Plan Your Escape

"Buy low, sell high" is often one of the first things you'll hear when you're learning about investing. The problem with this is that it's tough to know what "low" and "high" actually are even when they are staring you in the face. When markets seem like they are down, like they are today, it can seem risky to make a large investment in case the markets keep going down. One way you can help limit your risk while entering into a falling market is through Dollar Cost Averaging.  ... read more of this story»

The Happiness Formula allows us to take the otherwise complex concept of happiness and break it down into smaller more manageable parts. By tackling each of the three parts separately, we make it a lot easier for ourselves to come up with practical steps we can take to improve our overall happiness. Today I'll be reviewing what we've learned from our study of The Happiness Formula while suggesting some ways in which we can use the formula to improve our happiness.  ... read more of this story»

This is the fourth part of our look at The Happiness Formula. So far we've looked at S, our biological set point, and C, our life conditions, to see how they contribute to our overall level of happiness. Today we are going to examine the final variable, V, which covers our voluntary activities. Let's see how the things we do can affect our happiness.  ... read more of this story»

This is the third installment in our series on The Happiness Formula. In part one, I introduced the formula. Then, in part two we took a look at the first variable: S, our biological set point. Today, I'll be moving on to the second variable in The Happiness Formula, C, our life conditions, where we'll see that our happiness can be affected by several external factors, or conditions, in our lives. Happiness doesn't only come from within. Let's see why ...  ... read more of this story»

Today I'm continuing our series about The Happiness Formula by taking a closer look at the first variable that affects our overall level of happiness: S, our biological set point. It turns out that out genetics play an important part in shaping our outlook on the world. Although we can't change our genes, we aren't necessarily stuck with our current set point. Let's dig a bit deeper, shall we?  ... read more of this story»

Formulas are pretty common when dealing with concepts that tend to be expressed using numbers, such as in engineering or in finance. They aren't very common when dealing with less "measurable" concepts such as happiness. This is mostly because we can't easily add or subtract happiness and come up with a numerical total. However, even if we can't place actual numbers into a formula, it doesn't mean that the formula isn't useful.  ... read more of this story»

After looking at the anatomy of our personal finances, I think that it would be worthwhile to go over how inflation affects our plans to escape from the 9 to 5 grind. Inflation is almost always an enemy when it comes to our long term financial goals. If you don't fully understand how inflation affects you, you won't be able to create a good plan of action for your escape. So let's get started.  ... read more of this story»

So far we've looked at income, expenses, assets and liabilities, but what do these all add up to? Well, today we'll be looking at Cash Flow & Net Worth the two basic measurements of our personal financial health. By maintaining a positive cash flow and building a strong net worth you'll be securing your financial future. Understanding this will help us to unlock the secrets of wealth and financial independence. Let's take a closer look.  ... read more of this story»

After discussing income, expenses, taxes and savings, what else is left to learn when is comes to personal finance? Today we are going to look at some personal finance heavy hitters: assets and liabilities. In simple terms what you own is an asset and what you owe is a liability. A liability is commonly known as a debt. If we look closer, however, we can see that some assets are worse than others. Also, some liabilities are better than others. Understanding what makes one asset or liability better than another can help us achieve financial success. Let's see how.  ... read more of this story»

We all know that we should reduce our expenses to save money. This is often the first piece of advise you'll get on personal finance. This is, in fact, excellent advise but do know the reasons why? In this edition of the Personal Finance 101 series I'll take a look at some reasons why saving on your expenses is such a powerful tool for creating wealth and financial independence.  ... read more of this story»