The end of the year is a busy time for most people. Unfortunately, it is usually also the last opportunity to make financial moves that will count towards the current year. If you’ve been slow to tackle your financial to-do list this year, consider completing your checklist before the end of the year. No matter how eager you are to …
Investing for the Future in the United States of Agita
Four years ago, I didn’t have a plan. Donald Trump was the surprise winner of the 2016 presidential election, and I wasn’t quite sure what to say to the people who were on the verge of losing their minds. In the wee hours of Nov. 9, 2016 — as futures trading suggested that the U.S. stock market was going to …
How Playing Poker Can Improve Your Financial Decisions
Playing poker can provide valuable lessons in how to make better financial decisions. In fact, you can learn how to make better decisions in general from poker and many other card games. Financial decisions are different from many other types of decisions, because financial decisions involve a lot of uncertainty. Many people don’t learn how to make decisions under uncertainty. …
Don’t Work on Your Party Laptop or Party on Your Work Laptop
DRAWING BOUNDARIES AND STICKING TO THEM IS GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH, AND YOUR PRIVACY. Every so often since the pandemic started, I’ll tweet this silly joke when the workday is over: “6:22 p.m. put the bad laptop away and switch to the party laptop!!!!!” It’s dumb, and it refers to a meme that has been around for years, but …
What to Do When Your Mind (Always) Dwells on the Worst-Case Scenario
Not long ago, a medical student, let’s call him Paul, walked into my shift in the emergency room of a large university and told me that his life was ruined. I’m a clinical psychologist. And for the past 20 years, I have worked — in many capacities — with young adults. I’ve counseled them in private practice. I’ve taught them …
For Long-Term Investors, Small Things Like Presidential Elections Don’t Matter
In a year of serial crises, solace for many people has come from an unlikely source: the stock market. Despite periodic jitters and a horrendous downturn earlier in the year, the stock market has been a surprisingly sturdy refuge. Although there is heartbreak almost everywhere else you look, most of the time stocks rise anyway. Through Friday October 16, the …
3 Tips for a Smooth Transition Into Retirement
People who have enjoyed their careers often find retirement difficult to accept. They may recognize that they are entering a new stage in life, but they will probably have given little thought to how they will deal with their changed status on an emotional level — and the demands their jobs placed on them may have left them with very …
The Pandemic Isn’t Over. Complete These Four Financial Checks This Fall
The first few weeks of the coronavirus pandemic were wracked with uncertainty—and, for many, a lot of sudden free time—as everything from community events to daily commutes ground to a halt. But now that you’ve perfected your favorite recipes and caught up on your stack of unread magazines, you may notice that your calendar is starting to fill up again. …
Make Mental Health Your #1 Priority
Many of us are feeling stressed out right now, and not just from this pandemic. The United States is plagued with political uncertainty. Around the world, wildfires are tainting the air orange, like a scene from the apocalypse. While in India (and many other countries) a sluggish economy is instilling fear in the minds of those just starting out in …
How To Simplify Your Decision Making Process For Retirement Planning
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the decisions you need to make when you’re preparing for retirement. So, let’s talk about toothpaste. That’s a more manageable topic than retirement, right? Imagine you need to buy toothpaste. You’re standing in the toothpaste aisle of your grocery store. Before you are dozens of toothpaste options. There’s whitening toothpaste. There’s gum-health toothpaste. …