“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently before him.” – Psalm 37:7 Have you ever seen an advertisement that included these words: “Think about it for a while before making a decision to buy this item”? Or, “Sleep on it and come back when you’re good and ready to make a wise decision.” Of […]
Author Archive | Matt Bell
The Hard Lessons of a College Education
Student loan defaults are rising, according to an article in the Washington Post. A quarter of a million student loans went into default in the Education Department’s most recent period. Some blame high interest rates on student loans. However, a survey by student loan provider Sallie Mae and Gallup identified another factor in the high […]
Money Market Funds Lose Insurance Protection
A temporary program insuring money market funds has expired. However, according to an article in on Kiplinger.com, there’s not much reason to worry about the safety of money invested in such funds. The insurance program was put in place last fall after the Reserve Primary Fund “broke the buck” – that is, the fund’s investment […]
Financial Stress Cutting Into Sleep Time
Money matters are still keeping a lot of us up at night, but a new survey from Harris Interactive and Principal Financial Group also contained a few slivers of positive news. As reported by U.S. News & World Report, inflation is the top concern among retirees, keeping nearly 40 percent from getting a good night’s […]
Lots of People Just Getting By
According to a new national survey by CareerBuilder, over 60 percent of today’s workers always or usually live paycheck to paycheck. As reported on the MSN Smart Spending blog, that’s up from 49 percent last year and 43 percent the year before. Even 30 percent of workers earning $100,000 or more say they’re living paycheck […]
Car Loans Gone Crazy
America is a car-crazy culture. Consider these statistics from a recent Minyanville article. In 1970 there were 529 cars per 1,000 people in the U.S. Today there are 765 cars per 1,000 people. The number of cars per person in the U.S. is 40 percent higher than in Europe, 500 percent higher than in China, […]
How Warranties Really Work
An ABC News article highlighted the importance of reading the fine print on product warranties. Think a “lifetime warranty” refers to your lifetime? Think again. Some companies define “lifetime” as the amount of time they think their product should reasonably last. The better news is that you may be covered by an unwritten warranty guaranteed […]
Putting Off Retirement
People’s lack of savings plus the recession has left an increasing number of people realizing they may need to work longer than expected. Understanding that such news may not sound pleasant, a Mainstreet article noted that you don’t have to sign on for an extra 10 to 20 years in order to afford retirement; another […]
No Holiday for Those Who Long to Labor
The three-day Labor Day weekend provided a much-needed respite for many people. But for many others, such as the 24 million people who are unemployed or underemployed, it may have been a painful reminder of their situation. An article on WalletPop encouraged those who are gainfully employed to reach out to those who are not […]
The Heart of Simple Living
“I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple — in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world […]