What’s Wrong With “Green”
Last night I posted an interesting article on considering “end of life” costs when calculating your retirement savings. Afterward, I started thinking about my recent posts and realized there may be an unintended trend emerging.
If you’ve been reading my articles, there’s a certain “negative” vibe to each of them. On the surface it may appear I’m a NO kind of guy and my aim is to tell you everything that’s wrong.
This could not be farther from the truth.
First, set age to retire. Second, set age to die.
I debated whether it was in my interest to post such a morbid topic so early in my blogging career, but decided it’s an important consideration people should think about.
Life is dynamic, and retirement is no different. When people first determine how much they need to retire, they have to make some baseline assumption of how long they plan on living. Even if its not an exact age, they have to make some guess at a range.
This is silly because you don’t know for sure exactly how long you’re actually going to live.
With the potential advances in healthcare, it’s likely I’ll live into my 100s. How can I say this?
Continue reading “First, set age to retire. Second, set age to die.” »
Spend Less or Earn More? The ONLY answer you need to know.
Before we get into the article, I want you do something for me.
Hold your hands one foot apart, palms facing each other.
Look at the gap – that’s how much you’ll save by cutting expenses.
Don’t move.
Continue reading “Spend Less or Earn More? The ONLY answer you need to know.” »
Convenience Tax: You’re Only Charging Yourself
Often people lump debt into one of two categories – “good” debt and “bad” debt.
Typically good debts refer to student loans, business loans, and anything resulting in your general betterment. Bad debt includes all of life’s temporary luxuries.
There’s another side of debt many people don’t often consider. Not a separate group, it’s more a subcategory to both good and bad debt .
What I’ll call the “Convenience Tax” refers to our preference towards making things easier. Not completely unwarranted, with the technologies available this day in age, why would you go out of your way to make yourself uncomfortable?
Because these conveniences are adding
unnecessary debt to your balance sheets.
Continue reading “Convenience Tax: You’re Only Charging Yourself” »
More Reasons ING Direct Deserves a Second Look
If you read why ING Direct has better rates, you’ll know I have a slighted preference towards the bank. Besides the rate, they have other features which make it worthwhile to reconsider where you’re banking.
I flipped the article around. Originally, it had the shorter sections at the top, but I wanted to garner and keep the interest early on, so I’m going to focus on one specific feature.
Naming Your Accounts.
A relatively simplistic function, it can become a very powerful motivator, or deterrent, when framed in the right context. Most accounts are numeric, others are alphanumeric, but neither of these really mean anything to us.
Naming accounts allow the users to personalize their experience. Imagine logging into your account and seeing any one of the following:
[Child's Name] Future (in Your Hands)
[Spouse & Your Name] Livelihood (Retirement Sans Cat Food)
or
[Your Name] Future Boat
[Your Name] Next Travel Adventure
Continue reading “More Reasons ING Direct Deserves a Second Look” »
Never Pay Full Price – EVER!
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a bargain hunter. My grandparents drive into another state for better gas prices. Unfortunately I don’t have the leisure of spending hours searching for the absolute best deal out there.
My time, like everyone else, is limited. But one thing is for certain, I NEVER pay full price for ANYTHING….well, most of the time anyway.
