6 reasons to overcome a fear of plastic

• Credit Cards•Travel
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As I was coming of age, I became aware of too many examples of people who had gotten into trouble with credit card debt. It made me avoid getting a credit card for several years. Eventually, though, I overcame my fear of plastic, and realized it is the user and not the card that should be in control.

A healthy concern about credit card use is not misplaced. After consumers reined in their spending in the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, they have expanded their credit card debt in each of the last four years, and that debt is on the rise again in 2015. Still, having a credit card does not have to mean having credit card debt. Actually, if you make it a practice to pay off your balance every month, the benefits of having a credit card can outweigh the disadvantages.

This may be more true now than ever before. Here are six good reasons to overcome a fear of plastic, some of which were true 30 years ago when I got my first credit card and some which came into greater prominence in the 21st century:

  1. You win when you get free use of money. Because there is a lag between when you charge something and when you start paying interest on the amount you borrowed, you effectively get free use of the money for a short period of time. The catch is that once interest starts being charged, it is very expensive — credit card companies charge an average of 13.49 percent on outstanding balances. Still, if you pay your credit card bill in full and on time, you can avoid incurring interest charges. As long as you choose a credit card without monthly fees, then used correctly a credit card can be a convenience that doesn’t cost you anything.
  2. You win even more when you get free rewards. Not only can you have the convenience of a credit card for free if you pay your balances off promptly, but you can also get cash back or other rewards on your purchases. Credit card companies do this to induce you to use their cards, both for the interchange fees they get from merchants and on the assumption that many people won’t pay the money back right away and so will have to pay interest. It is especially important to avoid carrying a balance on rewards credit cards because they typically carry higher interest rates than non-rewards cards, but if you can pay your balances off on time earning rewards means the card company is paying you for using their credit card rather than the other way around.
  3. A responsible credit history can help you save on insurance. I was shocked when our auto insurance carrier wanted to raise our family rate a few months ago, even though we have pretty clean driving records. It turns out the deer that jumped into my son’s car a couple years back was not insured, so that accident is counting against us. When I complained, my agent suggested a program they have that offers lower rates for people with strong credit histories. I figured we would qualify, and we did, as a result of which our insurance premiums went down rather than up. Getting a credit card can be an important step toward establishing a credit history.
  4. You may need a credit history to rent an apartment. Never mind needing good credit to buy a home — you may need it just to rent. Landlords consider your credit history as an important indication that you will pay your rent and meet your other obligations as a tenant.
  5. Traveling without a credit card is very difficult. When I first started to travel for business, I actually used to get by with carrying a large amount of cash with me to cover the hotel bill. These days though, decent hotels tend to frown on letting you check in without a credit card, and forget about renting a car without one.
  6. Establishing a digital discipline is becoming essential. The reason some people shy away from credit cards is that they make it all too easy to overspend and get into debt trouble. This was my reasoning 30 years ago; but back then, not having a credit card was enough to avoid the temptation to spend impulsively. Nowadays, with financial affairs increasingly conducted digitally in a variety of ways, you simply have to develop the discipline not to abuse these tools. Otherwise, you will find more than one way to get into money trouble electronically.

If you want a simple decision rule for using a credit card responsibly, try this: Any month you cannot pay off your balance, put the card away and don’t use it until your current debt is paid off. This is a crude-but-effective way of making sure the accumulation of debt does not outweigh all the positive aspects of having a credit card.

“Frugal” is not a dirty word

• Frugality•House & Home•Planning•Real Estate•Retirement•Travel
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My wife and I were talking recently about a June 5, 2015, New York Times article that described the lifestyle of “Millionaires Who Are Frugal When They Don’t Have to Be.” It got me thinking about the word “frugal.” It will probably never be a sexy concept, but neither does it have to seem like a dirty word.

The title of the article seems to conjure a slightly pejorative image — people who are well off but needlessly pinch pennies. The actual content of the article is more favorable. It focuses on people who have settled into a particular niche — the Times describes them as single-digit millionaires. It’s an interesting position. Obviously, they are very well off, but they are not crazy rich enough to afford every extravagance that crosses their minds. Also, people in this position often made their money themselves, so they can remember what it was like to get by with less.

None of the lifestyles described will ever be fodder for a reality show — not only aren’t these people splashy enough spenders, but they seem more focused on living their lives than on demonstrating their wealth to the rest of the world. Still, while I can see the article’s point about frugality, what struck me is that each of the people profiled had some form of indulgence, whether it is an extra piece of property or the occasional trip to Italy.

In other words, these people are not making themselves miserable by living a monk-like existence when they could afford more. They are enjoying their wealth even while being very conscious of not blowing it.

Enjoying a frugal lifestyle

Of course, the people in the article are far from typical. Even a single-digit millionaire has been far more fortunate than the average American. Still, I think there are some lessons in the lifestyles described that show how frugality does not have to mean miserable self-denial.

