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Psychological

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When to Spend

When to Spend

by | Saturday, April 15, 2023 | , ,

IF YOU HAVE READ enough HumbleDollar articles, you’ve probably noticed that frugality has played a major role in the financial success of many of the site’s writers. Peruse the article comments and the site’s “Voices” section, and you’ll find that readers often share the same thriftiness. Frugality is also a key theme running through many of the 30 financial life stories in the forthcoming book, My Money Journey. Sure enough, I highlighted frugality in the essay I contributed to the book, as well as in my most popular HumbleDollar article to-date. But while we might be good at saving, we...

Going Our Own Way

Going Our Own Way

by | Friday, February 3, 2023 | , ,

HOW WE THINK ABOUT money affects almost every aspect of our lives. All the landmark decisions we make have a thread of money influence running through them. I’m talking about college, career, marriage, kids, the people and places we associate with—even how we spend our time. If we don’t make these decisions intentionally, we’ll drift downstream, carried by the current of the most popular money management ideas. That brings me to a study recently published by the Journal of Retirement and entitled, “The Life-Cycle Model Implies that Most Young People Should Not Save for Retirement.” The...

The Tenor of Ideas

The Tenor of Ideas

by | Friday, December 9, 2022 | ,

I’ve discovered that life is better when I practice the discipline of a teachable spirit. It’s not always easy to do—because pride gets in the way—but one thing is certain: I need others. And when I do open my eyes and ears to receive, I find there’s no shortage of people who want to change my life with their ideas. While I’d love to give all of them my attention to consider their point, that's just not practical. So it becomes necessary to be selective. Maybe you’ve found yourself in the same conundrum.  Because it takes so much energy to admit a new life-changing influencer into our inner...

No Help

No Help

by | Friday, July 8, 2022 | , , ,

OUR LAST SUMMER road trip didn’t exactly go as planned. That ordeal changed my mind about an annual expense I’d been paying without much thought. I gained a new perspective—even if I did learn my lesson the hard way. On a Saturday morning last summer, Sarah and I woke our kids at 4 a.m. for a predawn drive through the mountains of East Tennessee and across the Carolinas. We were on our way to enjoy the beaches of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. For the first eight hours of our planned nine-hour trek, we all watched the trees go by in peace—a significant feat, as any parent will tell...

Perspective Needed

Perspective Needed

by | Tuesday, May 24, 2022 | , ,

THE HIGHEST expression of complexity is thoughtful simplicity. It’s like standing on a mountaintop after navigating the ascent. The work of the mountain’s trailblazer is arduous. He or she must focus intently on the task at hand, glancing left and right, guessing what will come around each new bend. But from the pinnacle looking down, the perspective puts the most efficient path in clear view. It becomes possible to make a map to aid those who will come next. If we ever want to get out of our own way, to enjoy more money success with less unnecessary effort, we must embrace the...

Set Up to Succeed

Set Up to Succeed

by | Thursday, April 7, 2022 | ,

LOOKING TO IMPROVE your physical and financial health? You might have heard similar sounding advice: All you have to do is burn more calories than you consume—and to spend less than you make. While there’s an element of truth to both platitudes, I don’t find either helpful. There’s a psychological canyon between such abstract ideas and putting them into practice. One thing experience has taught me: If I’m authentically stirred to want to do something, I’ll go miles further than if obligation is my only motivation. I also need to come to terms with my own...

What’s On Matt’s Blog

What’s On Matt’s Blog

by | Friday, January 28, 2022 | , , ,

When you have questions about money, who do you go to first? A financial advisor The financial media Your friends and family Your pastor or a leader in your church Do you ever find it challenging to decide who to listen to? What a variety of perspectives! The blog at MattChristopherWhite.com will help you seamlessly integrate the kinds of wisdom and knowledge that you might hear from each of them, capably think for yourself, and make confident and joyful money decisions. Here’s a look at how: Financial Advisor Money is complicated. It takes hard work to understand it. I’ve spent the better...

When Fantasy Fails

When Fantasy Fails

by | Saturday, January 22, 2022 | , ,

I’M A LIFELONG football fan who’s played fantasy football for 20 years. What do I have to show for it? Zero league titles, a staunch ambivalence about fantasy football—and three investing maxims. Every fantasy football season starts with the draft. Three intoxicating forces combine to make the draft a great time: predictions, customization and pride. I’ve come to realize that the draft accounts for about 90% of the appeal of the whole fantasy football concept. One year my friend scheduled our league draft for the same night I had already planned a birthday dinner for my wife. Backed...