Liz Pulliam Weston wrote a nice article recently describing nine money priorities. She lists them from top priority on down: Pay your bills Save $500 Start saving for retirement Pay off “toxic” debt Bolster your emergency fund Check out long-term disability insurance Enhance your retirement savings Start saving for college Save for spectacular expenses I … Read more
This morning in Sunday school someone threw out that a substantial fraction of Americans have a lottery win comprising their retirement plans. (“How did we get to talking about gambling in Sunday school?” you might ask. It was just a chance discussion, that’s all.) I just shook my head at that statistic. I figured it … Read more
This Michelle Singletary column on the Washington Post website has answers to a few readers’ questions regarding debt and debt reduction. The first question outlines a situation that stings a bit. Here’s a summary: Husband has less construction work coming in; takes lesser-paying jobs to bring in something. Couple cuts budget but is still short … Read more
Pretty much any good personal finance resource you run across will talk about this: Spend less than you earn. All this means is that your expenses (everything that leaves your wallet) are less than your income (everything that enters your wallet). If you’re spending more than you bring in, you’ll have to borrow the difference. … Read more
I was chatting with one of the members of my credit union’s supervisory committee after our meeting today. We had just talked with the CEO about the ongoing banking bailouts, buyouts, and other assorted taxpayer deficit bonanzas, and we all recounted stories of investments becoming worthless amidst company bankruptcy. Then my friend’s tone shifted, and … Read more
This week NetFlix’s distribution system went down in a big way for three days. Getting videos to its customers is the largest chunk of what it does, so not being able to do this is a big problem for NetFlix. They stand to lose a few customers and stand to pay some refunds to affected … Read more
Early retirement is a dream of many Americans — one that can be achieved by sacrificing early in one’s life to tuck away enough of a nest egg that the possibility of outliving one’s money is remote, or at least easily fixed. This is a good think to achieve, right? Charles Yarrow, vice president of … Read more
If your employer offers a 401(k) with matching, that’s exactly what you’re doing. We were chatting with friends this weekend and the topic got steered to money. (Not by me, actually!) We talked about: Starting up an ING Savings Account Ways to cut down on the little expenses that eat up your ability to save … Read more
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