Jared Dees's Blog: The Latest from Jared Dees, page 31

Campaign Signs

With yesterday’s local primary election, there have been a lot of campaign signs in yards and on billboards everywhere you look.

Almost all of the signs followed this format:

NAME
FOR [OFFICE]

The only other distinguishing characteristic, if there was one, was their political party.

They are playing a game of numbers.

The person with the most signs gets the most name recognition and, therefore, the most votes.

But what if the candidates used these signs to communicate the single, most importa...

An Essentialist Approach to Social Media

A few months ago I quit using social media.

I did not check the news feeds and I did not post updates throughout the day.

I checked in to see if I had any messages a few times a week.

To be completely honest, I have not missed it.

There have been a few times when people I knew personally assumed I knew what was going on in their lives from following them online, but when I started asking questions then we got to have a real, human conversation.

I liked that better than trying to read between...

Frugality

“Frugality is the balance we seek. Frugality is the Greek notion of the golden mean. Frugality is being efficient in harvesting happiness from the world you live in. Frugality is right-use (which sounds, appropriately, like “righteous”)—the wise stewarding of money, time, energy, space and possessions.”

Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life 

On one extreme, someone spends money on buying new things constantly hoping it will make them happy.

On the other extreme, someone becomes a miser and is...

The Two Paths to Sainthood

“We read of Saints who left absolutely nothing at their death, not the least thing by which to remember them, not even a single line of writing; and there are others like our holy Mother, St. Teresa [of Avila], who have enriched the church with their sublime teaching, and have not hesitated to revel ‘the secrets of the King,’ that He may be better known and better loved.

Which of these is more pleasing to Our Lord? It seems to me that they are equally so.”

St. Therese of Lisieux

There are two...

How to Buy Stock in Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Your Other Favorite Companies

Apple, Amazon, and other big companies announced big earnings in the first quarter of the year.

As of this moment, here is how much it costs to buy stock in America’s biggest companies:

Apple: $176.89 Amazon: $1,5702.08 Facebook: $174.02 Berkshire Hathaway: $191.61 Google: $1,026.30

We own stock in all of them.

Okay, I’m being a little misleading.

I did not purchase the actual stock of any of these companies.

What I did was invest in an index fund and the largest holding of that fund right...

The Declutter Question: If I didn’t already own this, how much would I spend to buy it?

I just bought a few new t-shirts to wear during the day. They will make up my work-at-home attire. My rule is, however, that I cannot have more t-shirts than I can fit in one drawer and I have to wear the shirt that is furthest to the left.

So, I need to get rid of a few t-shirts to fit the new ones.

The question Marie Kondo suggests we ask when deciding to declutter/eliminate a possession is:

Does this bring me joy?

I like the question from Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism, even better:

If...

Choose or Someone Will Choose for You

I am rereading Essentialism right now and the thing that sticks out to me the most so far is the importance of deliberate choice.

If you are not deliberate about how you choose to spend your time, someone else will choose for you.

In other words, you have to have the strength to say no to opportunities and requests from others.

As my platform has grown as an author, I get an increasing number of requests for my time to write, speak, and share advice. When these new opportunities arise, it is...

How to Save: The Power of Percentages

How do you work towards financial goals of saving, paying off debt, and investing while still having money for things like cars, vacations, and updates to the house?

We have found that saving in percentages has a powerful impact on our short-term and long-term financial goals.

A lot of people already think this way for investing in retirement. If you follow the Dave Ramsey plan, then you invest 15% of your gross income in retirement.

Some Christians tithe 10% of their income to the Church and...

Two Reasons to Invest in a Roth IRA That Most People Overlook

Most people will tell you to choose a Traditional vs. Roth IRA based on what your expected tax rate will be now vs. when you retire, but there are other reasons to go with a Roth IRA:

1) There are no required minimum distributions from a Roth IRA.

You must withdraw funds from a 401(k) and Traditional IRA by age 70 1/2.

You do not have to withdraw funds from your Roth IRA. Ever.

If you are able to live off of the distributions from your 401(k) and Traditional IRA (and SEP and Simple IRA) savin...

Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of Gross or Net Income for Retirement?

After you pay off your debt and fill up an emergency fund of cash, Dave Ramsey and many other suggest that you invest 15% of your income into retirement accounts (401k, IRA, etc.). I always forget, however, what counts as the 15%. Do you invest 15% of your salary (gross income) or 15% of your take home pay (net income)?

Chris Hogan, who writes and speaks for the Dave Ramsey organization about retirement, offers the best explanation on this article on his website: “Why You Need to Invest 15% o...