Money Tips Network
Death by a thousand cuts
I've been on the internet for a long, long time.
Via local Bulletin Board Systems, I started reading USENET newsgroups — mostly Star Trek and comic book and computer game stuff — during college in the late 1980s. I got sucked into the world of MUDs. Soon after graduating, I heard about this new thing called the World Wide Web, so I installed Mosaic on my Macintosh SE.
Before long, I taught myself HTML and built my first website. Eventually, in 1997, I started my first blog — back before blog was even a word!
A Life Well Lived
One of the best people I’ve ever known celebrated his 90th birthday very recently. His children put together a wonderful birthday party for him and invited tons of people – old friends, extended family members, all kinds of folks. There were people I knew well, people I knew vaguely, people I didn’t know at all, all drawn together to celebrate this occasion.
At events like this, the most wonderful part is how our shared relationships with this guy drew us all together. It was the common touchstone for all of us, and because of that, stories about him flowed. I wound up swapping stories about the guest of honor with all kinds of people and getting to know some of them along the way.
The Marathon
The other day, I read a brilliant little article by Seth Godin called The Solo Marathon. Seth’s entire site is worth reading, but this one is particularly good:
The usual marathons, the popular ones, are done in a group.
They have a start time.
A finish line.
A way to qualify.
A route.
A crowd.
And a date announced a year in advance.
Mostly, they have excitement, energy and peer pressure.
The other kind of marathon is one that anyone can run, any day of the year. Put on your sneakers, run out the door and come back 26 miles later. These are rare.
It’s worth noting that much of what we do in creating a project, launching a business or developing a career is a lot closer to the second kind of marathon.
No wonder it’s so difficult.
Enter to Win Your Share of $500 in SmartyPig’s August Giveaway!
Editor's Note: Congratulations to our winners: Thomas, Rita and Christian!
SmartyPig helps their users save for specific financial goals, including being prepared for unexpected expenses.
Join Our Tweetchat on Thursday 8/1, 12pm PST/3pm EST for a Chance to Win $300 in Prizes!
Join our Tweetchat on Thursday 8/1 at 12pm PST/ 3pm EST for lively conversation and a chance to win a $200 gift card or one of two $50 gift cards! Use #WBChat and #HowAmericaPays to participate.
This week's topic: How America Pays for College!
Thoughts and Strategies for Handling Ethical Shopping Dilemmas
A few weeks ago, while Amazon was running its Prime Day event, a few readers contacted me and asked me not to talk about the event in any detail because of ethical concerns they had about Amazon and their business practices. I wasn’t planning on covering the sale with much depth anyway, so it wasn’t an issue, but it did leave me thinking about the issue of balancing ethical shopping with good personal finance practices, an issue that’s been dangling in my mind for years.
I attempted to make a list of ideas, principles, and strategies regarding this difficult topic and, after a while, I realized that the core ideas I have to share actually just make up a fairly small list, so let’s just dig right in, shall we?
Five ways to avoid killing your retirement dreams
Want to retire? Watch out for these retirement killers and avoid them by doing the right things …
Each year, every year, I get a year older. Likely the same is happening to you.
And although I'm incredibly thankful for my job, I envision a time when (a) I may choose not to do it anymore, or (b) I simply won't be able to do it anymore.
At its simplest, retirement is a money thing, not an age thing. “Retirement age” may (traditionally) be 65, but without the money in place to back it up, it isn't going to be pleasant. Either you have the money set aside to perform the final act of your life without the income from a job, or you don't.
5 retirement killers — and what to do instead
There are lots of ways to utterly and completely screw up your chances of retirement, but here are five ways way up on the list.
A Mental Toolbox for Avoiding Unnecessary Purchases
Jeremy writes in:
You have mentioned before that when you’re considering buying something, you put it aside in a list and think it through before buying it by looking for flaws in the item. Can you explain how exactly you think it through?
First, let’s start with looking in detail at how I handle non-essential purchases (things I don’t strictly need).
If I don’t need something and I’m considering buying it, I put it on a list that I keep on my phone. I just type in what it is and add an online link if there’s one available.
Ask the Readers: What Are Your Favorite Dollar Store Buys?
The dollar store is a great place to get inexpensive household goods, party favors, craft supplies, and other knick-knacks.
What are your favorite dollar store buys? Are there items that you only buy at a dollar store — or that you never buy there?
The 4 Worst Kinds of Debt to Have in 2019
Experts often say that debt can only be considered "good" if it's attached to an appreciating asset. Borrowing money to purchase a home that should rise in value over time is usually considered a smart move, for example.
