10 Money Questions I Was Too Embarrassed To Ask
10 Money Questions I Was Too Embarrassed To Ask | Biggest Finanical Mistakes | How To Increase Earnings
Last Updated: August 16, 2022
At age 18 I took out a HUGE college loan… and wasted the leftover money on beer.
At age 19 I got my first credit card… and promptly missed the first payment.
At age 22 I bought my first truck… with an insane interest rate.
Now you may have been born with a degree in finance… but I wasn't – I had to learn everything through the school of hard knocks. And I was too embarrassed to ask for help. If I could go back and tell my younger self what to ask… these would be the 10 questions.
10 Money Questions I Was Too Embarrassed To Ask | Biggest Finanical Mistakes | How To Increase Earnings
Last Updated: August 16, 2022
At age 18 I took out a HUGE college loan… and wasted the leftover money on beer.
At age 19 I got my first credit card… and promptly missed the first payment.
At age 22 I bought my first truck… with an insane interest rate.
Now you may have been born with a degree in finance… but I wasn't – I had to learn everything through the school of hard knocks. And I was too embarrassed to ask for help. If I could go back and tell my younger self what to ask… these would be the 10 questions.
1. Am I Being Greedy?
Some of you may think you’re “obligated” to spend. It’s rooted in a belief that saving equals greed. You justify splurges as redistributing wealth. I’m afraid this mindset is warped. Spending less doesn't mean stealing from people don't earn as much as you.
Take my company for example. All the wealth tied to RMRS comes from the value I’ve created. My readers and subscribers find value in the 2000 articles, 700 videos and 200 infographics that my company has made. Advertisers see my content as platforms to promote their products. This value literally comes from nothing. And it's unlimited.
The answer:
No. There’s nothing wrong in finding alternative ways to earn. We must remember that many self-made millionaires these days created value out of thin air. No one was forced to buy their products. People valued them.
2. Can I Afford This Or That?
You receive your month’s pay and feel good. You’re tempted to spoil yourself – perhaps with that motorbike you always wanted? I know you’re checking your balance in the bank. That’s the wrong question to ask.
Obviously most of us would love a nice house and other luxuries. But now’s the time to focus on delayed gratification. It’s not whether you can afford the item in question. It’s really about thinking long-term – seeing more important things ahead.
The answer:
No. Replace the original question with “Could I afford it if I were to pay cash?” This helps you save and set aside money through every “No” that comes about. There’s no need to overthink. It’s automatic. You’re better off with a similar item that's used/secondhand for the meantime.
3. How Many Credit Cards Should I Have?
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.realmenrealstyle.com/10-money-mistakes/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=8n14tPHfHcA&feature=youtu.be
America Is About To Go Supernova
America Is About To Go Supernova
Simon Black, Founder Sovereign Research & Advisory February 20, 2023
On the evening of April 17, 1006 AD, a little more than 1,000 years ago, human beings from around the world looked up into the night sky and saw a brilliant light, the likes of which they had never before seen in their entire lives. Most people thought it was a new star-- the brightest, by far, that anyone had ever observed. Some thought it was an omen or a sign from the gods.
We know now that neither was the case. The phenomenon that everyone saw that evening was actually a supernova originating more than 7,000 light years away from Earth. And scientists now refer to it as “SN 1006”, named after the year of its observation.
America Is About To Go Supernova
Simon Black, Founder Sovereign Research & Advisory February 20, 2023
On the evening of April 17, 1006 AD, a little more than 1,000 years ago, human beings from around the world looked up into the night sky and saw a brilliant light, the likes of which they had never before seen in their entire lives. Most people thought it was a new star-- the brightest, by far, that anyone had ever observed. Some thought it was an omen or a sign from the gods.
We know now that neither was the case. The phenomenon that everyone saw that evening was actually a supernova originating more than 7,000 light years away from Earth. And scientists now refer to it as “SN 1006”, named after the year of its observation.
SN 1006 is especially famous because it is likely the brightest ever recorded in human history.
