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Posted
Jul 18 2008, 05:35 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. About a year ago, I wrote a lengthy article about how to start a filing system, including information about what kind of filing cabinet to buy and what sorts of things you should file. Near the end, I wrote one little paragraph that deserves to be looked at again in more detail: A master document explaining what all of this stuff is. This is mostly a guide to the executor of your estate, containing all important information not in the other documents and also explaining online account access and other details, like where a safety deposit box key can be found. This may also include personal letters for people to read in the event of your passing. Think about this scenario: If you dropped dead right after reading this article, would your survivors -- your kids, your spouse, your family -- have any idea how to access your money? Would they even know where all of your accounts are?
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 04:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
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You know what happens when you ask Grandma and Grandpa what they want for their birthday or Christmas. They say, "I have everything I need." "Chances are that's exactly what you heard, probably followed by 'so don't buy me anything.' And they mean it," Blunt Money reminds us in a wise and lovely post called "Everything you need (and want)." She adds that we can learn from their example: "The thing is, many of us probably do have everything we need, right now, without even realizing it."
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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 09:37 AM
by
Donna Freedman
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Lately I've been feeling better about things financial. The bottom line could be healthier, but I'm trying to concentrate on what I have rather than what I don't have. To wit: retirement monies from my previous career, an emergency fund, a university scholarship, a part-time writing job, a well-stocked pantry and cheap rent due to my gig as apartment house manager. I also have the useful life skill of being easily amused: long walks, yard sales, meals at home, writing to friends, going to the library and doing The New York Times crossword puzzle all make me happy.
Still, I sometimes get jumpy about the lucre. This tends to happen after I've read the newspaper or online news sites with stories predicting doom, gloom and recession. It also occurs whenever I pay attention to grocery prices for very long. The anxiety is vague and free-floating, but the hypervigilance it inspires is very focused indeed.
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Posted
Jun 27 2008, 08:48 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Most of us have lottery dreams. If we won the big one, we'd quit our job(s), pay off the house, live abroad. But consider this: The amount of money it would take to change your life might actually be much more modest -- and a lot more attainable. "Paidtwice" at I've Paid For This Twice Already calls that amount your "life-changing money." She used to think it was hundreds of thousands of dollars. "But then I realized -- at this point, life-changing money for me really means simply getting out of debt and establishing an adequate emergency fund," she wrote. With $40,000, she wouldn't have to think so much about money with every decision she makes. Many of her readers said they feel the same way.
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 05:44 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Financial news can be dangerous to the health of your investment portfolio. I spent some time recently reading articles about the stock market. What I found was mostly hysterical hype ("Gasp! Dow Jones Industrials tumble 400 points!"). All the financial stories seemed to be written as if our investment horizons were days, not years. No wonder people panic when the stock market hits a rocky patch. But do daily market movements -- even 400-point drops -- really matter? How important is up-to-date financial news to the average investor?
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Posted
Jun 12 2008, 07:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Nora Dunn at partner blog Wise Bread. There is no tomorrow. Tomorrow is really a euphemism for "I can't think about that right now." Have you ever caught yourself saying these things? "Tomorrow, I get paid, and things will be easier." "Next week, I won't have so many meetings at work and can spend more time with my family." "Next month, I'll have paid off one of my credit cards, and then I will have money to save for retirement."
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Posted
Jun 05 2008, 01:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Meg at All Financial Matters bemoans her friends' and associates' lack of knowledge about managing money. "Every single one of my friends and peers, it seems, are people who couldn't explain compound interest if they had to, ignore the 401(k) matches offered by their employers (despite my pleas), are comfortable having debt, and spend like they all have huge inheritances coming to them," she writes, adding, with hyperbole, we hope, "And these are my college-educated peers. Fellow finance majors, for crying out loud."
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Posted
May 19 2008, 07:14 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Do you want to be absolutely sure that you'll work many long years and retire with little more than a paltry Social Security check? Then make sure you read and obey Kevin's "10 steps to avoid becoming a millionaire" at No Debt Plan. This blogger manages to put a humorous spin on a very sobering topic. Here's No. 6: "Ignore work benefits. 401(k) plan? Sounds kind of funny to me. Why would the company want to give me money? Plus, I'd miss that 3% in every paycheck."
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Posted
May 06 2008, 07:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Having grown up on Long Island, I didn't have many opportunities to watch NASCAR on television, so I never truly understood the intricacies of the sport. Since college, I've come to appreciate the difficulty of NASCAR and the skill it requires. Last weekend I was watching a few laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and I finally understood why NASCAR fans love the sport.
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Posted
May 05 2008, 04:08 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. "Saving is the key to wealth," I wrote recently while trumpeting the extraordinary power of compound interest. "If you do not spend less than you earn, and if you do not save the difference, you cannot build the wealth you desire." The younger you are when you begin saving, the more time compounding has to work in your favor, and the wealthier you can become. "The next best thing to starting early," I wrote, "is starting now." Other options A few readers noted that while the mathematics of compounding makes sense, it's not motivational for those too old to take advantage of its full force. "This is pretty depressing for those of us who spent our 20s with practically no income thanks to universities," wrote one reader. Her sentiments were echoed by several others.
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