Teaching Children About Money
by Jason Dean · 6 Comments
My wife and I brought our first (and only) child into the world on August 26, 2006. Long before that, we had discussed and planned how we would raise our children. My wife, for example, had been subscribing to Parents magazine for the previous nine years, and we had both entered college as Child Development [...]
Four Easy Ways to Save on College Costs
by Jason Dean · 4 Comments
One of the most difficult things about starting college isn’t having to do your own laundry–it’s navigating the maze of financial aid, student loans, scholarships, and money in general. Luckily, there are a few things that you may not have considered that can help take some stress away from paying for college. 1. Get your [...]
How to Handle Tax Debt
by Jason Dean · 2 Comments
When you owe money to the IRS, it can be pretty stressful. The IRS isn’t a good creditor to have. Unlike other companies that you might owe, a cell phone company or a credit card, the IRS doesn’t need to take you to court and ask for a judgment before they begin trying to collect. [...]
Carnival of Personal Finance #119
by Jason Dean · 2 Comments
The 119th Carnival of Personal Finance was posted on Monday. I intended to post my thoughts on it one day later, but the Carnival site was down last night. Without further ado, here are the highlights (according to me, at least): Savings Philosophy #1 (by Exjackly) explores the financial strategy first (I think?) advocated by [...]
What Does it Mean to be ‘Wealthy’?
by Jason Dean · 5 Comments
The Forbes 400 list of the four hundred richest Americans was just released, and for the first time ever, being a billionaire wasn’t good enough to make the list. It’s great that there are more than four hundred billionaires in America (actually, four hundred people with net assets of $1.3 billion or greater!), but the [...]
The 118th Carnival of Personal Finance: Fun Money Facts Edition
by Jason Dean · 1 Comment
The 118th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance was recently published by one of my favorite blogs, Money, Matter, and More Musings. Editor, golbguru, cut down the more than one hundred submissions to a final eighty-eight, one of which was my article, From Finance to Fantasy Football. The editors choice selections were as follows: [...]
The Two Faces of Debit Cards
by Jason Dean · 1 Comment
If you’re like many people, you never have a wallet full of cash any more. Whenever you need something, from a video game to a computer to a can of Coke, you pull out your debit card. It’s quick and easy, and you can use a debit card everywhere you can use a credit card. [...]
When and How to Use a 529 College Savings Plan
by Jason Dean · 1 Comment
You don’t have to be a Ph.D. to know that the cost of college tuition has increased tremendously over the course of the past decade. In fact, at a recent annual rate of 6%, the cost of college has outpaced inflation, savings, and most investments! Experts estimate that four years at a private university will [...]
Carnival of Personal Finance #117
by Jason Dean · 3 Comments
The 117th Carnival of Personal Finance was published yesterday by kmull. Unfortunately, I was not able to submit an article for Smart Money Daily, because I was unexpectedly called out of town late last week (minor financial emergency — nothing major, and 100% resolved now). Nevertheless, I thought it was important to highlight some of [...]
Outsourcing Your Way to Wealth
by Jason Dean · 2 Comments
So much personal-finance writing is about how you can save money — as if stacking up little green pieces of paper were the purpose of life. In reality, money is worthless: It’s what you can buy with the money that’s important. So why should the focus be on saving? What if you can spend your [...]
