Category: Behavioral Economics
Second Wednesday of Month Politics: Giving Back by Giving Up
The national debt is up to $20 trillion. To pay that off, the federal government would have to run a $500 billion budget surplus every year for the next 40 years. We are in a shitload of trouble. The answer to this fiscal nightmare is rather straight forward. We got to pay a lot more…
Ten Unusual Signs You’re Kicking Butt Financially
By world and historic standards, I’ve lived a charmed life. Great family, Norman Rockwell community, material comfort, plenty of opportunity, and plenty of freedom. I wasn’t an evil One-Percenter, mind you. Not by a long shot. My dad was a cop and my mom was a medical records clerk. But I never wanted for anything.…
All Financial Cultures Aren’t Equal
I’m not a cultural relativist. I don’t believe all cultures are equal. Now before you pillory me and go all SJW on my ass, I’m talking about culture in a financial sense, not in a aesthetic sense. In other words, I’m not saying that jazz is better than Mongolian tribal music, Italian food is better…
Advice to Young People: Don’t Wait to Be Good
Achieving financial independence is easy. Look at me. Prior to turning 45, I was a financial moron. I had nothing saved for retirement, was brimming with debt, and thought happiness came via the accumulation of unnecessary crap. And then I said enough. Started saving 50-60% of my gross income—and boom! In eleven short years, less…
Motivation to Buck Normal Is in Your Pocket
Normal sucks. Normal means spending $100K for a college education that will be little remembered and little used. Normal means walking into a doctor’s office with an ailment and not asking the doctor what he or she will charge to treat that ailment. And normal means amassing debt, tolerating a pointless job, and living paycheck…