Just a reminder that the 2011 Get Rich Slowly Video Contest is under way. As last year, entries have begun to trickle in. If 2010 is any indication, these will turn into a torrent by the time the contest ends on April 15th. But you’ll make my life easier — and yours! — if you submit your videos sooner.
Make an awesome two-minute video, and you could win $500. How cool is that?
Mine isn’t the only contest going on. Elsewhere, Couple Money is giving away a netbook in their Financial Freedom Giveaway. The contest runs until Thursday.
Enough about contests. Here are some recent personal-finance stories from around the web:
Last weekend, American Public Media’s Marketplace Money did a special report on Money Through the Ages, which explored how money issues change throughout our lives. I was honored to be asked to write the segment about forty-somethings. It’s tough to distill a decade of money management into 350 words, but I did my best. Here are all of the segments from the series:
- To take or not to take on college debt?
- The financial lives of the “Boomerang Generation”
- Waking up to financial realities in your 30s
- The financial challenges gay couples face (This segment is applicable to all non-married couples, not just same-sex couples.)
- The financially fabulous 40s (This is my piece, though not my title.)
- Looking to the financial future in your 50s
- A big money decision before retirement
- What to do when you haven’t saved enough for your 70s
- Financial planning to live ’til 95 and beyond
I’d actually love to do a similar series here at Get Rich Slowly. I think a lot of us have questions about what finances are like at different stages of life. The real trouble is that it’s tough to generalize. When I was writing about finances in your forties for Marketplace, I kept running into that problem. Sure, I’m doing fine, and so are many of my friends, but there are plenty of people who aren’t. We’re all in different places. I think this could make a fascinating project.
Elsewhere, in a January episode of Radio Times, Wall Street Journal columnist Robert Frank and psychologist Ted Klontz attempted to answer the question what — and who — is rich? Does having a certain income — over $100,000 a year, say, or over $250,000 — make you rich? Or does “rich” mean you have a high net worth? Or does it mean something else entirely? It’s an interesting discussion.
I actually meant to do an entire post on that “what is rich?” piece, but I never found the time. I’d also like to do a full post on this next article, but again — I haven’t the time. At the New York Times Bucks Blog, Jennifer Saranow Schultz writes about a creative strategy for finding the perfect home: “Create and print out fliers with your specific home requirements and contact information and pass them out in your target neighborhood…Then, you wait for the owners with places to sell or rent to contact you.” Clever!
Finally, Philip Taylor at PT Money has a list of 10 things you can do today to spend more wisely. I usually hate articles built around numbered lists, but this one’s actually on the money. In fact, I like it quite a bit. PT suggests starting by listing the things you value and the things that cause you to make poor financial choices. From there, review your spending habits, and come up with ways to make smarter choices in the future.
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The link to the “Financial realities in your 30s” goes to the “boomerang generation” article! I don’t think you could have paid me enough to be a ‘boomerang’ after college.
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Lots of good stuff here! What a neat bunch of articles.
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I heard you on the show (which I recently discovered and like a lot plus it’s right after Splendid Table, which I recently discovered and like a lot), and you did a great job. Even my husband, who takes little interest in financial matters, sat down and listened to the segment on our age group.
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I love public radio!
Great segment and I read through all of the ages. I was particularly struck by the gay couple and the financial risk Kay is taking by being a SAHM with no legal claim on her wife’s social security earnings. I’m always fascinated by discussions of the financial risks stay at home spouses take by exiting the workforce, but I’d never thought about it from a homosexual couple’s point of view and the lack of legal protection.
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The article about the “boomerang generation” is very misleading, at least in my opinion.
Not all 20 somethings earn a worthless college degree, ring up $40k to $50k in student loans along the way, move back in with mom and dad, take a $25 per hour job but decide “it’s not what we want to do” then decide to go back to school to pursue a completely different career path.
No wonder people have so little faith in us 20-somethings. Articles like this make us look like entitled, lazy people who have no idea how to work hard and provide for ourselves.
I wonder why nobody ever writes an article about a 20-something who:
– Graduated college with no debt
– Immediately got a career related to the degree they earned that paid enough to support them self (actually got a degree with career potential – novel idea)
– Worked hard for the next 4 years and increased their income over 100%
– Purchased their first home at age 23 without assistance from mom and dad
– Purchased their first rental property at age 25
– Etc.
(fyi – this is describing myself, so I know it is possible)
Just a hint – THERE ARE SOME OF US 20-SOMETHINGS OUT THERE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE OUR ACTS TOGETHER! haha
I guess that is just not a sexy enough story to be written – people tend to prefer the “woe is me” stories that we see day after day.
The news media presents radical views, not necessarily accurate views, in my opinion.
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On Sunday I caught the piece on NPR in the middle. It made me think of GRS, and I thought you would have really liked the guy’s philosophy. Imagine my surprise when at the end I discovered it was you! Great work.
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Interesting series, J.D. I agree that it’s hard to nail down a set of financial parameters for a generation like that. Some people figure it out early, some late, some never do. I’m lucky I was able to catch the bug earlier than most. Plus, we had kids later in life when things were under control financially. That makes a big difference in where you land, I think. Thanks for the mention on the spending article. You partially inspired it.
