Welcome to Wednesday, my friends. Once again, I’ve gathered a handful of recent personal-finance articles that I found worthwhile. I’m here today to share them with you…
Buy fewer clothes. [Permanent Style] — “There’s no point having clothing you don’t wear, or can only wear a certain amount. Further: if you have so many things that you’re chopping and changing every day, you lose the pleasure of familiarity — of having clothes you particularly love and value.”
Assessing your financial health. [Can I Retire Yet?] — “In my CFP coursework, I recently learned a number of measurements of financial wellness. Much of this information is new to me. As our family enters a new phase of life with less income and thus less margin for error, I’m going to start tracking some of these metrics. They include assessments of total wealth, liquidity, debt burden, savings rate, and retirement preparedness.”
How to get better at making decisions. [Vox] — “In some instances, making a decision before you’re actually in a specific scenario can help you avoid being swayed by outside forces, or ending up overwhelmed by the number of choices available. Going to the grocery store armed with a list can help you get everything you need and not just three cucumbers and some cheese.”
The seven habits that lead to happiness in old age. [The Atlantic] — “Each of us has something like a ‘Happiness 401(k)’ that we invest in when we are young, and that we get to enjoy when we are old. And just as financial planners advise their clients to engage in specific behaviors—make your saving automatic; think twice before buying that boat—we can all teach ourselves to do some very specific things at any age to make our last decades much, much happier.”
I’ll be back tomorrow with more. Join me, won’t you?