Baby Step Seven – Save, Invest, and Get Rich

Welcome back to my continuing break down of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps.  These are the steps he teaches in his books, and radio and TV shows to millions willing to listen and follow his advice. I personally find these steps simple and easy to follow but also elegant and effective. In previous installments I covered: Baby Step 1 – $1000 Emergency Fund Baby Step 2 – Pay-Off Debt Smallest Balance...

Baby Step Five – College Savings

Welcome back to my continuing break down of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps.  These are the steps he teaches in his books, and radio and TV shows to millions willing to listen and follow his advice. I personally find these steps simple and easy to follow but also elegant and effective. In previous installments I covered: Baby Step 1 – $1000 Emergency Fund Baby Step 2 – Pay-Off Debt Smallest Balance...

Views on Money – Part 2: Net Worth, Balanced Perspectives, and Opportunity Cost

Welcome back to our study on the Views of Money.  After resetting the contextual baseline, we’ll jump into Part 2 Net Worth, Balanced Perspectives and Opportunity Cost Money is important.  It is the lifeblood of our society.  It is our economy.  In the context of our modern culture it is a requirement for our day to day living.  If you doubt this notion, imagine yourself penniless for the next...

2009 – A Year In Thanks

About this time a year ago my wife and I talked about how good 2008 had been to our household.  It was a fun moment of connection, and reflection, and celebration, and optimism.  In a demonstration of faith we agreed that 2009 would be an even better year for us.  And so it has been. Of course 2009, for our house, began with tremendous questions in the air.  Walking away from a long term employer...

You Owe What You Owe

Our society is given more and more to laziness and victim mentality, or so it seems.  I’ve conducted no scientific research but the prevailing winds of conversation, and print stories, and news ‘events’ seem to prevent as much.  Perhaps this is just the vocal minority – I so hope – or perhaps we’re on a horrible downward trend. A pair of illustrations resonated, or more accurately collided,...

Happy Recession Anniversary

A couple weeks ago I read an interesting article in Smart Money entitled Lessons from the Crash.  While the specifics of the story were geared towards those given to single stock investing, it was more the premise that caught my imagination. The set up was the top 5 lessons investors have learned over the past 12 months, the spiritual if not literal anniversary of the downturn. So that got me to...

You Are What Your Record Says You Are

The title is a quote from Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells. The idea is that a team is as good or as bad as its record indicate.  Fans, commentators, and even players like to interpret – or rationalize – circumstances and game events so as to suggest that a team is better, or sometimes worse, than its record might suggest.  A lucky bounce here or a bad call there and those close losses...