.Money Is the Megaphone of Identity

By Lawrence Yeo

There was an extended period of time in my twenties when I didn’t have a job. For most of us, that’s not a big deal. We have our whole lives ahead of us to work, so taking a few months off to “find yourself” can be completely justifiable. Well, let’s just say that wasn’t the case for me.

I spent sleepless nights scouring job postings for any company that might be interested in what little I had to offer. I smacked that “Upload Resume” button around like it was my arch nemesis, but made sure to carefully upload the proper file format before doing so. My days consisted of nothing but napping, eating, uploading, and submitting. To put it mildly, I was in a state of panic to find some sort of work. Some might have viewed this obsessive job search as an impressive character trait. It may have masqueraded as a signal of ambition, an indicator that I was a guy that had his priorities straight.

.The Micro and Macro Building Blocks of Wealth

By Billy B | Money

I had an epiphany this week: Our financial present and futures are created from all of the micro-and-macro financial decisions in our pasts. From a personal perspective, as I look back on my life, it wasn’t one lucky break or genius skill that sent us skyrocketing toward being rich. It was a routine set of every-day decisions, mindset, and attitude, on a micro and macro level, that led us be become relatively wealthy ($266K net worth), in a relatively short amount of time (6 years.)

As I realized this, my mind was thrust into a time-traveling speed warp. My entire life appeared in a collage of memories. These visions contained all of the micro and macro decisions I’ve made throughout my lifetime. These memories were the primordial substance that grew into the present and future I am living now. As I stared into the collage of old memories, I saw our wealth is just a collection of micro and macro financial decisions that put us on the right path. Below is a list of the best micro-and-macro decisions that helped us succeed with our money:

.Money Lessons From a Truly Terrible Year

By Charlotte Cowles

What are we supposed to learn from this hellish year financially? It beats me, to be honest. To suggest that there are money lessons from 2020 implies that its events were logical or within our control, disasters we could have budgeted for. Personally, I want to throttle anyone who says the pandemic should teach people to save more in case of emergencies. Of course, it’s always helpful to have savings! But that’s maddening advice for the millions of people who didn’t and won’t be able to for a long time — and for the plenty of people who did and still ran out of money anyway.

One thing is for sure: This past year changed everyone’s outlook on their finances and their security in general. And that must have taught us something. To get a better sense of what we may glean from it, I spoke to several financial experts about what they learned in 2020 — for better or worse — and what they hope to carry forward in the future. Here’s the advice they gave.

.Left Penniless

Isaac Cathey Humble Dollar December 31, 2020

AS A PARENT, it’s my responsibility to teach my children good financial habits. Core among these are deferring gratification, saving diligently, giving generously and making sensible spending choices. I feel it’s also important to make my children aware of financial pitfalls. Succeeding financially—and in life generally—seems to be as much about avoiding self-destructive habits as it is about cultivating good ones. My wife and I have been homeschooling our children for the last couple of years. Our attempt at home education has been a smashing success, thanks almost entirely to my wife. While she handles the bulk of the teaching, I do occasionally step in to teach certain concepts. Recently, I was tasked with helping my five-year-old daughter understand probability.

Seeing an opportunity to turn a dry academic exercise into a valuable life lesson, I designed a game for the two of us to play. In the game, I offered my daughter the opportunity to take money from her piggybank and quickly turn it into more money. To play the game, we needed 50 cents in pennies and a die (or dice for those who aren’t sticklers for proper English usage).

.Top 12 Financial New Year’s Resolutions for 2021

By Physicians On FIRE

Happy New Year! Yes, 2020 is over. The no good very bad year that was 2020 is no longer. Thank goodness.

Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions for 2021 yet? Mine include a dry January, avoiding COVID between now and when it’s my turn for the vaccine, and beginning to slow travel once again. I’d like to give you some achievable financial New Year’s Resolutions to ring in the New Year. Each of these dozen items will help you improve your financial situation, and most of them are something you can accomplish, check off the list, and move on to the next one.

.Start Where You Are

by J.D. ROTH 1 January 2021 – Get Rich Slowly

How to Start Where You Are

Start where you are quote by Arthur Ashe Clearly, this is easier said than done. It's one thing for me to sit at my desk and type out pithy advice; it's another to actually deal with the situation day-to-day in real life. But here's the thing: In order to get where I am, I had to start where I was. In order for other Get Rich Slowly readers to get where they are today, they had to start where they were.

When I say “start where you are”, I mean that you should accept that who you are and what you have today is, essentially, your starting hand. Don't beat yourself up for past mistakes. Don't blame others for getting you into this situation. These are the cards you've been dealt (even if you've dealt them to yourself), and it's now up to you to play them as best you can.

How do you do this?

.Advice for Giving Advice

January 3, 2021 by Michael Batnick

What do you say when somebody asks you what they should do with their portfolio?

Here’s what you say, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

I know that sounds oddly robotic, especially if you work in the financial services industry.

In general, people who don’t work in finance expect those who do to have an opinion on Apple, Tesla, Bitcoin, or whatever they’re asking about. So they’ll probably look at you like you have two heads if you come to them with that response. A way to soften this is to joke, “If I could see the future then I’d be happy to tell you what to do, but I cannot, so I will not.”

What’s the big deal, you might be wondering? Why not just answer somebody’s honest question? Nothing good can come from giving casual investing advice. Nothing. Especially when it comes to the future direction of an individual security. They won’t remember what you said. They’ll only remember what happens.

.What Should I Do With a $50k Inheritance?

Mark Henricks Wed, December 30, 2020

It’s not uncommon for people to receive sizable inheritances, but it’s less common for them to make the most financially advantageous decisions about what to do with their newly acquired assets. If you inherit a significant amount, such as $50,000, a strategy for wisely handling a windfall is likely to include making a long-term plan that considers your age and goals, starts with a well-stocked emergency fund and employs tax-advantaged investments if available. Consulting with a financial advisor is a great way to develop a realistic long-term plan and lay out some strategies for reaching your goals.

Over an eight-year period, one in five American households, including older workers, got an inheritance averaging $67,000, according to a 2006 research report. But most spend the money in a few years and have little left to show. A decade after getting an inheritance, the typical heir still has just a third of the windfall, according to a Swedish study from 2016. Here’s how to make an inheritance last.

.10 Survival Tips for Lottery Winners

No wonder some lottery players are dreaming big. Behemouth jackpots are being awarded, including prizes over $300 million each in the multi-state Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries. With payouts like these, winning the money is only half the game. Winners need to have — or quickly assemble — a strategy for staying sane, anonymous and in the black for the rest of their lives. Keep reading to learn what every new millionaire lottery winner should know. It’s not the usual blah, blah, blah.