As you’ll read tomorrow (or Monday), I’ve entered a new phase in my life. After years of hard work and long hours building this blog (time that I’ve enjoyed), I’ve been shifting things around so that I have more free time. As a result, I’m going to have more time to devote to creating quality blog posts, instead of rushing around at the last minute looking for something to write about.
Because of this, it’s time yet again to take requests. I do this about once a year, and it’s a great way to get a feel for what GRS readers are interested in. I’d be grateful if you’d take the time to leave a comment below with topic suggestions or article requests. It doesn’t matter if we’ve covered the subject in the past. If you’d like me (or one of the other GRS staff) to write about it, let me know.
Have there been too many articles about credit cards? Too few articles about credit cards? Would you like to know more about individual savings accounts? Do you like the articles about the psychology of spending? Would it be helpful to have somebody come in to explain insurance concepts in plain English? Should I try to persuade my wife to share more of her recipes now and then? Let me know what you’d like to read about!
While you’re all providing feedback about the site, here are a few recent articles of note:
Over at The Simple Dollar, Trent and his readers had a thoughtful discussion about the obligations of wealth. “I think there is some inherent distrust of the rich in the mainstream of American society,” Trent writes as he describes how a wealthy person can keep from alienating his friends. There’s so much to say about this topic; I’m tempted to write an entire article about it.
GRS reader Steven writes a blog called Hundred Goals, which is about achieving your goals while managing your finances. After Sierra’s post this morning about travel, he dropped me a line to let me know that he has a recent article about how to have a great vacation.
Speaking of vacation, my pal Jason over at No Credit Needed spent time compiling day-use fees and free days for state parks across the United States. Handy page to bookmark!
And here’s more travel! At The Art of Non-Conformity, my good friend Chris Guillebeau has posted a beginner’s guide to travel hacking. I’ve been asking him to share this info for a long time; now I’ve got to take responsibility to use the knowledge he’s shared.
Finally, I’ve been giving a lot of interviews lately. I’m much more comfortable with these than I used to be. (They used to scare me to death!) Some examples:
- Colleen from The Frisky interviewed me about how to save money even when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. This is a tough quandary, something I’m asked about a lot.
- In an interview with BeFrugal, I discuss frugality, happiness, and conscious spending. (Note: “the ballot” should be “the balance” — I must have mumbled.)
- Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents also interviewed me. This interview is very much about the process of writing a book, which may or may not interest you.
- I also spoke with Beverly Harzog from Card Ratings. We chatted about credit cards, of course, but also about other aspects of personal finance.
- Finally, USA Weekend has a short piece on how to give your 401(k) a midyear check, for which author Richard Eisenberg interviewed me back in May. This is a perfect example of how much work goes into even a small newspaper article. Eisenberg spent 20-30 minutes on the phone with me, and I’m sure he did the same with the other folks he quotes. Plus, I’ll bet he spent a lot of time writing. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 4-6 hours in this small piece.
Okay, one last thing before I go. Tim pointed me to a two-year-old New York Times series about the debt trap, which includes an interactive infographic showing average household debt loads over the past century.
That’s enough links for today. Please do leave a comment with topic requests or other feedback. Meanwhile, it’s time for me to go do some yardwork…
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I really love the psychology related stuff! I would be interested in seeing more about how frugality/consumerism effects the global environment and our (your)individual life. I had always been fairly conscious of consumption but was surprised how much better I felt when I took the extra step to avoid buying and/or wasting too much. The more genuine I get about our needs, wants, usage, etc. -the more simple it seems. And the $$ savings don’t hurt
LOVE GRS, J.D.!
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Affordable medical insurance options for the self-employed, unemployed or non-working. The “Insurance” tab of GRS covers Life Insurance, but not much on Medical. Thanks.
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I agree with Sarah (#126) that posts on time management would be helpful. I, too, have children and would love to try making more money with a side business, but with the demands on my time, I find it difficult to imagine how I could make it work without my family suffering. FYI, I’ve been a faithful reader for a couple of years now and am hooked!
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My input is a rather eclectic assortment:
- I love Kris’s recipes. (more please)
- There’s been a lot of hoopla recently around gold (commercials for Cash4Gold, etc.). I’ve heard various things about gold as an investment and as another tool or asset in building an investment portfolio, but how does a person go about investing in gold (buying and then later selling)?
- Charity and giving back to the community in a way that maximizes the dollars that people invest in their charitable causes. What kinds of resources are available to help people know more about the organizations they are supporting and how their charity dollars are being spent (how much goes to lobbying? how much goes to marketing? how much goes to the actual cause)?
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I would love to see some posts on:
1. using microloans (i.e., Zopa, Kiva) as a form of investment — how it works, good loaning strategies, the ethics of microloans
2. any articles on the psychology of debt, at all stages of life and indebtedness. I find those articles fascinating, and very useful.
