8 Simple Ways You Can Become Financially Literate On Your Own
.8 Simple Ways You Can Become Financially Literate On Your Own
If you have read any finance articles or news that relates to money, you probably have come across being financially literate or “financial literacy.” These terms apply to how well you understand your finances and how educated you are in everyday financial decisions.
Unfortunately, the financial education results in America are really not that great.
“Only 28% of Americans are considered “financially healthy,” according to a CFSI survey of more than 5,000 Americans. While not a large sample size, there are tons of other statistics about low savings, high debt, etc. out there. Yet, you don’t have to be in those categories.
Below, we’ll explore everything about financial literacy and how you can become financially literate on your own.
Evasive Action
.Evasive Action
John Lim | November 23, 2020
DEAR FAMILY, you know I don’t typically give unsolicited investment advice. But today, I’m breaking that rule, because I don’t want you to get hurt financially.
I can’t promise that, by following my advice, you’ll be better off in the short run. But I firmly believe that you’ll be better off in the long run, by which I mean in the next five to 10 years. Please take this letter for what it is, simply a warning and food for thought. Ultimately, you must make your own decision.
This is perhaps my most controversial suggestion, so let me explain. Over the past decade, and especially this year, there’s been extreme money printing by the Federal Reserve in the form of QE, or quantitative easing.
When A Million Is Not Enough
.When A Million Is Not Enough
November 19, 2020 Financial Independence 25
A Million Is Not Enough
On Saturday morning, I woke up to an email from a long-time reader of this blog. To preserve anonymity, let’s call him Carl. Carl sent me a link to this story from the Sunday Times and asked for my views. I was still in bed, the title – and the picture of a sun-drenched pool – were catchy enough, and so down the rabbit hole I went.
A Millionaire Retirement
The author (as the title suggests) was trying to bring home two key points:
Point #1: A £1m pension pot is well within reach for most people
Point #2: A £1m pension pot is nearly not enough to be a “wealthy” (whatever that means) pensioner
That being said, I thought the two core points were interesting enough for a proverbial double-click in today’s post.
Is Peer Pressure Keeping You Poor?
.Is Peer Pressure Keeping You Poor?
By Max Wong
Like every other Wise Bread writer, I hate debt. Although my debt doesn’t keep me awake at night, it is one of the things I think about while brushing my teeth every morning. “What will I do today (brush-brush) that will help me pay down (brush) my home mortgage ahead of (brush) schedule?”
The idea that “many people would rather struggle to pay off a large credit card bill than utter the phrase 'I can’t afford it,'” tests the limits of my financial imagination like a velociraptor tests an electric fence.
It’s so painful, yet I can’t stop thinking about it. Spending money that you don’t have is a type of self-harm that often goes undetected and can have lifelong consequences.
The Positive Power of "I Can't Afford That"
I am grateful that I figured out early on that people who judged me for saying “I can’t afford that” were the same people who were secretly living with crushing amounts of credit debt and didn’t own anything
5 Friend Types That Can Hurt Your Finances
.5 Friend Types That Can Hurt Your Finances
By Aja McClanahan
Your inner circle of friends can have a direct impact on many areas of your life, including your financial behavior. According to a 2014 study from the Journal of Consumer Research, peers can influence you to make certain decisions.
You can even bond with someone over decisions to abstain or indulge in certain activities. The study found, for instance, that friends bond over small shared indulgences like eating chocolate, but were more inclined to abstain as the stakes were raised.
Because of this, you want to be especially aware of how your friends might be influencing your financial behaviors. You don't necessarily have to dump friends who negatively affect your spending, you just have to know how to handle your interactions so they don't cause you to make poor money decisions.
5 Obstacles You Can Expect on Your Journey to Financial Freedom
.5 Obstacles You Can Expect on Your Journey to Financial Freedom
By Denise Hill From WiseBread
The road to financial freedom is paved with good intentions — and littered with skid marks from those who started out, but opted for an easier path. It can be a lonely, winding road that has potholes, roadblocks, and detours. The best way to ensure any journey is successful is to properly prepare.
