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How's Your State Performing?
Not too long ago I received an email from WalletHub with a couple of survey results.
The first listed 2017’s states with the best and worst taxpayer ROI.
The best ten are:
1 - New Hampshire
2 - South Dakota
3 - Florida
4 - Virginia
5 - Alaska
6 - Colorado
7 - Utah
8 - Missouri
9 - Texas
10 - Nebraska
And the worst ten are:
Three Ways to Pay Down Debts
The following post is from FMF contributor Brad Richardson.
It always seems like no matter how hard we try, we can’t get ahead of our debts. They are always there, looming in the background, taunting us and reminding us of our spending sins. You know the only way to pay down your debts is to actually just start paying them, right? It’s not rocket science. People would like you to think it is, because if it wasn’t hard, we’d all be debt free. The truth is that paying down your debts, while it can take a while, is not impossible. Here are three ways to help you pay down your debts.
Step One: Identify how much debt you actually have.
Star Money Articles for the Week of May 29
Welcome to this week's edition of Star Money Articles.
ESI Money tells how peak performers earn more.
The Retirement Manifesto details how to move your retirement from good to great in seven days.
Mama Fish Saves says investing is not gambling.
Chief Mom Officer interviews a millionaire mom.
Physician on Fire shares the story of Dr. Moneybags.
How to Save on a Cruise
We took cruises towards the end of the time we lived in Michigan to help break up the winter.
So when I saw this post on how to save on cruise costs I just had to check it out.
The ones we used include:
1. Book Far in Advance
5. Take Advantage of Wave Season (Jan-Mar)
8. Avoid Cruising on Holiday Weekends
13. Avoid Cruising on New Ships
14. Cruise on Refurbished Ships
18. Minimize Spending Onboard the Ship
Some comments on these:
Star Money Articles for the Week of May 22
Welcome to this week's edition of Star Money Articles.
ESI Money says you need a margin of safety in retirement.
ChooseFI does some career hacking.
Centisbly Rich tells how to use money as a tool.
The Green Swan wonders if you have tax efficient investments.
The White Coat Investor asks if you should take some money off the table.
The First Financial Metric: Net Worth
The following is an excerpt from the book Set for Life.
One’s net worth is simply the number of assets one owns, minus the debts one owes. Folks track net worth in a variety of ways, and have a variety of theories about the best way to do this. Here’s a common example of how a typical American might track his net worth:
Sam has the following assets to his name:
• A Honda Accord worth $20,000
• A home worth $300,000
• $7000 in cash
• $200,000 in retirement savings in a 401(k)
• Total assets: $527,000
Sam also has the following debts:
• A car loan of $17,000 on the Honda
• A mortgage for $240,000 on his home
• $4000 in credit card debts
• $30,000 in student loans
• Total liabilities: $291,000
Sam’s net worth in this scenario is $236,000.
Frugal Spending Habits of Millionaires
As a contrast to high earners who can't control their spending, here's a post on the frugal spending habits of millionaires. The highlights of how rich people spend:
Star Money Articles for the Week of May 15
Welcome to this week's edition of Star Money Articles.
ESI Money tells how to retire on $1 million or less.
Mama Fish Saves gives advice to first-time homebuyers.
Miss Mazuma covers the three money tiers.
Life Zemplified asks if you are spending your health on money.
Gen Y Finance Guy says cars are expensive.
The Single Biggest Retirement Mistake
Money lists the single biggest retirement mistake as follows:
The single biggest retirement mistake I see is that retirees don’t set aside funds for income during the early years of their retirement. They go directly from accumulating retirement funds to withdrawing them. And that can be a big problem.
I'm not sure this is the single biggest mistake, but it's up there.
I would say the biggest mistake is not saving enough. THEN it's not developing sources of retirement income.
It's true that for most of our lives our investments are in growth mode and invested in things like index funds to grow our assets.
But as we approach retirement we need to look at ways to turn those (hopefully massive) assets into income generators -- at least in part.
Activities that Grow Your IQ
Here's an interesting piece from Rich Habits that says your IQ is not fixed at birth.
He then goes on to list some activities that can increase IQ. Here are some of them:
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