Back in the day, I was a spender - a big time spender actually. It was the late 1980’s, the economy was starting to really take off and President Reagan had just lowered taxes across the board. I was in my late 20’s, earning a six figure income as a partner of a fast growing financial consulting firm. Life was good.
For any person on the journey to financial independence (FI), one of the most daunting tasks to contemplate, as well as figure out, is how much is enough?
How Much is Enough & The Nature of Fulfillment
The following is a guest post by my friend and colleague, Diane Williams who along with her husband became FI (financially independent) after reading the book Your Money or Your Life. Their story is both inspiring and exciting and I would encourage anyone who wants to know more about how they achieved FI at age 50 to contact Diane.
How much money does it really take before we consider ourselves to be rich? Based on net worth and income, this infographic by Mint.com, which is based on a recent Gallup poll reveals just what we Americans believe the 'rich index' is.
Although poor investment choices and shoddy money management habits pose some of the greatest risks to your long term financial security, an additional risk that’s not often considered is the risk our over demanding egos pose to our financial freedom.
It's the ego that wants us to believe that we are how much money we make, the job title we hold, the type of clothes we wear, the home we live in or the car we drive. It’s the ego that demands we compare ourselves to our colleagues, neighbors, family members and even celebrities. The ego has us continually striving yet never quite arriving. And most toxic of all, it’s the ego that convinces us our self-worth is linked indelibly to our net-worth.
Transforming your relationship with money is mostly an inside job. Exploring your history, emotions and assumptions around money AND being willing to challenge and change outdated beliefs is easier said than done - yet it must be done.
Have you just filed your 1040 tax return and later realized you had made a mistake on it? First of all – don’t feel badly, people make mistakes all the time while filing their tax returns, after all, they are pretty complicated, especially if you do it yourself. And second, don’t panic and ignore the problem – there are ways to fix your errors and Certified Public Accountant, K.M. Pittman, in a short article written for Daily Worth, wrote how to handle tax filing problems with relative ease.
Pittman gives links to the IRS list of common mistakes, where you can read the top 9 common tax errors people make when filing taxes. There is also a link where you can file Form 1040X, the amended return and also the time limit in which to fix your error.