It was so bright, in fact, that its light could even be seen in the daytime. It was also seen by people as far away as China, Iran, Egypt, and Europe.
A group of monks in Switzerland reported being able to see SN 1006 for three months after its initial appearance, while astronomers in China’s Song Dynasty continued to observe the supernova until at least December of that year.
A supernova, as you’re probably aware, is an exploding star. It’s essentially the final phase of a star’s life cycle.
When stars are born, they’re nothing but gas and dust. In time, they grow into enormous stellar forces that cast their light and power across the solar system and give life to satellite planets. Everything in their domain literally revolves around the star.
But even stars eventually peak… and decline. They deplete their primary resources, and their core begins to shrink. Eventually, with its resources completely exhausted, a star begins to collapse… at which point it can explode in a giant supernova that can cause havoc and destruction across the galaxy.
This is in many ways a great analogy for empire. Like stars, empires are born from often humble beginnings. A handful of people come together in difficult circumstances, and the odds of success are very low.
But with luck, that small group of people turns into a fledgling civilization that continues to grow… and eventually rises into a vast and powerful empire that shines its light across the region, or possibly the world.
Like a star, everything else revolves around the empire; even tiny, distant nations are in its orbit and depend heavily on the empire for trade and economic activity.
But eventually the empire exhausts itself. It eats away at itself, depleting its most precious resources until there’s nothing left.
Just like a star that declines and collapses after consuming all the hydrogen in its core, an empire consumes the very things that made it successful and powerful to begin with. And when an empire declines and collapses, just like a star, the effects of that collapse cascade across the region for years to come.
It should not be a controversial statement to say that the world’s dominant empire today, the United States, is in obvious decline.
The US has steadily depleted and destroyed the very resources that made it so powerful in the first place-- things like freedom, capitalism, self-reliance, social cohesion, reputation, military strength, and fiscal restraint.
The latter bears some additional discussion.
On Friday I wrote to you that the US government had just published its annual financial report showing, among other things, that they lost a mind-blowing $4.1 trillion in Fiscal Year 2022, which was $1 trillion worse than the year before.
Going through the rest of the report, you’ll see them describe the utterly dire situation of Social Security, whose trust funds are set to run out of money within the next 10 years or so. They also forecast the national debt to reach more than FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT of GDP.
But what really struck me about this report... above everything else… was the cover letter; this is the one-page executive summary from the Treasury Secretary right at the beginning of the report.
You’d think with such horrific financial results and long-term projections that the Treasury Secretary would spend her cover letter calling for immediate reform and fiscal discipline.
But there wasn’t a single word of caution in her letter.
Instead the Secretary bragged about how great the economy is, and praised their ridiculous Inflation Reduction Act as “our nation’s most aggressive action to tackle the climate crisis.”
Come again? Wasn’t the Inflation Reduction Act supposed to, you know, reduce inflation?
But they’re not even trying to tell that lie anymore. Now they’re fully admitting that the Inflation Reduction Act was just climate change legislation masquerading as economic support.
The rest of her letter is more useless bombast… making it crystal clear that the people who prepare these reports are just fanatical bureaucrats steeped in their own self-righteousness, as opposed to responsible managers trying to solve problems.
So it’s REALLY difficult to study this annual financial report and not come away with a highly disquieting long-term outlook for the United States.
I’ve been talking about this for years, so this is nothing new to long-time Sovereign Man readers.
I’ve written extensively about the accelerated financial decline of the government. Fourteen years ago when I started this publication, I looked at the trajectory America was on and predicted rising inflation, dwindling freedom, growing social divisions, soaring deficits, and more.
But even I’ve been surprised at government officials’ complete inability to take these problems seriously, let alone come up with rational solutions.
Perhaps some day they’ll finally realize that they’re out of resources and that their star is about to collapse. They’ll look up in the sky and see the brilliant flash of light and realize, “Jeez we really need to do something about all this debt.”
But by then it will be too late.
When people across the world looked up in the night sky 1,000 years ago and saw the brilliant light of SN 1006, what they didn’t know is that the light was from an exploding star more than 7,000 light years away.
