I apologize but it is time for me to rant just a little. Bear with me. I love books. In fact I probably already have enough unread books I have purchased to keep me reading for the next 10-15 years. I admit that my book addiction might be just a little bit of a sickness. […]
In business you often come across something called “best practices”. Basically a best practice is a technique or a method that has shown over time to be the best way to achieve a stated goal. We can do the same thing in our personal lives by taking an area where we would like to improve […]
Marriage and divorce. The birth of a new child or the death of a loved one. Starting a new job or perhaps losing one. Buying a new home. These are major life events that can significantly change our lives. Many of these events also can have financial implications, but whether it is through the joy […]
If you watch late night cable you’ll find a lot of infomercials that promise they have the secret to building wealth. Google the secret to building wealth and you’ll find thousands of entries. Many people think there is a some secret that only the wealthy know. So how does one really become wealthy? 1. You […]
As parents, sooner or later we are faced with the question, “should I be saving for retirement or my children’s college?” This isn’t so bad if we are fortunate to have plenty of money, but what if things are a little tight? What if we have to choose between the two? According to finaid.org, college […]
A couple of days ago, I read an article on Yahoo finance quoting Mad Money financial analyst Jim Cramer. Cramer is concerned that the current problems in Iraq are going to cause the stock market to drop over the next few weeks. He notes that both of the Gulf wars caused a lot of instability […]
The last five years have been a great time to own stocks and the market has bounced back and then some from the losses of the great recession. This year so far though has been a bit mediocre as overall stocks have stayed about even. Last Thursday and Friday the market suffered some of its […]
When people start to realize their debt is a problem, one option that often comes to mind is whether to cash out a retirement account in order to pay off the debt. This can seem like a tempting quick fix. Let’s face it. Paying off debt is hard. It takes discipline and sacrifice. If I have […]
The days of working 30 or 40 years at one company and retiring with a pension and a gold watch are almost over. In fact, a 2012 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the median time period that workers had been with their current employer was 4.6 years. That means a young […]
Suppose I offered you a choice of two investments: Over a five-year period the first investment lost an average of 0.6% per year. The second investment had a 5 year average annual return of 17.7%. So which would you choose. Seems like a no brainer. Of course, anyone would choose the 2nd investment. Now what […]