.10 Lessons Learned From 30 Years of Writing About Money

Nobody Told Me By Jonathan Clements | February 8, 2020

I HAVE DEVOTED my entire adult life to learning about money. That might sound like cruel-and-unusual punishment, but I’ve mostly enjoyed it. For more than three decades, I’ve spent my days perusing the business pages, reading finance books, scanning academic studies and talking to countless folks about their finances.

Yet, despite this intense financial education, it took me a decade or more to learn many of life’s most important money lessons and, indeed, some key insights have only come to me in recent years. Here are 10 things I wish I’d been told in my 20s—or told more loudly, so I actually listened:

1. A small home is the key to a big portfolio. My first wife and I bought a modest house, because we worried that we couldn’t really afford anything bigger. I ended up living in that house for two decades.

Financially, it turned out to be one of the smartest things I’ve ever done, because it allowed me to save great gobs of money. That’s clear to me in retrospect. But I wish I’d known it was a smart move at the time, because I wouldn’t have wasted so many hours wondering whether I should have bought a larger place.

.Americans More Worried About Running Out Of Money Than Dying

Conventional retirement plans Retirement Consideration Top 10 Countries In Terms Of Retirement Worry

By: Jacob Wolinsky Mar 6, 2020

Did you know that 58% of people worry about running out of money in retirement – compared to only 20% who are worried about dying! For April, Stress Awareness Month, financial security expert Pamela Yellen, a two-time New York Times best-selling author, discusses:

People With Savings In Conventional Retirement Plans Are Worried

When it comes to Americans’ top worries, 72% report feeling stressed about money, and nearly 22% say they experience extreme stress about their finances, according to the American Psychological Association. Financial stress is closely linked to health issues including anxiety, depression, insomnia and more, Pamela notes.

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 BY MACHINIST

.The Curse of a High Income

The Income Curse

Regardless of income level, the vast majority of people spend very nearly everything they earn, if not more. Most people know that living paycheck-to-paycheck is a problem. What they may not realize is that the higher their income, the bigger this problem actually is. Common sense tells us that more income is always better, but that’s not always true. If you have a high income and are spending it all, then you might be in serious trouble with limited options.

Consider the following scenario and think about who is financially more secure? Who is wealthier?

Introducing Bob and Bill

Bob earns a salary of $50k per year. He owns his 10-year-old Toyota Camry outright, makes the mortgage payment on his comfortable home, and is still able to save $5k each year in his 401(k) account.

Bill earns $250k per year and leases a new Land Rover every two years. He lives in a very nice house with a pool and a beautifully landscaped yard. Bill is also saving $5k per year toward retirement.

Bob and Bill both consider themselves responsible personal financiers. Neither one has any credit card debt and both are careful to keep some money saved for unexpected expenses. In fact, Bob has $10k in the bank, and Bill has $20k.

.7 Common Money Conflicts in Marriage and How to Solve Them

By Eileen Ambrose, Senior Editor

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance

You and your spouse probably have different approaches to finances, but you can still live financially happy ever after.

The McClanahans had to step up their communication and teamwork to overcome their debt problems.

Aja and Kelvin McClanahan got married in 2004 knowing that each brought debt to the union. But they didn’t talk numbers before the wedding, and when they added it all up later, the Chicago newlyweds had a shock: Together they owed $60,000, most of it in the form of student loans.

Then, when the couple had a child within the first year of marriage and Aja wanted to stay home with their newborn, she launched her own business—a translation agency—using credit cards to finance start-up costs. The idea didn’t pan out, and she wound up with another $20,000 in debt.

.Quiet Wealth: An Asset Protection Strategy

Time is Money: An Asset Protection Strategy

Diversified Investments

I’ve never worn a watch. I flatter myself that’s because of a high school Latin teacher/lacrosse coach named Thurber who, when asked why he didn’t, responded that “a man who wears a watch worries too much about time.”

That quote has always stuck with me. Its philosophical brevity is almost Hellenic.

My real reason for going watch-less is simpler, however. I have a hard enough time keeping track of my keys, wallet, eyeglasses and anything else I need during my daily journey to worry about a watch as well.

In fact, I’m pretty sure the only watch I ever owned was one that had belonged to my grandfather, that my Dad gave me when I was about 5 — what was he thinking? — that I promptly dropped and broke.

My relationship with timepieces, in other words, is Thurberesque in another way entirely.

But there are people for whom watches are an asset protection strategy