Money Questions and Answers

Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step One – $1,000 Emergency Fund In The Bank

Dave Ramsey emergency fund of $1,000 to start

The other day I gave a brief overview of Dave Ramsey’s baby steps system to financial freedom that he outlines in his book, The Total Money Makeover. There are seven baby steps that you should take in order to gain financial peace. Baby Step 1 – $1,000 Emergency Fund Baby Step 2 – Pay Off All Of Your Debt With A Debt Snowball Baby Step 3 – Fully Fund Your Emergency Fund Baby Step 4 – Save 15% Of Your Income For Retirement Baby Step 5 – Save For Your Children’s College Education Baby Step 6 – Pay Off Your Mortgage Early Baby Step 7 – Build Wealth And Give Today, I will show you the ins and outs and the method behind the madness of only establishing a … Read more

Book Review – The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper

by Hank Coleman

Recently, I was given a copy of the book, The Wealth Cure: Putting Money In Its Place, by Hill Harper to read. You probably recognize Hill Harper and his picture on the cover of the book. He is one of the lead actors on the television show, CSI: NY.

Initially, when I saw the book, I was very curious to find out what Mr. Harper had to say about finances, but I quickly found out that he is quite an accomplished man off the silver screen too.

Not only has Hill Harper written three other New York Times bestsellers, he is also a graduate of Brown University where he earned his undergraduate degree, but he also holds a Masters Degree from the Kennedy School of Government and his law degree from Harvard Law School.

So, you may be asking, with all of those accolades, why Harper would write a book about personal finance. It is rather quite fundamental. He was curious about the subject, and as many people know, one of the best ways to learn is to teach. And, that is where The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper started to take its shape. What is unique about this book is the twists and turns that it took Hill Harper right before he started and during the writing of The Wealth Cure.

Hill Harper was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It was during this time in his life that he started reexamining his own life. And, of course, finances and how we all interact with our money was at the top of the list to be examined.

The Sections Of The Wealth Cure By Hill Harper

The Wealth Cure is cleverly broken down into five main sections that mirror up nicely towards how someone not only fights a potentially deadly disease but also how you can tackle many of life’s problems…money problems included.

Part One – The Diagnosis

The Wealth Cure starts out with Harper Hill’s story. Not only does it chronicle how he found out he had thyroid cancer, but it also shows why he started thinking about writing a book about people’s finances in the first place. He was disillusioned by how he has seen money being spent and the negative affect it can have one people.

Three Things You Should Do In A Turbulent Stock Market

by Hank Coleman

Three Things You Should Do In A Falling Stock Market

There have been some turbulence in the stock market recently. There are been more days than not that have seen a hundred point swing one way or another. But, you shouldn’t fear a falling stock market.

So may even think that the US stock market is in a financial crisis. So, what is an investor to do during a turbulent, falling stock market?

3 Things To Do In A Falling Stock Market

Tune Out All Of The Noise

One thing that I do that many people do not understand is that I don’t watch the news. There is so much negative press out there that I often will get bummed out with all the news.

And, now with hundreds of television stations and many dedicated strictly for financial news, there are so many people out there with an opinion about a falling stock market. Everyone has an idea or a thought on where the market is headed, why things are happening the way they are, and of course what you should do. And, do nothing is hardly ever on that list.

It is hard to earn a commission or capture people’s attention if you tell them to do nothing. But, often that is exactly what you should be doing…nothing.

So, turn off the television. Tune out the noise. There is so much noise out there.

My Next Home Is Going to Be a Hotel and I’m Saving Over $900 per Month!

by Hank Coleman

Have you ever thought about living in a hotel? Because of the day job that I have, I tend to bounce around from one location to another fairly quickly. There are often times when I am working or going to a class for just a couple of months at a time. So, of course, I’m not going to put down any type of roots in that instance. I could rent an apartment for a month-to-month lease, but the number and quality of those types of apartments are not always the best. Why I’m Thinking About Living in a Hotel So, I started thinking about living in a hotel. I have always been fascinated by extended stay hotels in particular. Every … Read more

Reader’s Question: How Do You Start Saving If You Live Paycheck To Paycheck

by Hank Coleman

Here is the next installment in our the Reader’s Questions Series which highlight questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if your money question is chosen to be featured on a future week’s blog post.

If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It is one of my top ten best personal finance books that everyone should read. Be sure to check out the other answers to money questions in this series.

This week’s featured question is from Velma who asked, “If you are living paycheck to paycheck, how do you start saving and investing?”

This is a great question, and it is one that is near and dear to my heart. I saw this question play out every day of my life growing up.

One of my earliest money related memories growing up was of my single mother writing checks each month for our bills. She would sit down with an old ledger book and write checks out for that month’s bills.

I can remember sneaking a peak at her checking account balance and seeing a thousand dollars or so. To a little kid in the 1990s, that seemed like an enormous sum of money. My mother then explained that that was the beginning balance and then proceeded to tell me where all that money went every month to pay bills such as the mortgage, electric bill, water bill, etc.

Ten Ways To Find Extra Money To Help You Save

by Hank Coleman

Ways To Easily Find Extra Money To Help You Save

There is nothing more difficult than finding ways to find extra money to invest or to start saving. Everyone is always looking for that additional bit of cash, but where can you find the room to squeeze it out of your monthly budget? It may be very hard or take a lot of extra work to find a substantial amount of cash in a lump sum if needed, but it is fairly easy to come up with ways to find extra money in small amounts. The little savings count too and can make a big difference when you start to add all the little ways to save together. Ten ways to find extra money… 1) Don’t throw anything away: If you have clothes … Read more