Year of the Rat & Your Money
Say goodbye to the Year of the Pig, and hello to the Year of the Rat, the first year of the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle. Last year, the Pig was supposed to symbolize wealth and generosity, and be a calming force in world events. Hmmm, not so sure that manifested. The Rat is all about […]
The Diligent Squirrels
It’s been seven years since I first met the Squirrel family, who live in San Francisco, have three children, aspirations of the best education for those children and a strong desire to be homeowners. With all of these goals, they seem to make the improbable possible. A family needs to make more than $250,000 per […]
Money Club
I hate book clubs. I have tried a few over the years and find that either I’m the only one who reads the book, or we talk about the book for five minutes and spend the rest of the time drinking wine. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just isn’t for me. […]
Want to Make A Big Move?
Tired of feeling like all you do is work just to pay your bills? If yes, you are not alone. Redfin reported that San Francisco lost more residents than any other US city in the last quarter of 2017. And in 2018, 49% of Bay Area residents said they would consider leaving California because of the cost […]
Maximizing Fun
I love doing fun things! Who doesn’t? Living in Europe provides me with a new playground of opportunities, and after being in France for more than a year I can look back and see how much money I have spent on that fun. My budget is not unlimited, so for the next year I am […]
Keep On Truckin’
In 2014, I started working with Bill. He wasn’t my typical client. Divorced, dad to two teenage sons, not working in finance, law or technology. He was laid back, and he knew what he loved: his boys, his dog, music and surfing. Financially speaking, he felt like a wreck. He wanted a budget, to get […]
THE COST OF COMMUTING
Unless you land a 100% virtual job, most people have some commute to work. If you live in a major metropolitan area, you can either live in the city and paying more for housing or move out of the city to hopefully save on the cost of housing and get some extra space. While urban […]
MONEY = FEELINGS
Money means so much to people and is a representation of our values. Strangely, this is why you are not supposed to talk about it or ask about it. If your parents didn’t talk about it, how are you supposed to know how to talk about money and communicate with your partner. According to Financial […]
The Merkel Plan
Alia and Tim were like many of my clients: living in a major metropolitan city, earning a good living, bought a great house they wanted to fix up over time. They came to me for advice and to learn what it would take to scale back work in ten years and still be on track […]
Keeping up with the Joneses and Social Spending
“Keeping up with the Joneses” refers to benchmarking oneself vis-à-vis your neighbors or social circle when it comes to material goods or social class. This idiom dates back to a comic strip that started in 1913 and ran all the way to 1940. While social climbing and keeping up with your neighbors is mostly seen […]
