In Bonfire of the Vanities, Sherman McCoy details how he makes $1 million per year and is barely getting by. The goal of the exercise is to make you sick at the extreme wealth enjoyed by this “Master Of The Universe,” but I remember reading the book as a student and thinking that it’s all…
I got a glimpse of both ends of the retirement saving continuum this week: Yahoo Finance profiles the youngest savers for retirement : the youngest started saving for retirement at 10 My client of yesterday was 77, and has credit card debt equaling 1/3 of her retirement savings My client was vulnerable because, as large…
Blots on your credit report have this habit of sticking around, even after the debt is paid. Pulling teeth is nothing to getting negative credit information removed from your credit file. The spot just persists. Generally, truthful damaging information stays in your credit report, despite the oily promises from scammers to “fix” your credit report…
I recently read this post titled, Why I Still Pick Up Pennies From the Ground, and wondered just how many people do this anymore. I’m betting it’s not that many. That’s a sad commentary on life, our rush to get things done, and our inattentiveness in the face of financial hardship. Personally, I think lots…
The kitchen offers a nightly opportunity to save money. My challenge was to find fresh vegetables for dinner at less than $1 a pound. When I tried this a couple of weeks ago, I landed carrots and cabbage, after finding and discarding onions and potatoes as either obvious or unappealing. So, having found a food…
Not all winners are equal: I pick the best of the best from last week’s carnival. Since I’ve taken the advice not to quit my day job to blog, I’m just now getting to read through the other picks in the Carnival of Personal Finance from November 28th. Jacob included my post For Everything, Even…
The holidays remind us of all the ways that we are linked to family and friends: shared experiences, shared acquaintances, shared aspirations. The tie that you don’t need to share is debtor-creditor. Lending money to family and friends poses a huge downside if the loan is not repaid as expected. The loss on default amounts…