Finance assumes that people are rational. The problem is, they are not. Money and emotion are tied together, and not always in good ways. Money and emotion are frenemies. That’s the fundamental issue in financial planning. Very few people view money as a tool. So then, what is it? Is it security? Freedom? A game?… [Read More]
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Paying for College: Maximize Pass-Fail Credits To Graduate On Time Or Early
The fastest way to increase the cost of attending college is to graduate in more than four years. The longer it takes a student to graduate, the greater the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses. And, the longer it takes to start earning money. One way to graduate on time, or even early, is… [Read More]
Retirement planning for the new grad
You did it. You landed the job. Exciting, huh? Along with the new responsibilities, business cards, and paychecks come a ton of files about all of the different benefits available to you. It’s time to start retirement planning. It’s daunting, isn’t it? As a recent graduate and new employee, you have several different retirement plans… [Read More]
Paying for College: College pricing is like shopping at Kohl’s.
I recently had an insight about college pricing: it’s like shopping at Kohl’s. No one pays the list price, but you won’t know what you will actually pay until it’s checkout and all the special discounts and friends and cardholder bonuses and Kohl’s Cash are applied. A scholarship tied to a GPA is like Kohl’s… [Read More]
Overspending and the holidays
One of the fascinating aspects of human societies is how people are driven to create holidays that involve mandatory transfers of wealth. We’re heading into the insanity of the many year-end holidays celebrated by different groups in the United States. One of the financial questions raised by this is, how big a problem is overspending… [Read More]