Awesome Jedi Lessons for Your Money
.Awesome Jedi Lessons for Your Money
May 4, 2019 By Mr. The Poor Swiss
In honor of May 4th (May The Fourth), I gathered some Jedi wisdom for your Personal Finances. I have found 11 inspirational quotes from characters from various Jedi from the Star Wars Universe that could be applied to money lessons.
There are many great quotes in Star Wars. Mostly from the great Master Yoda and his crazy talking that makes him so well-liked. But other Jedi Masters are also generous with wisdom quotes. Most of the quotes do not directly apply to finance. Here are 11 quotes that can apply to your personal finances.
May the Force be with you. Yoda
May the Force be With Your Finances! If you follow these Jedi lessons, you may well become a Jedi Personal Finance Master!
The Fear of Losing It All
.The Fear of Losing It All
By Charlotte Cowles@charlottecowles
About five years ago, I received a tax bill in the mail for a crazy amount. I can’t even remember what the number was because I practically blacked out. I had to lie down on the floor to stop the room from swimming. I couldn’t pay this money. I didn’t have it. What could I sell? Who could I borrow from? Could I charge it on my credit card? Should I open an additional credit card?
My immediate reaction was a textbook case of what psychologists call “scarcity mind-set” — the panic of not having enough, the doomsday thoughts that immediately followed, and the onslaught of bad ideas for “quick” fixes. As it turned out, I had misread the bill, and after closer examination and a couple of phone calls, I was able to sort things out and resume my normal heart rate.
In theory, the threat of coming up short should have spooked me into making smarter financial decisions in the long run (saying no to an expensive dinner and bulking up my savings instead), and research does show that it can incentivize people to stretch their money further
Coping With the Guilt of Losing Money
.Coping With the Guilt of Losing Money
By THE INVESTOR
I accept it’s normal to feel frustrated, angry, or even downright stupid when you lose money on your investments.
But what about guilt?
My portfolio’s fall from its peak value in summer 2007 to a low in October 2008 represents a big loss for a 30-something private investor like me: at least a couple of years of after-tax income in cash terms.
More importantly, the losses meant I had fewer options in October 2008 than the year before. I’d originally begun investing to build up a house-buying war chest for when the over-valued housing market corrected itself.
After several years waiting, house prices were finally falling, but my investments had fallen further.
It was my sister who put it simplest and best, when I explained to her my fate:
“Ah, I see. If only you’d sold all your investments and put the money into a savings account! Now you’d have even more money, and you could buy a cheaper house.”
My sister was a 100% right.
Being told what I did wrong by my sister, who takes no real interest in money, might have hurt my pride. But then my emotional state has taken several turns during the bear market.
Absolute Value vs Relative Value:
Absolute Value vs Relative Value:
Doing Nothing Is Not the True Alternative
Post From the Finance Buff March 26 2019
I read a great comment on the blog Frugal Professor that I’d like to share. The business school professor there needed a new mattress. One model that came into consideration costs $3,500.
Someone commented that considering that you spend around 1/3 of your life on the mattress, it’s worth spending $3,500 on a good mattress. The professor replied:
These thoughts have gone through my mind as well. But I also spend around 95% of my life wearing socks and can’t justify paying $3500 on them. The tradeoff I’m making with this purchase, as with all purchases, is to maximize value by maximizing marginal benefit divided by the marginal cost.
Money Lessons from the Game of Dreidel
.Money Lessons from the Game of Dreidel
While most can readily point to the dominant holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, they aren’t the only ones.
In fact, the holiday season is filled with several other holidays you may not even be aware of.
One such event is the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is an 8-day celebration commemorating the miracle of the oil during the rededication of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
One of the most recognized and beloved traditions of Hanukkah is playing the game dreidel, and is something I do with my students every year. I firmly believe in teaching tolerance for differences and beliefs, and so I spend a great deal of time exposing my students to different cultures and traditions.
Game of Loans: 10 Money Lessons from Game of Thrones
.Game of Loans: 10 Money Lessons from Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones.
Love it or hate it, this popular HBO series contains a wealth (pun intended) of very important social and economic lessons that we’d all do well to pay attention to.
Just like in the real world, the rise and fall of the different Houses vying for the throne is intertwined with money. In fact, Game of Thrones is somewhat unique in just how important the financial planning of the characters is to the various plot-lines.
