Personal Finance ABCs

A wise man wrote “There is a huge gap between the skills and knowledge each and every one of us needs to manage our financial lives, and the formal training that we’ve received.”  That was me.  It’s on the about page.

I have lots of posts to help with this.  The latest posts are on the home page, but there are many more.  Click on the category links in the header to explore!

I started with some ideas on how to save more money and create a budget, herehere and here.  Once we’ve managed to save some, we need to start investing.  Check out the posts on  compoundingasset allocationmutual funds and ETFsstocks and bonds. I’ve also got posts to help understand financial products and how they work, and how to use them to your advantage.

  • My company has a 401k. What is it, how does it work, and how can I participate?
  • My credit card gives me points. What am I giving up in exchange?
  • I’d like to invest in stocks but I don’t understand them.

I’ve also got tips on car buying from a former car salesman and a comparison of hearing aids.  

And you can always get back to the home page by clicking the dancing dollar sign guy at the top left of every page.

LATEST ARTICLES

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Building Wealth Is Boring
I read recently that many younger folks view sports betting and crypto currency as ways to build wealth....
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Didn't You Say Covered Call Options Were Less Risky???
This is exactly what I asked myself this morning. While perusing my IRA account, I came across a lot...
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I Own Some Bitcoin, But That Doesn't Mean I Have To Like It
I don’t like Bitcoin and I’ve often recommended that readers stay away and go with a nice...
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Stock Splits - Mostly Meaningless
So what exactly is a stock split? It’s pretty simple. A company reduces the price of its stock,...
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Humans Have Become a Commodity
That’s scary. What? First of all, what’s a commodity. Think about gold, silver or soybeans....
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Watch Out For This Insurance Quote Practice
I’ve talked quite a bit about how much I’ve saved by shopping regularly for lower priced...
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Lessons From "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is"
Back in March, I wrote a post where I decided to back up my love for the S&P 500 with real money....
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Long Car Loan = Huge Disappointment
This morning I read More car buyers stretching out their auto loans—but longer terms come with trade-offs...
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Meatball Season Has Arrived
Is there really a season? Probably not, but who wants a nice hot meatball sub when it’s 90˚ out?...
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I'm Predicting An End To The Government ShutDown
If you’re expecting a headline that the president and congress are meeting daily in an attempt...
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And Yet Another Win For OTC Hearing Aids
I’ve written quite a few posts on hearing aids. As we age, many of us develop hearing loss. Hearing...
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Hate Budgets, Try This.
In my personal finance classes, and even in my posts, I can feel people’s eyes starting to glaze...
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Today Was An Interesting Day
I touched on this in my earlier post on mixed feelings amount amazon. I spent a lovely late fall morning...
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Mixed Feelings About Amazon
I’ve written quite a bit about Amazon. It was one of my first stock picks and it’s been a...
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Tune Out To Prevent Rash Decisions
Today’s stock news on CNBC is quite a mixed bag. First thing we notice is how concerned our professional...
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Government Shutdown - Month 2
We’re beginning month 2 of the government shut down. And to remind all of us how we got here, the...
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What is a Safe investment?
After yesterday’s post on how to begin using our 401k, I started to think more about choosing investments....
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AI is Your Friend - Here's How to Take Advantage
I’m not thrilled with the title. Luckily most of my friends don’t read the posts else they...
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How Do I Participate in My Company's 401k?
Congratulations! You have a new job. At some point early on at our new company, we’re invited to...
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Are Stock Returns Predictable?
I’ll ruin the surprise and tell you right now that they’re not. As much as we’ve seen...
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We've Hit A Huge Milestone!
But not a good one. The US national debt has now surpassed $38 trillion. I know. That’s too big...
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Overvalued
So, I read this today in a very informative post on clark.com. The post is called Clark and I are on...
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Spotting Opportunity
We all want to be part of the next big thing. In the 90s it was internet stocks. Today it’s AI....
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Traffic Cams???
Can we really trust the people we elect to represent us? I wrote about this earlier today in Government...
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Friday's Vacation From Politics and Finance
It’s almost November. It’s sunny and 41 degrees and looks like we’ll hit the mid 50’s...