When Hal and Dee were in their mid-fifties, they found themselves with $50,000 of credit card and tax debt. That would have been bad enough, but they had been there before, which only made it worse. They had been riding a financial—not to mention emotional, spiritual, and marital—roller coaster for years. Repeating history Early in […]
Finances seem to always top the list of what people are stressed about, and debt is usually the top financial stressor. If you have credit card debt, there’s a remarkably simple step you can take to greatly speed up the process of getting out from under that debt. Just fix your payments. Let’s say you have a $1,000 balance […]
Weekly roundup of interesting and helpful personal finance articles from around the web. Signs you’ve become too frugal (Money Ning). If you want to know how I really feel about this topic, read The Case Against Frugality. How does a raise early in your career affect your finances? (Of Dollars and Data). Good reasons to […]
Weekly roundup of interesting and helpful personal finance articles from around the web. Why do we buy what we buy? (VOX). One of my favorite writers on our competitive, comparative spending. Why we struggle (Humble Dollar). The challenge to manage money well “isn’t complicated—and yet it isn’t so simple.” How to make a debt reduction […]
As we prepare to celebrate our country’s Independence Day this weekend, why not take a few minutes to figure out your financial independence day? If you have any debt other than a reasonable mortgage, that’s the day when you will be completely out of that debt. If the only debt you have is a mortgage, […]
Weekly roundup of interesting and helpful personal finance articles from around the web. A money-making machine: why a Roth IRA is your retirement best friend (USA Today). If you have kids and they have earned income, get them started on a Roth. Long after you’re gone, they’ll continue to think very nice thoughts about you! […]
“God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.” – 1 Corinthians 7:23 I’ll never forget the day my parents invited me home for a little chat. They had started to sense that all was not well, and they were right. I was in financial trouble—deep trouble. My credit card […]
Out of all the many financial decisions we make, some matter a lot more than others. Last time around, we looked at the decisions that really matter when we’re relatively young (See Life’s Biggest Financial Decisions — The Early Years). Now let’s look at those that matter most as we get older. How you manage […]
We make lots of financial decisions every day. However, over the course of our lives, there are about 10-15 decisions that really matter. How well we navigate them will make an especially big difference in whether we struggle with money or live with financial freedom and joy. As I describe the decisions, please keep a […]
Weekly roundup of some of the best personal finance articles from around the web. 51% of millennials are keeping a major money secret from their partner: here’s what they’re hiding (CNBC). The ideal? Full financial disclosure before marriage, ongoing financial transparency after marriage. Should I pay off debt, save money, or invest? (Clark Howard). The […]
