Now and then it’s time to point out things that are just nonsensical. Today’s the day for a few. We start by recalling how the media and our president both used the word Rich when really what they meant was High Earners. No doubt, if a couple makes $400K a year, they are high earners, but if they spend every cent, and have little savings, they are actually not rich. I recently read an article making a similar mistake, How Many Millionaires in Belmont? Not As Many As You May Think. The headline caught my attention, but as I read the article I saw, “Of the 11,557 state tax filers who reported at least $1 million in income in 2011, Belmont can only claim 178 millionaires.” Hello? Just when I came to terms with “black is the new black,” do I need to accept that ‘millionaire’ now means ‘million dollar per year earner’? Probably not, even the cited article had a title of, “The Massachusetts towns and cities with the most million-dollar earners,” exactly describing this correctly.
I love reading Paula Pant’s blog, Afford Anything. It reminded me of a teaching moment I had with my daughter many years back when she asked me if we could afford something. My response was, “We can afford anything, we just can’t afford everything.” For me, there are many aspects of my spending that are clearly frugal, yet others that seem extravagant. Balancing the two fits our budget. Paula recently offered an anecdote we can all learn from, Why I Wasted an Hour of My Life to Save $3.60. It’s a look at how even someone focused on the numbers can slip up, wasting time that’s far more valuable than the money one might save. In Paula’s case, the cash discount meant an hour round trip in the car. A stupid mistake by someone I know to be a bright entrepreneur and financial author.
And the third article is actually a pair by Forbes author Laura Shin, 13 Money Mistakes To Stop Making By Year’s End, and The 13 Biggest Money Mistakes Retirees Make. I’m sure there’s a psychological effect on an article of mistakes to avoid vs stuff you should consider. Which is why these two lists strike me as brilliant. A total of 26 bits of advice, I’d bet you’ll find at least a handful that can help you improve your finances.
“You are Here” is an article by The Reformed Broker, frequent CNBC commentator Josh Brown. It’s an overview of where we are in the market and what 2014 might hold in store. If you don’t read any other links today, read Josh, he’s an investment advisor who pulls no punches, using phrases such as “Thank god there was no f***ing Twitter back then.” With all the talking heads on TV shouting this or that, Josh appears the voice of reason, expletives aside.
Bargain Babe asked, “Are We Saving Too Much Money?” She and her husband were saving 26% of their take home pay, and she was having a bit of internal monologue on this. She’s in the minority, as a country we save far too little despite the recent media promotion of claims to the contrary. More on that topic on Tuesday.