Thanks JD!
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I’d like to see more information about options for saving for retirement when one’s boss/company doesn’t offer 401k or retirement savings options and the Roth IRA is already maxed.
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I’d like to see an article about people who live in high cost of living areas like SF or NYC and do not make 6 figures and how they manage to save money.
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I need help prioritizing to pay off debt. I’m 33, single, never married. I have the following:
Mortgage: 30-yr, fixed, 5.25%
Student loans: fixed, 3.25%
I owe about $90k for each of these (I got my masters and started a doctorate…). I make $40k/yr and feel as though I will never get out of student loan debt and I HATE it. Should I put extra money towards the loans even though they are at a lower APR?
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I agree with Brian (#3) and Deborah (#43): I’d like to see discussion of the responsibility that comes with wealth. I assume that people’s views are all over the map on this one, so you would probably want some guest posts in order to show the diversity of viewpoints. This also relates to the larger question of *why* we want to get rich in the first place.
Other perspectives on how to think about wealth would be interesting, too. Alexandra’s (#102) suggestion of “wealthiness” in other countries is a good one. What about other times, as well as other places? Did people think differently about wealth in earlier decades and centuries?
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i would love to see an article about what to do if you won’t own your own home when you retire. my husband is 52 and i’m 48. long story, but we’re back on our feet. he has retrained after bad accident. its like wer’e just starting out again in our 20′s, but we’re not. also, since he wants to make as much money as we can in the next 15-20 years we’ll probably relocate several times as he goes from job to job. we don’t anticipate buying a home as it doesn’t make sense in this real estate market. since so much of the advice is pay off your home so you can live rent free in retirement what’s a person to do who isn’t in that situation? thanks for opening this up for article suggestions.
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I would like to get more information about tax-advantaged investment accounts for those who already contribute the maximum to their 401k’s and IRA’s… for example, HSA’s, 529 plans, etc. (I already have these, but more information could be useful and I think it’s relevant to some of your other readers.)
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More on the Get Rich side…
I would like to see some blogs about Residential Real Estate Rentals. Pros and Cons of this ‘investment’, tax advantages, and comparison of this ‘investment’ with others like CDs/stock market/money markets etc.
Absolutely love the posts from all writers. Videos are a little odd for me. Adam’s experience with real estate is excellent to know about and would like to see more about real estate also.
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JD, here’s my one request that I really hope you and your staff writers can look into, which is financial and estate planning for families with special needs children.
I recently gave birth to an adorable, healthy baby boy who happens to have Down syndrome. Although it’s been only a few weeks, I’m beginning to be concerned with his future when he grows up, especially financially. Just relying on government subsidies and assistance is not enough, I know… I’ve made my own calculation. Even if I’m sure his siblings would be willing to take up on caring for him, I still hope I can start planning and take action to make sure his livelihood and medical needs are met.
Not many information is available outside of govt assistance. I also hope that these can also be broadly discussed so that your international readers such as myself can apply it in our own countries.
Thank you for your consideration.
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OK, well, I was on vacation when this posted and am just getting to it — late, apparently! Of course, I am most interested in content that is directly applicable to me. That said, here are my thoughts:
• We have no credit card debt and haven’t had any for several years, so you could never write about credit cards again and that would be OK.
• We have no means of increasing income at work (asking for a raise as a teacher is not a viable option, particularly as we continue to take pay cuts), but I just started a side business, so more about other means to make money would be good. Or how to get the side business publicly known would also be excellent.
• More on retirement accounts would be useful. I have a 453, but there’s no such thing as employer matching (they do contribute to my state pension, but it’s not much and I have no control over that). Not entirely sure my best route to retirement savings.
• Outside of retirement accounts, we have no investments. I wouldn’t have the first clue where to start. I don’t follow the market and I’m currently not inclined to start. How do the clueless get into other investing?
Thanks!
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I would like to see an article on how much people have saved for retirement — percentages at different ages. You always hear that most boomers have saved something like $ 20,000 or less for their golden years. But how many have $ 300,000? Or $ 500,000? Or $ 1,000,000. Our financial planner says that we should be working on our goals, not comparing ourselves to others, and of course he is right, but I am still curious. I would like to know where we fall on the continuum.
The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask.
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I’d love follow-ups on people you’ve posted about in the past. It was great to read about your neighbor John over a few years, and then reading that you finally got to travel with him was such a good payoff! I’m especially curious about those girls who you used to see at the neighborhood yard sale in another part of Portland, and also that boy (Albert?) who was so into electric bulbs (if my weird memory serves right).
It would be nice if you had another writer who represented the single crowd. I am eternally a bit envious of all the pf writers who are part of a double-income partnership – things seem to come together so quickly for them! (Though Kris may argue that no… it wasn’t that speedy.)
Maybe if you do wind up posting about making a blog a success, you will also talk about the classes you’ve taken to lead to success – writing? any techy courses?
