the money tools you need to be set free
Two days ago, my phone buzzed with a trending post on Reddit. The post detailed someone who had achieved FIRE (financial independence and retire early), but says he is ready to go back to work. “The past year has been horrible for me,” he writes, “The lack of socialization, need to get out of the house, […]
The purchase of my first car was an epic adventure. It involved six months of research, flying halfway across the country, and learning how to drive stick. In that time I went from clueless (and could-care-less) about cars to a gear-head. Or, more specifically, a Miata-head.
For a long time, I stashed my money away in a bank earning 0.01% interest. In case you are wondering, that is a very bad rate. I did not really care to check or compare, it was just somewhere to put the money. When I started my first internship I was auto-enrolled in a 401k, […]
How old were you when you had the talk? You know, the one where you sit down awkwardly with your parents, going red in the face as you both dance around a topic you would rather not broach? You know, the one where you talked about your family’s entire financial situation, including their income, debt, and net […]
Bodies are packed wall-to-wall, noise reverberates off the walls. Fists pump in the air as lights flash. Where are we? We are at the imaginary Wall Street, the media-hyped center of buying-and-trading. However, this old school idea of investing– the shouting people, frantic hustle, slew of papers– perpetuates several myths that discourage people from managing […]
We don’t get to choose where we are born. We don’t have a say where we spend our childhood. We make memories in our small corners of the world, our home chooses us. However, in adulthood, we get to choose our home. How does one decide where to live?
I cringe every time someone says, “I am not a math person.” You are many things, and one of them is a math person. You are an artistic person, a creative person, a dancing person, because you are human. The surest way to hamstring your growth as a human being is to peg yourself into […]
Cheapskate. Miser. Scrooge. These words describe people with an unhealthy relationship with money and often other people. Frugal people often walk this line– how can we be mindful money managers without being misers? The distinction got me thinking about the balancing act between the future and now, saving and spending, and the relationships we have […]
Negotiating your salary is the biggest opportunity to control your compensation. Raises tend to hover around 2–3% of your base salary, whereas negotiating at the beginning will generally yield a 10–30% pay increase. Though it might be uncomfortable, in the end you risk very little, as offers are generally extended with wiggle room for negotiation. […]
“John is really into personal finance,” my friend told me as the three of us sat eating lunch around the blue metal table. “He has eleven credit cards.” I was confused for a second, having eleven credit cards didn’t sound like someone who is good with money. He clarified that he got them for the […]