.5 Things You Can Learn From Previous Generations’ Money Mistakes

by Mike Brassfield Senior Writer November 22, 2021

Let’s make it clear right off the bat: Your generation is the best generation, OK? And no matter which generation you happen to belong to, there’s plenty you can learn from the financial mistakes of previous generations, who all behaved in financially unwise ways.

If you’re Gen Z, you can avoid the house-hunting regrets of millennials. If you’re a millennial, you can learn from the credit card disasters of Gen X. If you’re Gen X, there’s still time to avoid repeating the retirement mistakes of the baby boomers. And if you’re a boomer, hey, you already know everything, right?

Kidding, y’all! We’re just kidding! (Full disclosure: The writer of this piece is Gen X, so he doesn’t really matter.)

.No Such Thing as Enough Money

By Jacob Schroeder October 27, 2021

How much money is enough?

It’s a philosophical money question that often arises out of discontent. We see someone of substantial means, like a celebrity, live a troubled life. Or, we ourselves experience great fortune yet feel unhappy. It makes us wonder where the finish line is, the point when you can stop striving for more and settle into a life of satisfaction.

There are some great financial blogs that provide good answers, such as here and here. And then there are a variety of books that tackle this question in their own ways: Ego Is the Enemy, The Last Lecture, the Bible, to name a few.

.Am I Responsible for Paying Off My Deceased Husband’s Debt?

Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFA®, CES™, President & CEO Sun, November 28, 2021

Losing your spouse is a painful, confusing time, but add to that repeated calls from an aggressive debt collector, and a bad situation suddenly can get even worse. Before you cave into the pressure, take a moment to catch your breath and learn the facts about your rights and responsibilities. You may be off the hook as some debts — including even certain types of credit card charges — are forgiven at death. However, others linger much longer.

First off, you should know that you are generally not personally responsible for paying off your husband's debts, as any loans would normally be paid off by his estate. This includes credit card debt, student loans, car loans, mortgages and business loans.

.25 Secrets Elon Musk and Every Other Rich Person Knows

Gabrielle Olya Thu, November 25, 2021

If it seems like the rich know something about money that the rest of us don't, it's probably because they do. There must be some reason the richest 1% of people now hold more than 40% of the world's wealth, according to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report. Maybe the rich have certain secrets to accumulating wealth -- but that doesn't mean what they know has to remain a mystery. Learn about strategies that you can use so you can build your own wealth, too.

Spending Must Align With Goals

One of the keys to being rich is having goals, said Michael Kay, president of Financial Life Focus and author of "The Feel Rich Project."

.Experts From A World That No Longer Exists

Nov 10, 2021 by Morgan Housel

The biggest risk to an evolving system is that you become bogged down by experts from a world that no longer exists. The more evolution you have, the more you should expect that expertise has a shelf life. That’s always been the case and will always be. It’s just hard to accept because people need experts to trust and experts want to hold onto beliefs that were hard-fought to learn. Some expertise is timeless. A few behaviors always repeat. They’re often the most important things to pay attention to.

But most things evolve, and evolve faster than people’s beliefs. It’s a tricky thing that leads to a long history of older generations whose success came from understanding the new rules of their era not recognizing that the rules may have changed again.

.13 Really Common Money "Facts" That Actually Aren't Facts At All

Mon, November 22, 2021,

A lot of us don't get a great financial education from our families or in school, which can make figuring out all our money stuff pretty tricky. And as if it's not already hard enough, there's also a lot of misinformation out there. To help you sort out the actual facts from the fiction, I rounded up 13 common money myths, plus what you actually need to know:

1."You Don't Need To Worry About Investing For Retirement Until Your 40s."

Nope, nope, nope. In fact, the earlier you can start putting money away for retirement, the better, thanks to the magic of compound interest. This is when you earn interest on your investments and then earn more interest on top of that interest. And the sooner you start investing for retirement, the more time your money has to grow.

.Considerations About Passing an Inheritance to Children

By Stephanie Powers Updated June 24, 2021

Reviewed By Ebony Howard Fact Checked By Katrina Munichiello

Deciding whether to leave an inheritance for your children impacts the amount you save, the retirement plans you choose, and how you take qualified retirement plan distributions. However, beyond your desire to leave some wealth to your children (or not), there are some essential personal financial issues to consider.

.No Such Thing as Enough Money

Posted by Jacob Schroeder October 27, 2021

How much money is enough?

It’s a philosophical money question that often arises out of discontent. We see someone of substantial means, like a celebrity, live a troubled life. Or, we ourselves experience great fortune yet feel unhappy. It makes us wonder where the finish line is, the point when you can stop striving for more and settle into a life of satisfaction.

There are some great financial blogs that provide good answers, such as here and here. And then there are a variety of books that tackle this question in their own ways: Ego Is the Enemy, The Last Lecture, the Bible, to name a few. Another book that resonates with me, perhaps because of its instructive format, is How Will You Measure Your Life? by the late Clayton Christensen.