Here are some thoughts on how to leave room for joy in a frugal lifestyle:

  1. Budget for some discretionary spending. Living within a budget requires having the discipline not to exceed that budget, but it does not have to mean every expenditure is specifically planned or even logical. Whether it is $50 or $50, 000, leave yourself a some room in your annual budget to spend impulsively, indulgently, or however you see fit. That way, you will get to feel a sense of financial freedom, while also knowing that you are staying within the framework of your budget.
  2. Own up to your splurging. The worst over-spenders I know always have a rationalization every time they splurge on an unnecessary expense. This translates into a sense of denial which prevents them from recognizing how often they do it. Be realistic. It’s OK to splurge occasionally, but recognize it so it does not become a thoughtless habit.
  3. Make the big decisions count. No offense to one of the guys described in the article, but you can darn your socks all you want, it will still be the big financial decisions that matter. What did you pay for your home, and what mortgage rate did you get? Did you strike a hard bargain on your last car? There are a handful of big decisions that have real big-money impact.
  4. Enjoy the little things. Building a 25, 000 square foot palace can drain even a millionaire’s finances, but buying a little better bottle of wine or a weekend getaway are smaller indulgences that shouldn’t leave a lasting mark. If you learn to enjoy little rather than big indulgences, you can enjoy your money without overspending.
  5. Maintain some form of income. Take it from someone who is in his second career — it feels great to downshift without completely slamming on the brakes. I enjoy working, and even with some money saved there is nothing more reassuring than seeing some income continue to roll in.
  6. Get on the same page as the rest of your household. The wealthy couples described in the article all seem to share a philosophy toward money with their spouses, and this is very important to being able to be happy with a modest lifestyle. If you want to drive around in a seven-year-old Toyota while your spouse wants to live like a Kardashian, neither one of you is going to be very happy.
  7. Keep positive goals in mind. Don’t focus on the denial aspect of financial responsibility; focus on the positive aspects of it instead, such as a brighter future and a stronger sense of control over your life. View financial responsibility as an act of empowerment, not one of denial.

The people profiled in the Times article are living such good lifestyles that I probably would not even have used the word “frugal” in the title. To me, it just seems sensible; but that probably says something about my overall mindset, not to mention why my wife showed me the article in the first place….

7 financial lessons recent college grads still need

• Banking•Credit Cards•Debt Reduction•Saving & Investing•Working
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Around this time of the year, new college graduates are leaving their schools with a wealth of knowledge. At the end of their four (or six, or eight…) years of college, graduates have typically tackled a wide range of academic subjects, often with an impressive degree of complexity. Unfortunately, one type of lesson many of them are missing as they venture out into the real world is basic schooling in personal finance.

Here are seven personal finance lessons that recent grads might find helpful, because they probably were not taught these things in school:

  1. Student loans need a repayment plan.
    According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the average American college student now has $27, 000 in student loan debt at graduation. Make sure you know the schedule of when payments on your loans will start coming due (typically, this is six to nine months after graduation). If it looks like you will have trouble paying, explore options for alternate payment schedules. Most of all, stay in contact with your lender to find a workable solution. If you simply default, it can have drastic consequences which can include having your wages garnished, your tax refunds confiscated, and long-lasting damage to your credit record.
  2. Credit cards should be for short-term borrowing.
    Recent grads are often deluged with credit card offers. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Credit cards can give your finances some flexibility while helping you build a credit history. The key is to understand and live by this rule: Credit cards should be used only for short-term borrowing. If you use them as a cash substitute during the month and pay off your balance at the end of each month, they can be a free resource, and you might even earn some rewards points in the process. However, if you use them to maintain a lifestyle you can’t afford, you will end up with two big problems: That lifestyle will come to an abrupt end when you reach your credit limits, and credit card debt carries a very expensive interest rate.
  3. The job market may be very different in the next state.
    Having trouble finding a job in your area? Use the fact that you are probably not tied down yet to your advantage and look elsewhere. The unemployment rate in some states is more than twice as high as in others, and the job market can vary even more greatly in some professions.
  4. There is more to a job offer than salary.
    When you compare job offers, be sure to calculate the economic value of any benefits that come with those offers. This includes things like how much they might pay toward your health insurance, or what kind of employer match they make on retirement plan contributions. These amounts can be in the thousands of dollars, so differences in benefits could easily tip the balance in favor of one job over another.
  5. Don’t be on the hook for your roommates.
    Pitching in with others is often the only way a recent grad can afford a place to live, especially in expensive urban areas. Just be careful about whose name is on any legal agreements such as leases or utility accounts. You should take your share of responsibility, but make sure it doesn’t all fall on you if the others don’t pay their share. People’s lives can change quickly in the months after graduation, so avoid financial commitments that involve others.
  6. The right saving account will pay you for doing nothing.
    As you handle the wave of new responsibilities that comes after graduation, you might fantasize about getting paid to do nothing. In a sense, the right savings account will do this. Most savings accounts these days pay almost no interest, but a few are paying around 1 percent. Find one of these relatively high-paying savings accounts, and it will keep paying you month after month with no further effort on your part.
  7. Overdraft protection is a sucker’s deal.
    When you sign up for a checking account, your banker will probably offer you a helpful-sounding service known as overdraft protection. Be sure to decline it. In exchange for temporarily covering any overdrafts in your account, the bank will charge you a fee for each occurrence that is often several times the amount of the overdraft itself. This is a deal that is good for the bank but bad for the customer, so opt out.

