Holiday Spending Doesn’t Have to be a New Year’s Problem

Don’t let a moment of Christmas buying bring you a New Year filled with buyer’s remorse. The brief “feel good” benefit of spending more than you plan to will be totally wiped out by the additional stress and problems you’ll have to deal with when the bill comes. Get back to the basics. Stick with your spending plan, spend time with your family and friends, and celebrate what really matters most in life during this holiday season.

The New Rules of Long-term Financial Planning

The game of long-term financial planning has changed. There are many reasons for this change: the inevitable impact of our government’s massive debts, the high likelihood that the stock market will continue its ten-year-plus underperformance for at least another decade or more, also that the economy will be weaker than normal for a long time to come, that the current historically low interest rates cannot be maintained, and that the dollar will unavoidably become much weaker at some point have all combined to change the game.

Much to Be Thankful For

I hate being sick. I’m not good at it. I have had the good fortune to be very healthy for almost all of my 70 years, but I had a bit of a bad run lately. Thankfully, it appears that I’m going to be ok. I’ve learned through the years that nothing, NOTHING, else matters if you are not healthy. I was lucky enough to figure that out early in my life, and have always gone out of my way to take really good care of myself. Unfortunately, many people have not done this and so often it is the pursuit of money that is at the root of the problem. Money Rule #8 says it well.

Learn From Greece and the European Debt Crisis

It looks to be another roller coaster week in the stock market amid ongoing fears that Greece will soon default on its debt and that the situation in Italy is worsening, with no easy out in sight. Of course there are other factors that create volatility in the market now, but the European debt crisis magnifies the ongoing issue we have with debt in this country and in our own personal finances. What can we learn from this expanding global problem?

Money Saving Opportunity of the Year

There are so many things you could do with an extra $1,000 a year. You could create an emergency fund for unexpected expense, such as a health emergency or car repair. You could put a big dent in your credit card debt. You could make some extra car payments and shorten the length of your loan. Or you could put it into your child’s college fund to grow over time.

Timely Money Saving Opportunities

There are so many things you could do with an extra $1,000 a year. You could create an emergency fund for unexpected expense, such as a health emergency or car repair. You could put a big dent in your credit card debt. You could make some extra car payments and shorten the length of your loan. Or you could put it into your child’s college fund to grow over time.

My Finances are So Scary

I love Halloween. The trick or treating, the costumes, the jack ‘o lanterns, the scary movies. …I love a good spooky Halloween movie… What could be scarier than the spine-tingling sensation of horror films? Perhaps…could it be…managing your money?

Keep Your Money, Not Your Bank

Banks work for YOU. Don’t pay unfair bank fees. Shop around to decide who gets your business to save your money. Bottom line is to keep your money, not your bank.

Announcing: MONEY SMART RADIO

I will be hosting a weekly radio show based on the premise that for the last 25 years, Americans have been sold a destructive system of personal money management—a system that never worked and never will. It’s time for an approach that works. It’s time to spend smart, invest successfully and live the life you want. That’s Money Smart Radio.