102 Personal Finance Tips Your Professor Never Taught You

...that some other countries have a mandated minimum percentage of personal savings?
...that between 1929 and 1933, 9000 banks in the United States closed their doors?
...that President Roosevelt shut down all banks for a short time after his inauguration?
...that U.S. courts have sanctioned an interpretation of the term "deposits" to mean not funds that you deliver for safekeeping but a loan to your bank?

I'm going to look into the financial ratings of my credit unions. It bothers me a little that my mortgage lender, one in the business for nearly 85 years and locally owned and headquartered, closed a branch. And it bothers me a little that every two-three weeks I see one of its mortgaged properties in a Notice of Trustee Sale County record. No mortgage lender is going to emerge from this unscathed, it looks like. But a mortgagee always hopes/thinks her lender's going to be different/sane. I wonder what Washington Mutual and CountryWide Financial mortgagees are thinking.

My buddy suggested I resolve not to compare my financial situation to others. That's a tall order, but mastering that will go a long way toward my happiness and security.

I might try to lose seven pounds. My body's not at an unhealthy weight, but there's no real reason why my bone frame and age should not be considered in calculating a safe/healthy weight. I won't sweat it if the weight doesn't come off easily however.

I learned Canadians are shorter, on average, than Americans. I was surprised by this: my Canadian family has always been tall. My friends with Eastern European lineage (Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Polish) tend to be tall too. I just didn't notice the US men having any height advantage, but at 177cm tall, why would I?