6 Things I Learned About Money From Famous People's Wills

6 Things I Learned About Money From Famous People's Wills

By Carrie Kirby

I've always been fascinated by William Shakespeare's will. Specifically, by the way he left his wife his "second-best bed," especially since historians are at odds over what he meant by it.

 Was this an insult to a spouse he didn't get along with, or a tender gesture? After all, since everything was handmade, furniture was much more valuable back in the 1600s than it is today.

Thinking about Shakespeare's seemingly odd bequests made me realize that what people list in their wills says a lot about what they value.

So when Ancestry made a searchable database of 170 million will and probate documents available to its subscribers, I eagerly dove in. Of course, most Ancestry members use this information to learn more about their family members; the site touts these records' value in particular for African Americans searching for family history, since wills from the slavery era may name their ancestors as property.

In fact, when I started searching well-known names, the first one I found was a slave owner: George Washington, whose will calls for the freeing of his slaves after Martha's death. (He also called for one, named William Lee, to be freed as soon as he died, which makes sense because Lee was Washington's personal valet.)

What can we learn from the wills of notable dead people? Here's what famous people's taught me about money and finances.

1. Furniture Was Really Valuable

Like Shakespeare, Paul Revere made specific plans for his household furniture after his death; he left it all to his only unmarried daughter — but only if she was still single by the time he died.

 Revere no doubt figured that if his daughter had already established her own household, she'd have no room for dad's tables, chairs, and beds, second best or otherwise.

2. Families Held Onto Silver No Matter What

Louisa May Alcott's family often went hungry in her childhood; in fact, poverty drove Alcott to start writing. Yet, they never became desperate enough to sell the "family silver" — Alcott left her share to a niece in her will.

Alcott's will also made me wonder if the famous author, who never married, had a love affair or some other skeleton in her closet to cover up, because she called for all her letters and manuscripts to be burned upon her death.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.wisebread.com/6-things-i-learned-about-money-from-famous-peoples-wills?ref=seealso

Don't Make These 6 Dumb Mistakes With Your Financial Windfall

Stop! Don't Make These 6 Dumb Mistakes With Your Financial Windfall

By Kentin Waits

Maybe your lottery numbers finally came in. Maybe a favorite aunt remembered you in her will. Heck, maybe one day while you were shootin' at some food, up through the ground came bubblin' crude — oil that is! Texas tea! (See also: 50 Smart Things to Do With Your Tax Refund)

Whatever the source, you're the lucky beneficiary of a financial windfall. Revel in it and protect your new-found wealth by avoiding these six dumb moves.

1. Act Impulsively

Receiving money unexpectedly is exciting, and it can send even normally down-to-earth folks straight into the stratosphere. In those dizzying weeks and months following a financial windfall, we're really not ourselves, so making big decisions during that time is usually a terrible idea.

 Instead of spending or investing immediately, take a time out. Collect yourself. Adjust to your new wealth for six months or a year and just let the cash sit in a money market account or CD. Remember, high emotion and sound decision-making usually don't mix.

2. Buy a New Car

Even if you're paying cash, there are many reasons to avoid buying a new car. Not only is it the most cliché thing you can do with a windfall, but it's also one of the quickest ways to lose roughly 25% on every dollar you spend.

The minute you sign the paperwork and drive off the lot, that new car becomes used. Depreciation takes a quick and silent bite out of your new ride. Let someone else absorb that financial hit; buy a pre-owned late-model car that's still under warranty.

3. Loan Money to Friends and Family

Making loans to friends and family is a sure way to take the wind out of your financial windfall. Loans have a curious way of never getting repaid, and once your bank balance dwindles, hard feelings can set in and slowly erode relationships.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.wisebread.com/stop-dont-make-these-6-dumb-mistakes-with-your-financial-windfall?ref=seealso

How To Build A Financial Plan Without A Professional Financial Planner

How To Build A Financial Plan Without A Professional Financial Planner

Jim Wang

Years ago, I dropped my business card into one of those fishbowls near the front door of a restaurant. You've probably seen them too – put your card in to win a free dinner for you and eight of your friends!

