Waiting for the Second Marshmallow
Based on the Marshmallow Experiments, Walter Mischel suggests it is possible to build learned responses to achieve delayed gratification. The secret lies in keeping your reptile brain in check and leading…
Rules of Thumb for Staying Smart, Successful & in Control of Your Money – Part 2
The second attribute identified by Gopi Shah Goda for financial planning is understanding the impact of compounding. As Albert Einstein described it, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the…
Rules of Thumb for Staying Smart, Successful & in Control of Your Money – Part 1
[P]eople rely on a limited number of heuristic principles which reduce the complex tasks of assessing probabilities and predicting values to simpler judgmental operations. …
Buy long-term care insurance — or self-insure with personal savings
Buying a long-term care insurance policy is no easy feat. Most of the insurance carriers have left the market due to the high cost of nursing homes, particularly for patients…
Compare plans – or find a broker who covers them all
Perhaps the single best website for comparing the different Medicare Advantage plans is that of the government itself. Look at the CMS websiteThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has…
Before investing in the stock market, bone up on investor literacy
For many, the stock market dangles the lure of easy income. While investments in equities is the best long-term way of earning more inflation – and far more than a…
Before crashing, prepare a budget and negotiate a payment plan
Sometimes all the best ideas just are not enough. You have too much debt, you owe the IRS for back taxes, you are behind on the mortgage payments … and…
Set a fixed repayment schedule when borrowing from family and friends
Borrowing from family members (and friends) may seem like the best way to cover urgent bills for a few days. But such borrowings put an enormous strain on relationships. The…
Take advantage of free money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQB-xff4e6kIn her popular money book, How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough, Teresa Ghilarducci recommends that everyone take advantage of free money in two ways. First,…
Pay off your credit card bill in full each month
It is sometimes hard to figure out just how much you are paying for financial products and services. By law, financial firms are obliged to tell you what their fees…