I’ve come to terms with the fact that U.S. schools probably won’t be teaching my kids, or your kids, about personal finance. They don’t teach them how to stick up for themselves, how to think critically, or a slew of other important stuff either. With my background, I think I can do a decent job teaching some of that, however, since some parents don’t, or can’t, fill the gap, many kids become disadvantaged in ways that have a life-long, negative impact.
Read MoreThese 5 Personality Traits Make You More Money in the Long Run (And How to Develop Them)
Being “bad” with money is not usually the result of stupidity, negligence or even bad luck. More often, being bad with money is simply the consequence of having personality traits that are better suited for other things. Studies like this one have demonstrated that some people seem to be born with an affinity for saving money and investing, while others lean towards instant gratification, even over a potentially bigger reward down the road.
Read MoreThese 5 Expenses Have the Biggest Impact on Your Net Worth
There are some expenses we just can’t avoid, like taxes, health care and funeral costs. Sure you can maximize your tax savings and try to avoid overpaying for health insurance, but generally we must live, and die, with these costs. However, you can control most of your other big-impact expenses and with a little foresight, you can use these budget and investment adjustments to supercharge your net worth.
Read More5 Controversial Personal Finance Rules That I Live By
Paying off a 30 year home mortgage must feel incredibly liberating. Decades of effort have finally paid off leaving you with a huge increase in cash-flow and sense of accomplishment. And that’s certainly true, especially if you don’t take another loan, but that doesn’t mean you should be paying off your house faster than the amortization schedule.
Read More15 Myths About Recycling, “Going Green”, and Sustainable Living, Debunked
There is a lot of misinformation out there about sustainable living and “going green.” Many of the efforts that people take to mitigate their environmental impact, though noble in sentiment, are actually fueling the overuse of energy and waste of resources. There may be hope though; there are steps we can take to reduce waste and because sustainable living is actually highly cost-effective, we can hopefully pad our pockets while accomplishing something worthwhile.
Read More5 Money Myths You Should Stop Believing
5 Money Myths You Should Stop Believing – The tenets of personal finance are simple enough to grasp: earn money, save money, track spending and invest wisely, but things can also get really complicated. That’s because “personal finance” encompasses literally hundreds of interrelated topics, each requiring significant study to even discuss intelligently. The topic of Tax itself is so complex that practitioners have to specialize in subsections of the tax code.
Read MoreWhat Your Real Estate Team Should Be Doing for You When You’re Buying or Selling a House
The best real estate teams are comprised of an experienced buyer’s agent, an organized lender or mortgage broker and you, the motivated buyer. This power-triad sets the table for the quickest and easiest real estate acquisitions. In a seller’s market, if your real estate agent can’t get ahold of the lender, you will lose properties to faster buyers.
Read More5 Reasons Why Flexibility is More Important than Salary
Attaining a high income, however you interpret that, can seem very important. Your level of compensation is often a direct reflection of your education, hard work and experience – though
Read MoreBudget Adjustments to Maximize Savings
In this article I will explore some of the most impactful budget adjustments and, using a some of Financial Samurai figures, examine the best ways to save money even in an expensive city like San Francisco
Read MoreWhy Excellent Clients Should Demand Excellent Service
The best businesses have always prioritized their customers above all else. But over the last few decades, as the improvement of the internet has allowed a lot of the competition
Read More5 Things To Do Right Now in Order to Retire Abroad
For the adventurous, one of the best ways to attain F.I.R.E, is to retire abroad, at least part time. Depending on where you prefer to reside, a significant change in expenses can translate to a much higher standard of living than you might otherwise be able to afford.
Read MoreSimplicity Is Often the Key to Financial Success
Although the mastery of something is one of the most difficult, and consequentially one of the most rewarding pursuits, there is good news: mastery is also largely overrated. Adhering to some simple principles and developing discipline prove far more valuable.
Read MoreThese 10 Money Habits Will Make You More Money in the Long Run
At Valuist we often put broad financial topics under the microscope to provide in-depth analysis and, hopefully, determine their inherent value. But sometimes the most impactful articles are the ones that provide easy-to-digest tips on a range of pertinent topics. So, for this post, I am going to summarize some of the most important money lessons that I have learned and covered for Valuist.
Read More10 Reasons Why Owning a House Is Better Than Renting, Even When It’s More Expensive
Before I bought a house, I wrote an article for Valuist covering the, “True Cost of Buying a Home.” Though that article is still relevant (and a great read too,
Read MoreThe Valuist Investment Portfolio: The Only Free Lunch in the Stock Market
When I say, “Valuist” investments, I’m not referring to value investing specifically (though I am a big fan). I’m talking about earning the best risk-adjusted returns from the stock market
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