.CNBC: Sudden Wealth Can Leave You Broke.

By Ilana Polyak   Wed, Oct 1 2014

​At some point, we’ve all fantasized about winning the lottery and living the high life, replete with mansions, sports cars, yachts and exotic travel. But the reality of hitting the jackpot isn’t some glamorous Kardashian-style existence.

Instead of finding themselves in the lap of luxury, 70 percent of people who come into sudden money are broke within a few years, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education. Many even end up cursing their windfalls.

 The reason, said Susan Bradley, founder of the Sudden Money Institute, is that people get used to their own level of wealth. Suddenly they don’t have the same limitations they had before, but many don’t realize they still do have limitations.

And it doesn’t take a Mega-Millions win to throw someone into monetary chaos.

When Do You Finally Feel Rich?

By  Financial Samurai

There’s a saying that goes something like this: To feel rich, take whatever you earn and triple it. Once you get there, triple it again, and again, and again. In other words, due to hedonic adaptation, it’s impossible to ever feel rich!

But I’ve noticed on my path to financial freedom that there were several times when I felt incredibly rich. The Dow reaching 20,000 wasn’t one of them by the way. Perhaps you can share when you finally felt rich as well.

When I Finally Felt Rich

1) When I went back to Malaysia. I used to live in Malaysia from 5th grade to 8th grade in the early 1990s. At the time, the exchange rate was ~2.3 Ringgit to 1 USD. When I finally paid a visit more than 20 years later, the Ringgit had depreciated to 3.7:1. One Ringgit bought the equivalent of $1 worth of stuff in the States. Therefore, I suddenly had almost 4X the amount of purchasing power during my week-long stay. So perhaps making 3X more doesn’t really make you feel rich, but making 4X more does!

In addition to the increased purchasing power aspect, it felt particularly moving to visit my old house and to realize I didn’t fall through the cracks. I was an undisciplined kid who got into way too much trouble. If I was my own father, I’d have considered sending myself to military school.

.What If I Don’t Get Hit By A Bus?

By Steven  October 14, 2019

We’re a bit extreme about saving money around here. In fact, we recommend saving so much money that you never have to work a job again if you don’t want to, preferably as early in life as possible. This is usually achieved by optimizing your everyday spending and making big, deliberate choices to reduce some of life’s biggest costs, especially during your 20s and 30s.

Over the years, we’ve heard from a lot of people who don’t think this is such a good idea. One of the most common arguments is, “but what if you get hit by a bus?”

The implication is that it’s risky and senseless to deprive yourself of life’s pleasures, especially in your “best years.” After all, life is fleeting, and it could all be taken away in the blink of an eye.

An argument against pursuing financial independence and early retirement, apparently.

The Things People Say About Money

And What to do About It — So Your Voice is Heard

Sherry Parks  

I remember it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. I was right in the midst of my accounting career and was working my way up the ladder. At that point, I had already received several pay increases and promotions.

 I was out shopping with my mom and I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about, but I do remember my mom’s words. She came out with this zinger:

​“If you can’t live on $25k per year, then something is wrong with you”. Let me tell you, this wasn’t in the 70’s or 80’s.  This was in the 2000’s. A time when the average annual income was between $45 and $50k.

 I chose to ignore her statement. I was already making more than double that amount and I wasn’t prepared to share that with my mother. In fact, I was a little bit afraid of telling her.

​What would she expect of me? What would she think of me? What would her judgments of me and my lifestyle become?

 This is one conversation that has never left me. Not because it was a big emotional scene. Not because I received specific judgment on me personally. I think it was because I needed to remember that moment.

I’ve already shared that I made a decision as a teenager that I wasn’t going to live in constant struggle with money. You can read more about that here. I was clear that $25k per year wasn’t enough.

 I was determined to feel good about money and that meant that more would have to flow into as well as back out of my life in order for me to have ease with money.

.Why You Should Buy Travel Insurance — Even if Your Credit Card Offers It For Free

By Holly Johnson. 18 October 2019.

 Travel is never cheap, and that's especially true if you're flying to a destination far from home. For that reason and plenty of others, savvy consumers tend to pay for travel insurance before they even head to the airport.

With a travel insurance plan, you can buy coverage that will reimburse if you if your trip is canceled or delayed for a covered reason beyond your control. You can even purchase "cancel for any reason" policies that let you back out of your trip any time you want.

Other inclusions travel insurance policies offer include medical coverage, baggage delay coverage, lost luggage insurance, travel accident insurance, and more.