James C. Molet's Blog, page 77

Living Frugally: Healthy Choices and Your Wallet

As I write this, I’m watching a documentary, A Place at the Table, which covers the atrocity of hunger in America. While the topic of hunger existing in a country with more than enough food is a topic worth investigating, there is another reality brought to light in this documentary that we’ll address here: Those who are too poor to feed themselves well are also the sickest among us, and therefore, spend the most on medical care. Dr. Mariana Chilton, founder of Witness To Hunger, notes “Any kind of nutritional deprivation, however Read the Full Story

A Newsletter and a Classic Comedy

Newsletter: Bottom Line Personal.  As I have touched on previously, I firmly believe that total well-being involves more than just fiscal fitness.  It involves mental, physical and spiritual fitness as well.  This newsletter hits on all those areas.  As noted by the editor, this semi-monthly newsletter seeks to provide the best information, from the most knowledgeable sources in the world, to help readers gain greater wealth, better health, more wisdom, extra time, and increased happiness. Each issue is packed with useful information you can digest quickly and easily; and start applying to Read the Full Story

Reduce Monthly Expenses, Part II

We started this conversation with Reduce Monthly Expenses, Part I… With regards to paying off credit card debt, one school of thought is that credit cards with higher interest rates should be paid off first while the other school of thought suggests paying off those with the lowest balances first is the way to go.  From a purely financial perspective, the former is the better approach.  However, there is value in the latter approach as there is a psychological lift – a real sense of progress – from paying off one Read the Full Story

A SavvyInterview – Brad

I am pleased to bring a new feature, A SavvyInterview, to this blog.  Periodically I will share the stories of friends, family, and fellow SavvyReaders with SavvyReaders through five questions. We kick off this new feature with Brad, a personal friend and long time SavvyReader.  Without any further ado… What was the catalyst that started you on the road to fiscal fitness?  How old were you at the time? The realization that we had very little retirement savings, and what we did have was cut in half in the aftermath Read the Full Story

Living Frugally: The Fiscally Fit Vegan

I know, I know, you saw the word Vegan and thought, “There is no way I’m giving up meat.” Oddly enough that very statement is at the core of what I’m tackling in today’s post. If a friend said to you, “Man, I can’t give up alcohol” how would you respond? What if they said they “I can’t give up” an illegal drug? Of course you’d see this as a problem, and you should. They’d obviously have an addiction that should be addressed as soon as possible. Food for thought…pun Read the Full Story

Plots Against Pensions and Early Morning Viewing

Report: The Plot Against Pensions (2013).  Anyone that has been following the story of Detroit’s emergency manager and the ongoing bankruptcy will find this report interesting.  The author, David Sirota, evaluates the general state of the national debate over public pensions and makes the case that the impending collapse of pension programs is largely a perception manufactured by those that have an interest in seeing their elimination. Mr. Sirota notes that states and cities have been failing to fully fund their annual pension obligations for years. Instead, they have used Read the Full Story

Reduce Monthly Expenses, Part I

It is not unusual for households to experience a reduction in income. We experienced it last year as a result of the furlough of Federal employees.  Certainly not a pleasant experience!  However, we were well prepared with our emergency fund.  Moreover, we are always proactively looking for ways to reduce our monthly expenses and continue maximizing contributions to our TSP (401[k] equivalent for federal employees) and IRA accounts. The best way to start the reduction of your monthly expenses is to track them over a given time period.  Doing so Read the Full Story

Required Minimum Distributions

If you are a SavvyReader that is within five years of retirement, you should be developing an order of withdrawal plan for your various retirement accounts.  A part of that withdrawal plan will include your Social Security pension and it would behoove you to be aware of the RMD requirement.  And if you are a SavvyReader that is quite a few years away from retirement, you should share this information with your parents or grandparents as they approach 70½ years of age. Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) is a condition imposed Read the Full Story

Living Frugally: Health Choices and Your Bottom Line

This topic, fiscal and physical fitness, was discussed by SavvyJames in a previous post. Here’s my take on this important issue. When it comes to reaching financial goals, many people think about the obvious must-dos like spend less than you make, save, invest, and look for bargains. All these and many other actions are essential to reaching a point of real financial freedom. There is one area that greatly affects the bottom line however, which many seem to forget about completely. We have forgotten the connection between attaining wealth and Read the Full Story

The Value of My Retirement Portfolio

During the course of writing my book and running this site, I have occasionally asked the question of myself, “How much personal information should I share with readers?”  During early drafts of my book, I spoke a little about the period preceding my divorce, but not in detail.  A friend – that was aware of some of the steps I had taken in the face of financial difficulties – read an early draft and suggested I include more personal information as a way to engage readers a little more. Similar Read the Full Story