So, just how real is this fantasy?
Here are 10 money lessons from Game of Thrones and their real-life implication to your finances.
1. Winter is Coming
“Winter is coming,” the motto of House Stark.
While the meaning behind this dark foreboding is of vigilance and preparation for the harsh winters of the north, we would do well to apply this same principle to money.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Personal Finance
.The Seven Deadly Sins of Personal Finance
By J.D. Roth updated 23 September 2019
I've been reading and writing about personal finance for more than thirteen years. In that time, I've consumed a lot of books about money. Lately, I've found that it's fun to revisit old favorites.
Recently, for instance, I've been re-reading Brett Wilder's The Quiet Millionaire [my review]. It's different than most personal finance books. It's targeted at those who are farther along their financial journeys rather than at those just starting out. Still, there are bits and pieces in The Quiet Millionaire that are applicable to everyone.
Ten years ago, I wrote that I particularly like Wilder's list of the seven enemies to financial success (which is my phrase, not his). I still like them. He writes:
If you want to become and stay the quiet millionaire, you must plan and manage your financial way of life…You must be proactive in order to obtain the financial life you want. By doing this, you will overcome the seven major obstacles to financial success.
Mental and Emotional Preparedness for Wealth
.Mental and Emotional Preparedness for Wealth - WiseWarrior
Mental and Emotional Preparedness for Money
Prosperity Consciousness Vs Poverty Consciousness
By Wisewarrior (AKA Classroom for Investing 101 and 201)
Being financially responsible is a habit, and unfortunately one we are not taught in school, or by most parents. And habits are hard to break. So if you have been living paycheck to paycheck most of your life and you suddenly have some or a lot of money, it is unlikely your spending/saving investing habits will change without some dedicated work on yourself.
I mean an honest assessment of your attitudes toward money, spending, possessions, and of course yourself. This event will change you….and I hope for the better.
Congress Gives America A Special Christmas Present: Higher Taxes
.Congress Gives America A Special Christmas Present: Higher Taxes
Notes From The Field By Simon Black
December 26, 2019 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
You’ve got to hand it to these people-- Congress really knows how to bring out the holiday cheer.
They have some sort of pathological need to pass the most absurd legislation at the VERY END OF THE YEAR giving people very little time to react.
Two years ago, for example, they passed comprehensive tax reform in late December 2017… and the new tax code went into effect only a few days later.
Taxpayers had no time to even understand the new law, let alone plan around it.
That’s the funny thing about taxes-- people plan their entire lives around the tax code.
They set up special structures, invest in particular assets, and go through all sorts of legal and accounting work, to make sure they’re following the tax code while they take care of their families.
Bank Secrets Revealed and Debunked
.Bank Secrets Revealed and Debunked
A Bank Teller Reveals Secrets and Debunks Banking Myths
Katherine Muniz Updated: Aug 30 2019 Editorial Disclosure
Bank secrets revealed and debunked by an unnamed bank teller at a major bank on bank practices, teller capabilit..
Bank Tellers
We all know what a visit to a bank branch will bring. Average consumers have no clue what goes on behind the glass windows of their bank's local branch.
We talked to one bank teller from a major bank and he debunked some myths, as well as shared a couple secrets of his own.
Does it really take three days for checks to clear and post to your account?
No -- It all depends on a person's credibility and the type of check it is. For instance, payroll checks usually clear right away, and so do checks deposited by customers with an ample amount of cash in their account. Sometimes a portion of the check clears right away, and the rest clears in the next few days.
The teller we spoke with said he has no knowledge of how the percentage is determined, as it is set by a system.
Do You Have A Money Mind?
.Do You Have A Money Mind?
By THE INVESTOR
During this year’s Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett discussed the importance of his eventual successor as CEO having ‘a money mind’:
“People have to have a money mind. They can be very smart but make very unintelligent money decisions; their wiring works that way…
A money mind will know what needs to be done.”
Though I was in attendance, the importance of this commentary didn’t register right away. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realised it’s a great mental model for evaluating your financial skill set, as well as those of others such as fund managers and financial advisors.
We all know otherwise well-educated people who make dumb money decisions. That person might even be you from time to time, and I’m certainly in that camp.
Indeed, in a moment I’ll share why even financially-savvy people may not always be in the right ‘money mind’ state.
Putting your mind under the microscope