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What about a post about alternative housing?
Not everyone wants to be a mortgage slave to the bank for 30+ years. My bf and I are planning on getting a shipping container to live in eventually. Its not as weird as it sounds because you can make them as posh and nice as a “real house.” We also want to have a garden and grow our own food.
Alternative housing is cheaper than having a mortgage, other people are choosing to live in “small or tiny houses” or choosing something else as alternative housing.
My bf and I are planning on doing this because we want out of the rat race and save our money. I was telling my bf that I really do not want to pay so much for a house, or even spend 15-30 years on a mortgage. We both work and split bills equally.
I know some money savvy people choose to pay off their mortgage faster than 15-30 years, but honestly I don’t even want to take on a mortgage ever.
Its a bit different and quirky, but since we don’t plan on having kids and we’re old enough to know we don’t want them. It makes sense for us to be different from the norm, and be free from the bank.
I’d rather sock away my money on retirement than on a mortgage, also by making a different choice in terms of housing, I can leave my job that I don’t like and choose to go into something else much more enjoyable. We currently live in apartments but it won’t be that way forever, once we’ve saved up enough we’re moving on.
Hey I’m for anything that will get us out of the rat race. =)
Here’s a link for alternative housing
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/green-building-remodeling/photos/8-eye-catching-shipping-container-homes/the-ecopod#image
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I’d like to see more articles about purchasing a home and the costs that go into it. I’m a first time homebuyer and I had no idea how many options there are to purchase a home. Additionally I am also learning the hard way how much it costs to buy a home; and this is even before closing! I think it would be good to let those seeking to buy their first home what it really costs. I’d also be interested in learning more about owning your own home like budget friendly improvement tips, diy how to’s, etc.
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I’d be interesting in hearing your thoughts on the Bank On Yourself concept.
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I’m even later to the party, but I’m very new to saving up for retirement (although not new to the concepts of investing). One issue I’d like to see explored is how to manage the very high initial investments of good index funds, which can be as high as $3k. If you can only sock away $5k/year in an IRA, then it would take longer than 3 years to implement some of the awesome Lazy Portfolio’s you’ve discussed here.
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I would love to see something directed to those with young kids. I’m new to all of this and have 2 young kids (1 which just started public school thankfully), and sometimes it feels like we’ll never get out of debt, esp when it’s time to pay the monthly $1k bill for child care or having to buy all new clothes/shoes because they grow so fast when they’re really little. I’d love to know if I’m on the right track and if this is just a difficult time. It’s hard to keep up motivation when you see no progress.
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I’d love to see an article about the decisions that go into insuring a car and home/apartment. For example, my car is now 8 years old and I’m sure I should adjust how much I pay for coverage, but I’m not sure exactly what makes sense: higher deductibles for collision perhaps? I’m just not sure. I could research it on my own, I guess, but I come here as a starting point for these sorts of topics. Likewise, it would be good to get a list of pointers to make sure I’m not over or under insuring my home.
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Hi JD
Just corrected “ballot” to “balance” in your interview. Thanks for catching that.
Jon
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JD, I saw just one comment like this, but I’d like to see more posts about making life less expensive as a single person. Ways to find roommates, ways to store meals (because nothing is made for just one person), etc.
Thanks!
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J.D., I’m a new teacher and a student newly out of college in NYC. We teachers in NYC have a good retirement program that takes care of my money mostly automatically once I tell
how much and where I want it to go. But while my parents taught me how to budget and save, I’ve never learned the nuts and bolts of retirement except in theory: i.e., I know the difference between a Roth IRA and a regular IRA; I know what a 401(k) is generally… BUT I am unclear as to how these accounts (considering these more traditional ones separately from the one I have as a teacher, since I am not planning on teaching beyond 5 or 7 years) function. How do I manage the money in a Roth IRA on a practical level? What even determines whether a money is in an official (i.e., designated for the government’s knowledge) retirement account or not? Must the account be managed through some company, or do most banks offer IRA accounts? A little confused and not knowing where to start at, as I say, the PRACTICAL level: what steps do I need to take?
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1. You could do a series on professions and how they impact finances, Accountants, Lawyers, etc.
2. Financial reform and what it means to us.
3. Money savings – blog skills that reduce the expenditures of individuals… basic oil changes, how to build your own computer, home improvement, home gym, etc.
My example would be from ArtofManiliness.com and how they incorporate a ‘skills’ subsection into their site.
Introduce a ‘blog skills’, ‘budget skills’, ‘income generation skills’, etc into the blog to help others develop income generation and income savings for life.
4. Long term, passive income generation, how to?
5. How much is enough when it comes to money?
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I would be interested in articles about retirement. I have no debt and could retire at 62 in 3 years. What taxes are people looking at if they have additional income besides Social Security? Would it be best to early retire and hold off drawing Social Security?
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