In other words, the star had actually exploded 7,000 years prior; it just took that long for the light to travel all the way to Earth and be visible to people on this planet.
Similarly, by the time the inhabitants of Planet Politician see the light of their fiscal supernova, the star will have already exploded long before then… and there won’t be anything they can do about it.
But you can.
You have all the power and all the resources at your disposal to diversify internationally, legally slash your taxes, put away more for retirement, grow your income, generate higher investment returns, protect your assets, secure your family’s future, and much more.
To your freedom, Simon Black, Founder Sovereign Research & Advisory
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/america-is-about-to-go-supernova-145937/
Not Dad’s Retirement
Not Dad’s Retirement
Craig Stephens | Feb 16, 2023
If you’re in a career you don’t love, consider your investments as the foundation for your next life phase. You may not have saved enough to retire outright—but it may be enough to launch a second act.
My father retired from a 35-year teaching career in 2002, when he was 56 years old. He hasn’t worked a day since. For years, his retirement was the primary model for my retirement aspirations—until I realized my path needed to diverge. Like many dads, he worked a career he tolerated but probably didn’t love. It provided our family with a comfortable lifestyle in the suburbs of a low-cost-of-living city. Teaching enabled him to be ever-present during my youth, with summers off and time to coach my baseball teams. He took his pension and left teaching without hesitation when he reached retirement eligibility.
Not Dad’s Retirement
Craig Stephens | Feb 16, 2023
If you’re in a career you don’t love, consider your investments as the foundation for your next life phase. You may not have saved enough to retire outright—but it may be enough to launch a second act.
My father retired from a 35-year teaching career in 2002, when he was 56 years old. He hasn’t worked a day since. For years, his retirement was the primary model for my retirement aspirations—until I realized my path needed to diverge. Like many dads, he worked a career he tolerated but probably didn’t love. It provided our family with a comfortable lifestyle in the suburbs of a low-cost-of-living city. Teaching enabled him to be ever-present during my youth, with summers off and time to coach my baseball teams. He took his pension and left teaching without hesitation when he reached retirement eligibility.
I missed his retirement celebration because I was halfway through a 14-month backpacking trip that took me to southeast Asia and South America. Upon my return, I was 27 years old, broke, unemployed and living with my parents.
Though my dating prospects were bleak, I had a finance degree and a few years of information technology (IT) experience in my back pocket. I was ready to return to the workforce. Inspired by my dad’s retirement, I set a goal to retire at age 55, one year earlier than he did, so I’d have the flexibility to travel the world again without the time constraints of salaried employment.
After six months of living with Mom and Dad, I landed a government IT consulting position in the Washington D.C. area, for which I was underqualified and overpaid. My salary snowballed. Backpacking the world trained me to live frugally. College finance courses taught me to contribute to my 401(k) and invest monthly surplus dollars into stocks. The foundations were in place to reach my retirement goal.
But one thing became apparent soon after I started my new job. I didn’t like government IT consulting. I worked on massive IT projects with hundreds of workers. My direct contributions rarely influenced outcomes or led to organizational improvements. I was a small fish in Lake Titicaca.
Job satisfaction was elusive. But I was okay with that because I mainly cared about the salary and benefits. The high earnings allowed me to save and invest to reach financial milestones. My IT career was the path of least resistance to early retirement.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
Really Useful Engine
Really Useful Engine
Jonathan Clements | Dec 14, 2016
My days are consumed with a hodgepodge of activities—writing books, speeches, radio interviews, my newsletter, blogging and more. What ties all these activities together? More than anything, I want to be part of the conversation.
When I first entered the work world more than three decades ago, I imagined that—once my finances allowed—I would happily retire to a rural area and retreat from worldly hassles. But now that I can afford to retire, I’ve come to realize it’s the last thing I want: The quiet, unproductive life would likely keep me happy for 72 hours before boredom and restlessness set in.
Really Useful Engine
Jonathan Clements | Dec 14, 2016
My days are consumed with a hodgepodge of activities—writing books, speeches, radio interviews, my newsletter, blogging and more. What ties all these activities together? More than anything, I want to be part of the conversation.
