The Dough Roller weighs the pros and cons of buying pet insurance. As someone who has drained his accounts on more than one occasion for dog related emergencies, I’ve considered pet insurance many times. I haven’t caved yet, but maybe I should before another emergency strikes.

Economists Do It With Models introduces us to a new kind of insurnace. I’ve said before that you can insure anything. This helps prove my point. Companies are now buying what’s called “Tiger Insurance”. No it isn’t protection from tigers, it’s protection from endorsers going crazy and tainting the company’s brand. Sounds crazy, but I’d be interested if Tiger was endorsing Weakonomics.

Got a link you want to share?  Post it in the comments or email me and I might include it in my next roundup.

By The Weakonomist

The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice.

categories: government, links, personal finance