Donna Freedman

“Your Money, Live!”: An event for YOU at FinCon17.

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The night before the 2016 Financial Blogger Conference began, members of the public were invited to a free program called “The Money Meetup.” This evening of short inspirational speeches plus a meet-and-greet with personal finance folks was very well received. I hoped that this would become an annual event.

Conference founder Phil Taylor has expanded the public reception into an eight-hour event called “Your Money, Live!” It will take place beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel – during FinCon17, rather than the night before.

In other words, you’ll probably run into a lot of people whose work you read and/or listen to regularly. (Including me, I hope.)

“Your Money, Live!” attendees can attend their choice of four workshops (more on that in a minute), listen to money experts (including keynote speaker David Bach), and attend the Ignite FinCon event, which is TEDx style speaking followed by a networking party where you can meet personal finance writers, bloggers and podcasters.

 

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Credit or debit? Here’s what consumers say.

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Recently the NerdWallet blog did a survey of more than 2,000 adults in the United States with regard to their use of plastic. Turns out that younger people prefer debit to credit.

The findings didn’t surprise me. But they did concern me.

Without credit use, you can’t build a good credit history. Without a good credit history, you will likely pay more interest than those without decent credit scores – that is, if you can get a loan at all.

This probably isn’t something people want to hear right after the Equifax data breach. But it’s something they need to know.

 

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In your 40s? Do these things or risk dying broke.

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Your fifth decade can be swell, since that’s when you’re in your prime earning years and when your kids (if any) are likely to be adults or nearly so.

If you were careful (and lucky) in your 20s and 30s, you’ll start to see some real rewards in your 40s.

Not every life is lucky, of course. Issues like un- or underemployment, divorce, chronic illness and a lack of financial education can derail your dreams. Nearly 30 percent of Gen Xers, who are currently in their 40s and early 50s, have zero retirement savings.

 

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Grateful for sun and berries.

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I’ve been sick for several days now, apparently with the same virus that laid DF low last week. We share everything, including headache, sore throat and general malaise.

Since I’m not often ill, it always comes as a shock just how boring it can be to lie around all the time: too tired to hold a book up in bed or, when in a recliner, too brain-fogged to read seriously.

(Have watched the hell out of videos on MyPoints.com, though. If I’m gonna be sick, I might as well earn points.)

The weather outside has been as glum as my reasoning: gray skies, temps in the 40s, sideways-spitting rain. Blech. It was the kind of late-summer (read: early fall) weather that made naps mandatory yet not terribly successful. I kept dropping off and then popping awake; when I did sleep, my dreams were weird (baking a series of cakes? decorating and living in one of New York’s smallest apartments?) and made the sleep unsatisfying.

Today the sun came out and DF suggested a turn around the yard. The fresh air would do housebound-for-days me some good.

Was he ever right.

 

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Labor Day musings.

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A press release received today had this clickbaity line in the message field: “If you are not doing what you love…You are wasting your time!”

Huh.

I understand the likely intent: Be all that you can be! Reach for the stars! Follow your bliss! Yet my own inference is a little darker: If you aren’t a super self-made success in the high-profile career of your choosing, you’re kind of a loser.

Dark, I know. But I do wish that the people who define success would realize that we can’t all be startup successes or crowdfunded darlings. I wish that “success” could be redefined.

Specifically, I wish that fame and fortune weren’t the things we all apparently should want. Not only is this untrue, it’s a notion that tells a whole bunch of working-class people that they aren’t measuring up.

 

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If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?

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money © by 401(K) 2012

(Happy Throwback Thursday, everyone! This article originally ran on Oct. 25, 2012. Its sentiments are as valid to me today as they were back then. The comments section is pretty lively, too.)

My daughter didn’t want to start a pissing match when she responded to a post called “There is no monopoly on being rich.” She knew it was a possibility, however, and turns out she was right.

The site’s author, Sam, responded with an oblivious chirp of a comment that stated, among other things, “I have set backs [sic] and disabilities too, but I’ve decided to always look on the bright side. Why does something optimistic on my blog insult and aggravate you? If this short and sweet post makes you angry, then I fear your life is going to be even more difficult than normal.”

And one reader growled, “Who would want to hang out with someone like you? No wonder why you are having such trouble! … Why not create a blog as big as (Sam’s) and generate online income, that way, you wouldn’t feel as financially constraint. [sic] I’m sure it takes a lot of work, but if Sam and what looks like many others can do it, why can’t you? Finger cramping?”

So Abby wrote a piece for her own site called “Flame war, party of two!” It asks readers to weigh in on her comment, which says there kind of is a monopoly on being rich.

 

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Coupon ethics.

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A couple of young women in Williston, North Dakota were recently busted for fraud after running a coupon scam in the Albertson’s supermarket where they both worked.

They managed to get at least $21,000 in “overage,” or money owed to them for having coupons that were worth more than the on-sale product (in this case, Tide detergent).

These chumps give couponing a bad name.

Worse, when people indulge in fraudulent behavior it winds up costing all of us.

So tempting to think, “Giant Corporation makes billions a year – it’ll never be noticed.” Don’t think that way, unless you’d also be fine with taking money out of a store’s cash register when the clerk’s back was turned. Coupon fraud steals from the retailers (which may not be reimbursed for fake Qs) and from the manufacturers (if they pay out unwittingly).

The money that retailers and maunfacturers lose translates to price increases for consumers. Everybody loses, except the cheaters – and they might, too, if they get caught.

For those who are new to the Q, I’m offering a coupon ethics primer on how to do it right – and also how not to mess it up for everyone else.

 

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The painful truth about your emergency fund.

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Last year I fully intended to promote my book and also my daughter’s book at the Financial Blogger Conference. What happened instead is that Abby became seriously ill and we both missed most of the programs.

No networking for us!

Not only did we not have the chance to promote our work, the experience wound up costing us. She had to take extra time off work, and as a contractor, she doesn’t get sick days as such. She just doesn’t get paid.

I wound up spending about an extra $1,000 on extended hotel and rental car costs plus the change fee for my plane ticket. Wheeee!

Did any of that matter? No. And yes.

That’s the subject of my post today on The Simple Dollar, a piece called “The Painful Truth About Your Emergency Fund.” Obviously I would have done anything to help my daughter recover. Yet I learned something from the experience: that using your EF is really irritating.

 

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Back to school without breaking the bank.

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Fun fact: According to the National Retail Federation, families in the U.S. will spend $10.2 billion on back to school shopping this year.

That fact may not be fun to parents on tight budgets. It’s not much fun to me, either, since I’ve long believed this kind of shopping has gotten out of hand.

Understand: I’m not saying your kids should get on the bus wearing clothes that are ill-fitting or in tatters, or that they shouldn’t have the tools they need for education. But to judge from the ads, our kids need all-new everything.

Hint: They probably don’t.

Obviously if a kid has outgrown his shoes (and they will do that!) then you’ll need to replace the footwear. Ditto jeans that are high-watery or a jacket whose sleeves stop a few inches short of the wrist. But it’s easy to fall down the rabbit-hole of overbuying.

 

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