Every now and again when I read through the headlines on my favorite money news sites, I see the same desperate-for-attention headlines proclaiming that “retirement is dead” and that we basically have no hope of ever saving enough money. How do they draw those conclusions? The usual suspects cited are the decline of pensions, the deflating of Social Security and the rise in costs as reasons why none of us can save and why we’ll all need to work until we are 80. And then there is my personal favorite: The 401k. They talk about the 401k like it’s a James Bond villain. When they compare the pension vs 401k, they describe it as a horrible and inefficient means for retirement. Basically, their message is that the 401k killed … [Read more...] about The Pension vs 401k – The 401k Did Not Kill Retirement
Movie Time, Car Story Conclusion, and Favorite Posts
Sometimes when you have a hard week at work, the only thing you look forward to is getting home to spend a quiet evening with your spouse. Not going out or painting the town. Just curling up together with some wine and watching “This is 40” together … which was incredibly hilarious by the way. … [Read more...] about Movie Time, Car Story Conclusion, and Favorite Posts
Is Financial Fear Paralyzing You From Being Financially Free?
The following post is a contribution from Todd. He’s the co-founder and content manager at the Men’s Blog Fearless Men. It’s a blog on Manliness that inspires men to grow strong, get fit, be wise, kick fear in the face and become a better man. What I admire most about My Money Design is the tagline “Designing Financial Freedom.” I believe that just because you have a dream or a goal doesn’t mean you’ll get there by accident. You won’t wake up in 6 months or 6 years and fulfilled your goal without having done it on purpose. You must plan, you must design how you’re going to build toward financial freedom. Want to be financially free? Stop living in Financial Fear. A leading cause of paralysis with investors, savers, planners and … [Read more...] about Is Financial Fear Paralyzing You From Being Financially Free?
Another Reason Why You Need Emergency Money – For Stupid Car Repairs
If you think that having $1,000 or so in your emergency fund is going to cut it, think again! I’m normally not a huge promoter of this topic, but over the last 2 weeks, I’ve had to dip into my stash more than I’d like. And if I didn’t have access to emergency money, I’d be up a creek either paralyzing one of my investments or taking on unnecessary debt. Here's my story of what happened: … [Read more...] about Another Reason Why You Need Emergency Money – For Stupid Car Repairs
Stupid Car Repairs
Talk about kicking a guy while he’s down … Not only was it another stressful week with work, but we also got hit in the wallet with one of the worst kind of expenses: Car repairs. I’m not talking like you took the car in and they want $500. Try 4 digits! I’ll have a post to follow telling the whole story. I hate you car ... … [Read more...] about Stupid Car Repairs
One Man’s Success With Borrowing Against 401k Funds for a Comeback
The following is a guest post by fellow personal finance blogger William Cowie from the site Bite the Bullet Investing. In the post Reader Debate – Would You Borrow Money to Invest in Stocks?, William commented with a great story about his experiences with borrowing against 401k funds to purchase stocks at what he believed was a critical opportunity. He has graciously volunteered to expand upon that story in this post. If you are interested in being a guest contributor for My Money Design, please feel free to contact me. Do you hate debt? I do, quite passionately. Few things suck the joy out of life more successfully than debt. I didn't always feel this way. Business schools do a great job extolling the virtues of using Other … [Read more...] about One Man’s Success With Borrowing Against 401k Funds for a Comeback
When Can I Retire – It All Depends On How Badly You Want To!
When it comes to planning for retirement, people both young and old always ask the same simple question: When can I retire? It’s a seemingly harmless question, but it is also one that can be ambiguous to find a direct answer for. The reason is because retirement isn’t something that simply comes with age. You could retire today or even ten years from now if you really wanted (with the proper plan in place). Unfortunately, I hate to answer a question with a question, but the response to “when can you retire” is simply “how badly do you want to”? When Can I Retire is All In Your Mind: I didn’t start the post out with this rhetoric to confuse you. I did it because I hate it when people feel isolated. I dislike the way they … [Read more...] about When Can I Retire – It All Depends On How Badly You Want To!
Weekend Wind Down 4-13-2013
It’s been a while since I used the “Weekend Wind Down” title for my weekend posts, but unfortunately my jar of originality is running pretty low. I hate to be really dull, but this week was all work, work, work! I barely had any time to write new posts, research material, or comment on other blogs. But that’s the way it goes though, right? Whenever things get busy like that, it reminds me how important my financial efforts truly are. … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 4-13-2013
