Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Money

Why You Won’t Get Rich Quick

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Get rich quick schemes are everywhere.

From late night informercials touting real estate success to the coffee shop barista that wants to sell you on the magical pyramid scheme he’s caught up in, it just seems so tempting.

You see everyone else has it better than you.  They’ve figured out the trick, and they’ll let you in on the secret for only 17 easy payments of $42.71.

Deep down we know better.

We know that getting rich quick schemes won’t work, but we’re still drawn to them because… well… being rich sounds great.

We live in an immediate gratification society and if we could all snap our fingers to be rich the resulting sound of the cumulative snaps would be a sonic boom.

Unfortunately, getting rich quick just doesn’t work.

Why Getting Rich Quick Doesn’t Work

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Why Do Women Make Less Money Than Men? Are We Training Them to Earn Less?

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That women generally earn less than men is a well known fact. 

Many people attribute the income difference to the fact that women are more likely to leave the job field to become caretakers, either for their children or their parents.  In fact, Time reported that “over a period of 15 years, according to a 2004 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a full 52% of women in their prime earning age range of 26 to 59 go through at least one full calendar year earning nothing at all, compared with just 16% of men.”

Of course, that absence in the work place can account for some difference in pay, especially when women stay out of the workforce for several years while their children are young.

However, women leaving the work field to care for others is only part of the story.

When Does the Wage Gap Between Men and Women Begin?

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4 Money Attitudes that Will Lead to Financial Failure

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Sometimes, the way we think about money can have a big impact on how successful we are financially.

It seems strange that your mindset could matter so much, but how you think about money, and what you think is possible, can affect your financial success over time.

Take a few minutes to examine your money attitudes, and determine whether or not they are healthy.  Think about some of the attitudes you have that might be bringing your finances down the road to financial failure, including:

1. I’ll Start Saving When I Make More Money

My husband and I fell victim to this attitude early on in our marriage.  We thought we had to be making a certain amount of money before we could start saving.

Eventually, though, we realized that we needed to start small.  Building the habit, especially with our low income, was more important than anything else.

It’s important to get in the habit of saving.
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What is the Difference Between a Will and a Trust?

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Thinking about your own death is often unpleasant yet unfortunately necessary.

When you die there are a certain set of rules that dictate how your assets will be distributed to your heirs.  Those rules are set by your state’s estate tax laws.

If you don’t want your assets to go to the state and likely take years to be doled out to your heirs then you need a will.  Some people may also need a trust, but a will and a trust are two different legal issues.

Finding out the difference can be pretty confusing and having the wrong type of legal protection for your assets can be a catastrophic estate planning error.

How are a Will and Trust Different?

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How to Take Charge of Your Financial Destiny

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With a new year underway, it’s time to seriously consider how you will take charge of your own financial destiny.

Too often, it’s easy to sit back and let someone else have too much control over your finances.

Instead of remaining a victim of circumstance, make it a point to take charge of your financial destiny in the coming year.

Taking Charge of Your Financial Destiny

Your Money Attitude is Everything

The first step is to pinpoint your money attitude.

Your financial attitude has a lot to do with whether or not your feel as though you can take charge of your financial destiny.  Many of us think of our finances as something outside our control.  We are worried that the boss will fire us.  The market is doing poorly and that is the reason our finances are failing.
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