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‘I’d actually love to do a similar series here at Get Rich Slowly. I think a lot of us have questions about what finances are like at different stages of life. The real trouble is ‘that it’s tough to generalize. When I was writing about finances in your forties for Marketplace, I kept running into that problem. Sure, I’m doing fine, and so are many of my friends, but there are plenty of people who aren’t. We’re all in different places. I think this could make a fascinating project.’
Simple suggestion J.D. – why not do an article for each of the age groups 20s-90s and request reader stories/case studies for people in said age groups who feel they’re doing badly/ok/really well for their age?
I think it would be fascinating (as would the unavoidable discussions/disagreements in the comments section about what constitutes badly/ok/really well!)
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I have to agree that the boomerrang generation article was VERY misleading. And I think it’s stereotypical of what older people see in my generation.
I do agree that yes, our parents did shelter us a bit. And yes, our parents love us enough to hold on longer.
But even with that.. many of us shatter this stereotype everyday. I’m an accountant for a living and this time of year let’s me peek into people’s financial lives. And I have to say.. I do more 1040′s of people in their 20′s who pull down a decent living, have little to no student loan debt, and have accumulated wealth. I have seen very little of this stereotype of the boomerrang generatation.
GRS definately needs to do a series.. with multiple points of view.
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Maybe the 20-somethings who didn’t boomerang could consider themselves a decade ahead?
And Amanda, you’re an accountant – OF COURSE you only see the ones who are doing well. The ones who are struggling are not going to pay you.
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I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape about the term ‘Boomerang Generation’. It’s just a label for generalization. After all, not all of us Gen X’rs are slacker pot heads.
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Funny enough – I relate way more to the 40′s than the 30′s (which I actually am). Maybe since I didn’t boomerang I’m a decade ahead?
Or maybe I’m just more like JD than a couple with kids and a mountain of debt.
Go figure.
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As a mom with children of the boomerang generation.
@9 Of course you will do taxes for those who have made it—not those living at home. Those at home do not make enough to contact you!
@5 Of course there are more than enough who make it through college and are doing great.
Both of mine are doing great.
They are the exception- and not the rule- of most of their friends at their ages. What I am seeing is a great number of boomerangs coming home at 22 and leave again near 30 with feet on the ground and moving forward. Many are looking for positions like their parents’ work- and no longer finding anything but hourly with no benefits.
If that wasn’t such a norm- then you would not have heard a sigh all over the country when it was decided that parental health care coverage could be extended to 26!
More and more are discouraged as older people stay in the workforce and suck up the starting pay jobs that they need to continue their lifestyle. Remember MINE is the first real generation where both men AND women are in the workforce in their late 40′s through their 60′s. Before my generation the young only competed with men who continued working.
I enjoyed each of the articles. I was VERY disappointed with the one about “big money decision”. Really, I know NO ONE who has that type of money. Maybe it is a pander to that 2% who would likely will their money to NPR:>) Most people I know are in between the “money decision” and “not saved enough”.
Personally, I am enjoying a scaled down retirement of quilting and gentleman farming- while traveling six times a year to see family. We do it all on less than I made my last few years of teaching.
No- I did not retire as a teacher. I do enjoy subbing to just see kids- but there is no real need. We planned early and saved a lot.
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@JohnD, OMG did I hate that stereotype! I am not now nor have I ever been a slacker!
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I’ll add another grumble from the 20-something court, but add that my husband and I are the exception among our friends. Most people my age who went to college
- Did NOT look for a job before they graduated
- Will NOT work for minimum wage starting out
- Did NOT choose a major based on job prospects
- Have NOT used their time at home to intern or learn a workable skill set
Still, I won’t entirely blame them. I usually fought against their parents’ advice when I encouraged them to work and apply for jobs BEFORE they graduated. Their parents encourage them to “live it up” in their college years and specifically discourage responsible living.
Of course don’t think this means they learn from their mistakes and the mistaken advice. So many go to graduate school on their parents’ dime or loans and then fail to apply to jobs until the moment they graduate.
People in school: Apply for jobs 1 year before you graduate! At least! Work every year in a decent work study job that is applicable to a future career or work for free in a research lab.
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I’m struggling to understand why a financial planner would tell a 30-something couple with $35,000 in high interest debt that they need to make a $25,000 “rainy day” fund a priority!
What happens is (because I’ve been there…), is you never actually reach that $25,000 goal while also paying down large sums of debt. The main reason being there is always “something” that comes up that needs (or, “wants”) paying for & it drains the fund. It’s very discouraging, and you never feel like you are “doing it right”.
One of the best pieces of advice I read (and I can’t honestly remember where I read it – probably “Couples & Money”) was to set aside a small-ish “emergency” fund of maybe $1-3,000; the purpose of which is not to tide you over in the event of job loss or other financial catastrophe, but only to help you avoid needing to hit the plastic if the water heater dies or the roof starts leaking. You can dip into that cash reserve instead of digging your debt & interest hole deeper.
This immediately takes the pressure off of the “we haven’t saved enough” anxiety and helps direct financial energy toward first tackling the ginormous debt (& its associated interest).
Once that is paid off (in 3-5 years rather than 30-40), **then** you can start socking away large chunks of money into a long-term emergency/savings fund, or whatever…
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Yeah, I agree that the NPR piece is super biased towards the wealthy. How could they do a piece like this without considering how much (85%) of the wealth the wealthy control, and how little (nearly 0%!) the poor control???
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/09/poor-people-are-much-poorer-than-you-think/
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