When Hal and Dee were in their mid-fifties, they found themselves with $50,000 of credit card atnd 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 […]
Over the years, I’ve asked readers to share some of the best financial advice they’ve ever received. Here are some of their answers. Bob said that during a pre-marriage class he and his then fiancé attended, the teacher suggested using pay raises to build an initial savings account. In Bob’s words, “I can remember how […]
I have a friend whose vision and passion have fueled his creation of a very successful and enduring company. He’s a classic choleric. People with a choleric temperament are the type-A hard chargers. They’re goal-oriented and tireless in their pursuit of their goals. They have an especially strong work ethic, which is mostly a positive […]
There’s a very strange type of person walking the earth. So strange, in fact, that this type of person actually likes using a budget. Can you imagine? This unusual bird is known as a melancholy. Seriously, though, one telling trait of someone with a melancholy temperament is that they care about details, which explains why […]
My 11-year-old son asks me somewhat regularly about my dream car — what I’d love to drive someday/one day. I’ve told him several times that owning an especially nice car isn’t a big deal to me. What I value in a car is reliability and low cost. That answer never satisfies him, so he keeps […]
Every healthy relationship involves conflict. In fact, psychologist John Gottman, who has spent more than 20 years studying what makes marriages last, believes that “fighting . . . can be one of the healthiest things a couple can do for their relationship.” In his book, Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, which I highly recommend, Gottman […]
In a recent post, I provided some guidance as to who needs life insurance. If you determine that you need it, the next question is, “how much?” You’ll hear about various guidelines for answering that question, usually based on multiples of your salary. Some say you should carry life insurance with a death benefit equal […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. Baby Boomers are more likely to keep financial secrets (Washington Post). This is one of the benefits of tools like Mint.com. If you set it up correctly, it gives both spouses anytime/anywhere access to your household’s full financial […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. Don’t make this 401(k) mistake in 2017 (Time). When it comes to workplace retirement plans, free really is good. Don’t miss out. The end of car ownership? (Vocativ). Many items we used to buy are moving to subscription […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. 4 reasons paying off your mortgage faster isn’t always best move (USA TODAY). Some will bristle at this one (don’t shoot the messenger!), but I have to agree that this isn’t always the best move. 5 salary negotiation […]
