Safetogototown

  Last week I attempted to lay the ground work for the relationship that monetary decisions have with morals.  To review a couple of the key concepts from past posts Threshold: The household income at which all basic needs are met.  If your household income is at the threshold you are addressing your basic needs such as shelter, food, health care, child care etc.  You do not have any funds remaining for vacations, savings or emergencies.  Threshold values vary from state to state and city to city.  My focus is on households that have earnings in excess of the threshold. Money and morality.  In the Judeo-Christian teachings money (aka wealth) is a gift from god and should be treated with humility and gratitude.  Other religions also view wealth as a gift.  The Buddhist view is that money itself is neither good nor evil and that its qualities are reflected in how we use it.  In short we can get a better sense of an entity's character by lo...

  I have spent the last couple weeks establishing a threshold for household income.  Anyone below that threshold has very little flexibility when it comes to making decisions on how to spend money. As one of the sites described the minimum household income as: "That income would pay for rent and utilities, minimal food, healthcare, child care, and other basics." The threshold income is not: "But it’s not enough to cover DoorDash deliveries, restaurant meals, a deluxe apartment, vacations, or savings for retirement or a house." As I have said previously living below these threshold has to be a difficult existence.  Imagine every penny being accounted for before you earn it.  Another way to look at it is that all of the decisions regarding money are made for you.  You really have few or no monetary choices.  What really interests me is the decisions made by those of us that enjoy incomes above the threshold.  Of especial interest is what those decisions ...

  Continuing on from last weeks post.  In this weeks post I am looking at the way we make decisions about our money.  Basically what we do with what we make.  As I said last week I approach this topic with some trepidation.  I am not a licensed financial analyst nor am I an academic economist.  I do not hold degrees in psychology nor human behavior.  I am just a 61 (almost 62) year old guy that has been around the block a few times.  I do feel that I have reasonably acute observational and analytical skills.  I have seen a few things, done a few things and have learned from them. I also consider myself basically an average guy.  I have more education than the average American (masters degree).  As for above average accomplishments I would put completing an Ironman on the list and I have probably read more books than the average person.  When it comes to deficiencies career would come to mind.  I probably did not utilize my...

I will admit that I approach this weeks post with a degree of trepidation.  Delving into what motivates people is a very difficult subject.  It is obviously very difficult for someone with very little formal education in psychology.  If you even call motivation psychology.  I am not sure what field of study motivation falls into.  Also I am not a financial advisor so any numbers presented are not to be taken as financial advise.  However even though not formally trained in human psychology or personal finance I do keep my eyes and ears opened and I do feel that experience and a life lived allows me to make certain observations about the world. I am continuing on from my previous post where I question the need for formal financial training to compute simple benchmarks such as net worth.  Much has been made about the public and financial ignorance as a root of peoples economic problems.  This previous post got me thinking about financial decisions a...

  I am a little late with this weeks post.  I have been enjoying some pleasant weather, bike riding and yard work.  I also took in some local Texas music at the 27th annual Texas Music Revolution.  I quite enjoyed listening to local bands at this multi stage event.  A few rain storms curtailed some of the activities but also provided cooler weather.  In fact it got outright chilly there later in the evening.  All in all an enjoyable couple of days. I also struggled with what to write about this week.  With many things distracting me (having too much fun) I was not as focused on my search for a topic this week.  I also had a family member dealing with forest fires in their area.  Most of my screen time was checking news reports regarding evacuation in his area.  Here I am now focused and ready to proceed with this weeks post.  It is now time to look at information and how we make decisions. I have come across articles like this ...