Earlier this year, a company called Life Partners declared bankruptcy. They had a pretty simple business model: they brought together investors and dying people in need of cash. The investors put up some money and paid the life insurance premiums, collecting the insurance payout when the person eventually dies. This business model doesn’t work out for the investor, though, when the insured person lives longer than anticipated. [More]
bad investments
The Alpaca Bubble Has Finally Burst
By 11.7.14
While you might not have noticed, for the last decade there have been a growing number of people who became convinced that the way to drug-lord like riches was through the seemingly unlikely route of alpaca-breeding. But the market for camelid hair wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, and not only are investors realizing they will never get their money back, there a large number of alpacas being neglected or killed as a result. [More]
Beanie Baby Futures: Slightly Better Investment Than Bernie Madoff
By 5.15.09
Last year, I visited my parents to help clear out the house we had lived in since 1984. One of my more cuddly tasks was to sort the three garbage bags full of Beanie Babies hanging out in the closet of my childhood bedroom. Most of them found new homes in the garage sale, or were donated to charity.
