Most of the time, the financial advice that I hear is pretty good. Things like buy used cars, invest for retirement, and pay down debt are all solid pieces of advice that will help us to become more financially secure. However, I have also heard some pretty bad financial advice. I asked some of my friends online about the worst financial advice they had heard. Just like me, they have heard a lot of bad advice. Here is some of the worst advice that they have heard.
-
-
Seek Failure, but Always Fail Forward
Seek failure . . . Why in the world would anyone do that? You and I have failed often . . . but why exactly would we try to fail? Why would we seek failure? And fail forward . . . I suppose this means that we should try to learn from our failures so that they eventually benefit us. But failing seems so difficult and demoralizing, even if we are trying to fail forward. As humans, we don´t want to fail. We want to win the game, get the best role in the play, make the sale to our client. We want to succeed, not to fail. And I…
-
How to Retire at Age 50
As a teacher, I really enjoy my job. It allows me to help shape the lives of countless teenagers. It also helps to keep me young as I learn about the thoughts, hopes, and dreams of teenagers. Although I enjoy my job, I don't want to be forced to work forever. In other words, I want to have the option of retiring early. Perhaps this means that I do part time work or maybe I'll actually stop working completely. Maybe I´ll even continue to work full time. But no matter what, I want to have the option of leaving full time employment by the time I am 50 years old.…
-
Cost of Streaming TV Services
When Disney Plus came out, everyone was telling me how great this streaming TV service is. My students were trying to watch it in class. My kids had heard that there were a ton of great shows on it. Even adults were excited about the classic Disney movies that they used to watch as kids. Just like Netflix used to be, Disney Plus was The Next Big Thing. And the number of people who instantly subscribed to it showed just how big it would be. Over the first month, it was estimated that 24 million people subscribed to this service. And at a cost of only $6.99 per month, it…
-
Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards: How You Can Travel for Free!
I am going to make the (conservative) claim that I can save you $10,000 or more on travel within the next 3 years. And I'm going to be right! Just by following some simple steps from this article, you will save thousands of dollars!
-
6 Great Reasons to Run an Ultramarathon
"100 kilometers? That is further than I drive!" This is usually the most common response when people find out that I run ultramarathons. And honestly, I completely get it. Running for 31, 62, or 100 miles certainly seems like it is a little bit crazy. Why do runners subject themselves to the pain and discomfort of running such incredible distances? We even pay to run these events. As my brother-in-law told me, he'd be happy just to drop me off 100 miles from my house, as long as I paid him $100 first. So why do we do it? Why do we spend months training just so we can go…
-
You Should Keep Up With the Joneses
Everyone always tells you that you shouldn't compare yourself to other people. Especially when it comes to money, keeping up with the Joneses is a very bad thing. This makes sense. We probably shouldn't compare ourselves to people in our neighborhood who lease brand new SUVs. We definitely shouldn't compare ourselves to the people who are building a 5,000 square foot house on a lake. However, I think that we actually should try to keep up with the Joneses. Well ... sort of ...
-
Your Mindset is More Important Than Your Money
It is no exaggeration to say that we live during the most wealthy time in human history. We can see examples of this wealth when we look at the huge mansions and expensive cars driven by millionaires. However, we can also see displays of wealth while we are driving through a middle-class neighborhood or an upscale food district. Even cities seem to be competing against each other to see who can build the best school, library, or park. Wealth is all around us. Take me for example. Although I am a high school teacher who lives near Detroit, Michigan, I carry an iPhone in my pocket, drive a nice Honda…
-
Set a Huge Goal
I have always thought that the acronym SMART was a pretty good way to set goals. To me, it makes sense that goals are Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. However, one thing I always questioned about this acronym were the Achievable and Realistic parts of SMART. First, Achievable and Realistic basically mean the exact same thing. For something to be Achievable, it also needs to be Realistic. But even more important, sometimes it makes sense to set a goal that is, at first glance, unachievable and unrealistic. Sometimes, just the simple act of setting and thinking about this goal will cause us to achieve it.
-
Don’t Wait for Early Retirement to Start Living
When I was 21 and fresh out of college, I got a job working as a credit analyst at a bank. One of my bosses at the bank was a 45 year-old guy named Jim. I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that Jim had it all in life. He had a good job, a beautiful house on a lake, and a great family. He was also a great person, even to a new bank employee like me. As a beginning distance runner, the thing that intrigued me the most about Jim were his many athletic feats. People around the office would always talk about Jim getting up…
