Profitable Ideas: Working Smarter, Surprising Ways Your Credit Worthiness is Determined, and more.
A weekly roundup of some of the best personal finance articles from around the web. Smarter, not harder: How to succeed at work (Farnam Street). Eliminate the unnecessary, which probably accounts for a shockingly large portion of each day. The wisdom of frugality: Why simple living is supposed to improve us (The Simple Dollar). Simple, frugal living […]
Credit Card Benefits Getting Stingier
Three major credit card issuers recently reduced their benefits. In some cases, the benefits listed below have been so valuable that even having to pay a $75 – $100 annual fee has made them worthwhile. However, the math has changed, so read the details carefully. Citi Citi is making the following changes, effective July 29th. […]
Profitable Ideas: The Next Bear is Bound to Hurt More, Investing is the Best Foreign Language, and more.
A weekly roundup of some of the best personal finance articles from around the web. Why the next bear market may feel more painful (A Wealth of Common Sense). With more money in your portfolio, thanks to a nine-year bull market, the next downturn may be tougher to take. The wisdom of frugality: What is simplicity? (The […]
How NOT to Invest
I overheard a conversation about investing recently that made me a little crazy. I heard several perspectives that I completely disagreed with, ways of approaching investing that I think can be far more harmful to a person’s portfolio and peace of mind than helpful. Since I didn’t feel like I could insert myself into the […]
Profitable Ideas: The Stock Market’s Amazing Upward Trajectory, The Money/Loneliness Connection, and More
A weekly roundup of some of the best personal finance articles from around the web. Why do stocks generally go up over time? (A Wealth of Common Sense). One of today’s best investing writers on some important truths about the stock market. For those with the right mindset, it offers one of the best opportunities for […]
The Importance of Being Known—Financially and Otherwise
Like many of you, I was shocked by the recent suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and TV personality Anthony Bourdain. On one level, their deaths showed what a fallacy it is that fame and fortune assure happiness. I couldn’t help but recall this quote from actor Jim Carrey: I think everybody should get rich […]
Profitable Ideas: Money Lessons From Hurricane Maria, Expecting Luxury, and More
A weekly roundup of some of the best personal finance articles from around the web. What Hurricane Maria taught my family about life, money, and community (Wise Bread). A powerful reflection on a forced hardship. The psychology of money (Collaborative Fund). It isn’t how much you make; it’s what you do with what you make. But the […]
One of the Sweetest Concepts in All of Money Management
Some words and phrases just feel good. Summer vacation. Sleeping in. Cubs win. Financially speaking, one of my all-time favorite words is margin. And it feels even better than it sounds. Think of it as financial breathing space, a wonderful gap between income and expenses. It reduces stress, provides the flexibility to give or save […]
Profitable Ideas: Making a Prime Membership Pay Off, You Need a ‘Near-Cation,’ and More
A weekly roundup of some of the best personal finance articles from around the web. Here’s how to get an $800 value out of your $119 Amazon Prime account (CBS Money Watch). We’ve been Prime holdouts, so I’d really like to know: Are you a Prime member? If so, what have you done to make sure […]
Just ask. They Might Say Yes.
I am constantly amazed at what you can get just by asking. At the beginning of last year, I wrote about an experience we had with our van. It needed a costly repair that seemed to be due to a manufacturing defect. Just by asking, I got not just the amount of the repair reimbursed; […]