Money Tips Network

My two oldest children have reached the age where they consistently bring home a bag full of school work. Most evenings, they have homework in two or three different subjects.

My oldest child is pretty efficient with his homework. His view is that if he just gets it done, then he can go do something fun without any worries. Mom and Dad aren’t going to bug him about homework tonight and his teachers won’t bug him about it tomorrow. All of that goes away if he just gets down to business.

In contrast, my middle child is a bit more resistant to homework. She doesn’t think it’s fair that she’s still doing homework when her older brother is already done and her younger brother doesn’t even have any.

Last night, we had a bit of a heart to heart talk about homework and what’s “fair.” We spent a lot of time looking at the homework situation from the lens of what she can’t control and what she can control.

It's been at least five years since I've paid for airfare or hotels out of pocket, as I always use reward points and miles instead. And far from being a homebody, I travel extensively in connection with my freelance work, and for vacations with my family.

One of the hardest experiences of moving toward middle age is that I have to watch my parents enter old age. Those two people have been the absolute rocks in my life for as long as I can remember. I remember them clearly at the most active and vibrant times in their lives, when they seemed infinitely strong and their energy seemed infinitely boundless. Now they’re growing old together and while they still get around and still travel and still do a lot of things, they don’t get around as fast as they once did and, eventually, they won’t be around any more. Words can’t describe how much I’ll miss them when they’re gone.

If you're in debt and struggling to dig your way out, you've probably spent a lot of time trying to come up with a fix. Maybe you transferred your balance to a balance transfer card to score zero interest, and wound up racking up even more debt.

As tariff tiffs ratchet up between the United States and its key trading partners, especially China, economists are warning of the potential for a full-blown trade war and global economic crisis — and everyone from American manufacturers to farmers are increasingly on edge about what the future holds. But consumers ought to worry, too.

Making the decision to retire abroad is a huge step for anyone, even if you're a seasoned world traveler. Perhaps you've spent significant periods of your life overseas exploring various locations, but making the move to another country is entirely different.

Even if you have a solid understanding of the general concepts around investing, choosing specific investments can be a struggle.

In some cases there are literally thousands of choices with an almost limitless amount of information available about each one. How are you supposed to sort through all of that information and pick the right mix of investments for your personal goals?

Today I’d like to share my personal process for doing just that. I’m going to explain both my overall investment plan and the specific investments I’ve chosen to implement it.

To be clear, this is not a set of recommendations. Your personal investment decisions should reflect your personal goals, needs, and preferences. The right portfolio for me is not necessarily the right one for you.

My goal is simply to detail my personal thought process with the hope that it helps you think through your own decisions and make better choices.

I am an egg superfan. They’re cheap, easy to cook, and full of protein. I used to find eggs on sale and then buy 96 at a time. I would joke with the cashiers that I was making the world’s biggest omelet, but then one day I had to stop after learning that someone once actually made an omelet that weighed over 12,000 pounds.

Even if you love eggs like me, you still might have some outstanding questions: What do the different egg grades and types really mean? If I buy eggs in bulk, how long will they last? How healthy are they? And what are some simple egg-based recipes I can use when I get bored of making them over-easy?

I decided to do a deep dive into all things egg in order to find out.

The Different Egg Grades and Colors

While many of us just grab whatever carton is on sale, it’s still good to understand the grading system and how it works.

Sarah and I live what I would call a comfortable life. It’s far from perfect – there are lots of stresses floating around – but it’s comfortable. We aren’t in any immediate danger of any kind of financial problems. We have a house that’s plenty big and we have plenty of clothes and possessions. We never lack for the food we want to eat. On the whole, it’s comfortable.

The thing is, many people say that being comfortable is a bad thing. This article from Pick the Brain sums up some of the reasons:

You stop pushing
You stop thinking
You lose motivation
You lose sight of your goals