This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: Managing Your Credit Score In the premise of a memorable Black Mirror episode, every person has a “rating.”  On an Amazon-like scale of 1 to 5 stars, your rating is based on how your fellow citizens score you after an interaction.  So if you run into an old fling at the grocery store and share a delightful conversation and look good to boot, you’d probably get 5 stars, which would incrementally impro ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: If cash is king, cash management is queen Cash is like the unloved stepchild of the personal finance industry.  Turn on Mad Money and you’ll hear all about hot stocks.  Read John Bogle’s legendary The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, and you’ll learn all about index funds.  But when a crisis hits, it’s cash that turns out to be the Cinderella that everyone chases.  In the first quarte ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING: Keep calm and stick to the plan (and wash your hands) Well here it is folks, the stock market drop we all knew would eventually come.  U.S. stocks were down around 12% this week, while global stocks aren’t doing much better.  By now you’re plenty familiar with this chart showing the carnage: Scary, I know.  But hopefully you’ve also seen this chart: Now it doesn’t look so bad, right?  (That's ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: Resetting and Reprioritizing As we flip to 2020, I hope you’ve found some time amidst the holidays to reflect on the past year and what the coming one holds.  (And if not, there’s still time!) When it comes to money, the new year is the perfect time to reset and reprioritize. Perhaps this is the year you get your finances organized or pay off that debt or start saving in earnest for retirement.  But ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: Options and vesting and taxes, oh my! Stock options. The words still conjure images of dark-suited executives in mahogany-paneled board rooms. But these days all sorts of people receive equity compensation, from c-suite officers down to new hires at tech companies. And that means there are more and more employees being paid in a form that can be difficult to understand and even harder to manage. That may inclu ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: TOOLS FOR FINANCIAL HEALTH In honor of Batman’s 80th anniversary, today we’re going to take a look at the essential and everyday tools that should fill your financial utility belt.  Below are my top recommendations on everything from bank and investment accounts to apps and online platforms to track your finances. Savings and Checking Accounts Capital One 360 and Barclays.  For new high-yield saving ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: A little insurance gets you a lot of assurance When a crisis strikes — a medical emergency, a long-term disability, or the unexpected death of a spouse — the right insurance policies are what stand between you and financial disaster. Part of financial health is understanding and putting into place the essential insurance policies. But be on guard: insurance is a commission-driven business, and so you may be off ..read more

Given the news of the Capital One data breach affecting over 100 million people in the U.S. (about a third of the U.S. population), here’s your action plan to help protect your identity and personal information. Determine if you’re at risk. The breach affected holders of and applicants for Capital One credit cards since 2005.  If that describes you, then read on.  (If not, then you dodged a bullet this time.) Pull your credit reports from the three major bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. I recommend doing so through AnnualCreditReport.com. (Federal law allows you one ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: Should I Buy or Should I Rent? Should I buy or should I rent now? If I rent there will be trouble And if I buy it will be double Like a good catchy tune, some age-old questions just never go away — like the chicken and the egg, a tree falling in the forest, and whether to rent or buy. For most city-dwellers, your rent is your largest expense and buying an apartment (if you do) your largest investment. So we’ll ..read more

This article originally appeared in our monthly newsletter, Fiscal Therapy. Please subscribe if you'd like to receive similar articles on a monthly basis. WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: Your Net Worth and Your Self-Worth Around here, we tend to talk more about cash flow — earning, saving, and spending — and less about net worth. Why? Because net worth is the sum of what’s happened in the past — how much you’ve previously accumulated — while cash flow drives where you’re headed right now. Are you saving more than you’re spending? Are you throwing money at high-interest debt payments? There’s o ..read more