There was a discussion over in the Money Blog Network Forums about different ways to calculate how much to save to allow a particular monthly payment during retirement. Some people responded with future value and present value functions and the 4% retirement rule. These are perfectly legitimate ways of estimating what you’ll need in retirement. … Read more
On the first leg of my flight back from my conference in California a little over a week ago, I was informed by the ticket agent that the flight I was on was overbooked and overweight. They offered me a $250 travel voucher, good for one year in the US, for me or a family … Read more
Michael Mihalik’s Debt is Slavery is a great book that has a lot of punch for 123 pages. Chapter 5 is all of four pages. Near the end he says: “If you won a multi-million-dollar lottery today, would you go back to work tomorrow? The majority of people would be happy to tell their bosses … Read more
I was IMing with a fellow blogger last night and he was asking me for hot mutual fund picks. (Obviously he was very delusional, since he was asking ME!) He was looking for a good $1,000 investment through traditional channels, like the stock market and the bond market. After suggesting what I thought, I asked … Read more
The weather this weekend in the Northern Neck of VA was the best it had been for most of the month. Birds were chirping, squirrels were squirreling, and vultures were yard-saling. Squirrels, with their twitchy tails and acrobatic flair, were in full form—darting across power lines, leaping from oak to pine like furry little daredevils. … Read more
Before you google the term, what do you think a short snorter is? A height-challenged unhappy customer A mixed drink with whiskey and a pinch of salt A piece of currency, or multiple examples taped together, signed by fellow airmen A special type of small tank used by WWII soldiers Well, considering this is a … Read more
I was at a conference this week in California. Most of the conference attendees stayed at one particular Hyatt because of its proximity to the conference locale. This was a very good stay with only a couple of blips in my expectations. It wasn’t any false advertising by the hotel. Without getting into all of … Read more
Packing your lunch instead of eating fast food during lunch at work is an excellent way to spend less money. It’s nothing new, though. One bad spending habit that crept in while we were budgeting by using The Force was eating out. My wife has been very kind in helping me with packing my lunch. … Read more