Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein
     This past week I signed up to be a bone marrow donor.  The process was quick, easy, and thanks to a promo code – free.  If a patient with leukemia, or other life threatening disease, requires a bone marrow transplant to live I may be called upon to donate my bone [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

My 40 minute commute takes me through several suburbs and dozens of stoplights. During the commute I’ll inevitably encounter someone walking between lanes of traffic, with jar in hand, asking for donations. Sometimes they are collecting for well known charities, such as the Salvation Army. Other times the charities are smaller or questionable in nature. It seems like I’m encountering “stoplight charity” much more frequently than I did a few years ago. The bottom line: I’m tired of being asked for charitable donations at red lights.

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                                  Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Last month I wrote an article about peer-to-peer lending in which borrowers apply for loans ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. The loans are made by individual investors, with Lending Club (the peer-to-peer lending company) acting as a middle man. Investors earn an average of 9% annually. Intrigued, I signed up as an investor last month. That wasn’t the first time I’d encountered peer-to-peer lending, though.

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Every so often I get letters from my alma mater soliciting me for a donation. I never send them anything. Apparently I’m not alone. Their alumni giving rate is under 20%. Don’t get me wrong, I like the school. It’s a well regarded, highly ranked liberal arts university. I made many new friends while I was there, learned a lot, and grew as a person. Despite that I still don’t want to send them a check - mainly because I’m still paying my student loans.  

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