30 second video: protect your emergency cash like a chess match queen May 22, 2008

New shoes, new iMac, & old cash worries:
It’s fun spending cash reserved for emergencies.
Even more than fun - it’s bloody easy!
It’s easy to break discipline & access those dollars meant to protect from rainy days. But since that approach has made my family more vulnerable financially, it’s time to rethink. [...]

my husband, me, & our financial habits make front page of business section in washington post February 10, 2008

photo by Lois Raimondo, Washington Post, 2/10/08

What a blast!
It was published today, in the Washington Post’s business section — with our happy mugs below the fold (& as the second photo in the online slideshow).
Talking with Post reporter Nancy Trejos was a comfortable, positive experience. She expressed a lot of interest in different [...]

sin stocks are hopeful bets … but what do your morals say? February 5, 2008

The history of sin stocks shows consistent or even strong performance in downturned stock markets.
I grow more and more willing to embrace imperfection & inconsistency, especially when it relates to my own character (& the stock market). But heck, I don’t know if my moral code - whatever the heck it [...]

$5million & your piggy bank: financial planners’ standard target for retirement January 14, 2008

“Mrs. Foster, you & your husband should save at least $5million for retirement…at least!”

[THUNK]
That’s my psychological (& literal) piggy bank passing out from that advice. Most all financial planners I met with last year suggested $5million be our retirement savings target (east coast).
What the SAM HECK do we need to save [...]

$1million by 2012: dream it, plan it, live it October 13, 2007

So it’s time to take ownership & aim big.
I remember once being fearless in the face of challenges and dreams — going after them was the fun rush of life. Then on the financial front - I learned how much it costs to retire, to retire with decent health care [...]

beckoning budgets & cursing like a turk September 24, 2007

Yikes it was a tough call — listening to that inner budgetary voice vs the call to wander lust.
For a few weeks, I planned on going with Sean to Istanbul and producing a few live Web shows like Jonny Goldstein does each week.
Yet the truth is, we already savored Hawaii this summer - an opportunity [...]

financial roots: your fiscal beliefs, fears, confidence must come from … where? September 5, 2007

In preparing for another financial planner interview this week, I imagined how a certain discussion could play-out regarding our debt:
Planner to me: So do you have credit card debt?
Me: Sure do.
Planner: So why don’t you pay it off right now or at least increase your payments?
Me: Because the [...]

marital money mantra #2: protect what you can’t afford to lose August 26, 2007

Sweet cash kitty

We learned a lot from our own cycles of incur-credit-debt-yet-not-build-savings. We still have credit card debt (from mis-calculating last year’s tax payment); yet we’ve for the first time built a cash kitty, four months of expenses, with plans to secure one year’s worth since we function on a single steady income.
It’s [...]

marital money mantra #1: overt & unified approach August 23, 2007

HUSBAND-WIFE ROLE PLAY:
During the first years of marriage, our conversations on spending splurges went down like this:

The husband likes books - admirably. And sure I’m addicted to eating out with friends & travel.
With books though, Sean’s a read-it-once-learn-it type of brain & is a strong visual learner. Books are his [...]