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Happily Misbehaving

Adam M. Grossman  |  Jun 17, 2018

IN SUMMER 2011, a rural Illinois man named Wayne Sabaj was in his backyard picking broccoli, when something caught his eye. Half buried in the dirt, he found a sealed nylon bag. Inside was $150,000 in cash. For Sabaj, who was unemployed and had, in his words, “spent my last $10 on cigarettes,” this was a godsend.
Though it remains a mystery who had buried this particular stash of money, these sorts of finds are not uncommon.

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Human Condition

Jonathan Clements  |  Jun 9, 2018

RISK IS ARGUABLY the most important financial topic. But which risks should we worry about? There are all kinds of contenders: recession, accelerating inflation, political upheaval, global conflicts, sharp market declines, individual company turmoil.
But I would argue that, as we each assess our personal finances, one risk trumps all of these—and that’s the risk that we have lousy career earnings and maybe even find ourselves without a paycheck. How come? It isn’t simply that we would likely struggle to pay the bills and service our debts.

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The Unasked Question

Jonathan Clements  |  Mar 17, 2018

WHEN WE MAKE financial decisions, we usually have a pretty good idea what we’re getting. But what are we giving up? That, I believe, is the crucial, unasked question.
Think about any financial choice, whether it’s the shoes we buy, the stock we purchase or the kids’ college degree we promise to pay for. All too often, these are snap decisions. Captivated by the bright shiny object in front of our eyes, we make an isolated choice—and fail to grapple with the bigger picture.

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My Younger Self

Kristine Hayes  |  Mar 6, 2018

DEAR 18-YEAR-OLD Kristine: You’re about to embark on adult life, so I want to share some financial advice with you. You will do many things right—and a few things wrong—so listen closely.
You’ll be heading off to college soon. Even though many of your high school classmates will be attending four-year schools, you’ll be staying closer to home. The local community college will be a good choice, since you have absolutely no idea what you want to do with the rest of your life.

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Making Your Case

Phil Dawson  |  Jan 3, 2018

MRS. J. LIVED IN southeast Virginia and had purchased an eight-year-old truck at auction for her college-bound child. It turns out that the truck had spent its entire life in and around Rochester, New York, in the heart of the Rust Belt. Mrs. J. had been advised by her local garage that many of the exposed chassis components on her truck were covered in rust. Her neighbors’ cars did not exhibit this condition. She felt the truck was unsafe and that the vehicle’s manufacturer—my employer—owed her a solution.

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First Things First

Adam M. Grossman  |  Dec 26, 2017

IN A CLASSIC EPISODE of the sitcom 30 Rock, Tina Fey’s character, Liz Lemon, muses about the size of her nest egg: “I have money saved. Two years. Maybe four, if I cancel cable.”
Not worried about the size of your cable bill? In all likelihood, you’re fretting about one aspect of your financial life—and probably more than one. You might be wrestling with housing costs, student loans, the cost of putting your own children through school,

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Getting Better

Jonathan Clements  |  Nov 4, 2017

TO IMPROVE OUR behavior, we first need to realize we’re on the wrong path and then figure out the right way forward. Often, this isn’t especially difficult. If we have no savings, obviously we need to sock away some money. If we’re overweight, we should cut back on the calories. If we’re out of shape, we need to hit the gym.
Instead, the real problem is getting ourselves to act.

The contemplative side of our brain is fully aware we ought to eat and spend less,

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Money Well-Wasted

Caitlin Roberson  |  Nov 2, 2017

MOST MONEY conversations, especially with financial advisors, orbit around the concept of increasing dollars.
When is it best to buy stocks? Answer: in a down economy. Reallocate money from bonds.
When is it best to buy bonds? Answer: in a thriving economy. Reallocate money from stocks.
When is it best to save? The answer invariably seems to be: always.
On the one hand, I embrace this concept. A chronic self-tither,

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Think Bigger

Jonathan Clements  |  Jun 3, 2017

TO BE PRUDENT managers of our own money, we need to read the small print—but we also need to keep an eye on the big picture.
To that end, whenever we make a financial decision, we should ponder three key questions: What’s the tradeoff, does the choice make sense given our broader financial life, and will we feel as good about the decision tomorrow as we do today?
Trading Off. Suppose we remodel the bathroom,

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Seven Figures

John Danger  |  Apr 20, 2017

I LIKE LEARNING from successful people. If you want to be good at something, why not hear from somebody who’s actually done it?
Back when it was first published, I read The Millionaire Next Door and became fascinated with these folks. Over the next couple of decades, I applied the book’s teachings and eventually reached millionaire status myself.
Along the way, I started writing about personal finance, combining my interest in millionaires with my passion for learning from experts.

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No, We Can’t

Jonathan Clements  |  Apr 1, 2017

MOST OF US WILL never be fabulously wealthy and we’ll never earn huge incomes. Self-help authors, get-rich-quick seminars and motivational speakers might try to convince us otherwise. But if we turn to these folks for assistance, they’re the ones who typically make heaps of money—at our expense.
Such hucksterism doesn’t just carry a short-term cost, however. It also causes us to think about our lives in the wrong way, leaving us with an unwarranted sense of failure and distracting us from the right path forward.

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Say It Forward

Kristine Hayes  |  Mar 30, 2017

A FEW MONTHS AGO, my retirement account hit a milestone—$250,000. I’d been looking forward to achieving “quarter-millionaire” status for a while, so when it finally happened, I decided to announce it on social media. I took a photo of my computer screen, with the value of my account highlighted, and uploaded the photo. Just as I prepared to make the post public, I decided to obscure the actual balance and edit the text to say my account had reached a “new personal record,” instead of revealing the specific amount.

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Time Will Tell

Jonathan Clements  |  Dec 24, 2016

IF WE COULD VIEW today from 10 years hence, our behavior—financial and otherwise—would be entirely different. We wouldn’t flail around so much in the muck of everyday life, fretting and fighting about nonsense. Instead, we’d focus more on issues that matter to our long-term wellbeing.
Problem is, it seems this sense of perspective can’t be taught by schools and colleges. Instead, it’s learned only through experience. It would be wonderful if we could be wise at age 20,

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Roughly Speaking

Jonathan Clements  |  Nov 26, 2016

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS and financial advisors are apt to depict money management as rigorously analytical, and sometimes even as a science. Maybe that’s inevitable in an endeavor where almost every decision ends up with a number, whether it’s the amount of life insurance to buy, the percentage allocation to emerging markets or the age at which you should claim Social Security.
But just because the answer has precision doesn’t mean this is a precise business.

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Two Numbers

Jonathan Clements  |  Nov 12, 2016

WHAT’S THE STATE of your financial health? Forget your credit score, the past year’s handsome increase in your home’s value or how your salary compares to your brother-in-law’s. In the end, financial fitness comes down to two key numbers.
First, there’s your net worth, which is the value of your assets minus your debts. There’s some debate about what should be included. The easy answer: Don’t delude yourself by counting the value of your car,

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