When I first entered the work world more than three decades ago, I imagined that—once my finances allowed—I would happily retire to a rural area and retreat from worldly hassles. But now that I can afford to retire, I’ve come to realize it’s the last thing I want: The quiet, unproductive life would likely keep me happy for 72 hours before boredom and restlessness set in.
What’s the alternative? As we age, the satisfaction from external rewards—the promotions, pay raises, bigger homes, faster cars—tends to fade. We care less about what our bosses and our neighbors think. Instead, we become more motivated by work that we think is important and that we’re passionate about. These activities can be the cornerstone of a midlife career change and a more fulfilling retirement.
Being “intrinsically motivated” is often viewed as far more admirable than being motivated by external rewards: We’re undertaking tasks not because somebody is dangling carrots or threatening us with sticks, but because we think they’re truly worthwhile.
Yet internal and external motivation can’t be separated quite so cleanly. Very few of us would happily spend our days creating art that others would never see, doing good deeds that others would never know about, writing books that others would never read or cultivating gardens that others would never enjoy. We want to do good work—but we also want the validation of others.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
The Poor Millionaire
The Poor Millionaire
Sanjib Saha | Feb 18, 2023
HOW WE SPEND DEPENDS on how we feel about money.
To be sure, we’re supposed to spend according to our financial situation and needs. But life experiences can so badly distort our attitude toward money that our financial decisions end up being ruled by fear and insecurity rather than questions of affordability. Such is the case with an acquaintance—let’s call her Satee—whose money habits are at odds with her financial standing.
The Poor Millionaire
Sanjib Saha | Feb 18, 2023
HOW WE SPEND DEPENDS on how we feel about money.
To be sure, we’re supposed to spend according to our financial situation and needs. But life experiences can so badly distort our attitude toward money that our financial decisions end up being ruled by fear and insecurity rather than questions of affordability. Such is the case with an acquaintance—let’s call her Satee—whose money habits are at odds with her financial standing.
Satee grew up in a typical Indian family of four. Her working dad was the family’s primary breadwinner and financial decision-maker. Her homemaker mom put most of her energy into raising their two kids and taking care of the house. In their family, the financial and nonfinancial responsibilities were clearly divided between husband and wife.
When Satee got married, she envisioned becoming a homemaker instead of a moneymaker. She wanted to be a supportive wife, a loving mother and a responsible daughter. Handling money was neither appealing to her nor on her list of responsibilities.
Satee’s husband was professionally successful and financially savvy. They moved to the U.S. and had two children. They bought a house, saved for retirement and set aside money for the kids’ education. Everything was falling into place, just as Satee had hoped, except for one problem: Relationship and trust issues soured their marriage.
Long story short, Satee went through a messy and conflict-ridden divorce that dragged on for months and turned her world upside down. A property settlement was eventually reached, but the bitter memories and fear of uncertainty remained.
Satee took a while to accept her new role as head of a household with two school-age children. To get through the rough patch, she turned to the local community for emotional support. She met my wife through a mutual friend and quickly formed a bond with her.
A few years later, she connected with my wife again. This time, she seemed happy and settled. She had some money questions and my wife asked me to help. Satee and I chatted a few times, going over some financial basics. She was keen to learn more.
Satee focused a lot on ad hoc, short-term money decisions. She had no clear long-term financial picture. Instead, she was consumed with keeping a tight lid on her spending. Her modest lifestyle left no room for indulgences or even small niceties.
I couldn’t tell if the scrimping and excessive penny-pinching were out of necessity or insecurity. Her financial situation didn’t seem so dire. She owned a paid-off single-family house in a good neighborhood, had a decent job with a six-figure salary, and the kids had fully funded education accounts.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
‘How Do I Tell My Friends About My Six-Figure Inheritance?’
‘How Do I Tell My Friends About My Six-Figure Inheritance?’
