Written By Paula Pant
Many people assume that if some health insurance is good, more health insurance is better. That’s not always true.
Sometimes, having a little LESS coverage is the smarter move.
To understand why, keep in mind that the purpose of health insurance is to safeguard you against risk. The purpose is NOT to pay your medical […]
Written By Paula Pant
There seem to be two prevailing attitudes when it comes debt: the “Bring it On!” camp, and the “Won’t Touch It With A Ten-Foot Pole” camp.
Here’s a secret: both attitudes will make you poor.
Debt: “Bring it ON!”
One camp of people are nonchalant about it. Five-year car loan? No problem. (After all, I […]
Written By Paula Pant
Want to learn how to double … triple … even 10x your money?
Read on.
If you’re like most people, your only money-making asset is your ability to work. Take that away, and you’re sunk.
But here’s a little-known truth: our ability to work is limited by our time, energy, and desire. Our money’s […]
Written By Paula Pant
Let me tell you what this site is NOT about.
It’s not about clipping coupons. It’s not about putting your dreams on hold. It’s not about wasting your life in a cubicle, under a flickering florescent light, battling rush-hour traffic, so that you can barely eek out an existence.
This site is about using money […]
Written By Paula Pant
Guess what magazine I’m always reading?
If you guessed something targeted at 20-somethings or 30-somethings, you’re wrong. I love AARP magazine — the bimonthly publication of the American Association of Retired Persons.
It shows up in the mailbox at my 70-year-old parents suburban home, but I steal it away to my city apartment and devour […]
Written By Paula Pant
I was reading through the January/February 2011 edition of AARP Magazine* which featured an interview with George W. Bush. Regardless of how you feel about his Presidency, one comment he made that rang true: retirement is an “old-fashioned” term.
You never retire.
More people are beginning to recognize that retirement – the notion that one […]
Written By Paula Pant
When you buy a home, you will learn that there are two kinds of mortgages: fixed-rate and adjustable-rate.
What’s the difference?
A fixed-rate mortgage gives you an interest rate that never changes. An adjustable-rate mortgage gives you a volatile interest rate: in times of slow economic growth and low inflation, the interest rate will be […]
Written By Paula Pant
Here’s the truth about houses: Unless you’re a landlord, your house will probably be the lousiest investment you ever make.
The myth about home ownership is that it’s a great investment — a way to “build equity” rather than “throwing your money away on rent.”
Hogwash.
Here’s the truth: When you rent, you pay […]
Written By Paula Pant
The traditional American Dream is home ownership, but everyone who lived through 2008 – 2010 knows that home ownership, for many, became the American Nightmare.
What went wrong? (Aside from subprime mortgages and other things outside of our control):
1. Many people bought a home because it’s the “adult” thing to do … […]
Written By Paula Pant
Retirement is such a part of our cultural fabric that it’s viewed as a basic human right.
It’s the final chapter in the American Dream: a home, a family, a secure retirement.
But it hasn’t always been this way.
For much of American history, people worked until they were too sick to work anymore. […]
