Five Lessons I Learned in 2016

Did you really think you’d escape another new-year-resolution-related, don’t-spend-your-hard-earned-money post?  I gave it a few weeks but it’s time we talk about it.

One of my clients recently asked me if I really do everything I tell her to do. You know, the typical: save money for retirement, don’t spend it on things that are not important, allocate your portfolios appropriately, etc. good things like that.  I am not going to lie to my clients (after all, if they can’t trust me, who can they trust?) so I put some thought into this question. After hours (or more like minutes) of pensive reflection, I realized that my ideas around money changed quite a lot in the last year. Some of the changes were a result of my personal life and some were the result of working with about 20 completely unique people over the last year. And here is what I learned in 2016.Read More

Finding the Happiness in Saving

“If you want to get out of debt, you must get more enjoyment out of saving your money than you do spending your money”

Disclosure: I know I should attribute this quote to someone but Google doesn’t know to whom. I saw it in Mike Michalowicz’s book Profit First, but I am pretty sure it came from somewhere else. Sorry, originator, but you will have to go uncited today.

Generally, I don’t care for quotes. I am not the person who stitches them on pillows or prints them in her craft room (and no, I don’t have a craft room either), but this quote really got to me because I am constantly struggling with  how to convince both my family and my clients to save more and spend less.  So today, we will be talking about spending, saving, and happiness.Read More