As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to realize that some of the nuggets of wisdom that I hold dear won’t work for everyone. Even my cherished belief that everyone should live below their means is flawed. It is literally impossible to follow the LBYM edict if you most basic needs – food & shelter – […]
Have you seen the article about the 82-year old Walmart employee who received over $100,000 from strangers so that he could retire? This story makes me very, very sad. I’m not sad because people reached out to help this senior citizen , nor am I sad that he retired. No, I feel despondent and a […]
Ever since I started working, I’ve been thinking about the day that I can stop – for good. Thankfully, I’ve had very good jobs and worked with amazing people. My work has been challenging and my tasks have been interesting. All that said, work is not my passion in life. I’m not one of those […]
There’s a lot of jargon in the world of personal finance. The more terms you know, the more comfortable you’ll be when it comes to making decisions about your money. Today’s post is meant to be a short and sweet tutorial about the basics of Sequence of Return Risk. A bear market is one where […]
Based on my understanding of them, the Baby Steps have two main problems. One, the Baby Steps encourage people to work longer than they might otherwise wish. Two, people will pay higher than necessary management expense ratios (MERs). One of the more controversial figures in the personal finance section of the Internet is Dave Ramsey. […]
When I was a kid, one of the things I learned from my mother was that interest rates are inversely correlated to housing prices. If interest rates are going down, then housing prices are going up. Over the last 12 months, I’ve seen this lesson play out in real life. By the time this blog […]
What the eyes don’t see, the heart won’t grieve… Anonymous Online Poster No matter how you look at it, retirement is coming. And if you’re fortunate, you’ll get to pick when you retire. Should Life have other plans for you, then retirement may arrive unexpectedly. Either way, retirement is in your future. One of the […]
One of the cruel ironies of money is as follows: the less you have the more you need it. Take two people – Joe & Morty. Both of them have monthly expenses of $2,750 – rent, food, utilities, car payment, gasoline, and various other stuff. Joe has $500 to pay his bills this month. (His […]
Quick! What is your marginal tax rate? If you answered “I don’t know”, then welcome to the club! Pull up a chair and sit down for a spell. Most of us do not know what our marginal tax rate is… which is really too bad. It’s one of the more useful pieces of information to […]
Quick! Take a look at your current net worth. If you had known 10 years ago that it would be what it is today, would you have been angry if you had been forced to save more money??? The reason I ask is because I’m getting older. And the older I get, the more I […]