Blog
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How Much Cash we Keep for Emergencies
As we go into the 2nd month of Glen missing his paychecks*, I started thinking about how much money we have traditionally had on hand to pay for emergencies. What we consider an emergency probably differs from others’ definitions. We tend to consider expenses under $1,000 as non-emergency events. On average, we save $2,000/month. We…
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What Not To Say To Someone Struggling Financially
Most people go through a rough financial period at least once in their lives. You lose your job, there’s a problem with the house, or a major family crisis. A colleague used to say that deaths always came in threes. Whenever she purchased one sympathy card, she bought an extra, because it always seemed at…
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Planning For Retirement When You Know Nothing: Life-Cycle Funds
The only thing I knew about investing at age 24 was that it was important. I could not have told you even 17 words about stocks, bonds, index funds, and real estate if you put a gun to my head and said “start talking.” However, I was determined to have enough money to stop working…
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Can You Miss A Paycheck?
My husband is a Federal employee, and the part of the government he works for is currently shutdown. Payroll was processed last week, but if the shutdown continues much longer, he will miss his next paycheck. I am a contractor, and am still able to bill to my contract, but could receive notice that I…
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Financial Management Is A Practice Not A Goal
I have a few vivid memories from preschool. I remember my mother visiting the class; always choosing finger painting as an activity; rest time; and learning to tie shoelaces. To be more exact, I remember not learning to tie shoelaces. Our teachers took time one day to show us how to cross and turn…
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What “Silent Night” Teaches Us About Responding To Crisis
Two hundred years ago, the carol “Silent Night” premiered as part of a Christmas Eve service in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, a small town in Austria. The lyrics were from a poem written by Joseph Mohr, and the tune was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber. We might never have this famous carol, were it not that…