NerdWallet

Welcome, NerdWallet readers! (Here’s a coupon.)

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Thanks for finding your way to my site from Amrita Jayakumar’s article, “These young adults are debt-free – true story.” I’m not exactly young, but I was broke when I was very young and again when I was middle-aged, so I was thrilled to chat with her for the piece.

My goal was to share some of the tactics I used as a teen-ager running a household of three on a very thin margin, and later as a woman furiously treading financial water during a protracted divorce. You could say I took what I learned at age 16 and embroidered on it.

If you’re new to the site, here’s what I learned about being broke: You can make a good life on the money you currently have, without losing your dignity or your hopes for a better future.

And if you’re new to the site, let me tell you about the two books I wrote on that very topic. (Also about a way to get a free PDF of the “stealth savings” chapter from the first book.)

 

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Talk nerdy to me.

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Last night I participated in Nerd Nite, Anchorage-style. Which is probably like Nerd Nite across the nation and in some other countries: Three speakers get 20 minutes each to talk about whatever subject geeks them out the most.

Also, there’s beer.

You can probably guess what I talked about.

Yep: personal finance. Specifically, why we lose our damn minds at Christmas and how to go about breaking the cycle. I was the second speaker, following a retired judge who spoke about Alaska judicial selection, which was a lot more interesting than it sounds. Then again, I’m nerdy.

 

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What’s your biggest money fear?

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thA whole lot of U.S. residents are scared of outliving their money. According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 57 percent of clients called it their biggest money fear.

That doesn’t surprise me. Although nearly 8 in 10 full-time workers have some money for retirement, 28 percent of them report that the total value of household savings and investments is less than $1,000 (not including primary residence and defined benefit plans).

Certainly I’ve had my own share of bag-lady dreams, so this topic really resonated when I researched it for a NerdWallet article called “7 steps to deal with our No. 1 money fear.”

Funding a retirement plan can seem daunting, but it’s not something you can put off. Even if your future is decades away, your new best friend compound interest is here right now.

 

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