Category: Personal Finance

Learn about a variety of personal finance topics, including budgeting, saving, credit, debt, taxes, insurance, retirement and more

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2019 Financial Resolutions You Can’t Afford to Blow

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You know that you mean well. You always do, don’t you, when it comes to making new year’s resolutions. That diet you were gonna do to lose some weight, the smoking thing that you were definitely going to knock out last year for sure, and oh yeah, the garage that’s full of junk that you have been promising to clean out since 2007, but this is the year, right? You tell yourself every new year things like that and even more.

If your financial resolutions of the past never seem to materialize, perhaps it's time you made some S.M.A.R.T. goals. Here's how to make 2019 successful.

And of course there are those financial resolutions and goals that you seem to always set for yourself to do better with your money, but by the end of March you can’t even recall exactly what your goals were and where you went wrong along the way. Does that sound pretty familiar?

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Your 60’s, 70’s and Beyond – Money in Your Golden Years

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It wasn’t that long ago that I wrote a 3-part series entitled “The Middle Ages”. No, not the kind that you studied about in school and have read books and seen some great flicks about. I know you weren’t there, but you do remember it, right? It was the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the European Renaissance, roughly from the 5th century through the 15th century AD. But now it’s practically 2019!

I've written before about money challenges in your middle aged years, but now it's time to examine your 60's, 70's, and beyond: money in your golden years!

Although times have changed a tad since the Middle Ages, financial needs, dreams, goals, and their importance have not. So that’s why today I thought I would talk to you about another period of your life that requires a great plan and execution. Yet often we just don’t do it the way we should. I’m talking about your 60’s and 70’s and beyond, the golden years that usually spell retirement and big adjustments in life.
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“Burning” Your Cash – An Invite to Financial Hell

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When you hear the phrase “he has money to burn”, what does that really mean to you? It is often said that when someone has money to burn, they have more money than they need or even know what to do with and so they spend it on completely silly and wasteful stuff. If it’s in reference to some multimillionaire you hear about on a gossip TV show you watch, it probably causes a chuckle or at least a scratch of the head in disbelief. Like whenever I hear or read about Jay Leno and his weird obsession of buying hundreds of cars and motorcycles and spending multimillions of dollars on collecting them for years and years.

Are you burning cash? Maybe you don't even realize it, but wasting away your money is just like burning it, and it will land you in financial hell.

People often use the phrase “money to burn” as their way of showing their disapproval of this kind of behavior. It may be that or perhaps a little bit of jealousy? But whichever it is, when it comes to those of us who have never hosted the “Tonight Show”, it’s definitely a type of activity we should avoid at all cost! Continue reading

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Striking Out in Life and the Personal Finance Game

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It’s been awhile since I’ve written about what it takes for you inside to become a success in your personal finances. Most of the time, I get caught up and find myself pontificating about what you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to shopping and buying. That’s the premise of Super Saving tips, I’ll admit. But whether you are ultimately a financial success really depends on more than that. Here’s what I mean.

If you don't do the right things, you'll strike out in life and in personal finance. Read on for the 3 strikes that will send you right out of the game.

While everyone says that they want and try to be successful in their finances, some never make it. I believe there are some valid reasons why people are unsuccessful in the personal finance game, but pretty often it’s because they are lazy, stupid, or just don’t give a damn. And sometimes, shamefully, it’s all three at the same time! Continue reading

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Skipping These Will Save You Money But Ruin Your Life

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One of things you hear pretty often when it comes to trying to save money is the concept of “just skip it”. You know what I’m talking about here, don’t you? Like when you’re on your way to work in the morning if you “skip” that stop at 7-Eleven and forgo the cup of coffee and that bagel you’ll save yourself about $5 bucks, right?

There are lots of things you can skip to save money, but it's not always a good idea. Here are 8 things that you're better off keeping in your budget.

