Personal Finance

RECENTLY WE PURCHASED A NEW CAR.  Actually, a new used car.  We needed to replace our 2007 Honda CRV.  So after a little shopping we ended up with a 2013 Toyota Venza. IN THE PAST, I HAVE ALWAYS [...]

DO YOU HAVE “EMERGENCY” MONEY?  Many people do.  This is money that you can get your hands on quickly.  Maybe not in an instant, but possibly a day or two; or week or two; or even in [...]

COMPLEXITY SELLS.  The Canadian Couch Potato does a great job of explaining it here.  The industry knows that the less you understand about what you are buying, the less likely you are to [...]

DECEMBER 26TH MARKED THE TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF OUR DAUGHTER.  We chose to adopt our second child through foster care in Hennepin County Minnesota.  If you use the state system [...]

YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT THE STOCK MARKETS HAVE STARTED OFF THIS YEAR WITH LOSSES.  And last August and September was another period of loss as well.  So what do you do?  While there are [...]

How closely does this (profanity warning) classic line from Glengarry Glen Ross or scenes from The Boiler Room resemble the meetings or sales tactics of the modern financial professional?  Sorry [...]

YOU CAN DO IT TOO!  We are now saving $100 a month, which is what we were paying for Dish, and it’s really easy.  The key step is to get rid of it! IF YOU PAY FOR SOMETHING, AND GET RID OF [...]

This is a story from John Morrow of the Twin Cities.  John and his wife Megan recently assessed how they stand financially for their future and evaluated their investments as well.  They were [...]

HOW IMPORTANT IS CANDOR, OR AN HONEST MESSAGE, WHEN YOU DETERMINE WHERE AND HOW TO INVEST?  The value of candor in the financial services industry came up in a recent interview with Jack Bogle, [...]

OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS MY WIFE AND I HAVE MADE SEVERAL CHANGES IN THE SERVICES WE USE.  One I would recommend would be the change we made to Republic Wireless for my cell phone service. WE [...]