Okay, I have clearly lost my marbles. Last weekend, I read an article about how the Powerball lottery was over $300M. I caught myself dreaming about what I’d do with that kind of money. After taxes they were saying it was somewhere around a $200M payout. Of course I wouldn’t use the winnings for anything other than generating interest income but that would still easily
Buying a Rental Sure Feels Like a Good Idea
I’ve been contemplating buying a rental property for a long time. I remember years ago when I was considering buying one, it just didn’t make financial sense. At the time, prices were at the point where I’d end up renting the property for less than the monthly mortgage payment. I can vividly recall reading articles from people like Robert Kiyosaki about how you just couldn’t
How To Stop Being Anxious About Money
I’d like to say that this is a post about getting rid of your anxieties with money. The reality is that this post is more about exploring my own anxieties with money, why I have them and how I combat them. I have thought about and worried about money since the 7th grade. I grew up in a very blue collar home with parents who
Can You Live Well on $40,000 a Year?
I read an article today about Danny Kofke. He’s the author of the book: A Simple Book of Financial Wisdom. In the article, Danny talks about how he and his family live on $40,000 per year. There really wasn’t any new information or advice on how he does it but it’s definitely worth reading. A few things caught my eye in the article. Danny says,
Mad About Debit Card Fees–How to Change Banks
I was going to take the time to put up a post about what it takes to change banks but Nickel over @ Fivecentnickel.com did a great job! He takes you through, step by step. It’s really not hard at all. You can get your new accounts set up with a new institution (I highly recommend a credit union), and then slowly transition everything over.
Planning Ahead Saves Me Money
I hate spending money on basic necessities like toiletries. It’s just one of those things that you have to do though. As I’m getting older, I’m finding the list of “basic necessities” is getting longer. I have a few different medical conditions that have developed over the last 10 years or so that require specialized “necessities”. I struggle with a very large number of allergies.
Lottery Winner Collecting Food Stamps
Leroy Fick from Saginaw Michigan won a $2 million lottery in 2010. While this sounds great, somehow Leroy is still receiving food stamps to help put food on his table. Why? Well, Leroy took the lump sump payout, bought a new house and a car and then invested the rest. Since his income is based on the amount of investment income he’s receiving from the
Average Net Worth By Age
I took a quick look at the CNN net worth calculator and pulled out some examples of the median net worth of various ages. I’ll list the averages for a couple different scenarios but you can certainly go use the tool and see how your specific numbers stack up. I’m going to use some pretty standard age ranges for this comparison. Under 25, 25-34, 35-44,
Am I saving Enough to Retire With Two Million?
CNNMoney has an article up right now where a reader asks Walter Updegrave whether he’s saving enough to amass $2 million by retirement. The guy is a savings machine putting away $4000 a month and I wonder if he really wants to know the answer or whether he is showboating just a bit. I mean, if you’re saving that kind of money, I’m guessing you
Facebook is a Whole New Way to Keep Up With the Joneses
It used to be that people would compare themselves with their family, friends and neighbors. It makes sense, if you think about it. People are most likely to compare themselves to what and who they see on a daily basis. If your neighbor buys a new car, you might be more inclined to feel the need to get yourself a new car. I mean, if