By Charlotte Cowles, the Cut’s financial-advice columnist My Two Cents Sept. 1, 2022
A family member recently passed, and I will receive a six-figure inheritance from a trust. I already have a financial adviser, and I’m working on a plan to save/invest half and give away the other half. My question is, how do I bring this up with friends? I make a reasonable salary from my public-service job and still have student loans to pay off. For my immediate day-to-day life and lifestyle, I don’t expect this money to change anything significantly. But the security of suddenly having retirement savings as well as being able to make significant donations to nonprofit and grassroots organizations I care about is different.
‘How Do I Tell My Friends About My Six-Figure Inheritance?’
By Charlotte Cowles, the Cut’s financial-advice columnist My Two Cents Sept. 1, 2022
A family member recently passed, and I will receive a six-figure inheritance from a trust. I already have a financial adviser, and I’m working on a plan to save/invest half and give away the other half. My question is, how do I bring this up with friends? I make a reasonable salary from my public-service job and still have student loans to pay off. For my immediate day-to-day life and lifestyle, I don’t expect this money to change anything significantly. But the security of suddenly having retirement savings as well as being able to make significant donations to nonprofit and grassroots organizations I care about is different.
This isn’t the kind of money where I could suddenly stop working as a young person and live lavishly, but it is a lot of money and I realize I have a lot of privilege to get it. I haven’t talked to my close friends about this yet, and it feels weird to bring up, but it feels more weird to not share information at all. Also, I’ve been a person who rolls their eyes about what I perceive as easy lives of “trust fund” recipients in the past, and now I’m one of them!
My friends are empathetic and reasonable, but I just feel self-conscious about getting a lot of money I did nothing to earn. How would you recommend talking to friends about this?
It can be jarring to inherit money, especially when it results from the death of a loved one. You seem to have a great plan for what you’re doing with it (donating to causes you care about and saving the rest), and I’m glad you have a financial adviser to guide you.
But sudden changes in your financial situation can be isolating, too. You used to be in the same boat as your peers — able to afford similar things, relating to each other’s financial challenges. It’s not like you’re quitting your job or buying a yacht now, but this money puts you on a different resource level. That’s incredibly lucky, of course, but it’s also a little lonely.
I can understand your desire to talk to close friends about this, as well as your trepidation around how it could affect your relationships. If there’s one thing that everyone has opinions about, it’s other people’s money, especially when it comes from a trust fund. You’re smart to tread carefully and be thoughtful about this.
To figure out the best way for you to broach this topic, I spoke to several people who work with families with multigenerational wealth. Ellen Perry, the founder of Wealthbridge Partners, recommends that you start by considering three questions: Why you want to tell someone, who you want to tell, and how you want to tell them.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.thecut.com/2022/09/how-do-i-tell-my-friends-about-my-six-figure-inheritance.html
How To Become Financially Independent, According to 3 Experts
How To Become Financially Independent, According to 3 Experts
Cynthia Measom Tue, February 14, 2023
For some, financial independence seems like an impossible dream and probably always will be. Others, who are more optimistic, might believe sheer determination will get them there.
While a positive and determined mindset is a move in the right direction, it takes much more to achieve a state of financial freedom. To get closer to living the life you want, here’s what you need to know to become financially independent, according to a few experts.
How To Become Financially Independent, According to 3 Experts
Cynthia Measom Tue, February 14, 2023
For some, financial independence seems like an impossible dream and probably always will be. Others, who are more optimistic, might believe sheer determination will get them there.
While a positive and determined mindset is a move in the right direction, it takes much more to achieve a state of financial freedom. To get closer to living the life you want, here’s what you need to know to become financially independent, according to a few experts.
What Is Financial Independence?
“Financial independence is the state of having enough money saved and invested to cover your living expenses for the rest of your life without having to work,” said Claire Hunsaker, a chartered financial consultant and CFO of AskFlossie.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean retiring in the lap of luxury. For most people, it means choosing how they want to spend their days, without the constraints of a 9-5 job. Many financially independent people still work part-time managing their investments or at a company they own that provides passive or semi-passive income.”
