Words of Advice on Sele...

The following is an excerpt from Securing Your Financial Future: Complete Personal Finance for Beginners courtesy of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. All Rights Reserved. A list of brief tips on some of the most common categories of insurance appears below, plus a few important items...

Help a Reader: Pay Off ...

Here’s an email I recently received from a reader: I have $21,000 in student loan debt that was consolidated in 2005 and is now sitting at a fixed rate of 1.625% for 20 years (original balance was close to $31,000).  The monthly payments equal $170.  My question is, with such a...

30 Steps to Great Finan...

Are you overwhelmed thinking about all the work required to get your finances in great shape?  Well the good news is that you can do a complete financial overhaul (or if you’re in less dire straits, a tune-up) in 30 simple steps. Yep, that’s it. In 30 steps you can go from a...

A Scriptural Perspectiv...

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here’s why . Sound Mind Investing gives four reasons why God wants you debt free as follows: 1. Debt is considered slavery. (Proverbs 22:7) 2. Debt was considered a curse. (Deuteronomy 28:15,...

Help a Reader: Buying a...

Here’s an email I recently received from a reader: My husband and I are both in our late 20s. He has a masters in business and is currently working on getting his CPA. I work as an engineer. Together we make over $120K a year. We have no school loans, credit card or car loans. We...

Reader Profile: EC...

The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be,...

Financial Rules that Wo...

If you read a handful of books (or read a few money sites or listen to a few financial radio shows) by today’s popular financial gurus, and you will begin to notice the same advice being given over and over again. The advice is designed for the masses and meant to offer general...

An FMF Reader’s R...

A couple weeks ago a reader made a comment here on a post saying he had retired early several years ago. Since I love stories of how people are actually making and working through financial decisions, I emailed him and asked if he’d be willing to tell us how he did it. He was and...

Reader Profile: KG...

The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be,...

The Two Ways To Track F...

How do you know if you’re reaching your financial goals or if you’re making financial progress? And what can you do to get to where you want to be at a faster rate? These questions get to the heart of one simple matter: you need to keep track of your finances by calculating...