I was greatly disappointed to find a Certified Wizard – he must be genuine, he’s British – telling me (scroll to about 2:40) that “there is NO cut and dried method for spells, dreams, prayer, etc., etc., etc. to guarantee to make you rich”. I think I’ve just save you a LOT of time, money, aggravation, and disappointment Now, if you scroll back to about 1:45, he’ll tell you something useful (albeit, I should hope, also pretty obvious): how to spot ... Read Full Story

In Monday’s post, I took a look how Scott – a young family man and doctor – could use his Number/Date to help him evaluate whether to buy his business partner out now or simply wait 30 months, when his partner retires from their medical practice. Without the ‘filter’ of his Number/Date, this would be a very difficult decision, with so many risk/reward variables …  … but, it’s actually a very simple decision:  Which is the most comfortable (i.e. lowest risk, ‘feel right’) alternative tha... Read Full Story

I’m rapidly becoming the ‘Dear Amy’ of personal finance blogs (don’t let this stop you, I actually love receiving these types of e-mails!); Tam asks: I am working to pay off my expensive debt which should be paid off in the next six to eight months. However, my dilemma is I LOVE cars. I want to finance (w/ a sizable down payment) a new car after my debt is paid off. I’m trying to talk myself out of it because I know I should be putting that money toward my financial goals but I just kee... Read Full Story

Scott has placed an ad on Craigs List: WANTED: A very successfully run healthcare practice, specializing in spinal rehabilitation, exercise, massage therapy as well as other holistic services such as nutritional advice and expertise. Professionally run to the highest of clinical standards with a well-trained, goal-oriented staff, necessary equipment and supplies. Low monthly overhead, time-proven practice and business design system already in place, extremely high cash-flow and yearly profit ... Read Full Story

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saSKvJxCgjw&feature=related] … a remarkably accurate rendition of just another day in the Cartwood Mansion. See, money – for money’s sake – IS important Read Full Story

Last time, we looked at dealing with inflation before we retire (a.k.a. Life After Work), to see that $40k a year of current needs means that you need to be able to generate somewhere between $100k and $125k per year, IF you want to retire in 30 years. Even if we manage to build up the $2.8 million nest egg that Pinyo talks about (or the $1.8 million one that the following reader talks about), we have a problem, illustrated by the comment by Elaine on Pinyo’s post: I don’t see interest ... Read Full Story

I was just rereading last week’s post where I said that I believed delayed gratification to be the most important Making Money 101 tool of them all. And, as I said, I truly believed this to be the secret of my financial success … … until this very morning! Let me backtrack a little: we delayed gratification (MM101), built up our business income (MM201) and socked money away in passive investments (to prepare for MM301) and we finally made it. We then started to really live ... Read Full Story

Flexo (at Consumerism Commentary) wrote an interesting piece on debt reduction; in promoting his Debt Avalanche over the Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball, Flexo said: One major problem I have with the snowball approach is that your largest balance may be significantly more expensive than your smallest balance. Today it is not difficult to find a default interest rate on a credit card north of 30%. There is no way in good conscience I could recommend holding off on eliminating a debt this ex... Read Full Story

7 Millionaires … In Training! featured on iReport.com … click here to read more! _________________ My Money Blog gives me the excuse to revisit that old chestnut – a favorite of mine, since it is so emotive and is bound to piss off Ramseyphiles, saying: I’ve been thinking more about whether I should commit some additional funds to pay down the principal on my mortgage and reduce my interest paid. I like this opening sentence, because it clearly provides the financial motivat... Read Full Story

This post first appeared on my personal blog at Share Your Number, but I thought it was worth repeating here … _____________________ MoneyNing acts surprised when he found out that “Steal-$50-Billion-From-Charity” Bernie Madoff’s wife gets to keep her house: “Out of all the coverage of the Bernard Madoff fraud, the one headline that really puzzled me was the point in time when they were negotiating a house that the lawyers claim belonged to Madoff’s wife. It woul... Read Full Story