It is commonplace to say that there is no teacher like experience when it comes to handling money, but imagine if you took that approach to biology, accounting, or whatever your chosen field is. If you had to experience everything first hand, knowledge would never get a chance to progress very far! Learning from others can help you get more out of your own experiences — and when it comes to personal finance, it can help that experience come at a much cheaper price.

Is the tide turning for savings accounts?

• Banking•Economy•Saving & Investing
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On the surface, savings account rates seem to be stuck in the same rut they have been in for the last couple years; but if you look a little closer, there are some isolated developments that could start to put the interest back in savings account interest rates.

According to the FDIC, the average savings account rate nationally is just 0.06 percent — a level that average first dropped to two years ago and hasn’t budged from since. However, some banks are beginning to buck the low-rate trend. Those banks remain exceptions, but the rarity of positive rate developments makes it well worth taking note of those exceptions.

Some notable exceptions

MoneyRates.com conducts a quarterly survey of bank rate conditions, called the America’s Best Rates survey. Looking at the big picture, there have been no surprises in recent quarters, as the average savings account rate has dropped in each of the last two surveys. However, a review of the top 10 rates in the survey tells a different story.

Several of the banks in the top 10 raised their savings account rates in each of the last two surveys, with a few of those banks reaching the 1 percent mark. These banks are going their own way by raising rates while the overall average is still declining, and that independence makes them stand out all the more.

Seeing a handful of banks raise rates in this way also suggests that there is some healthy competition going on at the top of the rate tables. HSBC has just upped the ante in that competition, by offering a 1.5 percent rate on a temporary basis. Short-lived teaser rates are nothing new, but HSBC is pledging to keep this rate in place till January of next year. Given that savings account rates are subject to change at any time, that commitment shows that at least some banks are starting to view higher rates as a means of attracting business again.

The good news and bad news about higher rates

Besides competition among banks, there are some economic conditions that may be prompting these rate increases. There is both good news and bad news for consumers in those conditions.

The good news is that after a stumble in March, job growth got back on track in April, suggesting the economic recovery is alive and well. Economic strength increases demand for capital, encouraging banks to offer customers higher interest rates for their deposits.

The potentially negative reason rates may head higher is if inflation revs up. After falling sharply last year, oil prices are on the rise again this year, and that could push inflation higher. Interest rates would move higher in response, but this doesn’t really benefit consumers if it is offset by rising prices.

What consumers should do

Whether bank rates are pulled up by competition or forced up by inflation, consumers should not get caught waiting on the sideline. Clearly, some banks are acting to raise rates sooner than others, so here are some things you can do to get on the leading edge of this trend:

  1. Don’t assume conditions are the same everywhere. Low rates remain the norm, but they are not universal. One good thing about the banking industry is that, because it is highly fragmented, you have a lot of choices — and some of those choices are starting to offer higher rates. If your bank isn’t one of them, don’t assume all other banks are being similarly passive.
  2. Start shopping actively for rates. In business, companies adapt to change in different ways and at different times. That means that as interest rates start to turn around, banks are going to read and react to the trend in varying ways. This could cause the gap among the rates offered by different banks to widen, making this a particularly rewarding time to shop actively for higher rates.
  3. Rein in your CD terms. If you have a CD maturing soon, you might want to consider a shorter term when you roll it over. This will help you avoid locking into today’s low rates for an extended period when CD rates may be poised to start rising.
  4. Look for CDs with low early withdrawal penalties. An alternative to shorter CDs is a long-term CD with a relatively mild (i.e., six months or less) penalty for early withdrawal. This allows you to benefit from the higher rates of longer-term CDs, but still have an affordable way out if rates rise significantly. Step-up CDs, which offer the option of increasing your rate at some point during the CD terms, are also a possibility, but often these offer such a low initial rate that you would be better off shopping for a higher rate and simply paying the early withdrawal penalty if necessary.

Consumers have had a long wait for higher bank rates. Why wait around any longer, when a few banks are already starting to act on raising rates?

How long will oil prices stay low — and what should you do?

• Automotive•Consumer•Economy•Energy•Planning•Saving & Investing•Travel
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oil price
image: wikimedia commons

If you are old enough, you will remember 1973, when OPEC caused the price of oil to quadruple. (If you’re too young, simply Google “1973 oil crisis images” to see an endless parade of people stranded at gas stations with hand-written signs like the one in the picture.)

