“Be frugal.” “Save for the future.” “Live on less than you make.”

That’s my usual financial advice, and it’s well worth repeating even though too many Americans aren’t following it. Sometimes, though, I find it necessary to work with clients to overcome a different problem—underspending.

Huh? How can underspending possibly be a problem? Isn’t it a virtue to save and accumulate?

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In a previous column I explained why any currency-issuing country, like the US, will never default on its obligations or run out of money with which to purchase goods and services priced in its own currency. Sovereign nations that are currency issuers have no solvency constraints, unlike currency users such as individuals, corporations, and government entities that don’t issue currency.

To follow up, let’s look at what has become known as Modern Monetary Realism (MMR). Economist Cullen O. Roche describes it in a 2011 article on his Pragmatic Capitalism website titled “Understanding the Monetary System.”

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“Sometimes financial literacy doesn’t work.” That’s what Rick told Anne Kates Smith of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine for an article published in the August issue.

Not that Rick is opposed to financial literacy. But he and other professionals quoted in the Kiplinger article point out that we simply can’t learn and practice money management skills like budgeting if we have heavy emotional baggage around money.

The article, titled “Your Worst Money Problems Are All In Your Head,” makes a strong case for becoming aware of our money beliefs and using financial therapy to realign the ones that don’t serve us well. Read the entire piece here.

Is the United States in danger of bankruptcy? Contrary to what you may read in the media or hear from many politicians, no, it isn’t. The US Treasury will never run out of dollars. It’s impossible.

The reason is relatively simple. The US government owns a printing press. As long as goods, services, or obligations are priced in US dollars, the supply of dollars to our government to buy those goods and services is unlimited. This is not true of individuals, corporations, cities, states, and countries that don’t issue their own currency.

For most people, this is a hard concept to grasp, with good reason. The capacity of our government to create an unconstrained supply of dollars is a relatively new phenomenon.

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What’s at the top of your retirement bucket list? If you are like most folks that I help prepare for retirement, travel is high on that list.

As I’ve grown older, my views on retirement travel have changed. I used to buy into the dream of retirement as the “Golden Years.” I thought of it as the time in life when people are free to do what they want, when they want, with whom they want.

Working with older clients has taught me that my younger views of the glory of retirement were a bit naïve. While certainly some people do experience years of unlimited and unfettered travel, many more don’t find it so easy.

Doing “what you want, when you want, with whom you want,” assumes three things we often take for granted: good health, adequate finances, and meaningful relationships.

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Be frugal. Live on less than you make. Save for the future. It’s my message, and I’m sticking to it.

Just in case you’re getting tired of that message, though, let’s take a look at thrift from a slightly different perspective. For anyone who wants to throw cash around, here are some effective ways to waste your money:

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