Feed items

The following post is from FMF contributor Brad Richardson.

Many people dream of breaking out from the day-to-day job they currently have and becoming their own boss because of the promise of making more money and being in charge of their own lives. You know, a lot of those people end up back in a 9-5 job within 3 years because they didn’t have what it takes to make it as a business owner. Sure, a lot of people start and run successful businesses, but if you aren’t interested in taking a risk you might want to consider how you can make more money in the job you have right now. Here are three ways you can make more money in your current role, without having to get a second job.

Ask Your Boss for a Raise

Years ago I wrote Costs Matter If You Want to Maximize Investment Returns. It was a summary from the great book The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing, one of the only five money books anyone ever needs to read.

The bottom line: costs are one of the main determiners in how well an investment will do. The lower they are, the better.

Money magazine covered this same issue in an old issue I found recently. They listed the results of investing $1,000 a month for 30 years with a 6% return rate. The only thing that was different were the costs for the fund they invested in.

While making a budget is not always easy, it’s usually easier than sticking to it. The first rule of budgeting is to make one you can stick to, one that allows for a little splurge now and then. The second rule is to figure out what you need to spend money on such as rent, groceries, and life insurance. Many singles might put insurance further down the list. For many families, however, parenting includes accounting for the unexpected.

The DIME Formula

In the past, a rule of thumb for deciding how much life insurance to buy was to multiply your income by 10 and purchase that amount. There are a few holes in this method, however, which doesn’t account for changes in the family makeup such as caring for a parent would bring; nor does it account for a stay-at-home parent who has no other income if his or her spouse dies.

Try using the DIME (debt, income, mortgage and education) formula, which encourages you to take a good look at your finances:

Welcome to this week's edition of Star Money Articles.

PT Money has an interview with ESI Money.

ESI Money gives thoughts on picking the right early retirement health insurance.

1500 Days lists things to miss about work.

The Retirement Manifesto discusses the one more year syndrome.

Dough Roller tells how to live on a budget.