If you’re losing sleep over money matters, being blinded by stress can sometimes mean you miss the most obvious solutions to your troubles. If you’re worried you might be that person, then take our advice and double-check you’re not missing out on implementing a simple solution to your financial problems.
– My House Won’t Sell
– I Can’t Secure A Job Interview
– My Debts Are Crushing Me
For years, Wall Street has been telling us the same thing: Save and invest as much as you can for retirement by trying to obtain as high a return as possible.
With bond returns sagging in a slow growth economy, this advice isn’t particularly helpful.
Most of us are still spooked by stock-market volatility, insider trading, hedge fund shenanigans, bank derivatives and poor regulation. Now we have to worry about a skittish bond market and the end of the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing policies — throwing yet another monkey wrench into the works.
The two worst years of my financial life were 2007 to 2009. Before 2007, our income was low, but our expenses were low, too. We didn’t save much, but we didn’t spend more than we earned, either.
Then we saw our dream house. And we bought it while we still owned our first house. For two years, we had two mortgages. Suddenly, even though our income was slowly increasing, our expenses had skyrocketed. We cut our expenses as much as we could considered credit repair, but you can only cut them so much when you bought a fixer-upper with squirrel holes in the siding, leaking toilets that threatened to fall through the rotten bathroom floors, and desperately needing a new roof.
Click here to continue reading…
I believe it is far easier to earn more money than it is to accumulate wealth, in America at least.
72% of Americans would find it somewhat difficult or very difficult to pay that month’s bills if they lost their job today. In simplest terms, that simple fact means that it’s the norm to spend everything that you bring in and not accumulate anything.
Add to that the fact that the average American household income is above $50,000 a year and you have a recipe for a society in which an awful lot of people are spending an awful lot of money without accumulating very much at all.
Sometimes, though, we hear from people who are in a hole that goes beyond debt.
There are two pieces to the “behind on your bills” issue. First, there are people who (later) find that the money they have is enough – but they’re not using it in a way that allows it to be. Second, there are people who simply, at this time, don’t have enough money to pay even the minimums due on various accounts, including non-debt accounts like their electric bills.
Either way, nothing will change unless you’re willing to take action.
Recent Comments