Basics
« Previous EntriesReader Question on How to Determine How Your Investments Are Doing
Monday, November 2nd, 2009The following comment was left on this post from last week:
Have a question:
What reasonable standards should investors use to measure how well or poorly that they are doing?
I’m sure that an answer would include “it depends” but if so, depends on what?
We are about 10% under our 12.31.07 balances and we are pleased but how [...]
This is One Crappy Car Loan! Lessons on How NOT to Buy a Car!
Friday, April 10th, 2009I received this email earlier today:
Hi!
I’ve been subscribing to AFM for quite some time now and I really appreciate almost all of your blog posts. My room mate just bought a car yesterday and because he has little to no credit (and may have been an easy target) got a 24.99% 6 year loan [...]
10 Financial Commandments for Your 30s
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009Saw this list this morning on MSN. Pretty good list. I think we have accomplished all of these, which is a good thing because I’m in the final months of my 30s!!!!!!
Here’s the list along with my thoughts on each point. You can read the original article here:
1. Pay off your nonmortgage [...]
One Reader’s Reasoning on Why Younger People Don’t Save
Friday, September 26th, 2008I want to highlight this comment I received regarding why young people aren’t saving money (edited slightly):
I’m 27 and I can tell you really simply why we are not investing.
1. Since the day we graduated we’ve seen nothing but bad news. Huge tech crash, current crash. We’re not even back [...]
Save For One Year, Retire With $1MM
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008Most “retire with one million dollars” articles focus on slow and steady savings over the course of decades. That works of course, and saving regularly is a great habit to get in no matter how much money you have.
But if you’re young enough, with some concerted effort you can save for only [...]
Solid Advice: ALWAYS Question Commissioned Salesmen!
Monday, December 10th, 2007I remember being told during broker training for PaineWebber (now UBS) that if a prospect asked about fees or commissions that I was to basically show them the door. PaineWebber’s stance was that clients who bickered about fees weren’t going to be good clients. Of course there will always be people who want [...]
The Real Key to Acheiving Your Goals
Thursday, November 29th, 2007It’s easy to turn your dreams into goals on paper, but you’re much more likely to acheive those goals–and be satisfied when you do–if they reflect your true values.
Planners and Fees
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Money Magazine has a feature each month called The Mole, which is a column written by an anonymous financial planner. I’m not exactly sure why he’s anonymous unless he’s scared of colleagues harrassing him. Regardless, it’s usually an entertaining column and this month’s column is no different:
I’ve never met a financial planner who [...]
Budget Help for a Reader – What’s Your Advice?
Monday, June 18th, 2007I received the following email from a reader. Although his situation isn’t good, it could be a lot worse. One thing he mentions in the email stood out to me like a sore thumb. Let’s see if you can spot it:
I was contemplating taking some retirement money to pay off some debt, [...]
A Follow-up to the Dave Ramsey Mortgage Post – This is Interesting!
Thursday, March 8th, 2007Chris, an employee of Dave Ramsey and a blogger at Pour Out, left this comment on yesterday’s Dave Ramsey post about mortgages (I truncated Chris’ comment in order to emphasize what I want to talk about):
He [Dave] doesn’t want you to pay off your home in 15 years; He wants you to pay it off [...]