The Money Rundown – February 2, 2019

The Money Rundown is a collection of articles and other content I’ve enjoyed over the week and think you’ll find beneficial.

My goal is to empower as many of you to take control of your lives by taking control of your finances as I can. Providing quality content, whether mine or others’, furthers that goal.

(By the way, I love reading new content, so please feel free to share anything interesting you come across with me via email or on Twitter.)

Now on to this week’s Money Rundown!

Great content from the interwebs

How Much Money Do Doctors Make and Why It Doesn’t Matter (The Physician Philosopher)

People often assume that doctors and other high-income earners are rich and have no money problems. Jimmy aka TPP explains why that’s often not true when it comes to doctors due to various factors. Indeed, although doctors make on average between $223,000 and $329,000, many are living paycheck-to-paycheck. The same is true for other high-income professionals, as well.

As Jimmy explains, the numbers only tell half the story—people also have to look at the psychology behind why they make the choices they do. This explains how a person making six figures can be struggling. Once people decide to change and identify the reason they want to change, they’ll be able to right the ship and accomplish their financial goals.

The Missing Investment (The Graying Saver)

In the same vein as the previous post, this post digs deep into why we handle money the way we do. If it were only about the numbers, everyone would be on top of their finances. We all know what to do, but we each have habits and emotional needs that bear on our money choices. To make the changes you want to make, you have to identify and understand these habits and emotional needs.

My Reminder that Job Security Is a Fantasy (Money the Wright Way)

I loved this post because it hammers home an issue that many people don’t think about. All of the tips about making yourself invaluable to an employee aren’t worth anything, especially when you’re in a state where you or your employer can terminate the relationship at will.

K. Wright shared two situations she has run into while working, one of which caused her to lose her job. These types of situations are the motivation for her to pursue financial independence. This is similar to my feelings on the matter. I don’t want to retire early, but I want my family to be secure and unfazed by anything happening at my job or in the market in general.

Who Is Responsible for Teaching Financial Literacy? (Sisters for FI)

Most Americans shy away from conversations about money. It’s such a taboo topic that we choose not to broach the subject at all.

Have you ever thought about all of the people and groups who we interact with who could have taught us the basics of personal finance? This post looks at each one and provides thoughtful insight on the role that each plays and could play in the development of our knowledge surrounding personal finance.

Bonus: It also provides a few great tips for talking to your kids about money.

What Do You Do After You Pay Off Your Student Loans (Debt & Cupcakes feat. The Frugal Wallet)

In this guest post, The Frugal Wallet shares what it’s like to be on the other side of their debt payoff journey—they’ve paid off over $130,000!

I love their honesty about how anti-climactic paying off the last debt was once it sunk in and how there was a sense of being lost because they had accomplished the goal they had been striving for so long to reach. They’ve since recalibrated and have come up with their post-debt financial plans, which include becoming financially independent in 8-10 years.

13 Valuable Lessons from Buying My Dream Home (Vital Dollar)

In this introspective post, Marc considers whether buying his dream house was actually worth it. For example, there are many expenses that have come with the house that he didn’t expect.

Although this post is about a dream house, it made me think about all the things we think we want until we actually get them. Then, we realize they’re not as great as they seemed when they were elusive. I’ve definitely been there on more than one occasion.

The latest from Their Money Goals

This week, I took a look at how to handle your money in those months where you receive a third paycheck. Check it out and let me know what you think.

What to Do With a Three-Paycheck Month

Quote of the week

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.” — Gary Player

That’s it for this week. What did you think of these posts? Anything interesting you came across this week that I should read?