My Money Design

Designing Financial Freedom

Philosophy & Motivation

Do You Flaunt It?

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Holla! Bling, bling! Are these words that fire off in other people’s heads as you walk down the street, in the hallway of the mall, or just about anywhere that has other people? Do you move with the swagger of a Notorious B.I.G. song playing in the background? Don’t be shy if you do – sometimes when things are going good, you can’t help but flaunt it with the way you appear on the outside. Yet, despite your sense of confidence, it’s only natural that not everyone will be as happy for you. In fact, they’ll try very hard to bring you down. … [Read more...] about Do You Flaunt It?

To Be Young Entrepreneurs or Employees? My Kids Try Entrepreneurism

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No, that’s not my retirement savings in the photo on the left. You’re looking at the proud earnings of my children after a day’s worth of being young entrepreneurs. That’s right – my kids got the bright idea that they would accelerate their earnings by trying to make their own money. It doesn’t matter if you’re if you’re a child or an adult. There will be times you want to say goodbye to your job because it seems like it would so much easier to make money on your own. But like my kids found out, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Nonetheless, I was really happy that they gave it a shot and got a little bit of a laugh out of the experience. Here’s how things went …   … [Read more...] about To Be Young Entrepreneurs or Employees? My Kids Try Entrepreneurism

Goal Setting When You Realize That All You Have Is Now

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That’s right PF bloggers! We’re starting off this post with a quote from a Flaming Lips song. Even if that’s not what you picture when you think about goal setting, perhaps this perspective will help.   Retiring At 48:  Last June when the school year ended for my wife, one of her colleagues retired – at age 48. Yes, she reached the minimum age required to receive her full pension and she was out. Depending on your perspective on retirement, some people would consider this far too young to retire. But to my wife and I, this was an inspiration. In fact for my wife, this is really only 13 more years away.   … [Read more...] about Goal Setting When You Realize That All You Have Is Now

Lessons in Retirement from the Movie “About Schmidt”

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When you think about “personal finance” movies, you probably would think about intense, cut-throat investing like in the movie “Wall Street”. But what about other personal finance topics like saving money or retirement? On that note, one of my favorite movies dealing with the subject of retirement is a dark comedy from 2002 called About Schmidt starring Jack Nicholson. Never heard of it? I’m not surprised – it was somewhat under the radar. It’s a movie about a man who reaches the age of retirement only to discover that he is still trying to figure out his life and its meaning. It is definitely worth watching, and I’ll tell you why …   … [Read more...] about Lessons in Retirement from the Movie “About Schmidt”

Life Lessons I Learned from Super Mario

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When my son decided to get the vintage video game Super Mario All-Stars for the Nintendo Wii, I have to confess – I was pretty excited! It was in the same format as the one they made for the Super Nintendo back in the mid-90’s featuring Mario 1, 2, 3, and the Lost Levels. I can’t tell you how many hours upon hours I used to spend as a kid playing each one of these games level by level.  Even as an grown-up they are still just as much fun to play. But also seeing this game again for the first time after so long through my adult eyes, I came to the realization of how much it was a metaphor for things you actually encounter in the real world. I had never noticed how much the Super Mario games prepared me with lessons for my adult life. … [Read more...] about Life Lessons I Learned from Super Mario

Happy 10 Year Wedding Anniversary

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Today is my 10 year wedding anniversary. That’s right – it was ten years ago today that two crazy kids thought they’d make their relationship official by saying I-do's and exchanging self-written vows. I realize that this is a pretty small amount of time in the grand scheme of things (my parents are approaching their 40 year wedding anniversary), but I am quite proud of what we’ve been through and accomplished. So in light of that, I’d like to reflect on a few thoughts: … [Read more...] about Happy 10 Year Wedding Anniversary

Could You Be a Millionaire Messenger?

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In my last post, we reviewed the book “The Millionaire Messenger” by Brendon Burchard. To recap, this was a book about how virtually anyone can break into the “expert industry” and potentially make millions of dollars doing so. As a follow-up, I thought it might be fun to explore this premise a little more closely. Is it possible to really do this? Do you think you might have what it takes to get paid for giving people your advice? Aren’t I Doing This Already? Why even entertain this book and the idea of being a messenger? Well for starters, isn’t that what all of us bloggers are doing right now? Week after week, we post our helpful tips and plans for saving and making money in hopes that other people will become inspired or use it … [Read more...] about Could You Be a Millionaire Messenger?