Personal Finance

You don’t have to be an athlete or even follow sports to embrace the qualities that go into a championship athlete and team. Let’s take a closer look at these qualities so you have a better understanding of how you, too, can “think like an athlete and retire like a pro”.

Once you are debt free you can enjoy your retirement savings and live your retirement on your terms. Here's how.

Consumer debt – student loans, auto loans, and revolving credit such as credit cards and personal loans - but excluding housing-related debts such as mortgages and HELOCs – jumped...by 4.7% ($187B), to a record $4.2 trillion in the fourth quarter 2019.

Many people assume they aren't rich because they don't earn enough money. If I only earned a little more, I could save and invest better, they say. The problem with that theory is they were probably making exactly the same argument before their last several raises. Becoming a millionaire has less to do with how much you make, it's how you treat money in your daily life. The list of reasons you may not be rich doesn't end at 10. [Here are 10 more.] Words: 842

There are two kinds of bad investment advisors: well-meaning advisors without the wherewithal to keep up with the science of the fast-evolving profession, and those whose main focus is not on managing their clients’ assets well, but on gathering assets under management in order to grow their own practices. How do you tell if you’re sitting across from either one of these types of bad advisors in an industry that lacks transparency? [Well, I have done just that with a list of 10 signs that you are working with a bad investment advisor.] Words: 1467

As more and more investor education and information is freely available online... investors now have an important choice to make. Should you go it alone, stick with your financial advisor, or fire him and find another, perhaps this time a fee-only planner? Words: 740

Many have speculated that the U.S. government could once again turn to gold confiscation/nationalization if it became desperate enough. These fears are not unfounded given the abysmal financial situation of the U.S. government that only continues to get worse, coupled with a total lack of political will to cut spending but would the U.S. government really turn to a 1933-style grab again? I would argue that they wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean the threat to your gold has diminished. Quite the opposite. [This articles identifies what they might well do.]

You should avoid 401(k) hardship withdrawals at all costs and think long and hard before you consider borrowing against your future retirement. With so many people nearing retirement already grossly underfunded such actions are going to prove catastrophic down the line.

Where abroad? In Scandinavia. Why? To seek refuge from currencies like EUR, USD, CHF, and GBP and diversify your political risk and secure your savings. How? Read on. This article explains why countries and specific banks in Scandinavia deserve your consideration as safe and reliable places to stash some cash abroad.

With markets so calm, it’s easy to become complacent about the corrosive effects that volatility can have on long-term investment success. If you don’t need the money for a long time, you can ride out the inevitable market squalls but if you’re close to or already drawing from those funds, volatility can be costly...Let me explain further.