You are viewing an archive of articles by Flexo. Luke Landes, also known as Flexo, is the founder of Consumerism Commentary. He has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow Flexo on Twitter. View Flexo's Google Profile.

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Will You Financially Support Your Parents?

by Flexo

My recent article on Business Insider points out that more families are living in multi-generational households with the recent shaky economy. While we are technically in a recovery period, the effects of the recession are still present in families. Taking care of elderly individuals is an expensive business, and those who did not save expecting ... Continue reading this article…

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Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage Visa Signature Review

by Flexo

If you travel by airplane often, and you find that the best prices for your routes center around one airline, it can often be beneficial to join that airline’s frequent flier loyalty program. In addition, many airlines also partner with credit card companies to offer travel rewards credit cards that help you accrue frequent flier ... Continue reading this article…

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Do Multilingual Individuals Earn More Money?

by Flexo

A recent article in the New York Times (linked below) synthesizes several studies about people who speak several languages fluently. I am relatively confident that the ability to converse in more than one language adds to your human capital, increasing the likelihood of earning more money over time. There are some surveys that show that ... Continue reading this article…

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The End of the Cent (in Canada)

by Flexo

In 2011, the United States government lost over $60 million through the minting of pennies. One-cent pieces now cost the government 2.41 cents, each, to produce. When the American cent was introduced in 1793, a typical annual salary for a teacher may have been about $60, so a cent would represent 0.016 percent of this ... Continue reading this article…

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The Cost of Raising a Child With Autism

by Flexo

A few years ago, I shared a statistic showing that it costs almost $200,000 to raise a child, from birth to age eighteen. If that weren’t enough of a financial burden, consider that one out of 88 children are now diagnosed with autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (source, pdf). Regardless ... Continue reading this article…

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How to Handle a Credit Card Data Breach

by Flexo

Last week, Global Payments confirmed a massive security breach involving credit and debit card numbers and information. Global Payments operates a gateway; when you use your credit or debit card to purchase an item — and this could be online or in a brick-and-mortar store — your card information is sent through Global Payments or ... Continue reading this article…

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Podcast 154: The Psychology of Wealth

by Flexo

Today on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Bryan J Busch talks with Dr. Charles Richards, author of The Psychology of Wealth. They discuss many aspects of the brain’s conscious and unconscious affects on spending and saving. Consumerism Commentary Podcast The Psychology of Wealth: S06E24 / 154 Download – RSS – iTunes Table of contents [00:00] Introduction ... Continue reading this article…

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The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards, May 2012

by Flexo

It’s time to plan your holiday travel. That may mean cashing in the travel rewards you’ve accumulated on credit cards — or it may mean starting to use a travel rewards credit card. Chances are you spend money on some necessities, and when you do, tailoring the rewards you receive to your travel needs could ... Continue reading this article…

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Millennials Want to Be Rich More Than Anything

by Flexo

Since 1966, the Higher Education Research Institute has been conducting a study of first-year college students to determine personal goals and values. This collection of data has offered research a chance to see how priorities change over the years, and there are striking generational differences in the results. Recent research at San Diego State University ... Continue reading this article…

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Starting a Roth IRA is a Critical Step for Financial Freedom

by Flexo

I’m excited to be participating in today’s Roth IRA movement. There’s more information about this movement towards the bottom of this article. I wish someone told me about Roth IRAs when I got my first real job. I was a teenager, working in a local Radio Shack store, even though I didn’t even know what ... Continue reading this article…

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