You know I’ve been running through the various scenarios in my head for awhile now. “What if I lose my job? What if my wife loses her job? What if we both lose our jobs?” By doing this, it has given me some sense of security in knowing that I should be prepared for just about anything. I still think we are in for a
Are You a Saver, a Spender, or Somewhere in Between?
I think one of the most fascinating things about reading a book like “The Millionaire Next Door” is the personal descriptions about how people spend their money. As I talk to friends and family, I find the same level of fascination when listening to them describe purchases they’ve made, or are planning on making. What’s kind of neat about listening to friends, families, neighbors etc
I Feel Like a Frog in a Cold Pot of Water
It’s funny how recessions and depressions work. Rather than just resetting in one day, it strings out over many months and potentially years. So far, the water is relatively cold in the pot at my house. Both my wife and I are still employed, although layoffs are coming at my company. I suppose the fact that layoffs are coming at my company probably increases the
Make Sure Your Investment Analyst Doesn’t Have a Window
I thought this Saturday Night Live video was pretty humorous. All that being said, remember what Warren Buffet says, "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful".
A Great Opinion Article About Credit Unions
I think this is a pretty good article on credit unions. It’s written by a Director of a credit union so it’s obviously biased but it does speak to the excesses of major commercial financial institutions and discusses the desire to profit as much as possible off of their customers. Credit unions, on the other hand, are more devoted to their members and have used
We’re Actually Tracking to Our Budget!
I have to admit I’m still really enjoying Mint.com. For the first time in many years, I’m tracking my actual expenses against my budgeted expenses. The reason I’m doing this is because Mint has made it so easy. As long as we use our credit or debit cards for purchases, they all automatically download in to Mint and are assigned in to the right category.
I Finally Signed Up For Mint
I’ve been sitting on the sideline when it comes to signing up for an online tool that allows me to get a consolidated view of all my investment and bank accounts. The main reason is that I didn’t want to offer up my account logins for fear of creating extra drama in my life. I finally bit the bullet yesterday and am somewhat surprised at
Where Should You Put Your Money in a Depression?
Okay, so the title is probably a little bit inflammatory. I’ve heard more than a few people talking about what they should do with their money during an economic downturn. Of course there probably isn’t any one answer to this depending on your circumstances but I am doing a couple things to give myself some peace of mind. Step 1: We keep about $1000 in
A Valuable Lesson on Keeping a Percentage of Your Investments in Cash
From the beginning of my investment career I have always thought that if you weren’t in stock with all your money then you were probably missing out on some returns. That was especially true as I watched the dot com era and then the latest run up in stock prices. While I did keep most of my investments in index funds, I have always had
Spending Money Gets You Respect?
I was watching a show called "Airline" recently and watched as two passengers were refused entrance on to their flight. They had been drinking too much and were somewhat drunk and belligerent. The younger of the two people started saying he wanted his money back and was directed to the ticket counter to receive it. On the way, he made all kinds of drunken comments