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Reminder: Don't Quit Your Job Until You Have a New One

I recently ran into a LinkedIn post titled "That's It, I Quit!" -- What's Your Exit Plan? where a worker says (in part):

I am going out of my mind at my job. I hate my job so much that I'm afraid I'm going to walk out the door one day in frustration. I have almost done that already on two occasions but I stuck it out. I can't afford to live on no salary and if I walk out I won't get unemployment compensation.

The author then gives the worker a ton of advice on what to do next. Know what's not on the list? Quit.

That's because quitting a job, even one you hate, before you have another one is a really, really bad idea. Why? Because your career is your most valuable financial asset and if you mess it up, it could cost you millions.

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Money Tips Network

Star Money Articles for Week of October 3

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

Let's start with a fun post. I laugh out loud just about every time I read Budgets are Sexy and his post on the financial empowerment game certainly gave me a chuckle.

Question: Can Getting Up Early Make You Wealthy? Answer: Yes!

Yikes! Who knew you could spend so much on make-up! Thankfully, my wife needs/uses very little.

Here's an interesting post on a vacation to Antarctica Interesting in the sense that I'd rather read about it than go there. Sign me up for the Caribbean!

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Money Tips Network

Costco versus Sam's Club: Which is Better?

Wisebread recently did a comparison post on Costco versus Sam's Club.

They compared the two on six attributes. Costco won three, two were tied, and Sam's won one. Overall it was a much better summary than one I posted from Consumer Reports several years ago.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you look at it) I've had some recent experience to be able to compare the two and thought I'd share my take with you.

When we lived in Michigan we belonged to Costco for seven years or so. We LOVED it! During this time I wrote several posts about my love affair with Costco including:

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Money Tips Network

Four Skills You Need in Retirement

US News lists four skills you need in retirement as follows:

1. The capacity to be independent and self-directed.
2. Good people skills.
3. Financial confidence.
4. The ability to relax.

Here's where I rate on these:

1. I am a pretty independent and self-directed guy. Some would say I'm probably too much of both of those, but apparently they come in handy during retirement so good for me. :)

2. Loneliness has never really been an issue for me. I was raised as an only child and my mother worked as well as dated, so I was home alone for much of my 4th through 9th grade life and I actually like it. So no worries here.

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Money Tips Network

Can You Become Wealthy by Renting?

Here's an interesting piece telling how a single mom and a couple have sworn off home ownership and are better off financially for it (the couple has even gotten "rich"). Some highlights:

The single mom says, "Having a mortgage is like paying rent on money that you borrowed anyway -- a very high monthly rental fee."
The philosophy of both the mom and the couple seems to be "save the difference between a mortgage and rent and invest it."
The mom noted that by renting she can "avoid all the other expenses associated with home ownership."
A real estate expert in the video is quoted as saying, "A mortgage forces you to save in a way that most of us can't."
The husband says (paraphrase) that, "Buying a house and locking yourself into 25 years of stress is insane."

So let's go through the rationale here. These people are saying:

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Money Tips Network

Millionaire Interview 17 Update

The following is an update to Millionaire Interview 17.

My FMF millionaire #17 interview took place almost 3 years ago. The biggest change for me since then has been my job. At the time, I hated my job. It affected my mood very negatively and looking back, I was probably on the edge of depression. A few months after the original interview posted, I found another job that was more suited to me, still in software development, but with saner management and it turned my work life around. It's been more than two years now, and I still really enjoy my current job and previous stresses (both mental and physical) are significantly reduced.

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