Articles on Personal Finance

Credit Card Insurance? No Thanks.

So your credit card company just called offering you balance protection insurance against job loss, disability, life, or critical illness. The cost will be just pennies, calculated

Separate Bank Accounts: 'Till Death (or Banking) Do We Part?

Many couples today boast separate bank accounts and successful relationships. But is it possible? Or are separate bank accounts a recipe for disaster?

Trade versus localization

Localization--eating locally grown foods and buying locally produced goods--has become trendy just lately. For the past twenty years, though, globalization has been the dominate f

The Quiet Millionaire: Part 1 – What is Important about Money to You?

You’ve heard of The Millionaire Next Door, now there’s

Borrowing to Invest: Helpful or Hurtful?

Can debt possibly be a good thing? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But carrying debt that enables you to earn money is a concept called Leveraging, and can be v

The core rate is not an evil conspiracy

The Consumer Price Index was released today, showing prices were up 0.3% last month and up 2.8% from a year ago. The same report also includes the so-called core rate, which exclu

Long Term Care Insurance for Wise Bloggers

You, your parents, or your siblings may at some point, at any age, need help with the daily tasks of living. Who will provide this help, and at what cost? Long Term Care (LTC) ins

Chicago Wants to Keep the Change

Instead of using technology to make life easier for drivers, Chicago wants to digitally keep the change.

Better cars are not the answer

Wise Bread is an optimistic place. There are some people who can't see the congruence between optimism and frugality. I'm talking about the people who point to our progre

Don’t Cash That Insurance Check; It May Not Be Yours

Did you get an unexpected payment from your insurance company? Health insurance overpayments and mispaym

Good Debt, Bad Debt

Whether debt is good or bad depends on how you spend the money. From best to worst, here are the four categories of debt that one writer uses.

Link-Love in an Elevator

It’s time once again for another round of link love! We want to let everyone know how excited we are to see such a great response to our articl

A second emergency fund you never spend?

I ran across this idea in a book by some financial guru years ago. The book was packed with an odd mix of obvious and kooky ideas, of which this was one of the latter. For some r

Figuring the Size of Your Emergency Fund

The usual rule of thumb is 3 to 6 months' income. Of course that's silly--the size of your emergency fund needs to be based on your spending, not your income. But even 3

Socially Responsible Investing Goes Green

You drive and drink responsibly, spend your money responsibly, and act responsibly, don’t you? But do you invest responsibly? Can you invest responsibly?

5 Tips for Making Do with the Right Now

It seems easy to hold your breath and wait for situations in life to become clear, determined, and permanent. But what will you be missing in t

Personal Finance Lessons from Online Adventure Game (RuneScape)

A friend shared with me some strategies he's learned for playing RuneScape. Can these strategies be applied to personal finance? Let's see.

Book review: Retire on Less Than You Think

Halfway through Fred Brock's book Retire on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future, I was already drafting a review that would

Reverse Mortgages: The Best Way to "Eat Your Home"?

A reverse mortgage allows a senior citizen homeowner to access the equity in their home without having to sell their house or otherwise uproot themselves unwillingly.

Creating an artificial windfall generator

Everybody enjoys getting a windfall. One of the attractions of the lottery (besides the infinitesimal chance that you might win a life-changingly huge amount) is that the smaller