When I was growing up, my family didn’t discuss money. I didn’t learn about bank accounts, never heard about saving money or investing it, or planning for the future. When Theresa and I began living together (1988?) I watched her balance her checking account. She offered to balance my accounts, and asked me to provide […]
Retirement Finance
I noted in a previous essay that several friends and family members are retiring soon. How are they financing their retirement? Conventional wisdom is that retirees should have at least three sources of income (the “Three Legged Stool”) if possible. Those three sources are: Social Security Personal savings (401k, IRA, etc.) Pension assets But most […]
Thoughts About Retiring
Several of my friends and relatives are retiring in the next couple of years. Two of them have announced their retirement dates in 2023. I wish them good health and prosperity in retirement. They worked all of their lives, and they have a lot to look forward to. I don’t see myself retiring anytime soon. […]
A Really Bad Investment
I invest in something called the Standard & Poors 500 Index, also known as “the S&P 500”. It is a “shopping basket” of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the world. Five years ago, the S&P 500 was trading at 1390. This week, it was trading at 2476. That means that the value of […]
The American Dream
There is a concept in American culture called The American Dream. It’s hard to explain in words….but it means something like “be able to do and experience more than your parents did”. My wife and I have been incredibly lucky. We have been able to do and experience more than our parents did. In large […]
Living Below Our Means
I read an article recently written by an author who described himself as broke. He has written several books that have sold well. He has a decent income. But he has nothing to show for it. I read another article written by a woman who makes less than the national average salary, yet she has […]
Same Seat, Different Day
Pretend that you and I are sitting together on a flight. One of us paid $100 for our ticket, and one of us paid $1,000 for the ticket. Which person do you want to be? The person who paid $100, or $1,000? —– My wife recently purchased three airline tickets. Two were for our daughter, […]
Financial Wisdom Part II
I wrote a blog a few months ago on Financial Literacy. I thought that I should follow it up with another set of thoughts on saving and investing. Before I go any further, I should note that EVERYTHING that follows is someone else’s wisdom. All of this is borrowed, stolen, or plagiarized. There won’t be […]
School Loans
There is a growing school loan problem in the United States. College students have an ever-increasing amount of school loans. More students are defaulting on those loans. Last week, someone wrote an article in the New York Times, describing how to default on school loans. —– I believe in the American Dream. I believe that […]
Financial Literacy
When Theresa and I moved in together in 1988, we had almost nothing. Theresa owned her car, and had a bank account. I did not have a car, and my “account” was a negative number. My net worth started with a negative. We rented an apartment, and we had almost nothing in it. We had […]
