Every week I find a few great articles I feel are especially valuable. Following are this week’s best. I hope you find them as useful as I did.
This week’s favorites include what happened to Silicon Valley Bank, is professional courtesy dead, ways even a physicians can save money on groceries, how to master living below your means, and what people get wrong regarding the FIRE movement.
Happy reading!
With the failure of a bank, suddenly everyone is up in arms about the banking system. A few years ago I had money in a bank that failed, but I never knew it happened until someone a few months later told me. What I did notice was my bank changed names when another bank bought the failed bank. If you have less than $250k in the bank, then the FDIC insurance means you don’t have to worry, the government will cover all accounts with $250K or less in them, which is almost everyone. Stop Ironing Shirts shares one prospective as to why Silicon Valley Bank became insolvent.
Professional courtesy, not charging other physicians for your service, used to be very prevalent. The first time it was given to me was when I was in Medical School. My doctor told me about professional courtesy and didn’t charge me for my visit. But the government overreach is working hard to kill this benevolent action. Why would they care? Maybe they like collecting taxes on the income we should have collected. If you do extend professional courtesy you should read what Medscape wrote in What Can Go Wrong When Doctors Grant Professional Courtesy.
Groceries are one of the most common budget items where a very minimal effort can make a big difference, since many people don’t pay any attention at the grocery store. My wife knows that our food expense goes way up if I help with the grocery shopping. She asks me to grab a jar of peanut butter and then puts mine back on the shelf pointing out this other one, that tastes the same, costs half the price, or a different size of the same product is cheaper per ounce. She has saved us a fortune by paying attention and buying the cheaper version of the product. The White Coat Investor shares with us an article on ways even physicians can save money on groceries. If you need real savings, eliminate #8 on the list don’t just cut back on it.
Anyone who wants to do well financially, can only do so by living below their means. Living an over indulgent or borrowed lifestyle will usually come back to haunt them. A Dime Saved shares with us How to Master the Art of Financial Discipline by Living Below Your Means. I have tried to live my life this way ever since the day I literally ran out of money. Right then and there, I decided I never want to be depleted of all funds ever again. Being disciplined works in many aspects of our lives.
For us older people, the FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) movement is fairly new. When I was a kid, the principles of FIRE were not named, they were simply the right way to do things. I chose to live on half of my income and planned to retire by age 50 in the late 80s. I didn’t even think I was doing anything special. Now, becoming financially independent early in life has a name. The Sytch sheds some light on What People get Wrong About the FIRE Movement. Have you been guilty of any of these wrong thoughts?
I hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did. I look forward to updating you again next week with a few more articles I find especially interesting. If you read an especially good article, send me the link so I can share it with others.
