Be Like the Smiths

Adam M. Grossman  |  Apr 16, 2023 HumbleDollar

NETFLIX BEGAN AN experiment in 2003 that seemed crazy to management experts. It instituted a policy of unlimited vacation time for its employees. In the years since, a number of other companies have followed Netflix’s lead, offering employees unlimited paid time off.

The results have run counter to intuition: Employees who are offered unlimited vacation end up taking less time off than those working for companies with traditional vacation policies. Why? A common explanation is that people struggle when they lack clear guidelines.

What Do Fitness and Finance Have In Common?

APRIL 11, 2023 Financial Pilgrimage

What do physical fitness and personal finance have in common? On the surface, there are a lot of differences between your fitness program and financial wellness. One involves income, spending, saving, and investing. The other involves physical activity, nutrition, and overall health. The reality is that financial fitness (and just fitness) are some of the most critical areas of our lives. It’s no coincidence that there are striking similarities between fitness and finance once you start digging in.

What’s Your Answer?

Jonathan Clements  |  Apr 15, 2023  HumbleDollar

COMMENTS FROM READERS are one of HumbleDollar’s greatest strengths. Just finished perusing an article? If you don’t scan the comments posted below, you’re often missing out on some savvy financial insights and eye-opening personal stories.

With an eye to tapping into this strength, I launched the Voices section two years ago. My hope: The questions—now 133 in total—would offer a way to organize readers’ collective wisdom and become a go-to resource for those seeking help on a particular financial topic.

How to Never Run Out of Money in Retirement

APRIL 15, 2023 •White Coat Investor

Are you afraid of running out of money in retirement? Use these strategies to ensure this doesn't happen to you.

One of the greatest fears of many investors and retirees is that they will run out of money in retirement. However, there are many strategies available to ensure this doesn't happen to you. By employing one or more of these, you can dramatically decrease those odds.

Who Do You Trust?

Casey Snyder  |  Apr 14, 2023  HumbleDollar

MORE THAN 92,000 people over age 60 reported losses to fraud totaling $1.7 billion in 2021, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. That represented a 74% increase in losses from the year before.

With the population of older Americans growing, the need to protect this vulnerable population is more critical than ever. Enter the concept of a trusted contact.

Lessons From A Legend

13 Apr By The Financial Bodyguard

The investment management industry loves its legends and there is none bigger than the nonagenarian ‘Oracle of Omaha’ Warren Buffett, CEO of the US-listed firm Berkshire Hathaway. Over the years in that role Buffett has built a portfolio of directly held companies alongside a portfolio of listed stocks.  Today, he is worth over US$100 billion and is the world’s fifth wealthiest person.  In anyone’s eyes, he is a highly successful investor and is often held up as a beacon in support of an active, judgmental approach to investing.

How Much Money Does a Baby Need to Invest to Become a Millionaire?

APRIL 13, 2023  Financial Pilgrimage

Compound interest may be the most powerful personal finance-related topic out there. By combining time and money, a little bit today can be worth a whole lot more tomorrow. Most of us have heard about compound interest, but for me, when I sit down and run through the numbers, the power of compound interest blows my mind. In this post, we are going to look at a few examples that stress the importance of starting early, even really early. For example, what if these compound interest examples were taken to the extreme and we started investing for retirement at birth? Let’s take a look.

When Being Cautious Can Lead To More Risk

10 FEB  Financial Bodyguard.com

Financial planning, as the name rather implies, is mostly about the future. Yes, sometimes it can help to identify things which we should do now to make a positive change in our financial circumstances immediately but mostly it is about doing things, whether now or in the future, to help create a better future for ourselves.

In order to work out what these should be and when we should do them, we generally need to project forwards from our current circumstances. This will provide some insights into how feasible our goals are and also highlight where potential roadblocks might occur.

Seven Alternative Facts about your Money

by Anthony Isola

People love to use words and expressions to cloud their real intentions. Often these expressions can cloak lies and make you feel better about doing something that is just plain awful.

George Orwell wrote about how governments can mask some pretty nasty stuff with word tricks.

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.  Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air; the inhabitants, driven out into the countryside; the cattle machine gunned; the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets.  This is called pacification.

How To Unlock Your Financial Creativity

April 12, 2023 by Anthony Isola

Exemplary financial advice springs from the least likely sources.

A case in point is music producer Rick Rubin. His book, The Creative Act, discusses unlocking creativity and maximizing productivity by applying easy-to-follow practical steps.  Who would’ve thought the producer of artists ranging from Johnny Cash to the Beastie Boys may have a second career as a personal finance guru?  There’s one verb that doesn’t apply to Rubin – Boring.

The same cannot be said for most verbiage written concerning personal finance. Jargon like Fixed Income, Equities, Duration, and others are a snooze/confuse fest waiting to happen.