I just graduated college, was working for the first time, and I had a box of a thousand business cards. Certainly it was worth it to drop one in the bowl!

It turns out the meal might have been free but it still cost me. It cost me over an hour talking with a “financial planner” who was more sales person than planner.

After realizing I was simply parrying offers of life insurance and overpriced mutual funds (even back then, in my naivete, I knew that paying 1%+ in annual fees plus a sales load/commission was a bad bad bad idea), I thanked the young guy for the food, the pitch, and for remembering that there's no such thing as a free lunch after all.

A financial plan is so important yet so few people have them. You don't have to hire a financial planner to build one of your own, this site will show you step by step how to do it today! He did give me one gift though – I knew I didn't have a financial plan. I wasn't married and I didn't have kids, so not having a plan wasn't a big deal. Fast forward a few years, marriage, and two kids; a financial plan is crucial.

But you don't necessarily need a “financial planner” to help you develop your plan. You have all the tools already, you simply need to learn how to fit it all together. I'll show you today.

I am not a financial planner. What you see below is what I did to develop a plan. Much later on, we began working with a financial planner and now this process has been enriched by my experience working with one. Lastly, a plan only helps if you execute it.

Table of Contents           

What is a Financial Plan?

Map Your Current Financial State

Plan Your Future Financial State(s)

Financial Plan for Current to Future

Review Your Plan Annually

What is a Financial Plan?

First things first – a financial plan is a look at your current state, a look at your future state, and building a strategy to get you from where you are today to where you want to be in the future.

When I met the faux financial planner, I was dating my long term girlfriend/future wife, had no kids, and was renting an apartment with a friend. I knew that within five years I would be married, probably with kids or on the way. I would also like to own a house too. The future state was in flux, as it always is, but we had a general idea of where we were going.

You can't predict the future, nor should you try, but you have a better picture of the future if you build a plan. Now, we unpack each of the three steps – map out your current state, plan your future state, and build a plan to get you there.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://wallethacks.com/diy-financial-plan/

Obvious Things That Are Easy To Ignore in Finance

Obvious Things That Are Easy To Ignore in Finance

Sep 16, 2020 by Morgan Housel

“The world is full of obvious things which nobody ever observes,” says Sherlock Holmes.

In a different scene he tells a friend while thinking about a crime: “It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult.”

Lots of things work like that. Learning from something has two parts: whether it’s important and whether it captures your attention. The number of things that check the first box but not the second are higher than any of us want.

It’s not that the simple things are hidden. It’s that our attention is drawn to things we assume make the biggest difference, and the idea that obvious equals ineffective is more powerful than the reverse.

Two examples of obvious things that are easy to overlook in finance:

1. It is impossible to feel wealthy if your expectations grow faster than your income.

Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is worth a billion dollars. But he told The Financial Times earlier this year that he considers himself well-to-do, not rich. “I can’t even say ‘rich’,” he said. “I don’t feel that way.”

Let’s assume there’s more than false modesty here. Consider a few points:

Blankfein is not even among the 10 richest people in his own apartment building.

The Bloomberg list of global billionaires stops counting anyone worth less than $4.6 billion. A mere $4.2 billion – four Lloyds – is now socially unmentionable.

To become a top-five earning financier consistently requires earning at least $1 billion in a single year, let alone a lifetime.

Spare Lloyd your tears, but pay attention to two things that affect all of us: People gauge their wellbeing relative to those around them. And rising income tends to raise the gaze of your aspirations as much as your bank account.

A thing that’s obvious but easily overlooked is that feeling wealthy has little to do with what you have. It’s more about the gap between what you have and what you expect. And what you expect is driven by what other people around you have.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/obvious-things/

12 Personal Finance Skills Everyone Should Master

12 Personal Finance Skills Everyone Should Master

By Dr Penny Pincher

I was happy to see that my son signed up to take a personal finance class in high school next year. I think mastering basic personal finance skills is one of the most important things you can do to improve your happiness and quality of life. But you're a full-fledged adult. If you haven't already, the earlier you start developing and using personal finance skills, the more time you have to reap the benefits.

