Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner and a columnist for the New York Times, Morningstar magazine and Yahoo Finance. He is author of 2 books, The Behavior Gap & The One-Page Financial Plan. Carl lives with his family in Park City, Utah. You can find his work and sign up for his newsletter (which has an international audience) at www.behaviorgap.com/
On your deathbed, it’s too late to make wish lists. That’s the thought that went through my head high over the ocean, willing the plane to go faster as I rushed thousands of miles back to New Zealand to meet up with my gravely injured wife in the hospital near Christchurch. Let me back up….
On paper, your investments in stocks, real estate or even cash may look like your greatest assets. While all those things are super important, you have something else that’s even more valuable. It’s the investment called you. Finding ways to increase your value while doing the things you love may be the most important…
I recently got together with two of my best friends from high school, Jamie and Jason. We’ve been friends for over 30 years. We don’t see each other as often as we’d like to because life is busy. But when we do it’s always amazing. Sipping tea in the Sugarhouse neighbourhood of Salt Lake City,…
In September of 2016, my family and I moved from the mountains of Utah to New Zealand. It was hard. Really hard. Like, harder than I expected. I’m not complaining. I’m just stating, that “travel” is not just the beautiful sunsets, gorgeous beaches, and interesting people you see on Instagram. I totally underestimated the cognitive…
I like buying high-quality things. And for the longest time, I’ve had this sneaking suspicion that buying high-quality stuff, which perhaps initially was more expensive, actually saved me money in the long run. It wasn’t until very recently, though, that I noticed a strong argument in support of my hunch. The other day, I was…
I don’t run into too many people who love to budget. And when you add another person to the mix, like a spouse or partner, there’s a good chance one of you will actually hate the idea. Budgeting clearly has a marketing problem. It’s a bit like flossing. We understand how important it is to…
My wife and I are setting up a customs screening station in our driveway. No, we’re not starting an international airport. And it’s not for solicitors, strangers or gift-bearing guests. It’s for us and our stuff. From now on, before anything new comes into the house, resident buyers will need to answer a series of…
Greetings! I want to be clear that I’m not trying to scare you. I have no idea what’s going to happen your investments, your job, the economy or the markets. But I do know that worrying about them doesn’t help. Let me repeat that. Worry is to feel or cause to feel anxious or troubled…
My friends, I’m willing to bet that there’s something important you want to do. Badly. Problem is, you’re just not doing it. Isn’t that frustrating? It certainly has been in my life. In fact, I’ve found it so frustrating that I created a game to help. It’s called “Punch You in the Face.” Here’s how you…
Today, I’d like you to engage in a quick exercise with me. Please get out a pen and paper, and answer the following questions: You have something you want to do, and you’re not doing it… yet. What is it? What’s the next smallest step you can take to make that thing happen? Why am…
