MSN had a great article about “Secret Millionaires: Addicted to savings“.  It talks about how compulsive savers whose habits can take a dark turn.  Savings can become such an addiction that it’s hard to spend, enjoy, or give away your money.
The author, Brent Kessler calls people “savers”.  People who only buy things that are on [...]

[Read more →]

Okay, since I’m posting my net worth, I am probably going to be ready to cry soon. I know our investments are down like 30-40% for the year.  Sure it’s bad but we’ve got time to rebound and recoup.  We’re still investing and sitting tight. No panicked selling though I have to reconsider what we [...]

[Read more →]

Can you live without a budget?  This writer Shugar suggests that you can and should live without a budget.  I have to say he makes some persuasive arguments.
Personally I’d love to live without a budget at all.  But I don’t quite think we’re there yet.  He lives a very simply life and anything he wants [...]

[Read more →]

I read all the time people asking on blogs, message boards, and even in real life, “Should I reduce my retirement contributions to pay off debt?”  I cannot emphasize what a HORRIBLE statement that is.
It’s funny that when getting out of debt, people view retirement as free money to be cut and used for debt repayment.  [...]

[Read more →]

Yesterday I talked about life “after debt”.  I questioned if it’s easy to live after debt and when your life lacks focus. I found it a lot harder than life while paying off debt because I didn’t have any set guidelines for how to save.  I still don’t have hard fast rules but I’m trying to [...]

[Read more →]

A person wrote in to Walter Updegrave here, asking “I’ve been saving for retirement for over 10 years and at 34 have $160k saved, but I now have less than I did one year ago. Have I been a fool in my diligence?”
Walter’s response was no.  He says it’s better to have saved the $160k [...]

[Read more →]

Saving $5 adds up.  According to Marie Franklin she saved $12k in 3 years by saving every $5 that passed through her hands!  Wow, that’s a lot of $5 bills.  2400 - $5 bills actually.  That means she saved on average $4k/year!  That means she saved  $11/day or on average 2 - $5 a day!
Wow.  [...]

[Read more →]

The newest retirement vehicle is a Roth 401k.  Like the Roth IRA, you contribute after tax dollars up to $15.5k/year into a retirement account and it comes out tax free when you retire.  Thus you are able to actually save more than in a regular 401k, depending on your tax bracket.  Not many companies offer [...]

[Read more →]

This is an amusing article by the New York Times.  It suggests that there are 8 reasons that Generation Xers and younger will not be inheriting as much money as previous generations.  And those who did expect to inherit might be sorely disappointed.
First the article suggests that people are living longer.  Thus their retirement savings [...]

[Read more →]

Money Magazine wrote an article called America’s Debt Crush here, with 9 couples and their problems with debt and what they are doing to get out. 
I can definitely relate to the first couple Brittany Bellessa!  It’s wondering if we made a mistake in buying a home and wondering if we shouldn’t have rented instead?  The [...]

[Read more →]