Here is my list of personal finance skills every frugal person should master.

1. Budgeting

Setting and following a budget is probably the most basic personal finance skill, yet only about one-third of people actually have a detailed budget. I went for years without an accurate budget, using my checking account balance as a rough gauge of how much money I had available to spend.

Eventually, I realized this was a terrible way to run my personal finances. A detailed budget is necessary to get a handle on where your money is going and to start deciding where you want your money to go — instead of just watching it go away!

Writing out a list of all of your income and expenses is only the first step toward becoming skilled at budgeting. You need to monitor spending and work to stay on track every month. Sometimes unexpected expenses will pop up, and it takes skill to find ways to spend less in other areas to recover and stay on budget.

You can get a real budget started by looking at your bank statements and credit card bills from last month and adding up spending by category. I used colored highlighters to mark up my spending into categories such as food, clothing, pets, entertainment, transportation, housing, utilities, etc.

Food expenses are especially challenging for me, since food cost varies so much depending on what you decide to eat. In my household, we use a money envelope as a tool to help us stay on our food budget. Every payday, I take out cash for the budgeted amount for food spending, both groceries and dining out. All food spending comes out of the money envelope, so we always know how much is left to spend on food.

2. Negotiation

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.wisebread.com/12-personal-finance-skills-everyone-should-master?ref=seealso

The 5 Biggest Success Factors of Self-Made Millionaires

The 5 Biggest Success Factors of Self-Made Millionaires

By   Nate Lee

It was after my first “real job” out of college that I became a true student of success and wealth.  Just days after graduating I found myself employed and living in a completely different city.

Corporate Self-Made Millionaires?

It was a great experience, but that job lacked something.  Good money…big money.  The job I landed paid me according to current market rates for recent college grads.  However, I was convinced I wasn’t being paid enough. After spending four hard years with my nose to the grind, there was an expectation that I was to come out of the gates, guns a blazing, and making some real money.  But that didn’t happen.

As soon as I got my hands on that first paycheck, my dreams felt dashed. Let’s just say, that first paycheck was nothing to brag about. Maybe you can relate?

It only took a few weeks of receiving that pittance of paycheck from the fortune 500 company I was employed with, that I realized, “This is not what I went to school for”.

It was in that moment that I decided to learn how to start making the real money.  So, I became a student of success and wealth.   I put all of my attention on what many other self-made millionaires were doing.

And, to my delight, what I’ve learned so far has been paying off.

Learning The Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

It was the studying that took place in those post-graduate years that I learned the most about wealth and riches.  Insights that I think every young driven person should know about if they ever wish to join the ranks of other self-made millionaires.

So how can you use these insights?

The advice I am about to share will get you started in the right direction towards amassing wealth and joining the self-made millionaire club. Having a solid knowledge base for building wealth and become self-made is one of the most important things you can do to begin finding the success you seek.  Use this advice as your foundation for your continued success.

Behold…

 5 Success Factors of Self-Made Millionaires

Here are some of the biggest success factors that all self-made millionaires have in common:

1. Self-made Millionaires are Honest

One of the best books on wealth building is ‘The Millionaire Mind’ by Thomas J. Stanley.  Stanley, interviewed hundreds of millionaires to decode their secrets to making millions.  And on top of the list of the success factors that most millionaires gave, honesty was the most important.

The idea was, that if you want to build wealth, it will be through people.  You will need to be able to do business with and through people.  There is popular business maximum that supports this, and it goes like these: “People only do business with those whom they know, like, and trust.”

If you are dishonest, and no one trusts you, getting business, making partnerships, and closing deals will be difficult.  Maybe even impossible.  So, the first rule to follow to eventually become a self-made millionaire, is to be a person of your word.  Be honest.

