Credit, Family & Relationships, Food, Home, More, Personal Finance

How 10 Productive Minutes Can Change Your World

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Sometimes you need to just stop your work and take a deep breath. Like when you have a problem that’s pretty serious. It could be a job problem or it could be a family problem. It could be a money problem or a health problem, or any combination of these that are causing you to just stress out and feel like nothing is going right. That’s why taking a deep breath and taking even just a few minutes out can really help boost your productivity. How about taking ten minutes?

Ten minutes isn't much time, but by spending them wisely, you can leverage them into a more productive day. Try some of these ideas to jumpstart your life.

Ten minutes isn’t really a very long time. It’s less time than it takes to play a quarter in a pro football game. You can listen to 2½ songs on the radio in 10 minutes. It’s even less time than it takes you to read your daily e-mails. In other words, it’s just a few minutes, but oh how great it is to have such an opportunity to increase your productivity, save money, build relationships, and move forward in that brief time period. And most importantly, feel better!

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Cars, Food, Home

Money Saving Tips to Combat Inflation in 2021

I keep seeing it more and more every day. The inflation factor is out there and I am amazed that not many seem to be talking about it as being a problem. It may not be across the board, but food inflation and energy inflation will be making a dent in your finances if they haven’t already.

Food inflation and energy inflation are rising in 2021. Here are money saving tips to combat inflation and get the most from your money.

Food seems to be at the top of my inflation list but it’s more than that. It’s a huge chunk of your annual budget. The average U.S. household spends $7,800 a year on food!

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Personal Finance

8 Must-Follow Rules for Your Financial Success

Finding your way to financial security and eventually getting you to a comfortable retirement is pretty much what everyone is looking for in life. But how do you find this financial success?

If you want to achieve financial success, there are some basic rules to follow. Here are 8 rules to help you reach financial security.

Now that I am in full retirement mode, I can easily see where I went right and where I went wrong on my path here. That’s why it is good to at least listen to someone who has had the experience on the road to retirement and can offer you what is hopefully sage advice.

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Taxes

More of What You Need to Know About Your 2020 Taxes

I like to think that I am really good at doing my own taxes every year. I have had a few decades to perfect my skills, so I’d say I am pretty experienced at doing it and I actually look forward to it, believe it or not. But this year for our 2020 taxes, it may be a bit more of a challenge for me and for you.

Your 2020 taxes may look a bit different thanks to these changes, mostly as a result of the pandemic. Be prepared!

A few weeks ago I wrote about some of the tax changes for 2020. But there’s more you need to know about the changes that have been made. Why? It’s mainly because of the pandemic and how that has affected everything and that includes your tax picture.

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Retirement, Taxes

Will You Need to Pay Any Taxes in Retirement?

When you think about your retirement, what usually comes into your brain are all the times when you will sleep late, dress comfortably, and spend most of your time doing just about anything you want to do. The everyday grind of fighting traffic and the routine at work—and even worse the pressures of it—will be far behind you when you retire and you cannot help but think about the good things that retirement will bring. But is that all a reality?

It's important to plan ahead to minimize your taxes in retirement. Here is a list of income that is taxed as well as breaks you can use.

When you’re younger, you may spend some of your time trying to avoid paying taxes and stay up on all of the tax law changes to do it. Here are some of the ones everyone under 50 should know right now.

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Debt

Credit Card Debt, Stimulus Checks, and Spending

Do you often wonder how other people seem to make ends meet and you struggle with them? I have to reluctantly admit that over the years, I would look around and ask myself questions like, “How the hell can they afford that car?“ or “Where did they get the money for those three weeks in Europe?”

The U.S. is mired in credit card debt, and government stimulus checks aren't going to save us. We need to control our spending.

I seemed to work my rear end off and yet somehow I was never quite there—where they were. I realize now what a waste of time beating myself up about that was, but I did it and I’m sure I wasn’t alone. In my older, wiser years, I now know that big debt often is the way it was accomplished.

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Retirement, Saving & Investing

What Do You Have in Common with a Squirrel?

Does the title here sound a bit odd to you? I mean, what do we have in common with squirrels? You see them all the time around here in spring and summer but almost never at this time of the year. They’re off keeping warm and relaxing, getting ready for spring I guess. And that’s my point here.

The squirrel has to prepare long in advance of winter to survive. Heed this lesson about preparing for retirement, and start right away!

There isn’t much squirrel activity now that winter has truly set in. Over the last several months, like just about every squirrel, the ones in my neighborhood got ready for the long winter ahead. This past week we just had a 20+ inch snowstorm and a well prepared squirrel can pretty much feel good if he did what we was supposed to do.

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More, Personal Finance

Why Take Money Advice From a 71-Year-Old Blogger?

I’m not quite sure when it happened. It definitely has a way of sneaking up on you. I’m talking about aging. The whole thing about getting older and having seen so many things over your lifetime that in some cases you don’t feel that “surprise” or even “shock” that so many inexperienced younger people feel all the time. Even though I can’t quite remember exactly when, it has happened.

Is the money advice from a 71-year-old blogger relevant to your experience? Here's why you should give it a read.

And here’s the other amazing thing that happens when you age. You find that younger people just don’t listen to you or any warnings you extend to help them handle and soften the blows they may be about to take. That’s the hardest part for me to accept. I guess that’s the reason I have asked myself the question here: Why should anyone take money advice from a 71-year-old?

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