Blog Posts
Last summer, I wrote an article titled, "Americans Not Prepared for Emergencies." This article sparked some interest from some of my friends and some readers. They insisted that not everybody knows how to save and suggested that I write an article about strategies. With that advice in hand, I have finally decided to tackle the "How do you save?" question.
I could say, "Spend Less!" and the article could be over. We all know that cutting monthly expenses requires us to spend less. It really is simple...spend less than you make and save the difference.That's a great motto to live by and should be the foundation to everyone's spending each month. But we all can't just live by a motto. We have to use strategies that will help us reach this goal of spending less than we make.
I tend to be a wanderer. What does that mean? Well, I like to go and see things and not worry about time constraints. I like to not be stressed about rushing places and I can get distracted by new things or new experiences. My wife and I are very different in this regard, because she likes to get things done as fast as possible and I like lolly gag.
I continue to hear that America has a student loan crisis. In all reality, it is a crisis. The student loan debt, in America, has now reached $1.3 trillion dollars, with millions of students in default or behind with payments. Some suggest that a way to relieve the student loan crisis is to make college free. Others believe that it would be best to spread the loan payments out over longer terms.
Over the weekend, I was checking my Personal Capital dashboard to see how bad the down market has hurt our net worth. As you would imagine, our net worth took a hit, just like everyone else. This does not mean that I am running to the hills and selling everything. We have to remember that retirement investing is an investment for the long haul and we can't get scared by a dip in the market. It is always important to remember this fact whenever the nightly news scares you into thinking that this is the crash to end all mankind. Don't worry, the market will recover and we will be better off than we were before.
