The Real Green Thumb and The 4 Simple Laws to Growing a Magic Garden of Wealth

It is said America has more millionaires that any other country. If this is true why are so many of us so poor? Why do so many Americans suffer with debt? Why are we as a society so overextended and buried under mortgages we can’t pay and live in homes we can’t afford in the first place? The answers are simple, yet must be explained carefully. Let’s examine rule one. Rule one: Never try to keep up with the Joneses. Each day we are exposed to a plethora of images of wealth and possessions. ...

Going Green to Keep More Green in Your Pocket

With much of the focus on going green today, the average family can do much to help the environment. Not only will you be doing your part for global warming and climate change, you will be doing your wallet a big favor as well. Investing for the Future The winds of change are definitely blowing in the direction of green business practices and sustainability. Instead of investing with the old tried and true methods, research the options for investing in companies that are promoting a small...

Educating Young Children about Money

My mother-in-law is very generous when it comes to giving my children money. It usually comes in the form of $5 or $10 bills inserted into holiday cards or in person during the twice-a-year visits, at which time she chooses to hand them money in a covert way; a sheepish attempt to hide the fact that she's spoiling them. During a recent visit to the local grocery store, my 5-year-old, carrying one of these $5 bills, passed in front of this display of miniature cars that read "4 for $5." He was...

From the Archives: John D. Rockefeller, The Dow Theory, and Tulip Mania

Profiles in Personal Finance: John D. Rockefeller -John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Rockefeller believed since he was a child that his purpose in life was to make as much money as possible, and then use it wisely to improve the lot of mankind. The Dow Theory - The Dow theory has been around for almost 100 years, yet even in today’s volatile and technology-driven markets, the basic components of Dow theory still remain valid. Tulip Mania and th...

Do you make bad financial decisions? Blame evolution.

According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, evolution accounts for a lot of our strange ideas about finances. Most people would rather earn $50,000 a year while people around them made $25,000, than earn $100,000 a year while people around them earned $250,000. Irrational, but in this case, relative social ranking trumps absolute financial status. Thousands of experiments in behavioral economics, neuroeconomics and evolutionary economics conclusively demonstrate that we are every...

Secrets That Helped The Rich Get Rich

Reader's Digest recently posted a article titled Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires. While I don't think there are any "secrets" to becoming a millionaire, it's good to be reminded of what is important, especially by those who have already made it. I really liked the following quote: “For the rich, it’s not about getting more stuff. It’s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,” says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. That is one of the description...

Most Read Posts of 2007

How often a post is read, doesn't always reflect quality. Often it is just an indicator of how it ranks in Google or where it's linked from. Some of these posts were whipped up in a couple of minutes, others took more time and research. But, for what it's worth these are my 1o most read posts of 2007: Smart Money Remains Invested Fundamental Indexing vs. Traditional Indexing Your First Million Is the Toughest Spending Money: Needs vs. Wants Understanding Capital Gains Tax To...

Financial Goals for 2008

Net Worth: $105,000 We put a fair amount of thought into our net worth goal for 2008. $105,000 represents a significant challenge, but one we think we can reach. We will have to average a gain of about $600/month more than we did in 2007. There are a few reasons we think this will be possible: One, near the end of 2007 I got a new job which came with a healthy raise; Two, we don't have any debt (other than the mortage). We started the 2007 still owing on my wife's car. With that now out...

From the Archives: IPO’s, FHA Loans, and My Credit Score

Can I get in on an IPO? - IPO is an acronym for Initial Public Offering. Getting a piece of a hot IPO is very difficult, if not impossible. To understand why, it helps to know how an IPO is done. FHA Loans - An FHA loan is a mortgage loan in the United States insured by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA’s mortgage insurance programs help low and moderate income families become homeowners by lowering some of the costs of their mortgage loans. My Credit Score - I recently received m...

Verizon Employees Still Don’t Understand Math

Wow. Nearly a year ago, I posted about an incident where a Verizon customer had been misquoted the overage charge for his data plan. The Verizon employees thought that ".002 dollars" was the same amount as ".002 cents". He was quoted ".002 cents" when the actual price was ".002 dollars". That's one hundred times more expensive. What I'm sure it came down to, was the employees were seeing this: "$.002" and saying ".002 cents". At a quick glance, it's an understandable mistake. The ...