That crisis changed life in America forever, starting with an almost instantaneous recession, as businesses couldn’t absorb such a dramatic hike in one of the most pervasive costs in the economy. The malaise brought on by the oil shock lasted more than a decade. Inflation became a part of daily life, while the economy stagnated, giving rise to a new term: “stagflation.”

It got worse in 1979, just when ordinary people had become used to higher oil prices, and it precipitated the worst recession since the Great Depression. Home mortgage rates spiked to over 18 percent before the economy recovered (as it always does).

Since then, we’ve all adjusted to an environment which includes high oil prices.

Our high-oil-price world

New home appliances continue to use less energy. When our furnace went out recently after 30 years of service, even the cheapest model we could buy was way more energy efficient than the dinosaur headed for the landfill. The biggest users of oil — namely, automobiles — continue to use less fuel every year too. It wasn’t much more than a year ago when manufacturers tried to outdo each other with their 40 mpg mainstream models — unthinkable even 10 years ago. We don’t bat an eyelid at electric cars anymore, even luxury electrics like Tesla.

The adjustment is due, in part, to Government regulation; but it also reflects a shift in our culture and values. Despite the culture of conservation, however, the development of other countries and general population growth across the world have led to a consistent rise in the demand for oil. Production has kept pace; but, as Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison pointed out recently, about 3.8 million barrels per day’s worth of low-cost production is lost each year as older, low-cost wells run dry. Adding capacity to replace that supply requires higher-cost sources. If those sources are not developed, demand will outstrip supply and the oil price will rise again.

In 2008, the price of oil spiked above $100 for the first time, but the financial crisis saw worldwide demand decline and, with it, the price of oil. As the world’s economies recovered, though, so did demand and the oil price, until the world seems to have become accustomed to oil prices north of $100.

That environment brought us things like fuel surcharges on just about every bill we pay, and hybrid and electric cars. It even caused a bit of a renaissance in the railroad industry as long-distance freight shifted from trucks to more efficient intermodal rail transport, causing the illustrious Warren Buffett to start buying up the nation’s railroads one by one.

As high prices tend to do, it also created a “new” industry: American and Canadian oil production from shale and tar sands. Those technologies only work when oil prices are high, though; but when they work, they seem to work extremely well — so much so that the United States in 2014 was poised to become the world’s largest oil producer.

That’s when things changed, however, in rather quick and dramatic fashion. According to Abdullah al-Badri, its Secretary General, OPEC decided in November not to cut its production to compensate for the additional American production, thus creating an oil glut of about 1.5 million barrels a day.

Consequently, 2014 saw one of the most dramatic drops in the oil price since those first two oil shocks, as this chart from the Federal Reserve shows:

Oil price FRED
Oil Price (Brent), 2006 – Present

So, did this drop bring joy and happiness to all who have suffered for the past 40 years? Not nearly as much as you would expect.

Airlines have reaped a windfall, naturally, but have come out declaring publicly that they are not passing the savings on to consumers. UPS started imposing fuel surcharges back when oil prices were high, but have not made any significant reductions since the price of oil started falling. I’ve seen no reports of utilities dropping their rates as natural gas and oil prices have reached historic lows either.

The list goes on. Knowing how businesses live to make profits, I guess that is not surprising. In time, if oil prices remain low, competition will soon create cracks in the dam and those costs will start to drop, too. But…

Will oil prices stay low?

My guess is not, and I base that on the the comments referred to above, of OPEC’s Secretary General. A recent Reuters report quotes him as saying,  “Now the prices are around $45-$50 and I think maybe they reached the bottom and will see some rebound very soon… It will take some time, ” he said. “It will take another four-five months and we will not see some concrete efforts before the end of the first half of the year due to the reason that we will see how the market behaves at the end of the first half of 2015.”

So, now we have two independent factors tracking for significant changes this summer:

  • OPEC revisiting its oil pricing strategy
  • The Federal Reserve revisiting its intention to raise interest rates

Should those two events coincide, it is not beyond the realm of reason to expect the economy to react negatively.

Moral(s) of the story

1. Don’t buy that gas-guzzler on the assumption that oil will stay low. (Conversely, if you have one, it will fetch a good price now.)

2. If you considered getting into energy stocks or mutual funds, now may be a good time.

3. Be prepared for disproportionate price increases as the same businesses who didn’t drop prices with low oil prices use the rising oil price as justification.

Twice the opportunity for holiday spending guilt

• Economy•Humor
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I ran into my old buddy Jake at the local outpost of a well-known, high-priced donut chain. I had just spent the better part of a sawbuck on a powdered donut hole and thimble of java when I noticed Jake seemed to be lacking his usual Christmas spirit.

