April Awesome Article Roundup

Awesome ArticlesI read a lot of articles on finance throughout the course of a month and from time to time I come across a lot of awesome articles, these are the articles I have read that gave me some thought and I think they would be a great read for anyone.

Money Crush: How I nearly threw away $10,000 in free money.  Jackie tells her personal story of how she viewed college scholarships.  She discusses her initial thought process of dismissal towards scholarships, but after applying for a select set of scholarships in 90 minutes, she ultimately received $10,000.  How else can you earn over $6,500 an hour? If you are going to school soon or know someone who is, take action and apply for every scholarship you qualify for.

Thousandaire: Save Money on Taxes by Getting Married: Kevin discusses a tax scenario where it pays to get married.  Our tax code has several built in incentives, and in the scenario outlined getting married can save his test couple thousands of dollars.  There are also scenarios in our tax system that provide a major dis-incentive to marriage, which I plan on writing about in the near future.

Club Thrifty: All We Have Is Time: Holly writes about her experience working at a mortuary.  She succinctly counters the argument of “I may die young, so why save for the future.”  Holly discusses how money is a tool to help us buy necessities and things we want in life, but what matters most is the time we have and give to others to build experiences.  This article provided me with a lot of thought.

Wealth Informatics: Great Way to Demonstrate the power of compound interest to your kids: Suba provides a fun and engaging activity to teach kids about money, I love it! Compounding interest is a great place to start with teaching kids how money works and to instill the concept of savings in their brains.

Retireby40: Our Kid Doesn’t Cost That Much (So Far…): Joe talks about the true costs he has experienced with raising his son.  Every year studies come out stating it costs $250,000+ to raise a child, not including college expenses.  Joe’s in depth analysis deflates these crazy projections. Our experience has been relatively similar, of course YMMV.

Frugal Confessions: Don’t Be Afraid to Let Your Child Feel Some Financial Consequences: Amanda explains the benefits to allowing children to feel the consequences of making poor decisions with money.  The sting of making fiscal mistakes with very low total dollar amounts while young helps them make better decisions in the future when much bigger fortunes are at stake. This thought process also helps to curtail some of the “helicopter parent” tendencies of our society.

Financial Samurai: Post by J.D. Roth: From Debtor to Millionaire: How a Windfall Changed My Life: I love this article of reflection by J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly Fame.  J.D. discusses his growth over time that was tracked by his finance blog and the pressure and discomfortable adaptations that he felt with his rapid success.  This article is a great reminder that sometimes great success comes with great burdens.

Budgets Are Sexy: Be Proud of Your Emergency Fund!: J$ explains why you should be proud of what you have accomplished every step of the way. Sometimes when reading about other people’s success it feels like you are so far behind. We all have different starting points and hurdles and some started the journey many years before others. A motivation piece focused on taking pride in every win we achieve.

Common Sense Millennial: 10 Things Every Millennial Should Do to Get Rid of Student Loan Debt: Claire guest posts on CSM to discuss action steps that can be taken immediately to get student loans under control.  Student loans are a big problem for many people in our generation, especially now that total student loan debt exceeds $1 trillion.

 

John C. started Action Economics in 2013 as a way to gain more knowledge on personal financial planning and to share that knowledge with others. Action Economics focuses on paying off the house, reducing taxes, and building wealth. John is the author of the book For My Children's Children: A Practical Guide For Building Generational Wealth.

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