How do people manage their money when nobody’s looking? What is behind the financial choices—good and bad—that we make?

Many of those choices are shaped by our “money scripts,” the unconscious beliefs we all hold about money. Most of these beliefs are partial truths, which we tend to follow blindly even though we aren’t consciously aware of them. Like a script for a play, these beliefs are often “written” by someone else and we end up memorizing them for delivery in the financial “play” of our life. The problems start when the play—our financial situation—changes, but our lines, or beliefs, don’t.

Money scripts deeply influence what we do around money. They are especially significant in keeping us stuck in self-destructive cycles of financial behavior—such as overspending, hoarding, accumulating burdensome debt, being overly fearful about the future, or failing to plan for the future at all. Continue Reading »

Have you ever dreamed of having a lot of money? Or wondered how you could get really rich? Probably you have; most of us have such dreams, at least from time to time.

As I emphasize in my work, there is much more to wealth than accumulating money. Having a good income, learning to live on less than you earn, and investing wisely are only part of wealth in the larger sense. For the moment, though, having money is precisely what I am talking about. Being rich, according to various studies, is defined as having a minimum net worth of somewhere between one million and ten million dollars.

How do you get that rich? Probably the easiest way to riches is to inherit your wealth. Only about 15% of all millionaires inherit their wealth, however; some 85% of all millionaires are self-made. Continue Reading »

I’ve discovered a wonderful new tool that any columnist ought to have. It’s a way to protect myself from anyone who might be inclined to disagree with me, challenge any of my facts, write me nasty letters, or attack my character. Apparently, all I have to do is trademark my name.

I learned this from author and radio talk show host Dave Ramsey. By and large, I agree with and fully support what Dave does. In his show and his books, he encourages people to get out from under crushing debt and teaches them how to build and maintain financial peace. His work has helped thousands of people better their lives. I’ve recommended his material in my own books and columns, and I’ll certainly continue to do so.

A few months ago, however, I wrote a column in which I strongly disagreed with some investment advice Dave had given. As usual, this column was published in print newspapers, on my websites, and as a video on YouTube. Continue Reading »

“It’s not shopping, it’s retail therapy.”

“I shop, therefore I am.”

“When I die, bury me at the mall, so my wife will come to visit me.”

Despite all the jokes like this, for too many people shopping is anything but a joking matter. This was the message of our March 27 teleclass with Dr. April Benson. She is a nationally known psychologist who specializes in the treatment of compulsive buying disorder. Continue Reading »

The title of one of our recent teleclasses was “Spending Your Way to Wealth.” Our guest was Kathleen Fox (www.foxcraftinc.com), co-author with me of Conscious Finance.

Maybe we should have changed the title to “Not Spending: Your Way to Wealth.” Kathleen introduced herself as “congenitally thrifty” and then proceeded to prove it with her suggestions for wise spending.

She began by making an important distinction between being “stingy” and being “thrifty.” Stinginess is hoarding your resources out of fear; thrift is using your resources consciously so you are able to have and do what matters to you. In Kathleen’s example, being stingy is wearing glasses with an outdated prescription and holding them together with duct tape; being thrifty is managing wisely so you have the money to get new glasses when you need them. Continue Reading »