The 80/20 Closet
You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule – that 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. There are all sorts of places where this rule is at work. For example, at many companies 80 percent of their sales come from 20 percent of their customers. Recently, popular personal finance blogger […]
More Planning to Cut the Cable
More than 90 percent of U.S. households subscribe to cable or satellite television services, but that number may have peaked. CNN recently reported on a new survey in which one in eight pay-TV subscribers said they plan to eliminate or scale back on their packages. No, TV viewers aren’t suddenly switching to books; they’re switching […]
A Mom’s Final Advice on Money
Anyone who has lost someone they love will tell you that holidays bring back some of their strongest memories of those people. That’s certainly true for me. So, with Mother’s Day this weekend, I’ve been thinking about my mom who passed away in December of 2003. This year brought back a memory of a conversation […]
The Money Saving Triple Dip
The recession has turned us into a nation of coupon clippers and deal seekers. Today, there are so many deals to be had it’s hard to think of anything that can’t be purchased at a discount. And with relatively little effort, you can even score multiple discounts on what you buy. My favorite way to […]
Kids Who Do Chores Do Better With Money
Parents of adult children who regularly did household chores while growing up are more likely to describe their kids as “very financially responsible” than parents whose kids did fewer or no chores. That’s one of the findings from a new Charles Schwab & Company survey. Parents whose kids did no household chores also described themselves […]
Green Round Up
In honor of Earth Day, here are a few articles I found useful. This one includes links to sites that will help you turn your old unused electronics into cash. This one has some good ideas for cutting back on electricity use. And for some less predictable ideas, here’s how to have an eco-friendly wedding […]
Organizing Your Financial Life
Many years before my parents passed away they gave me an envelope containing copies of their wills, living wills, power of attorney documents for healthcare and finances, and a map of my father’s office indicating what papers where in what file cabinets. It was an uncomfortable meeting, and it was a great gift. Losing a […]
Double Checking Your Beneficiaries
When was the last time you checked your beneficiary designations? If it’s been a while, take a few minutes to review your life insurance policies and investment accounts like workplace retirement plans and brokerage accounts. That’s one of the 38 financial fixes highlighted by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. When I double-checked our life insurance policies […]
Keep Your Number to Yourself
The best way to guard against identity theft is to guard your Social Security number According to the Social Security Administration, relatively few organizations actually need your number. Your employer needs it in order to pay you. Financial institutions such as banks and brokerage firms need it because they report interest earned to the IRS. […]
Does Your Home Own You?
Garrison Keillor once joked that when people are young they often dream about being painters or poets, but the single biggest destroyer of all such romantic career notions is a 30-year mortgage. Get one of those, he said, and you’ll chain yourself to an eight-by-eight cubicle for the next 30 years as you labor to […]