Questions About MLMs, Safe Deposit Boxes, Package Theft, Clark Howard, and More!
What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Spouse withdrawing tons of money
2. Small benefit insurance
3. Nudging child out of nest
4. Getting out of Scentsy / MLM
5. Thoughts on safe deposit boxes
6. How to stop package theft
7. Clark Howard radio show
8. Borrowing money to invest
A brief guide to the Equifax settlement — and how to get what you’re owed
Two years ago, credit reporting agency Equifax suffered an enormous security breach. Hackers gained access to the personal data of 147 million Americans: Social Security numbers, credit card details, and other sensitive information. Almost half the U.S. population was affected.
Recently, Equifax reached a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to provide compensation for those impacted by the data breach. The FTC has posted summary details at its website. And if you're a real masochist, you can read the entire text of the settlement via PDF.
The Value of Time Tracking – And How I Do It
Over the past few years, I’ve made several small references to the fact that I’m a pretty active time tracker. I like to keep track of what I do with my time throughout the day, to the best of my ability, and I find a ton of value not just in doing so, but in the accumulated data.
A few readers over the years have touched base with me on the subject, asking for more details, so I thought there might be value in explaining the full system in detail – why I do it, how I do it, and what value I get from the results. There are definitely some real financial and professional benefits, and benefits in other areas of life, too.
What Is Time Tracking?
Time tracking is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. I simply keep track of my time use each day. Any time I do something for more than about five minutes, or if I interrupt an ongoing task for more than about five minutes, I record that.
A Great Way to Invest in Art
The following is a sponsored post from Masterworks.
Once you have the basics of investing covered (like index funds and real estate), you'll probably want to consider alternative investments in order to round out your portfolio.
And with good reason...because alternative investments produce strong returns.
Over the past 20 years alternative investments have outperformed more traditional asset classes like stocks and bonds. In fact, since 1999, an alternative portfolio has generated slightly higher long-term returns than equities, fixed income or a traditional 60%/40% split of the two, according to Invesco. At the same time, alternatives were much less risky than the other options.
When Is It a Bad Choice to “Go Cheap”?
One of the challenges of trying to minimize one’s spending is knowing which situations where you aim for minimum spending result in unexpected negative consequences as a result of cutting too much spending.
I’ll give an example of something that’s a clear misstep: an old friend of yours is coming in from out of town and wants to spend some time with you. Rather than going out to eat together somewhere in town, you invite the friend over for a meal you prepare yourself, but the meal consists of barely-seasoned beans and rice. Your friend feels like you’re being cheap, the meal and conversation don’t go well, and that friendship gradually withers away.
Obviously, that’s a bad choice. You don’t want to be an absolute cheapskate to an old friend, and very few people would do a thing like this outside of an extremely difficult financial position.
Having Financial Conversations With Your Parents: Highlights From Our Chat With Cameron Huddleston
Author Cameron Huddleston joined us for our #WBChat on July 25th to share insights on how to have financial conversations with your parents in support of her new book, Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances.
Books With Impact: The One Thing
The “Books with Impact” series takes a deeper look at specific books that have had a profound impact on my financial, professional, and personal growth by extracting specific points of advice from those books and looking at how I’ve applied them in my life with successful results. The previous entry in this series covered You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham.
If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one. – Proverb
Sarah and I are very passionate about the goal of financial independence. We want to reach a point where we no longer have to work to earn money and instead have complete freedom over our time. That’s a powerful and important goal for us.
8 Ways to Save Money When You Can't Really Afford To
Knowing you need to save money is one thing, but making it happen requires some extra effort. After all, your paycheck won't automatically move itself into your savings account or hide itself in your Roth IRA.
Join Our Tweetchat on Thursday 7/25 at 12pm PST/3pm EST for a Chance to Win $100 in Prizes!
Join our Tweetchat Thursday, July 25th at 12pm PST/ 3pm EST for lively conversation and a chance to win one of two $50 gift cards, or one of two Kindle copies of Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances!
The power of focus: Why you should tackle one goal at a time
I used to be the sort of guy who loved to have a list of goals. At least once a year — usually around New Year — I'd sit down and make a list of all the things that were wrong with me, all of the things I wanted to change.
In 2007, for instance, I made a list of 101 things I wanted to accomplish in 1001 days. (It took me longer than three years to finish that list, by the way. In fact, I still haven't done everything on it because my priorities have changed. But now, ten years later, I see that I have completed nearly all of the ones that still matter.)
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