How To Become Financially Independent
The steps to become financially independent aren’t particularly complex, but they do take time and commitment to achieve. “The key is to remember financial independence is a long game — it doesn’t happen overnight,” said Steve Sexton, financial consultant and CEO of Sexton Advisory Group. Here are the steps to take.
Calculate Your Future Financial Needs
Knowing the amount of money you’ll need to become financially independent is key when working toward your goal.
“You can do this by multiplying your future income by 30 to set your savings goal, utilize a retirement calculator online to create a forecast, or enlist the help of a financial advisor to get a more accurate picture of what your future financial needs could look like,” said Sexton.
Evaluate Your Spending
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://news.yahoo.com/become-financially-independent-according-3-130009694.html
10 Genius Things Dave Ramsey Says To Do With Your Money
10 Genius Things Dave Ramsey Says To Do With Your Money
Andrew Lisa Tue, February 14, 2023
Dave Ramsey is one of the country’s most celebrated personal finance gurus, a famous radio host, a successful businessman and a best-selling author. He’s also a self-made man who started with nothing and built a seven-figure net worth and a $250,000 annual income by age 26.
Now in his early 60s, he has spent many of the years between getting even richer by helping other people build wealth of their own. Here’s a look at some of the choicest wisdom and most sage advice that Dave Ramsey has doled out along the way to his legions of loyal followers.
10 Genius Things Dave Ramsey Says To Do With Your Money
Andrew Lisa Tue, February 14, 2023
Dave Ramsey is one of the country’s most celebrated personal finance gurus, a famous radio host, a successful businessman and a best-selling author. He’s also a self-made man who started with nothing and built a seven-figure net worth and a $250,000 annual income by age 26.
Now in his early 60s, he has spent many of the years between getting even richer by helping other people build wealth of their own. Here’s a look at some of the choicest wisdom and most sage advice that Dave Ramsey has doled out along the way to his legions of loyal followers.
Eliminate Debt Before You Invest
The No. 1 rule of the Ramsey investing philosophy is not to invest a dime — at least not until you eliminate all of your toxic debt, which he considers to be pretty much everything but your mortgage. Ramsey insists that you can’t build wealth when your primary wealth-building tool — your income — is tied up in monthly finance charges.
Harness the Power of the Snowball Method
Eliminating debt is easy to talk about but hard to do, which is why Ramsey is a longtime advocate of the so-called snowball method. This debt-reduction strategy requires you to attack your debts in order of smallest to largest, allowing you to chalk up quick wins that close outstanding accounts while boosting your confidence along the way. Once it’s time to confront your truly scary debts, you’ll have momentum on your side — plus, you’ll be able to concentrate only on them now that your smaller debts are no longer nipping at your heels.
Build an Emergency Fund Before You Build Wealth
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-genius-things-dave-ramsey-120115148.html
How Much Money Is Too Much To Keep in Your Savings Account?
How Much Money Is Too Much To Keep in Your Savings Account?
John Csiszar Mon, February 13, 2023
Can you have too much money in the bank? On the one hand, there’s an obvious joke answer to this commonly asked question — there’s no such thing as “too much money.” The reality, however, is regardless of how much money you have, in order to maximize your net worth you shouldn’t keep too much money in your savings account.
While savings accounts serve valuable functions, they aren’t “investments” in the strictest sense of the word. As you’ll see below, savings accounts typically act as a drag on your portfolio rather than an enhancement. That’s why there is definitely such a thing as having “too much money” in your savings account.
How Much Money Is Too Much To Keep in Your Savings Account?
John Csiszar Mon, February 13, 2023
Can you have too much money in the bank? On the one hand, there’s an obvious joke answer to this commonly asked question — there’s no such thing as “too much money.” The reality, however, is regardless of how much money you have, in order to maximize your net worth you shouldn’t keep too much money in your savings account.
While savings accounts serve valuable functions, they aren’t “investments” in the strictest sense of the word. As you’ll see below, savings accounts typically act as a drag on your portfolio rather than an enhancement. That’s why there is definitely such a thing as having “too much money” in your savings account.
