Radical Finances

Ski slope

Why I’m thinking about getting life insurance (before I need it)

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Life insurance is the teeth-flossing of financial products. It’s something you know you need to deal with, but you really don’t want to. Luckily, unlike flossing, there are those who don’t really need it. The question about life insurance is … Read More … Read More

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15 ball

Why to use the 15% rule for saving for retirement

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WARNING: This post contains math. Last time, when I talked about saving for retirement, I mentioned that I put away at least 15% of my income away in retirement. It occurred to me that some readers may feel like I’ve … Read More … Read More

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Pinwheels

Here’s when we really want to be celebrating National Save For Retirement Week

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I logged in to my Vanguard account earlier this week, and found this admonition: I must confess, I didn’t know about this celebration week. For this I can only apologize, although to be fair there are plenty of celebration days, … Read More … Read More

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Fishing partners

Why can’t we talk about money with our partners?

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I’ve talked about why it’s so hard to share financial struggles with your friends and peer group. But surely you can talk to a partner right? This is a person with which you want to travel through life. And yet, this … Read More … Read More

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Old car in field

Why can’t we talk about money with our friends?

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Do you have someone you can talk about money with? Notice that before you can answer that question, we actually need to specify what kind of conversation we’re having. “Talking about money” can mean not only the nuts and bolts … Read More … Read More

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Sailboats

How to open a Roth IRA with Vanguard

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I’ve made no secret about a number of things: Retirement planning is something we need to do, and right now. The best way for everyone to plan for retirement is through investing. A Roth IRA is an investment vehicle that … Read More … Read More

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Hotel sign

How I redeemed my points from the Priceless Surprises promotion

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Earlier this year, I talked about the Priceless Surprises promotion. Put on by Mastercard and IHG, the company behind Holiday Inn and a bunch of other brands, this sweepstakes was ostensibly about staying at lots of hotels, but had a … Read More … Read More

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Mountain Climbing

The resolve of the mountain climber, or how to deal with financial overwhelm

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I think of building wealth and becoming financially secure as a process not unlike climbing a mountain. It’s a big one, and it’s hard going, and it involves a lot of successes and setbacks along the way. The top of … Read More … Read More

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Bucket being filled

How to pay for non-emergencies

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We know what an emergency is. It’s an incident that is both unexpected, urgent, and unavoidable (and unfortunate). When you have an emergency, you use money from your emergency fund. (And if you have debt, here’s how you can still … Read More … Read More

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Ambulance

What to do when you have an emergency

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Emergencies happen. We can minimize our exposure to incidents as best we can, but there are some things that we can’t control. That’s why they’re emergencies. We can debate what counts as an emergency. For example, I don’t believe wear-and-tear … Read More … Read More

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