Are you in danger of falling prey to The Wealth Effect? Are your investments doing well? Is your house valued higher than when you bought it? Is the housing bubble coming back? In some areas of the US, it does seem to be happening. If so, you need to beware "The Wealth Effect." What Is The Wealth Effect? The wealth effect happens to us when … [Read more...]
The Joneses and You: Trouble Where You Live
Designer Clothes We all know we shouldn't try to "keep up with the Joneses." That way leads to big financial problems. But do we feel uncomfortable no matter if we try to keep up or not? I think sometimes we do. Much of that comes because of where we live. We make so many decisions based on the type of lifestyle we want. Who models that … [Read more...]
7 Secrets Social Security Won’t Tell You
The people on the phone at the Social Security Administration will not give you advice that is tailored to your situation. They are trained to just give general information that may or may not apply to you. It is a bureaucracy after all. You can read as much as possible about SS to try to understand it better, but the linked article from … [Read more...]
Don’t Be Flattered by a Broker
In the early days of our marriage we saved a lot of our money for future needs. One thing we saved for was a down payment on a house. Another was a college fund for our kids. We ended up having 4 kids, so we needed to save every bit of that money. One day I got a phone call from a broker talking up a stock. That's known as a cold call, since … [Read more...]
Just Saving More Isn’t the Answer
This is an excellent article about saving IMHO. It's geared towards retirement savings, but most of it applies to any kind of savings. Key points include:1. If you are in your 30's or 40s and your retirement savings isn't in the 5 figures range, you need to change what you are doing.2. Have a real plan, not just an attitude of "save as much as … [Read more...]
Planning for Your Kids’ College Education Costs
Many financial advisors make the case for saving for retirement instead of saving for your children's college education. Some might say that you should just save in a general savings account and sort it out when your child is in high school. But making a plan that can be changed if necessary is better, IMHO. A saying I've heard that made an … [Read more...]