Great post! The best thing to come out of this is the conversation. People are talking about the pros, cons and alternatives to getting affordable and safe banking products to folks who may not have or don't know how to get access to them. I love how the financial information highway has really opened up over the last week or so and people are finding different sources of financial tips and advice.
Thanks for adding to the discussion.
First, I'm a big fan of your blog. So I write this from a position of huge respect for your opinions.
But I'm not sure that saving for retirement is usually harder when you're starting out. Of course, it *can* be, if you're not working full time or have huge student loan debts. But my experience was that the time before marriage, and especially before children, was the very best time to save.
As a single person without kids, you have the freedom to live in a cheap apartment, maybe one that would be unsuitable for a family. If you're young *and* healthy, you can accept all sorts of inconveniences such as walking or biking long distances to work. Without childcare expenses, you have the maximum freedom to work long hours or overtime. It's the perfect time to save a large portion of your income, even if that income is small.
In my first year at a "real" job, I made about $28K, and I saved about half of that, some in a retirement account, most in a regular savings account. When I got married, we had about $20K in savings. That $20K made all the difference in our future finances. It provided a cushion for emergencies, capital for improvements, etc. It is the most important $20K I ever saved, and it turned the tide from spending interest to earning interest and therefore enabled us to "get ahead".
And the small amount I was able to contribute to my retirement account during those early years is now (15 years later) worth about $7K -- about twice what I contributed. Not a huge percentage of my total savings, but not negligible either. But more important than that $7K was all of the good habits established: opening an account with TIAA-CREF, learning about payroll deduction, etc, and generally learning to think long-term. Those are priceless lessons for a person in their early 20's to be learning.
In your flour mixtures you use white rice flour most of the time, but every now and then the flour mixture calls for brown rice flour. What is the difference in using the flours?
Great recipes.
Ha, this is nice, because I've been looking for ways to both improve my memory and get smarter while I'm applying for grad school. My diet has room for improvement, as does my goal to learn Spanish "sometime".
I'm right with you, Yazmin, I can save and keep track of just about everything on my smart phone. I'm pretty sure I've become waaaay to dependent on it. I need to put some of these ideas to work to keep my brain working.
Parents expecially should keep in mind the sensitivity of their children; their comfort and health. It seems colder homes have started from a cold heart and not wanting to put their buck where it counts. God Bless our little ones.
I don't use business cards at this time because I'm in a temporary job just through June, and I only work with data at my desk or in the office, so I never meet anyone who would need my professional contact information.
Great post! The best thing to come out of this is the conversation. People are talking about the pros, cons and alternatives to getting affordable and safe banking products to folks who may not have or don't know how to get access to them. I love how the financial information highway has really opened up over the last week or so and people are finding different sources of financial tips and advice.
Thanks for adding to the discussion.
Dear Philip,
First, I'm a big fan of your blog. So I write this from a position of huge respect for your opinions.
But I'm not sure that saving for retirement is usually harder when you're starting out. Of course, it *can* be, if you're not working full time or have huge student loan debts. But my experience was that the time before marriage, and especially before children, was the very best time to save.
As a single person without kids, you have the freedom to live in a cheap apartment, maybe one that would be unsuitable for a family. If you're young *and* healthy, you can accept all sorts of inconveniences such as walking or biking long distances to work. Without childcare expenses, you have the maximum freedom to work long hours or overtime. It's the perfect time to save a large portion of your income, even if that income is small.
In my first year at a "real" job, I made about $28K, and I saved about half of that, some in a retirement account, most in a regular savings account. When I got married, we had about $20K in savings. That $20K made all the difference in our future finances. It provided a cushion for emergencies, capital for improvements, etc. It is the most important $20K I ever saved, and it turned the tide from spending interest to earning interest and therefore enabled us to "get ahead".
And the small amount I was able to contribute to my retirement account during those early years is now (15 years later) worth about $7K -- about twice what I contributed. Not a huge percentage of my total savings, but not negligible either. But more important than that $7K was all of the good habits established: opening an account with TIAA-CREF, learning about payroll deduction, etc, and generally learning to think long-term. Those are priceless lessons for a person in their early 20's to be learning.
Thanks again for your very interesting blog.
In your flour mixtures you use white rice flour most of the time, but every now and then the flour mixture calls for brown rice flour. What is the difference in using the flours?
Great recipes.
water doesn't contain the required acidic properties as red wine does, and won't cause anything positive to happen
I have used buisness cards they are good when you want to network you never know.
Ha, this is nice, because I've been looking for ways to both improve my memory and get smarter while I'm applying for grad school. My diet has room for improvement, as does my goal to learn Spanish "sometime".
I'm right with you, Yazmin, I can save and keep track of just about everything on my smart phone. I'm pretty sure I've become waaaay to dependent on it. I need to put some of these ideas to work to keep my brain working.
As a student, I don't use business cards, but I expect to in the future. It probably would be nice to hand out at interviews and job fairs.
I tweeted here https://twitter.com/#!/TcSalvia/status/158438595567427586
I had already liked UPrinting.com on Facebook!
My husband uses business cards for his roofing business, I don't use them at the moment but have in the past.
tweeted:
https://twitter.com/#!/ItalCutie/status/158398145133416449
I liked UPrinting.com on Facebook! ( JoAnna Danna)
My husband uses the business cards, he sells appliances. Thanks for the chance to win!
Parents expecially should keep in mind the sensitivity of their children; their comfort and health. It seems colder homes have started from a cold heart and not wanting to put their buck where it counts. God Bless our little ones.
I've only recently heard of Mint.com, and very much appreciate you expanding on the capabilities offered. Thank you!
don't use them, don't have a business
No i haven't used them yet, for the time being i've simply figured they weren't a necessity and that it wasn't really cost efficient for me right now.
I picked 12 goals for 2012. 25 is overwhelming for me, but we have so many of the same bad habits it made me laugh. :) Good luck!
I have not used business cards becasue I think internet is the way to get the word out to everyone everywhere
I do not use business cards
Twitter follow both: slehan
https://twitter.com/#!/slehan/status/158274791000915971
I liked UPrinting.com on Facebook: Slehan
I use them for my consulting business and for The Raging Grannies.
Thanks for the contest.
Yes and no. I'll collect them, but then scan them (using the LinkedIn iPhone card scanner app) and then discard them.
I don't use business cards at this time because I'm in a temporary job just through June, and I only work with data at my desk or in the office, so I never meet anyone who would need my professional contact information.