.9 Bills You Should Never Put on Autopay

Valencia Higuera November 25, 2020,

We all can use a simpler, more efficient way to manage expenses and save money. Putting your bills on autopay can ensure never forgetting a due date, which minimizes the risk of late fees and dings on your credit report. But although automatic payments can save time and streamline your personal finances, it isn’t the right choice for every expense.

Autopay is ideal for payments that don’t fluctuate every month, such as your mortgage and car payments. You know what to expect from these bills every month, so it’s easier to plan and budget for automatic drafts. This isn’t the case with monthly expenses that fluctuate.

Before you get excited and put your entire financial life on autopilot, here are some bills you should never put on autopay.

.'Why Do I Keep Buying Stuff I Don't Need With Money I Don't Have?'

By Gyan Yankovich October 20, 2020, 9:30am

Despite the best financial intentions, there are always things we want to spend money on that feel very important, like fall candles and sweatpants.

Why Am I Like This?

How to actually stop doing the things you know aren't exactly good for you.

From our teen years onwards, we’re constantly being told that saving money is good, and spending money on shit you don’t really need (when you could be saving it) is generally… not great. But it’s not quite as simple as that. Somewhere between knowing how much money you have coming in each month and your list of recurring can’t-skip expenses—like rent, health insurance, and bills—is a muddy middle section where a lot of us lose track of our cash.

.Live It Up

Dennis Friedman | November 27, 2020

THE HOLIDAY SEASON is here—and retailers will be looking to make up for the sales they lost during the pandemic. Let me offer some advice you won’t hear elsewhere: Go ahead and splurge.

What do I want for Christmas? To be honest, not much. But then again, my wife and I have been spending money in 2020 as if Christmas were a year-long event. We remodeled the house, filled it with new furniture and bought a new car.

What I probably need is not more material things, but something that could make me a better person. A behavior transplant would do the trick. Something like persistence. Indeed, a little more persistence would be a good attribute to have going into the new year. It might help me to eat better, exercise more and generally live a more fulfilling lifestyle.

As I grow older, I tend to make excuses for indulging and for not having the willpower to do the right thing on a consistent basis. I’ll say to myself, “I’m not getting any younger. Why toe the line? Live it up and enjoy yourself.”

.The 3 Most Important Words in Finance

Posted November 22, 2020 by Ben Carlson

There are generally 3 stages of growth for a successful investor:

Stage 1. I know everything (when you’re first starting out)

Stage 2. I know nothing (after you learn a bit about markets)

Stage 3. I know what I don’t know (after you realize how hard markets are)

That last stage is difficult for many people in the world of finance to figure out. Or even if they admit it to themselves it’s difficult to let clients in on the fact that even the masters of the universe don’t know what’s going to happen next when it comes to the markets.

A number of years ago Jason Zweig interviewed the late Peter Bernstein and asked him some of the most important things he had to unlearn over the course of his career:

.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.

.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?

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

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

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.