If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I have a confession to make. I write a personal finance blog, but I rarely read other personal finance blogs. There is a reason for that. Here is the reason. I find that once anyone get actively involved in [...]

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There is an abundant swath of personal finance tools, 10 step programs, weight loss programs, etc. that are all intended to fix our problems. This country is HUGE on methods but poor on fundamentals.
To beat obesity, you’ve got to consume less and burn more. There is no alternative. And to do that, you’ve [...]

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The American health care system is broken. The reason is not that employer group plans makes insurance more expensive for those who don’t have an employer. No, the reason that the American health care system is broken is because Americans universally tend to believe that

Technology can solve all problems.
If you spend enough, you can get [...]

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In a comment, Hannah wrote:
I have to wonder: Is the inability to value one’s time (rather than hyper-accumulating Things) simply an inability to accept one’s inevitable departure from this world? Do people who have an acquisitive mentality towards life have an inherent denial of death, and thus seek to “escape” into their goods, which are [...]

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I think the reason that many people have the need to spend so much money and save more than 1 million for retirement is that is that they feel that security is achieved through ownership of multi-bed/bathroom houses (castles) that are built around car garages that house full size cars or big SUVs sometimes in [...]

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I found a New York Times article on to measure your relative position in prestige, education, income and wealth. Sounds fun so here are my numbers.

Occupation: 82th percentile. This is based on a survey of what random people in America thinks is the most prestigious. For someone that frequently get blank stares when I [...]

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Warning: this is a contrarian post and as such it may question some deeply held beliefs. If you keep going you might not like what you read.
The education industry has successfully installed the meme that not going to college (buying their product) putatively leads to a life in poverty. A common selling point is [...]

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One of the things I think about a lot is the difference between precision and accuracy or from a modeling perspective the difference between verification and validation. The difference between precision and accuracy can be understood in terms of measuring tools such as a clock. A precise clock measures time very consistently. For instance, if [...]

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I posit that most people can attain financial independence in less than 10 years and in less than 5 if they are truly determined. I also submit that many people are not willing to make the necessary changes.
Read part I here
Read part II here
Read part III here
By cutting all expenses to the bare [...]

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The Master said: “Ci, do you regard me as someone who learns much and commits it all to memory?”
Zi-gong replied: “Yes, are you not?”
The Master said: “No, I use one string to tie it all together.”
— from the Analects of Confusius
Have you ever noticed that what used to be referred to as citizens or [...]

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