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.
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Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early?
Many things in personal finance are pretty easy to figure out. However, some topics are a bit more difficult to figure out. For instance, I love reward credit cards because I have saved over $30,000 in travel by using them. I've received a free trip to New York City with my wife, saved a lot of money on a Disney World trip with my family, and went on many other free or almost free vacations. But many reasonable people disagree with me. They may not like credit cards because they may enable us to go into debt and spend beyond our means.
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“Fixed” Expenses are the Worst … Let’s Get Rid of Them!
Okay, here’s what I want you to spend the next 3 minutes doing. Grab a sheet of paper and list all of the things that are monthly or annual expenses for you. I’m not talking about a grocery bill, but instead I’m talking about subscriptions, energy bills, car payments, and so on. For me, this includes all of the following: water electric gas mortgage escrow and home insurance car insurance cell phone Internet and cable tv Netflix YMCA pass for swimming You’ll probably find that it’s a pretty long list. Make sure that you don’t forgot things like student loan payments, credit card minimum payments, car loans, the Cloud, digital…
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Is Buying a Home With Cash a Good Idea?
The biggest home in my town is currently in the process of being built. It is set on 3-4 acres of one of the best pieces of property in the town, with a beautiful view of a river and of Canada. As you can see by the picture, this home will be quite spectacular when it is finally complete. The only issue with this home, is that it has been under construction for about 4 years, which means that the owners have probably invested over three million dollars into the property without actually being able to live in it. As I have watched this home get constructed, I was always…
