Category: Advice

Don’t Embrace the Wrong Things

Dear Dave, Your plan has been a lifesaver for us. Why do you think some people are unwilling to listen to good advice, and make changes in their finances? Tammi   Dear Tammi, Thank you so much for all the kind words. I’m really proud of you two for putting in the effort and hard…


Single Mom and Army Vet Pays Off $87,000 in Debt With 3 ‘Baby Steps,’ Thanks to Good Advice

The year of 2020 was a year of changes for many people. For one Army veteran and single mother, it was the year she accomplished her financial goals and paid off $87,000 in debt. Nyajuok Tongyik Doluony knew she had to get her five-figure credit card bills and car payments under control. So, determined, she…


Do Some of All Three, and Enjoy the Ride

Dear Dave, I was talking to a friend the other day, and I couldn’t remember what you said about the three good uses for money and why each is important. Would you go over them again? Albert Dear Albert, I’ve been doing this for a lot of years, and after all that time studying finance…


Put 2021 on the Fast Track With a Financial Fartlek

Dear Readers: Want to try something different in the new year? How about fartlek training? It’s a pretty funny word for a serious way runners can train for a marathon. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting we all become long-distance runners. In fact, I tried running for about a year and can say it’s…


The ‘Spousal Bump’

Recently, I’ve received emails from several readers who asked questions about something they call the “spousal bump.” It’s a term I never heard before, and it made me chuckle. It sounds to me like some kind of “dirty dancing” move done by an old married couple in a shady nightclub! I can just see a…


Starting Over: 5 Ways to Reset Your Money Goals in 2021

One time, Mama Hogan looked at me and said, “Christopher”—she had my attention when she said my full name—“I don’t ever want you to be a ‘been’ brother.” I said, “Huh?” She explained: “A coulda been, shoulda been, woulda been kind of person. You have an opportunity to change some things and make progress.” Listen…


Let Kids Make Mistakes (and Learn From Them)

Dear Dave, We just started teaching our seven-year-old about money. He’s very eager to learn, and he seems to be grasping the basic ideas quickly. He’s young, though, and of course he makes mistakes from time to time. Should we step in and fix things when a mistake he made means he can’t do something…


7 Quick Tricks to Set Yourself Up for Financial Success

Dear Readers: We’re now in the mid-January, and do you know what that means? For a lot of us, it means our New Year’s resolutions are already a thing of the past. It isn’t that we’re not committed to positive change. It’s just that often we’re not clear about how to achieve it. Especially if…


More Questions About Widows Benefits

Sometimes, when I write a column about a certain topic, that column seems to generate more questions than it answers. And that certainly was the case with a column I wrote about widows benefits just before the holidays. Ever since, my inbox has been crammed with emails from widows or about widows. And I even…


Are You Ready for a Financially Healthy 2021?

Dear Readers, at the beginning of each new year, I’m filled with a sense of new direction. At the same time, I like to look back at the previous year, evaluate what worked and make a fresh commitment to keep going on whatever path proved most successful. One of the things that was a real…