Negative Real Returns
Although savings accounts are FDIC insured and among the safest places to keep money for things like emergencies, in terms of an investment strategy, having too much money in a savings account is catastrophic. For starters, savings accounts typically pay among the lowest yields you can find in the investment world. While this may be a fair tradeoff for their security, they may actually reduce your net worth. After you factor in inflation and taxes, for example, the “real return” you earn on money in a savings account is typically negative.
Using a real-world example can help make this clear. In 2022, online savings account yields jumped up close to 4% thanks to the Fed aggressively raising interest rates to combat inflation. Across the country, savers jumped up and down with glee, as rates as low as 0.01% had been the norm in the not-too-recent past. But even with that major move in rates, savings accounts were still losers when it came to real returns in 2022.
Even if you could snag a rate of 4%, you’d have to make that money stretch in an environment where inflation topped 9% in June and finished the year at 7.7%. Net-net, even with a 4% savings account yield, you were looking at a negative real return somewhere between -3.7% and -5% throughout the year — and this was before factoring in taxes, which could have taken a bite of 20% or more out of your 4% yield.
FDIC Insurance Limits
If you’re in the fortunate enough position that you have hundreds of thousands of dollars available for savings and investments, there’s another reason why you’d want to avoid putting too much money into your savings account. While savings accounts carry FDIC insurance, the amount is limited to $250,000 per account holder for every account. This means if you open a savings account and dump in $1 million, $750,000 of that would be at risk in the event of a bank failure.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-money-too-much-keep-190015526.html
Why You Should Financially Imagineer Your Life
Why You Should Financially Imagineer Your Life
19. October 2017 Financial Imaginer
Back in Kindergarten my father once asked me: “Son, what would you like to do once you’re a grown up?” – of course I was dreaming all sort of things, most prominently wanting to become a bus driver, a pilot or an astronaut. These more ordinary dreams for boys of that age came to an abrupt halt only shortly afterwards as I unveiled the ultimate profession: Inventor.
Imagineering = a combination between “Imagination” and “Engineering”
Imagination: The creative ability to form images, ideas and sensations in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Imagination helps make knowledge applicable in solving problems and is fundamental to integrating experience and the learning process.
Why You Should Financially Imagineer Your Life
19. October 2017 Financial Imaginer
Back in Kindergarten my father once asked me: “Son, what would you like to do once you’re a grown up?” – of course I was dreaming all sort of things, most prominently wanting to become a bus driver, a pilot or an astronaut. These more ordinary dreams for boys of that age came to an abrupt halt only shortly afterwards as I unveiled the ultimate profession: Inventor.
Imagineering = a combination between “Imagination” and “Engineering”
Imagination: The creative ability to form images, ideas and sensations in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Imagination helps make knowledge applicable in solving problems and is fundamental to integrating experience and the learning process.
Engineering: The application of mathematics, science, economics as well as social and practical knowledge to invent, innovate, design, build, maintain, research and improve structures, machines, tools, systems, components, materials, processes, solutions and organizations. The term engineering is derived from the Latin word ingenium, meaning “cleverness” and ingeniare meaning “to contrive, devise”.
Back in the days – and still today – my fascination for Disney comics was tremendous. Immersing myself in these fantastic stories and associating myself with the lives of all these marvellous characters was such an enriching experience. Eventually I picked a favorite. You might now think, since I’m writing about personal finance my hero and role-model would be Scrooge McDuck. Well: wrong! The ever-lucky fellow Gustav Goose? Wrong again!
My absolute role-model was Gyro Gearloose! The inventor!!!
Scrooge McDuck: “What did you do??”
Gyro Gearloose: “Well, you did say to make it as real as it can be, so I did!”
He literally blew my mind. Whatever he imagined, he found a way to make it happen: his outrageous creativity and productivity was pure genius. Once, he ran out of ideas and solved the problem by inventing a thinking-cap which empowered him to have more and better ideas! If he didn’t have his cap with him, he stroke himself on the head with a big hammer! His job was to make fantasy a reality despite all odds.
