Tag Archives: personal growth

Posted on

US Consumers Most Optimistic in 10 Years

Despite all evidence to the contrary, US consumers expect 2015 to be a fantastic year for stocks, wages, employment, and housing prices. From ZeroHedge:

UMich Consumer Sentiment surged to 98.2 – smashing expectations of 94.1 by the most in almost 2 years. This is the highest sentiment since February 2004…!!This all seems very odd… especially in light of the dismal retail sales data and weak wage growth (and we note this is the preliminary print). Inflation expectations plunged to 2.4% (from 2.8%) – the lowest since 2010. American optimism remains unphased as a majority (55.2%) now expect higher wages in the next year (despite earninsg [sic] actually dropping!!)

Whenever I post a news article, I always bring it back down to the individual level to give you a takeaway that will help you improve your financial life. So what can this survey teach you?

Nobody can predict the future. The coming year may turn out to be a great year all around. I can tell you why I’m not quite that optimistic about it, but that misses the point. The point is that optimism of this kind leads to overspending and undersaving.

Posted on

The Credit Ladder: How to Leverage Your Way into The 1%

What is the one kind of money that is least likely to make you rich? The answer may surprise you: it’s your salary. But if you think about it, it is really, really hard to get rich off of the money your company pays you every two weeks.

When you try to think of high-earners in America, most people think of athletes, movie stars, and entertainers. But if you look at any list of the wealthiest people in the country, there aren’t any of those professions in there. In fact, there aren’t any people who have gotten rich off of their salaries. So how to they do it?

Posted on

How Long Will Lower Gas Prices Last?

That seems to be the question on many consumers’ minds. The short answer is that nobody knows for sure. Two days ago, a Saudi Prince predicted that we would never see $100 oil again. The most interesting theory I’ve heard is that we have reached not peak oil, but peak oil demand: due to a combination of increased fuel efficiency in the developed world and decreasing demand in the recession-bound developing world, oil demand will face a steady, prolonged decline. This certainly squares with what we’re seeing worldwide.

For consumers, the drop in gas prices is great, right? Well, sort of. Christmas sales numbers suggest that rather than go out and spend that extra money on gifts, people were paying for (neglected?) necessities.

Posted on

Smart, Successful People Make New Year’s Resolutions

It’s easy to be cynical about New Year’s resolutions. They’ve become less than a punchline these days–we hear scoffing about how gym memberships soar in January (ironically, the people doing the scoffing don’t darken the door of the gym at any time of year).

This is one instance where conventional wisdom is flat out wrong. Science has proven that people who set New Year’s Resolutions are more successful in achieving their desired life outcomes than those who don’t.