Hank Coleman

The popular A&E television show Hoarders features a range of people struggling with extreme compulsive spending and hoarding behaviors that often impact their living circumstances, relationships, and mental health in a myriad of negative ways. A common pattern that arises during the clean-up phase is the hoarders’ unwillingness to part with items they perceive as having a lot of value, even when those items are clearly broken, useless, or even contaminated. Their rationale for holding onto an excessive amount of items often involves their desire to sell the items, which they paid a lot of money for in the past. However, most non-collectible items begin depreciating the moment you buy them, even if you never use them or even take … Read more

Well-known psychologist Robert Cialdini published a book in the 1980s entitled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Although the book is nearly 40 years old at this point, the six principles of persuasion that Cialdini outlined in the book are perhaps even more prominent in the world of retail marketing today. There are many ways retailers trick us into spending more money. How Online Retailers Trick You Into Spending More Those six principles include: Reciprocity: referring to our innate desire to give back when we receive something Scarcity: the perception of limited resources or time Authority: how we perceive things as more legitimate when supported by an “expert” Consistency: we’re more likely to remain loyal to a person or organization who … Read more

Investors often flock to gold and other precious metals when the stock market heads south because these tangible investments tend to be less prone to fluctuations based on government policies, global economic conditions, corporate profits and losses, and other common factors influencing the price of financial assets like stocks, bonds, and Treasury notes. I personally love investing with Acre Gold. This isn’t a sales pitch. I simply just love the service and wanted to share it with the Money Q&A readers. But is gold really all it’s hyped up to be? Let’s do some math: in the span of one year (Dec. 2018 to Dec. 2019), the value of gold per ounce rose from approximately $1,220 to $1,463. On a fifteen-year … Read more