His brow was furrowed, and he looked worried and perplexed. I wasted no time asking him what in the name of sugarplum fairies was wrong. Didn’t he know this was the holly-jolly time of year for chestnuts roasting on open fires, one-horse open sleighs and stoplights blinking a bright red and green?

“That’s it: It’s the holidays, man, ” he sighed.

The holidays? How had the holidays depressed him? Had he gone into a store for a flat-screen TV sale, and been steam-rolled in a customer stampede?

“No, that’s not it, ” he moped.

Had one of his zero percent APR credit cards been targeted in a major discounter’s massive data breach, leaving him to discover his number was being peddled around the globe by black market privateers?

“You’re not even close, ” he lamented.

Had he bivouacked for days and nights outside a mall in freezing temperatures prior to Black Friday, only to be rushed by ambulance to a hospital with a case of pneumonia mere minutes before crowds stormed the opening doors?

“Don’t make me laugh, ” he moaned.

Well, what is it then? What would make a normally cheerful dude look grimmer than Bob Cratchit trudging in to work Christmas morning at the corporate campus of Scrooge & Marley, Inc., LLC?

Hydra-headed holiday harangue

“It’s these conflicting messages we’re always being fed by the media, ” he said. “On the one hand, they tell us that we’re not saving enough money for college and retirement and medical expenses and everything else.”

Yeah?

“And then they tell us that retailers are not enjoying the kind of Christmas shopping season they had anticipated, that sales are off, that customers are being too tight-fisted with their dollars and that they’re so used to sales that they don’t shop anywhere but where they can score the best deals. They’re saying some huge retailers might not make it if they don’t rack up big profits this holiday season. And you know who’s to blame? We are!”

I see what you mean. You feel kind of guilty?

“You bet I do, ” he continued. “The other day I went out to the mall, and I was going to load up the car with tons of presents and holiday ornaments and boxes of candy for all my friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors. I flipped on the radio just before I got there and heard an announcer saying that millions of people are going to have to depend almost entirely on Social Security in retirement.”

So what’d you do?

“Well, I jammed on the brakes, pulled a U-ey and went right back home. That’s going to be me if I don’t start conserving the cash, y’know. If I don’t get going, I might spend my 65th birthday feasting on Whiskas for Kittens.”

Damned if you do — and don’t

“Don’t you get it? This dismal shopping season could be a signal that the economy is weaker than expected, sending us spiraling into another recession and making it even harder for me to save. I might not even be able to afford Whiskas for Kittens on my 65th. It could turn out to be 9 Lives.”

Well, you’ll just have to head back to the mall, then.

“I did, but when I got out to the mall, I heard another radio report about Americans’ awful saving rates. So I turned around and was almost home when I got another earful about how stingy we shoppers are. I just kept on driving back and forth to the shopping center all day. Didn’t buy a thing.”

Later, I ran into Jake at the tire store, picking up a couple steel-belted radials.

“Turns out the left-side tires on my car are bald, ” he explained, “from all the U-turns I made this holiday season.”

Happy holidays, Everyone!

How do you find happiness with money?

• Self Employment
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An acquaintance of ours returned from a missionary trip to Tanzania recently. As these cross-cultural encounters go, each side had plenty to share with the other about their lives. Toward the end the trip, she asked one of the locals what stood out from everything the Americans related. It was that there are people on this earth who actually spend money to walk. (He was referring to Americans either buying treadmills or paying gym memberships to walk on them.) They (everyday folk in Tanzania) have no choice but to walk miles every day, and they simply have a hard time imagining walking as a luxury for which one would pay serious money.

That story illustrates, for me at least, that almost everyone living in America is among the top 1 percent of the world’s wealthy. This topic of the 1 percent drew a lot of headlines and attention earlier this year, highlighted by the publication of Thomas Piketty’s book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” (Even before the book’s publication, I even had this to say about the topic.)

The outcome of the recent mid-term elections has been dissected and analyzed by hundreds, all striving to put a fresh spin on the events. Not surprisingly, one of the streams of comment has focused on the campaign contributions of the super-rich, questioning whether inequality is allowing a handful of people to dictate your life and mine by buying legislation, if not just buying the legislators themselves. One of the more interesting books on that subject was published a few weeks before the elections: “Billionaires, Reflections on the Upper Crust, ” by Darrell West, a big shot at the Brookings Institution, who took a look at the lives and politics of the richest thousand or so Americans.

I haven’t read the book yet, but I saw an extract which lists the richest Americans and what they are doing to influence politics. I also came across two well-written reviews. One, by one of the most popular business authors of our time, Michael Lewis, was on the “Billionaire” book, and the other one was by one of the “extreme inequals, ” Bill Gates, of the Piketty book.

Mr. Gates posted a long article on his personal blog, in which he reviewed “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” In it, he agrees with a few of Mr. Piketty’s general points:

  • “High levels of inequality are a problem — messing up economic incentives, tilting democracies in favor of powerful interests, and undercutting the ideal that all people are created equal.
  • “Capitalism does not self-correct toward greater equality — that is, excess wealth concentration can have a snowball effect if left unchecked.
  • “Governments can play a constructive role in offsetting the snowballing tendencies if and when they choose to do so.”

