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 [...]

[Read more →]

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.

[Read more →]

                                  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.

[Read more →]