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Articles from Keith Wheelan | Selfgrowth.com
- Use the “80/20 Rule” to Focus on Your Big Financial Opportunities - by Submitted on Apr 27, 2012 from Keith WheelanI’m a big fan of the “80/20 Rule”. Also known as Pareto’s Principle, it states that 80% of an outcome is usually determined by only 20% of the inputs. It holds true for a surprising number and variety of things. For example: * 82.7% of the world GDP comes from the richest 20% of the ...
Views: 1409 - How Do You Distinguish Good Assets From Bad Assets? - by Submitted on May 17, 2012 from Keith WheelanAt the height of the 1980s real estate bubble I watched a TV news interview with a new homeowner. She said her parents always told her: “Buy the biggest house you can afford.” And that’s exactly what she did. She was beaming. It did seem to make sense, at least at the time. After all, homes were ...
Views: 818 - Getting Ahead Early, Part 2: Open a “Team Savings & Investment Account” - by Submitted on Jul 17, 2012 from Keith WheelanThe previous article on this topic focused on how important it is for young adults to “outrun” debt and move quickly from Debt Accumulation to the Asset Accumulation stage of the Financial Life Cycle. The name of the game is to get a good head start… to move through the early stages of the life ...
Views: 803 - Free Up Cash Flow by Rotating the Use of Your Credit Cards - by Submitted on Oct 06, 2012 from Keith WheelanGive Yourself up to 1 ½ Months of Interest-Free “Float” I once took an accounting course taught by the owner of a retail toy store. From what I recall his demeanor wouldn’t have endeared him to many children (or to many students for that matter), but he did impart some pearls of financial ...
Views: 767 - Net Worth is Good, but Cash Flow is Better - by Submitted on May 14, 2012 from Keith WheelanYou might have seen some TV ads recently where people literally carry their retirement “number” with them. Each person’s number varies, but it’s usually in the $1-2 million range. I like these ads because they reinforce the importance of setting a measurable retirement goal. But merely having ...
Views: 635 - Is Leasing Your Next Car a Good Idea? - by Submitted on Jun 12, 2012 from Keith WheelanHave you ever heard someone say that a car, or a truck, is a big investment? I disagree. Yes, it can be a big outlay. But a vehicle isn’t an investment, because investments are supposed to appreciate, or increase in value. Vehicles definitely don’t do that. Instead they depreciate, or lose ...
Views: 629 - The Money Pit, part 2: Beware a House That’s Too Small! - by Submitted on Jun 12, 2012 from Keith WheelanI think we can call this “The Goldilocks principle of housing”. A few articles back, I wrote about misadventures during an earlier housing bubble, when we bought a house much larger than our family needed. With a super-sized mortgage, high property taxes and maintenance costs, it put a real ...
Views: 605 - Unsure About Retirement Account Contributions? Consider Einstein’s Theory. - by Submitted on Jan 08, 2013 from Keith WheelanCompounding Compound Interest I’ve always admired Albert Einstein. After all, he was a fairly intelligent fellow. In science, he changed our understanding of light and of gravity, helped prove the existence of molecules, and explained the nature of space and time. In politics, he was ...
Views: 604 - Unsure About Retirement Account Contributions? Consider Einstein’s Theory. - by Submitted on Aug 29, 2012 from Keith WheelanI’ve always admired Albert Einstein. After all, he was a fairly intelligent fellow. In science, he changed our understanding of light and of gravity, helped prove the existence of molecules, and explained the nature of space and time. In politics, he was influential as a promoter of peace and ...
Views: 591 - Should Your Retirement Goal be Measured Only by Net Worth? - by Submitted on Jun 12, 2012 from Keith WheelanShould Your Retirement Goal be Measured Only by Net Worth? Recently our family went out to eat, and while waiting for our entries one of our sons asked us what we’d like to do when we retire. A good question…one that was fun to answer. My wife said travel and dine out. I agreed, but added ...
Views: 573 - Turning Tax Preparation into a Positive, Rewarding Activity (Really!) - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2012 from Keith WheelanIn his song “Golden Moments,” James Taylor said: “All it really needed was the proper point of view”. I doubt he had tax preparation in mind when he wrote it. But if you look at the tax preparation process from a different perspective, it could take on a whole new meaning. Instead of being a ...
Views: 548 - To Manage Your Finances You Need to Measure Them. But What Are the Measures? - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2011 from Keith WheelanHave you noticed that our schools taught us about writing, math, history, arts and science but surprisingly little about managing our finances? Yet in the life we live after our formal education ends, financial management becomes one of our highest priorities. It’s no wonder, then, that so ...
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