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San Diego chocolate maker Jerry Swain enjoys having a product that makes people happy. Photo: Jer’s Chocolates via Facebook

For a man who was once featured on the television show “America’s Funniest People” and spent years working as a sales manager for IBM, making and selling delicate chocolates for a living doesn’t necessarily seem like a natural fit.

But really, what is the ideal profile for a chocolate maker?

For San Diego’s Jerry Swain, owner of the booming Jer’s Chocolates (which just opened a new store in San Diego International Airport), the penchant for chocolate making can be traced back to college.

Times change, and your financial goals change with them. So save for all occasions, because goals that were once central to you — like buying a house in the country — may start to fade into the background. Photo: anoldent

I look back on the days when Sarah and I were dating with fondness. We didn’t have much money then but we were eternally optimistic about the future. Our evenings were almost always free and we usually spent them together doing something fun.

We didn’t worry about the future because we didn’t feel like we needed to. It felt huge and limitless and boundless. We had very few real responsibilities – ourselves, each other, and maybe a few family obligations. We were excited to take the first steps into our career, but we didn’t really know where that would lead, either.

Want a more fulfilling experience than binge drinking on the beach can offer? Try a volunteer vacation over spring break. Photo: Texas A&M

If the idea of drinking and dancing on the beach all day for a solid week isn’t quite your ideal spring break, there are plenty of other options out there. And even if that is your ideal spring break, you still might feel like it’s more important to get out and do some good in the world. If so, these volunteer spring break options might be a good game plan this year.

The most important rule of personal finance? Spend less than you earn.

A while back, I was asked to give an hourlong presentation where I talked about my key principles of personal finance. I chose to give a presentation where each slide was available for about a minute with one simple rule on each slide, giving me a minute to discuss that rule. Thus, I ended up coming up with 60 short and simple rules for personal finance.

I would happily share the presentation with you, but I’m not sure of the copyright nature of some of the images used. Instead, I’m just going to present the 60 rules, along with my quick personal thoughts on each rule.

Of course, not everyone will be able to follow each rule all of the time. However, the more you follow these “rules,” the better your financial situation will become.