2. Self-made Millionaires Cultivate Self-Discipline

The one success trait that really stands out in all the success literature I’ve read, is that of self-discipline.   After reading book after book on success, the success trait I’ve seen show itself time and time again has been that of self-discipline.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://wealthygorilla.com/5-success-factors-self-made-millionaires/#ixzz5MsrY1M7e

5 Great Success Lessons We Can Learn From Jim Rohn

5 Great Success Lessons We Can Learn From Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn is one of the best motivational speakers in the world;

If you’re looking for an advancement in your life (be it in your professional life, your relationship or simply your well-being) one of the fastest ways is to learn things from a mentor of your own. If you’re looking for a great mentor to learn more from, then Jim Rohn is definitely one of the greatest mentors out there.

It never used to be very easy to find a mentor of your own that you can look up to and gain knowledge from. Nowadays however, all you have to do is just take a book, watch a video on YouTube, have a quick search on the web or buy a video program made by your desired mentor.

So, this article outlines 5 great lessons you can learn from Jim Rohn, one of the most influential America’s business and life philosophers, and shows exactly why you should have someone like him as your mentor.

1. Choose Your Friends Carefully

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

In case you are struggling to meet ends of the month, I suggest you do a quick test. Write down 5 of your best friends that you spend the most time with, in one column on a piece of paper.

Then in the second column write down the average amount of money each of those friends earns per month. Then sum up all the amounts and divide them by 5.

What you’re left with, is most likely the amount of money you earn per month.

Sure, this may not be a great judge of your earnings, and Jim Rohn made this piece of advice about a lot more than just money, but still, the fact remains.

So if you want to increase the amount of money you earn, and also improve your overall character and happiness, surround yourself with people who you aim to be like.

Spend some time with them and learn as much as you can from other successful people like them that you admire.

2. Start Writing Your Plans

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn

Making your plans (a 3 month plan, a 1 year plan, a five year plan) will keep your focus on your big vision. Sticking to these plans and taking action on them will keep you on the right track.

There will always be distractions in your life, every day, every week, every year.

These distractions will come from the outside world, (people around you will want you to go partying every week, for example) and from the inside, there will be times when you will feel like not doing anything at all.

But when you have a plan of your own written down properly you’ll find it much easier to stick to your course of action and not be swayed by these inside or outside forces.

Having a written plan will make you a better decision-maker on your path to success.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://wealthygorilla.com/5-great-success-lessons-we-can-learn-from-jim-rohn/#ixzz5O1CdO79U

11 Myths About Personal Wealth You Shouldn't Believe

11 Myths About Personal Wealth You Shouldn't Believe

 By   Forbes Finance Council

Successful accounting, financial planning & wealth management executives from Forbes Finance Council share trends and tips.

For many people, a long-term goal is to amass and maintain personal wealth for financial security. There are many different paths to get there -- savings, investments, passive income, etc. -- and there are plenty of "rags to riches" success stories to inspire people's financial aspirations. But there are also many myths about wealth that color the perceptions of those who wish to attain it.

We asked a panel of Forbes Finance Council members about the biggest and most common misconceptions about personal wealth and the important correct information individuals should have instead. Their best answers are below.

Members discuss common myths surrounding wealth management.

1. Your salary doesn't matter; true wealth is living off passive income.

Most people believe personal wealth is what you make each year. However, it's not what you make but what you keep and how you use those savings. Real personal wealth is having passive income that exceeds your expenses. Buy income-generating assets with savings.

True wealth is the piece of mind knowing your living expenses are covered by the passive income you generate no matter your job status. - David Gass, Anderson Business Advisors, LLC

2. Knowledge isn't enough to build wealth; you have to put it into action.

The biggest misconception for many people is procrastination. Personal wealth isn't all about knowing what and how. You can know what to do and how to do it, but as long as you delay, you are forfeiting wealth-building. Start saving. Start learning. Start paying off your debt. Just start. - Justin Goodbread, Heritage Investors

3. Your paycheck doesn't make you wealthy; you have to learn how to save.

Saving more money than you spend will make you personally wealthy. Would you believe there are people who make $40,000 a year who have $1 million saved for retirement, yet there are people who make $500,000 a year who can't figure out how to save a dollar?

