Seasons

If you're shooting for consistency in your financial plan, you are bound to be disappointed. Instead, I try to find a sense of balance between different seasons, seasons that can vary widely at times from incredible highs to incredible lows. For starters, there are times of flat growth or stagnation, times of accelerated growth, and … Continue reading Seasons →

9 Effective Ways to Completely Waste Your Money Energy

I'm a firm believer that you should work on your money in ways that matter and make a difference, and then leave it alone. Assuming that you want to move your money to a better place, I think there are two basic ways to get there: Smart money management: tracking, tweaking, reporting, re-balancing, etc. Smart work … Continue reading 9 Effective Ways to Completely Waste Your Money Energy →

Hire Yourself as Your Own Assistant

Here’s an idea that’s so crazy, it just might work. I’ve been using this to get things done for my online business for the last few months. The Premise It’s human nature to compartmentalize our life into roles. We turn on and turn off different parts of our experience and personality when we’re at work, … Continue reading Hire Yourself as Your Own Assistant →

Why I Still Wash My Own Car

It’s all part of the greater American Dream: the kids in swimsuits running around the driveway, the green garden hose, the car soap, lots of splashing and general merriness happening. Never mind this romantic notion and the fact that it was replaced with motorized car washes in our busy lifestyles. Is washing my own car … Continue reading Why I Still Wash My Own Car →

Progress is Made by Action in Spite of Fear

In case you missed it last weekend, Felix Baumgartner just did some pretty crazy stuff. After more than 5 years of intense training, design, practice runs, and testing with the Red Bull Stratos team, Felix jumped from a balloon that carried him to more than 24 miles above the Earth (roughly 127,000 feet), falling for over … Continue reading Progress is Made by Action in Spite of Fear →

How Can We Gamify Money?

I've been stuck inside the house all weekend, awaiting the wrath of Hurricane Isaac that never happened, and I started thinking about new trends in personal finance. I think there's a big opportunity for someone to make a lot of money, go beyond the gamification that Mint and other players in the space have provided … Continue reading How Can We Gamify Money? →

Don’t Focus on Your Money

The management, regular review, and care about money are all good things. Without these things, the system can quickly fall apart and all your hard work could disappear. But there is another truth in personal finance that many of us ignore. Focusing on money itself, the actual or virtual money you have, is not productive. Why is … Continue reading Don’t Focus on Your Money →

The Road Trip Analogy of Personal Finance

I'm a big fan of analogies. While they can be cheesy and seem superficial, I think they offer little nuggets of life truths that might otherwise be missed. Not all of you have families, but indulge me for a few minutes while we go on an adventure. Imagine that today is the day you're setting … Continue reading The Road Trip Analogy of Personal Finance →

A Long-Term Approach For Your HSA

After the economy suffered a downturn and my employer cancelled their health insurance program in 2010, I switched to individual insurance and started to leverage the power of a health savings account. Long-time readers will recall that it was not only the awesome tax benefits that made the HSA such an attractive choice, but that … Continue reading A Long-Term Approach For Your HSA →

Living in the Moment vs. Future Goals

One of the toughest ideas to process mentally when you get introduced to the concept of "living in the moment" is how to accept the present condition and also seek to build a better future. The two ideas seem to be mutually exclusive--seek future goals and you accept that the present doesn't live up to … Continue reading Living in the Moment vs. Future Goals →