I Had No Idea Smoking Was This Expensive

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I was buying a Coca-Cola the other day and that got me thinking how much money I would be losing if I made it a habit several times a day for a lifetime. While I was having these thoughts, I saw the guy in front of me at the convenience store ask for a pack of cigarettes, which he paid for with the crumpled up $20 bill in his pocket. Then I started wondering, sure this Coke would cost a bundle if I drank a bunch of them every day and got obese or had another health complication from all that sugar, but how much would it cost me if I was addicted to smoking? Continue reading “I Had No Idea Smoking Was This Expensive”

How to Find a Frugal Girlfriend

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Reader from Panama City Beach, Florida: “Dude you should have a blog post that talks about finding a frugal girlfriend. Instead of a nice pair of legs I’m looking for a sexy diversified portfolio with a high risk tolerance. However that paired with some nice legs would be nice.”

The struggle is real brother. A Google keyword search suggests guys are having a tough time out there finding a girl who’s down to chill in sweats on a Saturday morning and just talk about life on the couch. The average monthly volume for the phrase “How to find a frugal girlfriend” shows about 600,000 monthly searches, while the same phrase substituting girlfriend for boyfriend turns up only a 3,000 search volume average. This discrepancy suggests that finding that special girl that’s just as happy with a great dress from Goodwill as Neiman Marcus is very much on a lot of guys’ minds. Continue reading “How to Find a Frugal Girlfriend”

How Doctors and Lawyers Make Easy Financial Prey

doctors and lawyersBeing a doctor or lawyer is a well worn path along the road of the American dream. You go to grad school and get the big job with great pay that confers a level of societal prestige and cocktail party nodding when you’re asked “What do you do?” that few other professions can match. Why then are there so many doctors and lawyers with deep financial problems? Why do we see countless examples of these folks working well into their 70s? Continue reading “How Doctors and Lawyers Make Easy Financial Prey”

The Real Reason Donald Trump Is Running for President

Real reason Donald Trump is running for president
Photo I took from a birthday party at an apartment in Trump Tower overlooking Central Park. People who build views like this are pragmatic opportunists motivated by money not by ideology.

[Editor’s note: When I wrote this back in August 2015, I had no idea that the Republican party would fail to stop Trump from winning the nomination. I stick with my initial assessment of his candidacy. The real reason Donald Trump is running for President is money. He also loves the fame that comes with it, but that is only a sideshow compared to the main focus of the Donald, shoring up his brand dependent net worth.]

Though the polls put in the front of the pack, Donald Trump does not want to be President of the United States. At the very least, he knows that’s not a realistic possibility. The real reason Donald Trump is running for President has everything to do with money. He wants nothing to do with “making America great again.” Continue reading “The Real Reason Donald Trump Is Running for President”

Why Everyone Depends on Social Security: We Stink at Saving

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*5% real return assumption, 5% savings assumption

Why are there so many articles in the newspaper that complain about how the middle class is being crushed and how retirement is an impossible dream? Is it really impossible for a family to afford to retire eventually? The reality is that we just don’t save very much in this country and thus everyone depends on Social Security. Retirement is a problem of math. Continue reading “Why Everyone Depends on Social Security: We Stink at Saving”

Discover When You Will Retire By Looking at This Wine Glass

discover when you will retireHave you ever wondered how different people can afford retirement at different ages? What is the magic sauce that allows one person to afford retirement in their 40s while another person works until they are 75? The good news is we can show this in terms of a wine glass instead of a more boring bar graph or pie chart. Think about the shaded area representing percentages of American workers and the age cutoffs shown with red arrows.  The spending examples I use should be viewed in the context of a household with a solid middle class income. You can discover when you will retire by looking at this glass! Continue reading “Discover When You Will Retire By Looking at This Wine Glass”

Learning from the Explosive Life of Alfred Nobel

While I was in Stockholm, I visited the home of the most famous award in the world, which is named after a calm and regal looking man by the name of Alfred Nobel. His life story is extremely colorful, being that he is the namesake of the award that confers the ultimate level of societal prestige. First off, the guy whose name is synonymous with the greatest recognition for peace on this planet made his money from weapons of war. Hence the joke about learning from the explosive life of Alfred Nobel.

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Do You Spend Like Allen Iverson At A Strip Club?

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For those of you who don’t know Allen Iverson, he was one of the greatest guards in the history of the NBA, but unfortunately his play on the court didn’t translate to financial skill. There was a pretty funny story the other day on Bleacher Report about Allen Iverson at a strip club spending so much money that it drove him to the verge of bankruptcy.  He would go out with Matt Barnes (currently on the Clippers) and literally throw $40,000 (!!!!!!!!!!!) in the air. Most of us look at that habit and think, cheez what an idiot, of course he went broke what fool would spend 40 g’s in a night I would never do that. But do you?

Continue reading “Do You Spend Like Allen Iverson At A Strip Club?”

Is the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski More Frugal Than You?

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Super Bowl winning NFL Tight End Rob Gronkowski might love himself some partying and late nights in the offseason, but according to his new autobiography coming out soon he might be a poster child for financial independence. Supposedly he has not spent a dime of his NFL earnings and lives off the endorsement money he makes. He also still wears his favorite pair of jeans high school. Is Gronkowski more frugal than other wealthy celebrities or is he just playing us?

Continue reading “Is the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski More Frugal Than You?”

How Madison Avenue Tricked Everyone Into Buying Engagement Rings

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This man above is directly responsible for the mass frenzy that occurs every few weeks when your girlfriend from college posts a pic of the engagement ring and rock she just got from her bae on Facebook or Instagram. You get a call from a friend, “Woa look of the size of that thing! He must really love her!” Well believe it or not, it wasn’t always this way, and it’s a case study on how marketing campaigns are designed to warp our emotions into creating artificial need and separating us from hard earned cash.

Continue reading “How Madison Avenue Tricked Everyone Into Buying Engagement Rings”