A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently.
The most powerful force in the universe (A Teachable Moment). The math behind the adage, “Time in the market is much more important than timing the market.”
One secret to cutting spending (Sketch Guy – a NY Times blog). The power of calling a financial time-out.
Health files make for a juicy target for thieves (Boston Globe). Doctors’ offices routinely ask for your Social Security number. Your financial health may depend on you saying, “no.” Here’s Consumer Reports’ advice.
Science reveals how to take the perfect vacation (Tech Insider). What you do before and after a vacation can make all the difference.
Disrupting your own happiness (A Wealth of Common Sense). The money/happiness connection is complicated, but here are some ideas for making happier financial decisions.
How much do car maintenance costs increase with mileage? (Your Mechanic). In our household, we’ve had great experiences with Hondas and Toyotas, which we’ve kept a long time. What about you?
The gender gap that no one’s talking about (Medium). This is something husbands and wives should talk about. It’s natural for one to take the lead with financial matters, but both should be involved.
9 ways parents can teach young kids to budget (US News). Good, practical steps to get your kids headed in the right financial direction.
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I’m obviously old school, Matt!
I’ve been following your blog, and more recently your writing for SoundMind Investing for quite a while. Thanks for the insights your share.
Al
Great to have you with me in both places, Al. I appreciate that!
Re: Maintenance costs of cars. We have three Subarus – ’95 Legacy, ’99 Outback, “07 Outback. I drive the ’95 as my “regular” car. It has 315,000 miles on it and is going strong. Almost all the maintenance on it has been done by one shop – most of the principals there are Christians. I haven’t calculated the costs per 25k miles, but I think they’re lower than the numbers shown in the article. It’s a great car. Why should I get rid of it?
Thanks for sharing your experience, Al. But how can you live without windshield wipers on your headlights or automated parallel parking? 🙂 It’s amazing how long cars will last if you just keep up with the basic maintenance.