He also agrees with the fundamental point that taxation of labor is disproportionately high, compared to tax on capital. Not only is income by wage earners (ordinary people from the 99 percent) taxed more highly than income from capital, corporations paying out those wages are taxed on those wage expenses as well, while they pay no taxes on interest or dividend payments. He then goes on to propose a system of taxes not on wealth (as Mr. Piketty advocates) but on expenses. In his defense for the tax structure he proposes, Mr. Gates touches on three things people can do with their wealth:

  • Invest it into their businesses to grow
  • Give it away through philanthropy
  • Spend it

That brings us to the Michael Lewis review of “Billionaires.” In it, he tells the story of a tennis coach who held a tennis camp in New Hampshire for Eastern kids of wealth. Every morning, there would be one box of cereal for every kid, some nice and some boring. The kids would rush and jostle to get the good stuff, and the losers were left with the stuff nobody wanted. By the third morning, the coach held a meeting and told the kids,  “When I’m in the big city, I never understand the faces of the people, especially the people who want to be successful. They look so worried! So unsatisfied!” Here his eyes closed shut and his hands became lobster claws, pinching and grasping the air in front of him. “In the city you see people grasping, grasping, grasping. Taking, taking, taking. And it must be so hard! To be always grasping-grasping, and taking-taking. But no matter how much they have, they never have enough. They’re still worried. About what they don’t have. They’re always empty.”

Mr. Lewis then lists numerous studies which all show the same thing: People with way more money than they need are perpetually unhappy. But, worse, not realizing that having so much more than others leaves them unfulfilled and unhappy, they keep looking to more money as the answer to that emptiness. It’s like someone adrift at sea, drinking sea water when they’re thirsty, only to discover that it leaves them even thirstier. After that, they keep thinking if they only drink even more sea water their thirst will go away.

The truth, as Michael Lewis pointed out, as corroborated by numerous studies, is that the money given away brings more happiness than the money strived for. “A … study, by a coalition of nonprofits called the Independent Sector, revealed that people with incomes below twenty-five grand give away, on average, 4.2 percent of their income, while those earning more than 150 grand a year give away only 2.7 percent.”

How about you? Money-wise, what brings you the most happiness?

The sunny side of pessimism

• Economy
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From the Declaration of Independence to the space program, optimism was traditionally something of a core American value; however, it is one that has taken quite a beating in recent years.

Not too long ago, an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll found that 76 percent of Americans lack confidence that their children will have a better life than they do. That is a stunning reversal from the onward-and-upward America in which baby boomers were reared. Then again, the optimism of the baby boom generation atrophied into a dangerous complacence which has been bad for the economy in general and for household finances in particular. The following are some examples of how this complacence has led to trouble, and why the new mood of pessimism might actually be constructive:

  1. Consumer confidence is the key to economic growth. To this day, consumer confidence figures are closely watched for signs of where the economy is heading. There are two flaws with this. The first is that there is something of a chicken-or-the-egg relationship between consumer confidence and the economy. Does confidence really help boost the economy, or do people simply feel more confident when they are experiencing stronger growth? The more damaging flaw is that the emphasis on consumer confidence presumes that the only problem with household finances is people’s attitudes. This ignores the reality that non-mortgage consumer debt is at an all-time high. People not only do not have the means to back up their confidence, but too much optimism right now might actually make the problem worse by encouraging people to borrow.
  2. Investing for the long term will fund retirement nest eggs. Faith in the hefty market returns of the 1980s and 1990s led professionals such as pension consultants and personal financial planners to plug overly-optimistic assumptions into their retirement funding projections. These high assumptions created the illusion that retirement plans were on track toward being fully funded, which allowed people to skimp on their contributions to those plans. All concerned were slow to revise their methods, reassuring themselves that future returns would make up for a disappointing year or two. Now, nearly 15 years into a century of unreliable stock market returns and low single-digit interest rates, reality is starting to seep into those retirement assumptions. People may not like it, but it will force them to fund their retirement plans more realistically.
  3. Next year will be better. The annual raise and possibility of a bonus were long staples of the American worker’s career. It was okay to overextend the credit card, sign up for a mortgage they couldn’t quite afford, or put off saving for retirement because rising salaries would soon ease those problems. Now people are considered lucky if their wages keep up with inflation; many had to take a step back in pay as a result of the last recession. This harsh reality should encourage people to make their financial commitments based on resources they know they have, not on those they hope they will have in the future.
  4. Housing is an asset that appreciates over time. Banks and home buyers alike thought it was perfectly fine to forego down payments and borrow heavily against home equity because rising home prices would soon build up a healthy equity cushion. When it turned out that prices could in fact go down — and stay down — banks and homeowners alike found themselves over-leveraged and under water. A more conservative approach to mortgage borrowing should lead to a more stable housing market.
  5. Education is the answer. Yes, education can open doors, but it cannot perform miracles. Frustrated with the recessionary job market, Americans borrowed in record amounts to go back to school. Student loan debt jumped by over 50 percent in just five years, and now tops $1.3 trillion. Too much of this money went to programs students were unsuited for, or degrees with no career value. A more consumerist approach to education would better help people get their careers on track without wasting so much money.
  6. Don’t let the market leave you behind. Bandwagon markets in stocks, housing, oil, and gold have led to spectacular busts. When getting rich quickly is the promise, it is amazing how many people become blind optimists. The rush into these markets is every bit as much of a panic as the scramble to get out when things go sour. People start out desperately afraid they will be left behind and end up desperately afraid they will be ruined. Perhaps by now they’ve been burned often enough to be hunting for investment bargains rather than the next bandwagon.

