interest

Book review: Cash-Rich Retirement

Posted 11 weeks 6 days ago by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Cover of Cash-Rich Retirement

Do you need a kick in the pants to get you saving for retirement?  Do you need someone to wave their arms and run around screaming that your whole future is at risk, in order to motivate you to put some serious money aside and take the time to learn how your 401(k) works?  If so, this is the book for you.

full story Add new comment

Join the rentier class

Posted 28 weeks 8 hours ago by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Penthouses as viewed from central park

You don't hear much about the rentier class any more. Perhaps that's because we all expect to be members by retirement age. Perhaps it's because even the very wealthy now all seem to work at something, if only at being a celebrity for our entertainment. Whatever the reason, I recommend that you take advantage of its modern social acceptability, and join the rentier class sooner, rather than later.

full story 14 comments

How low interest rates might save the world

Posted 45 weeks 6 days ago by Philip Brewer

Green Living

Stone Wall

Low interest rates generally lead to inflation, which is bad for everybody. But if inflation were really low, then low interest rates would tend to follow, and in that situation, low interest rates just might save the world.

full story 7 comments

My car payments are too much! What should I do?

Posted 50 weeks 6 days ago by Andrea Dickson

Cars and Transportation

tire wheel

Last August, I decided to purchase my first new car ever. I had only ever owned used (and entirely paid-for) vehicles prior to this. I researched the type of car that I wanted and settled on a 2007 Mazda3. It's a sexy little hatchback. It's sporty, zippy, and has all the trimmings. Problem is, it's busting my budget. I decided to ask three of my favotire personal finance bloggers for advice on whether or not to sell.

full story 18 comments

I'll have one Visa credit card, hold the APR

Posted 1 year ago by Andrea Dickson

Filed Under: Credit Cards

Why bother with middling details, like the interest rate? Just go ahead and get that card. Bank of America can help!

I do most of my banking at Bank of America. I don't adore Bank of America, but they've always been pretty good. Customer service is handy and friendly, and they've never really tried to screw me over. That's why I was surprised, while visiting my local branch, to see a big dry erase board behind the counter with the words "WANT 20,000 FREE AIR MILES? ASK US HOW!" written on it.

Continue reading "I'll have one Visa credit card, hold the APR"

Permalink | 5 comments

How to Build Your Own Amortization Schedule

Posted 1 year ago by Julie Rains

Filed Under: Real Estate and Housing

project-ready couple

Looking for a dull, but financially eye-opening home project? Great! Today, we're going to build an amortization schedule. All the tools you need are: 1) an electronic spreadsheet with PMT (payment calculation), addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication capabilities (I use Excel) and 2) this guide.

Let me go ahead and answer the questions you may have after reading this guide and completing your project:

Continue reading "How to Build Your Own Amortization Schedule"

Permalink | 10 comments

Money Metaphors (You wouldn't punch a kitten, would you?)

Posted 1 year 14 weeks ago by Andrea Dickson

Personal Finance, Extra Commentary

Money, to me, is often something to just be tossed at problems. I don't look at my receipts after buying groceries. I don't worry about being charged too much, since I figure that carefully studying my receipts makes me look petty. In fact, this is an attitude that gets me nowhere. I don't protect my money. Maybe I would if I thought of it like a kitten.

full story 12 comments

Behind the Times - I learn about Keep the Change

Posted 1 year ago by Andrea Dickson

Filed Under: Investment

I tend to ignore most promotions that banks send my way. I use Bank of America for my primary checking account, and they often interrupt my online banking log-in to try to sell me on some kind of promotion, and it’s usually crap.

So it was with Keep the Change – I just assumed that it was another little gimmick that wasn’t worth a second glance, and I would sigh heavily whenever the advertisement prevented me from immediately seeing my account balance when I logged into my online checking account. It wasn’t until a friend told me that she was participating that I started to pay attention.

Continue reading "Behind the Times - I learn about Keep the Change"

Permalink | 16 comments

Have more to say? Join the discussions at Wise Bread's Finance and Frugality Forums.

Finance Blogs - Blog Top Sites