Why should I consider giving away some of my hard earned money? What would you give for a little dose of long lasting happiness? It turns out giving of ourselves produces a longer lasting high than food, drugs, sex, fame or fortune. A famous Chinese proverb says: “If you want happiness for an hour,…
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a movement dedicated to a program of extreme savings and investment that allows proponents to retire far earlier than traditional budgets and retirement plans would allow. By dedicating up to 70% of income to savings, followers of the FIRE movement may eventually be able to quit their jobs and…
We’re all familiar with the concept of Payday loans; high interest, nearly-criminal lending to those who’ve found themselves living a little more stretched than just “paycheck to paycheck”. I’ve heard stories where people make their required payments on time, for the designated number of months, thinking they’ve paid back their debt in full, only to…
We’ve all heard the phrase, “less is more”. But why is this? It turns out, there’s a psychological reason for it. Humans are wired in a way that, when presented with too many options, we actually can experience decision fatigue. Psychology Today talks more about this concept in this article. The Minimalists would describe…
On our left shoulder, every one of us has a silky smooth reddish man with a beard almost as pointy as his horns. He’s got a strong jaw, endless confidence, and we kinda like the sound of his voice in our ear. It’s exciting when he comes around and always a thrill to hear his…
By: Diane Darling An Evil Stepmother’s Guide for Teaching Your Child Personal Finance, PART 3 In Part 1 of this series, we explored about how to talk to your kids about their money. In Part 2, we discussed how your children might earn money with which to learn financial literacy. In this part…
By: Laura Walton AFC® In April of 2016 we launched our first 3rd Decade classes, two classes each with 20 participants. Word of mouth filled six classes the following year with 120 participants; we expanded from Tucson to Tempe and Flagstaff. In the three years since, growth hasn’t abated. Our statistics show that…
By: Diane Darling An Evil Stepmother’s Guide for Teaching Your Child Personal Finance, PART 2 In Part 1 of this series, we talked about how best to guide your children in not only their own savings, but also how to be frank about your family’s financial circumstances. In the second part of the…
By: Diane Darling An Evil Stepmother’s Guide for Teaching Your Child Personal Finance, PART 1 I am in a family situation in which I do not have biological children of my own, but I do have a 14-year-old stepson – one whose future financial security I worry about on a daily basis! …
By: Laura Walton AFC® As participants in the 3rd Decade program know, we hold Warren Buffett in high esteem. He’s 90 and worth about $82 billion but most of that wealth – 90% of it – came after he turned 65. This makes our point – wealth is built by consistent investing over time,…