Here are a few pitfalls you can expect to run into on your way to financial freedom, and what you can do to cope.
1. You'll get tired
Living a life of frugality can be exhausting. Always pinching pennies, weighing options, tracking expenses, and telling yourself "no" can get old quick. Your ability to remain on the financial straight and narrow is directly proportional to your level of tolerance.
What Happens If Puerto Rico Becomes A State?
.What Happens If Puerto Rico Becomes A State?
Notes From The Field By Simon Black November 10, 2020 Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile
In late 2018, after more than seven fantastic years of living in Chile, I decided to move to Puerto Rico to take advantage of the island’s incredible tax incentives. By moving to Puerto Rico, I traded my right to vote in US federal elections for a 4% tax rate. And I’m pretty confident I got the better end of that deal.
I’ve written about this quite extensively– but stick with me, because there’s a new twist to the story. As we’ve covered before, Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. This means that the island falls under the jurisdiction of the US government for certain matters, like immigration and national defense.
But it operates independently in other matters– like taxes.
5 Reasons Not to Use Debit Cards When You Shop Online
.5 Reasons Not to Use Debit Cards When You Shop Online
By Holly Johnson. Last updated 7 November 2020.
Many consumers use their debit cards for everything they buy. Using debit instead of paying with a credit card can help you avoid the potential for debt. The money is taken out of your bank account directly and immediately, so there’s little chance to spend more than you have, unlike using a credit card. But when shopping online, there are reasons to consider using a credit card instead.
Using a debit card for online purchases can mean enduring greater losses if you're a victim of fraud. Plus, you're giving up valuable consumer protections and rewards each time you make a purchase with debit in a store or online.
Here are all the reasons you may want to stop using debit and use a credit card instead.
Get ready for the “Work From Home” Tax
.Get ready for the “Work From Home” Tax
Notes From The Field By Simon Black - November 16, 2020 Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile
Once upon a time, long long ago in a dream world far, far away, banks actually used to be capitalists. They were wealth creators. They wanted to do business with their customers. They facilitated important trade and commerce. They acted responsibly and conservatively with other people’s money.
Now it’s a totally different story.
Banks seem to routinely steal from their customers. They gamble our savings away on ridiculous investment fads, treat us like criminal suspects, bury us in an absurd bureaucracy, and then charge us fees for the privilege of working with them. And to add insult to injury, many banks seem to have become full-blown Marxists.
9 Bizarre Money Superstitions People Actually Believe
.9 Bizarre Money Superstitions People Actually Believe
By Emily Guy Birken
When I was about eight years old, my grandmother gave me a purse. Inside the purse was a dollar bill, which I tried to give back to her. I thought she had left it in there by mistake. "No, no. That must stay in there," she told me. "You can't give a purse with no money in it, or else it will never have money in it. Money attracts money!"
That was my first introduction to the odd world of money superstitions. Grandma's belief that purses and wallets should always have at least a little money in them, especially if they are given as gifts, had been passed down to her from her Russian grandmother — although it is a superstition that can be found in many countries around the world. I have since met many people who follow this custom, including a small retail business owner who would place a penny in every wallet and purse she sold.
9 Lessons to Take From Millionaires Who Are Really Good With Money
.9 Lessons to Take From Millionaires Who Are Really Good With Money
By The Penny Hoarder Staff
Life would be a whole lot easier if someone would just Venmo us $1 million, but unfortunately the chance of that happening is, well, probably zero. (Venmo doesn’t allow transactions that large anyway.)
But even though our chances of becoming a millionaire are slim, we can still manage our money like one. No, we’re not going to tell you how to buy hundreds of shares of Apple stock. Or how to pick out the perfect yacht.
These are simple money moves any normal, non-millionaire person can make today. Each tip can get you closer to achieving your big goals.