Easy Change

This is the third article, but arguably should have been the first, in a series of articles I wrote last year with regard to my divorce. For me, this was an important part of the process to be able to consider the aspects of the topic in a detached, analytical way.  It has been a very long time since I posted anything to this blog, and now with the new year, 2015 in full swing, I will provide some detail about what has been going on for me in my financial life. Finances when it comes to divorce are a difficult proposition to be sure. In this series of articles, I will provide some clear details about what the steps are that I have taken to keep my financial house in order, the steps I've taken that have set me back, and also my ongoing struggles to make sense of all of the various decisions coming for me in the future. I welcome comments and ideas; I am not an expert on these financial topics by any means and I think that it makes a lot of sense to consider carefully what will...

Author's Note: I have recently restarted my blog and I will be posting old posts as a way to show how things have changed in my original thinking versus when I wrote the article. Also, it is a great way to look back. I'll label these posts as "FromTheArchives". This post was originally written in March 2013. Recently, it was a short week at work with the Good Friday holiday. There were only four working days available. Then to make matters worse, I was coming off a few days of vacation. But all of this lamenting makes it important to reflect on the upside of something that I decided to do recently: rebalance. At my current position, I am fortunate to have a 401k match and safe harbor contribution that I will continue to cherish as long as I have it. Additionally, I am working to continue to put myself in a better financial situation each month. One major way in which I do this is to aggressively monitor my retirement accounts. I think this is essential because o...

This is part one of a multi part series of posts related to the process of divorce. In this post, I describe the process of moving out as part of separation. This article is written as a retrospective though, since it was written during the time of the events, but only recently did I decide that I would publish it. I moved out a year ago in late March/early April. I actually wrote about this process back then, but decided to hold off on posting about it. In fact, I have not updated this blog since that point. Now, I think the time has come to write about the experience from a financial perspective and with that, here's my first post: After a very long relationship of nearly 15 years, it is now over. Recognizing it is over is often the most difficult thing to do. And while the emotional stuff was a whole separate set of issues that I won't get into here, the real issues with the financial stuff is where there is definitely some interest and so far, I think that things are ...

This is part two of a multi part series of posts related to the process of divorce. In the previous post, I mentioned how I had moved out a year ago, but I realize now that this was somewhat putting the cart before the horse. However, the principals there describe some very important aspects of maintaining a healthy financial picture while the relationship is still good. And in many ways, that is where good things start: as discussions while the relationship is healthy. But, since this is a financial blog more than a personal account, it makes much more sense to orient on those aspects of the process. However, it has been said many times that the most important financial decision you can make is about who you decide to marry. And I agree wholeheartedly. This was not something that I was keenly aware of many years ago when I began the relationship, however. And regret solves nothing. For me this process was an emotional one, and it evolved naturally through drifting apa...

It's nearly April 2014--not that you'd know it from the weather that we're having. It is supposed to snow in the next day or so. But when I really consider the amount of work we're doing here, it makes sense to get the taxes done earlier than this.....but I say that every year. For some reason, despite a refund, I still find myself delaying the tax filing process; I don't know if that will ever change. (And yes, I am one of those people who is giving uncle sam a 'free loan'; I justify this only to say that if I didn't do that, I'd probably never file and then be in jail :) ) When it comes to filing this year, things are getting tricky since I have recently started the process of becoming single. For tax purposes, it wasn't enough time to matter in terms of the dependents etc, but it certainly was enough time for me to realize that I don't want to file a joint return if I am not going to be with the person next year. Separately, determi...

Selling your house sucks. At least that is my view after seeing my parents struggle in various situations to sell their house. I work with someone who is very smart. He doesn't believe in real estate personally because he has also come to the same conclusion independently -- selling your home sucks. And in short, I agree with him now. That said, they need to sell. Why? Many baby boomers are in a similar situation where for many many years, they paid their bills dutifully and then continued to pay and live a nice lifestyle until they realized at the end of their working years that there was not all that much money available to handle things that needed to be paid for, particularly if they stopped working. Social Security to the Rescue? So, we'll just bank on social security? Not a great plan in my option. So at this point, we're back to more traditional methods of handling your retirement. Trading up in houses over and over and paying off an expensive house with h...

For those of you who follow this blog you will know that I have long been a fan of the show Consuelo Mack: Wealthtrack. This morning, with my dog on my lap, I decided to clear out some recent episodes off of my DVR. I thought that the show was interesting and it was also somewhat surprising how much more I noticed about each of the guests as I was working on getting the ideas of the guests and the shows all at once when I was just trying to get through the episodes. I generally think that Saturday is a good time for me to watch these shows and I think that this is one of the most interesting things I can watch that will not be too much for me to work on in terms of actual work -- something that I really strive to avoid on my weekends where possible since there is enough of that during the week -- and also something that makes me very interested and engaged but at the same time is relaxing. It sounds strange but listening to the show and also reading and writing about money more gene...