Don't worry about what others have. Stay true to yourself, focus on your values and priorities, and live a meaningful life. - Alexander Koury, Values Quest

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/05/16/11-myths-about-personal-wealth-you-shouldnt-believe/?nowelcome=1#5003f4362c76

Money Story: I Was a Frugal Jerk

Money Story: I Was a Frugal Jerk

Written by GUEST AUTHOR| Published: 14 January 2018 – Updated: 23 February 2020

This guest post from the Frugal Jerk is part of the “money stories” feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all stages of financial maturity. Today, the Frugal Jerk — who has asked to remain anonymous for now — shares the first half of his story about going from internet entrepreneur to busted and broke.

You might know me. I’m a blogger and entrepreneur. I've had tens of thousands of customers during the last decade, so it's very possible that you've purchased something from me in the past.

I've been read by millions of readers on my own sites and I’ve appeared as a guest writer on popular websites you’ve surely heard of. I've also been featured in New York Times bestselling books that may sit on your shelf. At my peak, my income was $300,000 per year. By many accounts I would be considered successful. But I’ve made many dumb mistakes with money.

We’re not going to bury the lede: At a certain point, because of a perfect storm of mistakes and problems, the smartest move was to foreclose my home. This move may have even saved my life. This is that story.

What's interesting about all of this is that I grew up fairly poor and conservative with money. If I couldn’t pay for something in cash then I didn’t buy it. I didn’t make stupid financial decisions. Those decisions were for idiots. I was no idiot! (Reality check: Everyone is an idiot sometimes.)

Buying the Hype

When I bought my home, everything was going great. In the run-up to the U.S. recession, houses wouldn't stay on the market for long. If you remember those days, you know that you could go to a first open house and the house would often be sold before you got there. It got to the point where houses were regularly selling for more than asking price. Bidding battles were not uncommon.

This should have been a warning. But I was young and dumb and flush with cash. I had a business generating almost $1,000 in profit per day. Mostly automated. All online. What to do with all that money? Home values always go up, right? It’s always smart to “Buy! Buy! Buy!” isn’t it? We all heard it daily. (You might still hear it regularly since the economy has improved lately.) Plus, it’s the alleged American Dream. Quite literally everybody around me told me to buy, particularly those who knew my income. Parents, friends, the echo chamber in the media. I didn’t hear a single dissenting opinion. (Besides my own, which I steadfastly ignored.)

So I bought a home.

Considering my income, I thought I was making a smart choice. I settled — and I do mean settled because I didn’t even like the home — on a $300,000 four-bedroom three-bath two-car-garage home. I was a young single guy with a huge family home. I know what you’re probably thinking. But it was “only” one year’s income and I put 20% down. What could possibly go wrong?

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.getrichslowly.org/frugal-jerk/

Why You Should Raise Millionaire Children Part 2

Why You Should Raise Millionaire Children Part 2

By Jerry Norton

This is Part 2 of “Why You Should Raise Millionaire Children” If you missed part 1, be sure to read it now. In Part 1, I discussed the importance of teaching our kids to have a healthy mindset about money. In Part 2, I’d like to explore 3 reasons why you as a parent should want your children to become rich and what you can do as a parent to implement wealth-building principles.

Reason #1: Lifestyle The first is an obvious one – lifestyle.

 Having money gives you more choices in life. Why shouldn’t you have and do everything you want in your life? Whoever said you can’t have and do everything you want? God meant for you to have it all.

 I don’t let anyone tell me or my kids that we can’t have or do something that is important to us. One of the worst things you can say to your kids is, “We can’t afford it” or “That’s too expensive” or “That costs too much money.” Saying those things reinforces that you cannot have the best things life has to offer.

 Now before you yell at me, I know what you’re thinking. What if it’s true and you really can’t afford it and it really is too expensive? You might also be thinking that you want your kids to learn delayed gratification and to appreciate what they have. You also want them to understand family finances. So do I.

