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/
Finding time is hard. I often think about all the things I would do if I could just find the time. But really, what a crazy thing that is to say. Find the time? Where should I look? Did I hide it in the bushes outside the White House? Can I find it on Aisle…
There are two types of experts in the world: real experts, and fake ones. The real experts are the people who spend many years refining their knowledge and skill set in a particular area and becoming masters of pattern recognition. But all too often, they end up toiling away in relative obscurity and poverty, neither…
A while back my wife and I hired a financial planner. It was a big change to sit on the other side of the desk and see the process from the client’s perspective. I received some interesting reactions when I told people. The most common one was: Why does a Certified Financial Planner need to…
Did you read, listen, or watch the news in the last year? But they shouldn’t. Because — repeat after me — you can’t do anything about any of them. Go on a media fast These events, and others like them, are completely out of our individual control. However, that won’t stop the 24/7 news channels…
Today, I want to talk to you about your worries. After all, who doesn’t love worrying? Thousands of years ago, it was part of what kept humans alive. Is that a lion in the bushes? Was that a tiger? Nine times out of ten, there probably was no large-toothed animal about to pounce. But worrying…
I’m going to assume for a minute that you’re one of the millions of people who have a recurrently frustrating relationship with spending. It probably starts with a commitment to sticking to your budget, and you do for a few days. Then, despite your resolve, you break down, pull out the credit card and do…
For the next few minutes, I want you to focus on the most successful person you know (and yes, it may be you). What makes this individual successful in your mind? Professional accomplishments? Personal wealth? Now, I want you to think of the happiest person you know. Did you come up with the same name?…
I received these two messages within three minutes of each other recently: Several years back I used to mine Bitcoin, and then I sold most of them off for a down payment for our house. I had 400 BTC at one point, which would be worth $14 million today. Needless to say, I am really…
Worrying is a terrible business strategy. In the not-so-distant past, however, it was the only one I knew. For example, each time I wrote this column, I worried that my editor would say, “Sorry, Carl. This just isn’t very good. I’m afraid that’s the end of the Sketch Guy.” Inevitably, of course, I would bring…
A while ago I shared how scared and worried I felt at the thought of losing my wife after her accident. As frightening as that experience was, it also helped me reflect and decide that I didn’t want any more regrets. I thought you might feel the same way, so I asked for your deathbed…