Gyro Gearloose’s main ambition was not so much to get rich and famous but rather helping the people of Duckburg to improve their lives. He is also known as being good-natured towards others. In one of his stories he actually persuaded Duckburg citizens to rebuild their whole city into a futuristic utopia which somehow worked out too well: Donald Duck only worked 1 hour a day and spent 23 hours sleeping which left him more bad-tempered than normal.
At the other end, Uncle Scrooge McDuck suddenly controlled an army of robots which collected way too much money for him – filling up his money bin to the point where good old McDuck couldn’t even jump and dive into his coins anymore as it was too full.
Only when Gyro’s robot invented another robot to replace Gyro himself as an inventor he decided Duckburg must be turned back to its old self. Wow! Elements of early retirement and artificial intelligence in a 1980’s comic book!
That was it: Duckburg’s [most famous] inventor became my role-model. I wanted to become nothing less than an inventor myself! Helping the world become a better place with new ideas. A few years later, my aspiration to pursue a career as inventor became even stronger after having been exposed to the crazy scientist Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown who managed to convert a fancy De-Lorean into a time machine. Marty McFly travelled back and forth in time and changed lives of others as well as his own to the better and worse!
That movie opened my eyes to how much you can affect your own future [with or without time machine]. Your future self will be the compound result of many small steps and decisions in life. If you take controlled, well directed steps towards an ambitious goal, you can get anywhere and change your faith. Little did I know about the miraculous power of compound interest back then, but this was about to change soon.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.financial-imagineer.com/why-you-should-financially-imagineer-your-life/
6 Tips To Protect Your Financial Future
Planning To Remarry After A Divorce? 6 Tips To Protect Your Financial Future
Sharon Klein Fri, February 10, 2023
Make relationships easier to navigate and better protect your financial future.
As the calendar turned to 2023, many of us took a moment to think about resolutions. I want to lose 10 pounds. I want to read things that aren’t just about work. I want to learn how to play pickleball.
Or maybe this year I’ll give a relationship another shot. Maybe I’ll even remarry. Many of us think about this idea with an understandable degree of trepidation. Your last relationship ended badly. Maybe you got divorced. But this year, as you look ahead with renewed optimism, there are six steps that you can take that might make relationships easier to navigate, leave you better protected for your financial future, and make you happier.
Planning To Remarry After A Divorce? 6 Tips To Protect Your Financial Future
Sharon Klein Fri, February 10, 2023
Make relationships easier to navigate and better protect your financial future.
As the calendar turned to 2023, many of us took a moment to think about resolutions. I want to lose 10 pounds. I want to read things that aren’t just about work. I want to learn how to play pickleball.
Or maybe this year I’ll give a relationship another shot. Maybe I’ll even remarry. Many of us think about this idea with an understandable degree of trepidation. Your last relationship ended badly. Maybe you got divorced. But this year, as you look ahead with renewed optimism, there are six steps that you can take that might make relationships easier to navigate, leave you better protected for your financial future, and make you happier.
Now, admittedly, not all these ideas create conversations that are the easiest to initiate. Some carry with them some difficult presuppositions. Because of this, you may want to get some outside help. Hiring a skilled adviser can make all of this go down a little easier.
1) Get that prenup
Oh, start with the toughest one. No one wants to think about divorce when planning their wedding. But a better way to think of a prenuptial is that it’s not about the end, it’s about the start. A prenuptial agreement actually allows marriage to start on a stronger footing based on mutual understanding and honesty.
A prenuptial agreement lets a couple enter marriage with full financial clarity, spells out financial expectations during a marriage, and specifies clearly what will occur in the event of…well, you know the “D-word.” A prenuptial agreement can be particularly important in situations when each partner brings their own significant assets to a new union.
2) Trust…but verify
Planning is key to ensure your assets pass as you wish. A revocable living trust, which is set up during your lifetime and can be changed (or “revoked”) at any time, can be used as your main dispositive document instead of a will. Unlike a will, the provisions of a revocable trust kick in not just in the event of death, but also in the event of incapacity (think Alzheimer’s disease, a major stroke, or some other such disabling condition).
To continue reading, please go to the original article here: