How Pet Owners Can Prepare For Retirement
For a budding early retiree, nothing is more satisfying than being able to prepare for every aspect of your retirement, pet ownership included, which is totally optional. If you opt to do so, please clean up after your dog’s poop, and properly dispose of the waste. When most people plan …
5 Questions I Ask Myself To Avoid Impulse Buying
We were at an Apple Store when my wife noticed me staring at a pristine-looking MacBook Air. Weighing only 2.8 pounds, I was obviously in awe of how light, thin-looking, quiet, and fast the machine ran. “You’ve been staring at that item for well over an hour!” she teased. “I’m …
How to Save Money on Car Repairs Big Time
Image credit: Rugged Motorbike Jeans | Kevlar Pants Biker Jeans Rider Denim I’ll be the first to admit: I’m worried about inflation. The war in Ukraine is making matters worse. It makes me want to hang a picture of Putin on a wall so I can throw darts between his …
War is Stupid, So is Panic Selling
Russia has invaded Ukraine, another black swan event to wreak havoc in the stock market just when the world has barely recovered from the effects of COVID-19. Putin must have lost his mind— a scary proposition considering that Russia has the most nukes in its arsenal. What’s next? The Chinese …
Should You Marry for Love or Money? Why Not Both?
If you are reasonably attractive, your shortest path to wealth could be to marry for money. But should you? The old joke is to marry some rich old man (or woman) and marry for love after they die. But that only makes you a glorified prostitute. Since Valentine’s Day just …
Why Earning More Won’t Solve All Your Money Problems
When I was younger, I did a lot of insane long driving. I’ve driven from coast to coast at least twice. There’s even a period in 1999 where I drove 500 miles every weekend to see family.
But nothing is crazier than when I drove, over the long 4th of July weekend of 2003, from Philly to Dallas round trip— hoping to be able to return to work on Monday.
How to Calculate Your Savings Rate the Right Way
I recently got interviewed by the FI community on Instagram, and one of the questions the content curator asked was, “How much is your savings rate?” to which I responded with 40%. But in all honesty, I grabbed the number out of thin air. I’ve been religiously tracking my annual …
How to Teach Your Xbox Obsessed Kids About Money and Investing
My son once told me he someday wants to earn big bucks working for Microsoft. “So you want to be a software developer like me?” I asked. “No, I want to be a cashier; that’s where the money is!” he quipped. That’s when he was nine. Kids this age have …
How to Avoid Being Conned This Black Friday
It was the Christmas season of 1993 when I decided my personal computer needed an upgrade. One limitation of PCs at the time was they couldn’t talk or play real music. Floppies also weren’t spacious enough to store large files like audio. I had to buy a Sound Blaster upgrade …
The 4% Rule is Not for Everyone, Use this Calculator Instead
The first time I heard about “safe withdrawal,” I thought it was a family planning method. I was like, “I’m an expert!” Well, it turns out it’s for a different kind of planning— your retirement. Specifically, it answers the question, “How much can I safely withdraw from my retirement accounts?” …