Or say, how about when you are at the restaurant and you opt for that tasty glass of Chardonnay with dinner and tack on an extra $14 to your bill? “Skip it” and have a glass of water with a twist of lemon instead, right? That’s fairly good advice and when you do it you will definitely cut costs and save some money. And truth be told, no real harm or suffering comes from that. But, and it’s a big but, sometimes we are “penny wise and pound foolish” as the old saying goes. Continue reading

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It’s Time to Get Your Federal Taxes in Order, Part 2

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Getting ready for your next tax return due by April 15, 2019 should be on your mind as this year ends. That’s why Part 1 and Part 2 of this post are so important! So here is Part 2, but first…

There have been some important changes in the tax law, so now it's time to review your 2018 federal taxes and make any last-minute necessary moves.Stop and Think

Before splurging on holiday gifts this year, ask yourself if you’re going to get a big or far bigger tax bill than you’re accustomed to next year. Or if you get a tax refund, is it likely to be smaller? Millions of Americans won’t get their usual tax refunds next year because of the confusing tax law changes. Continue reading

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It’s Time to Get Your Federal Taxes in Order, Part 1

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This year, for 2018, it’s more confusing than ever to try to get yourself ready for income tax season and decide on your deductions, if any, because of the changes that the tax bill passed earlier this year in congress. So you should start to get your federal taxes in order now.

There have been some important changes in the tax law, so now it's time to review your 2018 federal taxes and make any last-minute necessary moves.

Check Your Withholding

The IRS says that checking your withholding can help protect against having too little tax withheld and facing an unexpected tax bill or penalty at tax time next year. The average tax refund was $2,825 in 2018, up $9 from 2017, based on IRS data. Continue reading

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The Retirement You Have Always Dreamt Of?

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I’m willing to bet that almost every one of you has dreamt about the day when you no longer have to deal with your 9-5 workday routine. I have to laugh though when I think about me and that kind of timeframe. I certainly didn’t 9-5 most of my work life, especially in my jobs in retail management. More often than not my work hours spanned an earlier start time at around 8 a.m. and ran into evenings, weekends, and holidays with many weeks running 6 days.

If you're working, you may have vivid retirement dreams about the day your time becomes your own. But not so fast...things may not be as rosy as they seem.

In fact, I’d guess that I almost never worked a 40-hour week and typically did 50-55 hours as a matter of routine. So, yes, I can honestly say that I did dream of the day when I would sleep in, roll out of bed whenever I felt like it, and then do pretty much anything I’d ever want to do without worrying about the old clock on the wall! Continue reading

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The Decisive Way to Obtain Your Financial Security

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Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

I have been around for a while now, almost 70 years. I’ve read a lot of books and seen and met a lot of pretty successful and unsuccessful people along the way. You get some insights about that stuff as you put some years on, and one really big takeaway from all of my experience is in the end actually pretty obvious. It’s something that you know almost from your childhood and those years like the ones I’m talking about simply reinforce what you know each day, over and over. And it is simply this: Everyone wants financial security, everyone!

Everyone wants financial security, but there's one sure way to get it. Read on for the decisive way to insure your financial future.

My experience is that it’s the “how to achieve financial security?” question that is the core of all the hub-bub about it, more than just the who, what, when, or why questions. We can all agree on those questions but it’s the “how” that mostly stumps us. So many opinions.
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How I Cured My Money Worries…And You Can Too!

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Worrying about your money can get downright scary and depressing. Facing our fears about our financial situation can be stressful even when you just start to think about them. But there’s a better answer to your money worries than just lying in bed at night fretting about bills you need to pay, dodging the phone calls from collection agencies, and avoiding opening your mail just to see more bills because you’re too scared to even look at them.

Like everyone else, I have money worries, but I used good financial practices to "cure" them. If you're ready to be free of your money worries, read on.

When it comes to finances, if you’re spending too much and living beyond your means, you will become stressed to the max. Not being completely honest with yourself about where you are financially and even worse, not knowing where you are at financially will cause you to have a hard time in exercising any self-control when it comes to your spending. You will pay a huge price for that. Continue reading