I found this great site on smartmoney.com.
It gave me my credit score back in seconds, just by giving a little bit of my info.
You can also find out which actions to take to increase your score.
They have a lot of good information on the site.
It was recommended by smartmoney.com, but check it out for yourself.
Your debt is someone else’s investment.
Confusion leads to unnecessary duplication, or waste.
So, the question is where exactly should you place your next dollar?
If we are not completely clear as to where our extra dollar will go, we will waste the time we spent getting that dollar. Usually, if we do not have a clear plan, we fall into the trap of the advertisers. We’ll just buy anything. We could live our lives like that for years.
I plan on creating a prioritized list of where my next dollar will go, and the next dollar, for the next 5 years. My goal is to create as many extra dollars as I can, to go into the investment category of spending.
If you are confused as to where the money should go, sit down, strategize, crunch the numbers, plan, list the tasks, and then execute.
Once the plan is in place, all we have to do is execute. We can throw away all the confusion, worry, and sleepless nights, because we know exactly what we’re doing and how long it is going to take us to get there.
If you do not have an extra dollar, look at my post on how to cut costs.
Good luck!
I’ve been thinking a lot about work, spending, time, and ends.
I figured out that you can divide up your spending into four different categories:
1. Debt.
2. Consumption.
3. Preparation.
4. Investment.
Every dollar that we have goes into one of these categories.
I think the key is to get as many of your dollars into the investment category as possible.
The power of dividend reinvestment.
It is often easy to ignore how a small amount can make a real difference. However, when you reinvest the dividend amount you receive from your investments, even though they may be a small amount, they can add up to a lot of money over a long period of time.
Why?
It is the power of compound interest. In essence, your money is earning money. It is growing, without you having to do much. And as your money grows, it gets even bigger and bigger over time.
It’s like a plant that gives fruit whose seeds turn into plants and also give fruit.
“Since 1952, the stocks in the S&P 500 have provided a simple return of 7.65% a year. If all dividends were reinvested on a quarterly basis, however, the total return would have jumped (or perhaps vaulted is a better term) to 11.50% a year.*” – Douglas Gerlach
There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse.
The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, “Where are you going?” and the first man replies, “I don’t know! Ask the horse!”
Sometimes our lives feel like this. We are going so fast, but where are we going?
The art of stopping is a powerful concept. We can slow down, stop, and be in control of our thoughts an actions, doing things with purpose and meaning.
Maybe it is time to get off of our horse and look around for awhile.
What would your life look like if you were off the horse?
- Nate.
Financial independence has two meanings.
1. You won’t outspend your saved up resources.
2. The dividends you receive from your investments is equal to, or greater than, your current spending output. That is, you can live off of the income generated from your financial products alone.
- Nate
Any other definitions you can think of?
What does retirement mean? It means that you have resources for the next 10-20 years. How you choose to manage those resources is your management responsibility/right. You can choose to pursue whichever activity you’d like.
But don’t confuse retirement with the activities for the resources.
Retirement just equals resources.
You are free to pursue whichever activity you’d like for as long as you’d like, but it is only because you have the resources to do so.
Of all the work that we do, and of all the spending that we do, what permanent improvements do we make?
When I look at it, so much of our time and energy is diverted to things that have little or no significance. It’s a lot of circular busywork that leads to nowhere, except maybe a paycheck for the storage unit owners. So when does it start to produce something real and tangible that has long-lasting quality? When are we actually making significant, long-lasting change?
If we can’t easily ask that question, maybe we are on the wrong track.
And if we don’t have that answer, what are we spending our time and money on?
Which improvements are permanent?
I’d love to read your thoughts on this.
We’ll start a list of things here:
1. A degree.
2. A certification.
3. Paid-off home.
4. Paid-off land.
5. Cosmetic surgery.
6. Activities that lead to longer life.
7. Interest paid from principle.
Confusion leads to unnecessary duplication.
In other words, confusion leads to waste.