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5 Common Failures in Personal Finance
This recent episode of Freakonomics shares an important lesson: People tend to think of tragedies and failures as single moments of error. But that’s wrong. Instead, we must realize that every...
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Why People Think the Economy Is Doing Worse Than It Is: A Research Roundup
By Clark Merrefield The U.S. economy is in good health, on the whole, according to national indicators watched closely by economists and business reporters. For example, unemployment is low and the...
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Conducting a Year-End Financial Review and Setting 2024 Goals
You made it! The sun has set on 2023 and dawnied on 2024. Among other personal reviews, the changing of years is the perfect time to refocus on your finances. Let’s spend a few minutes discussing:...
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Has the USA Really Become Vastly More Unequal?
By Sam Pizzigati Once upon a time, back in the middle of the 20th century, relatively few Americans spent much time worrying about the wealth and power of our nation’s richest. That wealth and power,...
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What It Means to Be Middle Class in Today’s Economy
By Martha A. Lavallie Imagine this: a magic trick where the middle class, represented by the Jack of Clubs, vanishes from a Ziploc bag. This isn’t just a sleight of hand; it’s a metaphor for the...
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The Powerful Benefits of Roth Conversions
After I wrote a simple primer on Roth conversions a couple weeks ago, several readers reached out asking for more details. A few specific snippets of those questions include: I see many articles like...
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How a Population Ages or Grows Younger: Classic Ansley Coale Paper Finally...
People who teach demography love their classic articles. That methods paper that talks about microfilm and floppy disks, the incredibly intricate dissection of changes in Census data from 1970 to...
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When *Not* to Rebalance?
In early January 2024, I wrote an answer to reader-of-the-blog Vince’s question about his retirement portfolio. A quick summary of that article is: If Vince’s portfolio is $4.2M and his annual...
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From Baby Bust to Ongoing Fertility Collapse (Just Kidding)
Elon Musk, sharing a post that said “humanity’s birthrate is collapsing,” added that America is “trending toward extinction!” Of course any decline in fertility rate is “trending toward extinction,”...
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Is Job Hopping Bad for Your Career and Finances?
By Todd Kunsman For most people, a common way to improve their wealth and finances is through the traditional 9-5 job. However, being labeled a “job hopper” was (and can be) seen as a negative and...
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Cohabitation Displacing Marriage
Updating a post from 2015. In the last 10 years in the US, the proportion of adults under age 45 who are single (not living with a partner) has increased only about 1 point, to about 46%. Most of the...
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Is Living on Half Your Income Possible? Simple Strategies to Save More
Imagine keeping half of every paycheck you earn instead of watching it vanish into thin air. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, it’s not just a fantasy—it’s a reality I’ve mastered. In this article,...
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Parents With Young Children Spend Average of $731 Annually on Kids’...
By Maggie Davis As a parent, you want to give your child every opportunity to succeed — but at what cost? When it comes to extracurriculars — which 71% of parents with children younger than 18 say at...
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Income vs. Savings: A Giant Misconception
It’s breakfast time, you’re hungry, and I’m offering you two options: A healthy, adult hen Two dozen eggs Your first thought is probably: “Seriously? It’s just breakfast. I don’t want a live chicken...
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How Much Is 8 Figures? Best Jobs and Ways to Earn 8-Figure Salary
Have you ever imagined earning a paycheck of 8 figures a year? That might get you thinking: how much is 8 figures, really? And just how could you earn that much? Income disparity is common throughout...
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Appreciating Assets – 23 Ways to Grow Your Wealth Successfully
When talking about appreciating assets, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Building net worth. Appreciating assets are things that increase their value over time to keep adding to your net...
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Basic Income Could Solve Global Poverty and Stop Environmental Destruction
By Alex Walls Providing a basic income could boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by $US163 trillion while acting to curb environmental degradation, UBC research has found. An analysis of 186...
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How Guaranteed Income Affects Low-Income Households
By Robert Polner-NYU In December 2020, Compton’s former mayor Aja Brown and the Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI) launched the Compton Pledge, a two-year guaranteed income program targeted at 695...
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Where Income Has Declined Most Nationwide
By Jaclyn DeJohn, CFP Just as inflation can drive up costs, macroeconomic shifts, layoffs, or industry downturns can lead to declines in household income, potentially posing challenges to families...
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Where Income Increased Most Across the US
By Jaclyn DeJohn, CFP Inflation regularly increases the prices of goods, services, and resources, making the cost of living less affordable with a dollar that does not keep up with that growth. The...
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