 A few simple changes in how we phrase things can make all the difference. Rather than saying, “We can’t afford it,” say, “When we can afford it.” Instead of saying, “That’s too expensive,” replace it with, “We choose not to spend our money on that right now.”

 The message we communicate is night and day to our children. One says, “Nice things cost money, which we don’t have and if you want to grow up and be like mom or dad, you need to not have money and not buy nice things too.” Ouch!

 Replacing the words used in the same situation with the positive approach to money communicates that it’s ok to have and do nice things as long as the money is used wisely first. Let me give some real life examples of everyday activities that provide opportunities to teach our children to have a healthy relationship with money.

 Example #1

Saturday morning you wake up to a flat tire on the car. You might say to your age-appropriate children, “Kids, the car has a flat tire. Learning how to fix it is a valuable skill in case you are ever stranded with a flat tire. It is also a skill that is easily performed once you learn how to do it.

 I’d like to teach you how to do it and let you practice so you can learn this simple life skill.”  While fixing the tire, you could further explain, “Kids, since this skill is easy to learn and doesn’t require a lot of training or expertise, it doesn’t cost very much to pay someone else to do it.

In fact, I know someone I can call right now that would come here, take off the tire, take it into town to get the hole plugged or patched, bring it back and put it back on the car, all for $12/hour.” To help them understand the principle you might ask, “Kids, why might it make more sense in some cases for me to hire someone to do such a simple, inexpensive task?” Help them come to the realization that you value your time more than $12/hr.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://flippingmastery.com/why-you-should-raise-millionaire-children-part-2/

Surprising Secrets of The Cheapskates Next Door

 Surprising Secrets of The Cheapskates Next Door

Written by GUEST AUTHOR| Published: 28 July 2010 – Updated: 29 August 2020

This is a guest post from Jeff Yeager, author of the newly-published The Cheapskate Next Door. Yeager calls himself the Ultimate Cheapskate — and his wife agrees. Yeager is also a contributor at Wise Bread and on the Early Retirement forums.

The Cheapskate Next Door“Sure, we could afford to spend more, but why would we? It wouldn't make us any happier.” — Those are the words I've spent the last two-and-a-half years traveling the country to hear. It's a simple but rare statement, given that nearly half of all Americans say that they literally live paycheck-to-paycheck and have little if any savings.

How can some people live not only within their means, but substantially below their means — even when their incomes are often less than the national average? And here's the biggest question of all: How can some of those same people insist that they're happier — joyous, really — because of their thrift and frugality?

I traveled thousands of miles — nearly 3,000 of them by bicycle! — and surveyed more than 300 of my beloved “Miser Advisers” to find the answers. In my new book, The Cheapskate Next Door, I share what I discovered about people and families — many of them just like you — who not only know how to stretch their money, but who are more content and happier because of it. The book also includes hundreds of their practical, money saving tips — ideas that anyone can use every day.

Some of what I found may not surprise you. These frugal folks:

Despise debt and have found creative ways to eliminate it from their lives.  Differentiate between “needs” and “wants,” and between “affordability” and “borrow-ability”.  And, yes, most own and still wear at least one article of clothing dating back to the Carter administration (or earlier).

But other findings surprised even me, The Ultimate Cheapskate.

For example, only about 10% of the thrifty people I talked to have a written household budget (“we live our budget — it's second nature — we don't waste time writing about it,” one cheapskate said). While they have savings in the bank, less than 15% have a formal “emergency fund” (“an emergency fund is for people who don't have their financial house in order otherwise,” another cheapskate said). And more than nine out of ten say that they think, worry, and stress-out about money less — not more — than their non-cheapskate peers.

The Cheapskates Next Door are 100+ times more likely to have a dog or cat adopted from a shelter than one purchased from a pet store, are far more likely to own a crock-pot (or several) than an IPod or flat-screen TV, and they divorce at less than half the national average.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.getrichslowly.org/surprising-secrets-of-the-cheapskate-next-door/