Pessimists are less fun at parties than optimists. They sweat the details, worry about what-ifs, build emergency savings, and never take their jobs for granted. In the wake of the banking crisis, poor financial market returns, and an extended stretch of high unemployment, that kind of pessimism might actually be healthy and lead to a sunnier future.

“Thinking Money” a rich change of pace from TV’s wasteland

• Consumer
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Have you ever wondered why your next-door neighbor must have a new car in his driveway every model year?

And not just a new car, but a new car with all the bells and whistles, like that 18-valve, turbo-charged, dyno-flex, hydroponic 4000 engine, 57-speaker audio system with Sistine Chapel acoustics and the buttery soft leathers imported from recently-discovered islands off the Madagascar coast?

It turns out he is just giving in to the inclinations that characterize too many American big spenders, who gain their greatest joy from acts of overspending.

That’s right, many humans are simply pre-programmed to overspend, an action that illuminates the pleasure centers of their brains. To these people, saving lacks sex appeal. It is spending, not saving, that is sexy.

This is among the groundbreaking and revealing factoids presented in “Thinking Money, ” a new documentary released to the nation’s public television stations October 16.

Check your local listings for time and channels in your neck of the woods — or contact your local Public Television Station about “Thinking Money.”

What a concept

For generations, commercial television programs have manipulated viewers into stupid financial tricks using a variety of carefully-crafted stratagems.

Take, for instance, a sitcom portraying a group of struggling young people who live together. Rather than a hovel, they reside in a big city apartment Bill and Melinda Gates would find unjustifiably luxe. Their clothes and hair styles would require a $10, 000 weekly budget, wardrobe assistant and makeup artist.

When the laughs are interrupted for commercial breaks, the air is larded with 30-second spots for luxury SUVs and lavish cruise vacations. The viewer comes away from the experience entertained — and also convinced that the only way to be happy is to remain perennially in debt indulging her consumerist instincts.

But “Thinking Money” actually takes the 180-degree opposite approach.

It shows us why we are so susceptible to hucksters peddling everything from 32-carat diamond broaches to candy-apple-red sports coupes, why we go on overspending when we know our futures depend on over-saving, why we are sitting ducks for slick-talking Madoff-esque serpents peddling risky or ultimately fraudulent investments and why we spend too little time searching for best credit cards. These, the documentary tells us, are all natural biases common to a huge swath of the human population, and they tend most to impact us when we are dealing with complex, long-term decisions.

“Thinking Money: The Psychology Behind Our Best and Worst Financial Decisions, uses a mix of humor, on-the-street interviews and provocative insights from innovative thinkers to explore why we spend, save (or don’t) and how we think about money, ” a press release for the show proclaims.

“Host Dave Coyne travels from Wall Street to Main Street, and from Yale to Santa Barbara wine country, to find out how our brains — and the marketplace — maneuver to get us to spend money we shouldn’t.”

Emotional trumps rational

As any used car salesman could tell us, people are given toward making spending decisions with their emotional brains. “Thinking Money” explains how this works. Having reached decisions emotionally, we use our brains’ rational side to justify the decision. “The only long-term solution for this is to make saving more sexy … for the brain, ” reports Stanford neuroeconomist Dr. Baba Shiv.

That objective better be realized pretty quickly. The documentary shows us how bad financial decision-making is wreaking havoc upon us and our society.

As Americans increasingly live paycheck to paycheck, the number of predatory credit sources has ballooned. It was once fairly difficult to find a payday loan establishment. Today, we learn, that there are more payday loan stores in America than there are McDonald’s, Starbucks and Targets — combined.

Then there is confirmation bias, a seemingly growing hindrance to effective saving. Confirmation bias is our tendency to be drawn to information that reflects what we already believe, and shun evidence that contradicts our convictions.

If, for instance, you feel the odds of saving enough to retire are stacked insurmountably against you, you are likely to seek that kind of messaging and ignore evidence of the many people who actually do bank enough bucks for retirement. The result? You give up before you even try to save.

