finance tagged posts

Thanks to L. K. Benson for sharing this blog about the psychology of money with us.

The Psychology of Money

I’ve been a fan of Morgan Housel’s writing for years and frequently share his blog posts in our monthly newsletter. In my opinion, he has joined Jason Zweig as an absolute must-read for all investors. So when his new book, The Psychology of Money, came out last fall, I couldn’t wait to read it. While it’s a book about money, it won’t bore you with details about stocks and bonds or insurance and taxes. Instead, Morgan focuses on what drives our behavior around money and how you should think about money to have a successful financial life...

The way the economy bounces up and down, wouldn’t it be fantastic to have one less payment? Paying off your home would be ideal. By using one or more of these simple plans, you could have your house paid off a few months or a few years ahead of schedule.

A really easy plan is to round up. If your payment is $543 and you pay $550, you can end up with fewer payments in the long run. As you pay extra each month, you are paying more toward the principal which results in a few less payments at end of the loan.

Another way is to pay biweekly instead of monthly payments. This works really well if you get paid biweekly. You will end up paying one extra month’s payment each year. The same as when you round up, you are paying more toward the principal and therefore you pay it off faster...