Do you have any pre-marriage and/or pre-kids regrets? Things you wished you’d done? I kind of wish we had traveled a little more, mostly because I now appreciate how many times simpler it was back then.
Over at MarketPlace, Tanja breaks down “How to save twice your salary (or more) by age 35“. She started with a zero net worth at age 28 so she knows some things. As always, I never think “everyone can do it because I could” but rather “there’s always something we can learn, it might help”.
Roxane’s piece is painful to read. The things she has had to go through because our society is so incredibly judgemental.
Ah ha! Neuroplasticity and Novelty Effect! The reasons I keep researching tropical vacation deals, or seeking the next freelance gig, even while I’m stretched out on the sofa comfortably going about my routine and know that I can’t commit to anything like a new volunteer gig or workout routine: “….when you make time for new skills that are personally interesting to you, the benefits of success are heightened. Your body will actually release more dopamine when you achieve goals that your mind has deemed more interesting and fulfilling to your core interests and values.
….The novelty effect is a particularly strange psychological phenomenon that shines a light on just how finicky the human brain can be when it comes to feeling renewed and ready to go back to work. Research has uncovered that your performance at a task will initially improve when a new technology or process is introduced. That’s right—you can instantly get better at something old simply because your brain will be interested in the new process on the block.”
The DIY Scientist, the Olympian, and the Mutated Gene: “Something was “terribly wrong,” as she put it, but she didn’t even bother to tell her parents about it. Other people went to doctors and got solutions. That had never happened for Jill, so she started looking for answers on her own, the way a kid would.”
It took me 20 years to get any answers but my medical journey was far less interesting and revelatory.
I don’t miss pregnancy, PUPPs, or being unable to touch my toes. I don’t miss missing sleep, or having that mildly insane moment when I think “we’re never going to survive this”, or the tantrums we were having twice a day like clockwork last week. I don’t miss wondering things like Mrs Frugalwoods’ “surely five-year-olds can pull up their own pants and don’t walk around with their bums hanging out“. But I do miss my 12-20 month old something fierce. I adore this child with every fiber of my being, except those three toes ze just stomped on while enthusiastically River Dancing to “Let It Go” (yes, it’s invaded our home).
White male managers treat their colleagues worse when it’s not a white man at the helm of their company: Researchers found that white male executives working under a female and/or racial minority were also less likely to provide help to fellow colleagues, with an especially negative effect on help provided to minority status colleagues. Come on, men. I know you can be better than this. I’ve seen better with my own eyes.
Joe talks about inheritances. I want to leave JB *something* but that’s more along the lines of a solid foundation with less debt than the average kid, self respect and skills to make zir way in the world, without being overly burdened by caring for us. And in the end, I know I’m just hoping my hardest that ze will turn out to be a good person.
Yet Another PF Blog asked some great questions recently: Bloggers: Are you transparent about your economic class on your blog? Is your content geared toward readers in your same demographic / level of PF knowledge? How much do you work to make your content accessible? Readers: What level of transparency do you want from your personal finance bloggers? What kind of content do you want to see? Do you feel like the community as it is now has sufficiently targeted your interests and questions?
Stacey Abrams’ debt shouldn’t disqualify her for running for governor. Point one: the life she describes – supporting her parents who took in her young niece, student loans, etc – is a hugely familiar story to me. It’s repeated over and over in my family and doesn’t mean that the person in debt is bad or makes bad decisions. It means that they feel responsibility well beyond what the average American feels to their community and they do their best to step up. Ignoring the fact that many others in our country are burdened by similar kinds of debt is shameful and stupid. Point two: people tend to assume that being in difficult financial straits will push you toward corruption. I point you to our President and countless politicians who don’t have debt and are happily lining their pockets with lobbyist money. At least her debt comes from trying to do the right thing.
Just act like a cat
Raccoon 1: “Here’s the plan, you go in the house, act like a cat and they’ll give you food?
The focus on Vicki Robin as one of the most core referenced people (instead of FIRE bloggers who are newer to the scene and the lifestyle).
QUOTE: Missing is any acknowledgment of the privilege embedded in the ability to save 50% or 75% of your income to begin with. The FIRE movement, to a large extent, remains a culture of “very entitled white men who are very proud of themselves when it wasn’t much of a stretch for them anyway,” says Emma Pattee, 27, a writer based in Portland, Ore., who retired last year at 26 after making successful real estate investments. Many FIRE followers, she says, are already high earners who “disdain all the Midwest minions who can’t get out in front of their truck loan.”
QUOTE: Tanja Hester, a FIRE follower who leans toward the frugal strain of the movement and retired late last year at age 38 from her career as a consultant for political and social causes, realizes she’s in a privileged position. “I feel like one of the luckiest people to ever live, and if I can’t use some of it to help others, it will feel like a waste,” she says. She and her husband, who live in the North Lake Tahoe area of California, volunteer at the local humane society and plan to start teaching financial basics in their community.”
QUOTE: For her part, Robin gives back by investing in local businesses. Aside from using royalties to pay for cancer treatments in the mid-2000s, she says she’s given away a significant portion of the money she’s made over the years from her bestseller. And she still thinks our society places too much stock in paid work.
PRINCE!
Nothing Compares 2 U: Previously unseen rehearsal footage of Prince & The Revolution from the summer of 1984.
Fabulous finch story starts with … “Every year the same pair of finches returns to the bush outside my office window, and every year they have the same debate about whether or not to build their nest in exactly the same place. It is like an Avian Love It or List It.”
Beyonce and Beychella – making hearts sing: “I was supposed to perform at Coachella before, but I ended up getting pregnant,” she explained to the crowd of diehard fans who exchanged knowing laughter and cheers. “So I had time to dream and dream and dream with two beautiful souls in my belly,” she continued, “and I dreamed up this performance.”
Mind the cat’s warning.