If, in the depths of 2008, you believe the stock market is a rigged game that can only leave you busted, you will seek folks telling you never to even dream of investing in equities. And over the next six years, you’ll miss out on one of the greatest bull markets ever to stampede the financial markets.

Finally, there is the exploding information overload about college planning, retirement preparedness, and the bonds, stocks, mutual funds and ETFs that can help you line your ducks in a row.

So overwhelming is the information avalanche that some Americans wind up paralyzed when it comes to making both the small and big decisions, and head into their 65th year with $27 in retirement savings.

An oasis of insight

So if you would like to avoid the financial trap in which all too many of your neighbors find themselves, track down “Thinking Money” and consider the time you watch a shrewd investment in your own financial futures.

American television was once famously termed “the vast wasteland.” If that is true, “Thinking Money” just might be a little buried treasure tucked amid all the sagebrush and dirt.

Retirement planning for women: Strategies for a secure retirement

• Retirement
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  • More than two-thirds (68.1 percent) of the elderly poor are women.
  • An October 2012 study by the American Association of University Women found that over the course of a 35-year career, an American woman with a college degree will make about $1.2 million less than a man with the same education.
  • More than 70 percent of nursing home residents are women, whose average age at admission was 80. In 2006, the average annual cost of a private room in a nursing home was $75, 000 and a shared room almost $67, 000.
  • It is a well known fact that women live longer than men.
  • A 2010 survey by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies shows that just 8 percent of women feel they are already educated enough to successfully reach their retirement savings goals.

Where am I going with listing all these statistics? Women need to take their retirement planning seriously. Women will be much better off if they acknowledge this problem and take action now instead of waiting for their retirement years to address it. So what can women do to better prepare for a long retirement?

Start planning now

Whether you are a working woman, a stay-at-home mom, a mom with a son or daughter in college or just starting out in college, you have to think about your retirement now. As mentioned earlier, statistically, women live longer than men; they also tend to retire earlier than men. Put together, women have a much longer retirement than men. If you are going to be retiring early, you won’t have the entire 35 to 40 years to save. So you will probably need to put away more money than an average man to have the same income in your retirement. If you have not done so already, take stock of what you have already saved; calculate exactly how much you will need for your retirement and how much money you have to set aside every month to reach that goal.

Put your money to work even if you take a break from your career

Women tend to take the role of a caregiver more than men, which means they are more likely to take a break from their career for a few years or work part time. Just because you are taking a break doesn’t mean your retirement savings has to take a break as well. If you are stay-at-home mom, open a spousal IRA and set aside the maximum amount allowed. If you work part time, take retirement benefits into consideration when you are choosing a job. If you are interested, create a small business in an area that you like and that won’t interfere with your care-giving duties. Then set aside as much as possible in a solo 401k plan.

Don’t quit your career

You can take a break from your job; but if you had a career before you decided to quit, don’t completely quit your career. Keep in touch with your colleagues, keep your knowledge fresh by reading journals in your field; if you have any time to spare, pick up volunteering or an open-source project that can be done from home. Take a certification course to update your skills. When you do rejoin the workforce, double up your effort to save and catch up on savings. If you are over 50, don’t forget to take advantage of the higher catch-up contribution limits.

Be involved with the family finances

If you are one of those women who doesn’t take much interest in finances other than the basic home budget, please set aside some time and study your entire finances — your tax returns, bank accounts, assets, debts, insurance and your investments. (What investments do you and your spouse own? How are they doing? Do they match your goals? Do they match your risk tolerance as well as your spouse’s?) I am not saying you should not trust your spouse, but make sure you and your spouse are on the same page when it comes to goals and planning. If you are not confident about investments, take time to learn more about them or meet with a financial adviser who can guide you.

Put your retirement savings first – before your kids’ braces and college savings

It is natural to put your kids first in everything you do; but in this case, you will be doing your kids a favor by putting your retirement at the front of the queue. Otherwise, you might end up in a situation where your kids will have to support you. They can take a student loan for college education, but you can’t borrow for your retirement.

Understand how divorce and remarriage affect Social Security benefits

Divorce and remarriage is not uncommon. There are plenty of horror stories on stay-at-home moms sacrificing their career to raise the kids only to find themselves single, without any retirement savings or job prospects once the children are grown up. In a divorce, you will most likely be entitled to half of your spouse’s retirement assets. You are also entitled to Social Security payments equal to 50 percent of your ex-husband’s benefits, if you were married for at least 10 years. If you remarry, you will lose those benefits but you will be entitled to collect payments based on your new husband’s benefits. If you are a widow, you can receive full benefits at full retirement age for survivors or reduced benefits as early as age 60.

The path to retirement is a little more challenging for women than for men. But by planning early, saving diligently and investing wisely, women can overcome any obstacle and take charge of their retirement.