Tag Archives: debt

Weekly Wrap, Easter edition: finding purpose, Declaration of Financial Independence & more

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Light at end of the tunnel.By Jonathan Chevreau

Since it’s Easter weekend and Passover begins tonight, I thought we’d dedicate the Hub’s weekly wrap to more spiritual matters or at least view personal finances through a spiritual lens.

We’ll start with this essay from Peter Grandich:  A Biblical Perspective on Matters of Finance. As Peter noted in an email to me, “We know that matters of finance are the second most talked about topic in the Bible.”

One of five “Religious Personal Finance” blogs flagged on the Hub’s Top Blogs tag is Out of Your Rut. It recently ran an intriguing piece entitled 10 ways to be rich without being wealthy. Continue Reading…

7 tips to achieve a Findependent Life

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financially-independentBy Good Nelly,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Are you dreaming about a financially independent (aka “findependent”) life free of debt?

What do you mean by “Financial Independence?” Before you start working towards achieving “Findependence,” ask yourself: What does this mean to you?  Do you dream of a life in which you can spend your time as you want? Does it mean a rich and varied lifestyle you wish to have? In short, you need a vision, depending on which you can plan your action.

Here are seven tips to achieve a financially independent life:

1.) Make yourself disciplined

Continue Reading…

Weekly wrap: Retirement is fun — who knew? And a plea to seniors to “unretire”

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Cheerful old man having a great timeSheryl Smolkin’s Retirement Redux site passes on recent financial institution surveys that show The Majority of Retirees Enjoy Their Lifestyle. Well I should hope so, after spending decades slaving and saving for this pivotal life event!

But in this weekend’s lead editorial, on behalf of the Canadian economy, the Globe & Mail begs the nation’s seniors  to “please don’t retire yet.”  It invokes Sun Life’s Unretirement index survey reprised in Friday’s blog here at the Hub. Well, actually, Mr. Economy, there’s a lot of age prejudice in the workplace and people don’t always choose to retire.

For those just starting on their journey to financial independence, take heart from Punch Debt’s declaration that saving up The first $100,000 is the hardest. I dare say your first million is no walk in the park either!

Via Sliced Investing, The Chicago Financial Planner (aka @rwohlner) provides this primer on hedge funds.

This may not be as recent but I found an entry at Investopedia.com to be eternally relevant: it’s entitled Two Roads: Debt or Financial Independence. I choose door number 2! Continue Reading…

Ominous trend in Millennials’ use of credit cards

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Here’s my latest MoneySense blog, which looks at what I perceive to be a developing problem in the abuse of credit cards by a few Millennials with whom I am acquainted. I name no names but the guilty know who they are! More’s the pity, because the book Findependence Day starts with an opening scene built around a young couple’s similar credit-card problem!

For archival one-stop-shopping purposes and convenience, here’s the original version:

Young Woman on a Shopping SpreeBy Jonathan Chevreau

With some reluctance, I feel compelled to return to the age-old topic of excessive credit-card debt. I do so because lately I’ve had chats with some of my nephews and nieces, all in the age range of 23 to 24. These kids have now all graduated from university or community college, have made a first stab at being in the workforce, and have already racked up what I consider to be excessive credit-card debt. Continue Reading…

Why you need to share financial responsibilities with your spouse

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Wealth PlanningHub Staff

From the American Family Insurance website, this article focuses on the importance of sharing budgeting and financial responsibilities with your spouse. In many relationships, it seems one party usually takes over much of the financial decision making– knowing important contacts, where money is kept and how it is spent etc. This article stresses the importance of making sure BOTH parties are on the same page with the family finances and, just as importantly, the family’s financial goals.

AmFam provides a few important steps to accomplishing this, beginning with talking to each other about things like saving, bills, retirement planning and debts.
Setting short- and long- term financial goals TOGETHER, knowing where to find your safe deposit box and combinations to the home safe, and finally making sure your loved ones know how to contact important financial contacts are the final steps to being on the same page as your spouse.

The article also discusses the importance of protecting your important papers by using preventative measures such as a safe deposit box, a fire-resistant home safe, a home filing system, and your attorney’s office to keep all your various documents safe.