Saturday, August 29, 2009

Another chance for me to be wrong...

More on the inheritance of education ... I think there is still room for parental difference making...but it is hard to tell from the limited data we have that doesn't control for the adoption age.  In any case, Mankiw's point is pretty clear from the graph- genes matter.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Mankiw misses one?

"It would be interesting to see the above graph reproduced for adopted children only. I bet that the curve would be a lot flatter."



I think so too, but maybe not too much flatter. A lot of being a good teacher for your kids works, even if you have a couple of little troublemakers. You can still figure out how to teach them- if you're smart enough.

Is it time to drop your 529 plan? Yes.

Fidelity asks if it's time to change your 529-plan portfolio. A 529 plan is the most over-managed money option out there. You are literally paying fees on fees. How about this- let me invest in something other than mutual funds. Until you do that, it is clear that this is just another free benefit for ... Fidelity.