Comments on: Personal finance for writers, or how to avoid winding up too broke to find $400

By: HarryBosch

HarryBosch — Sun, 01 May 2016 18:29:19 +0000

Neal Gabler may want to consider (gasp) living in flyover country where the cost of living is lower. I realize the elite publishers are usually based in NYC, but a buck does go farther out here.

By: wyla

wyla — Sun, 01 May 2016 16:44:57 +0000

In reply to lauravanderkam. Wow. I've long thought we should be teaching these topics in our schools. By 7th or 8th grade, kids should understand the power of compounding interest and the historical returns in index stock funds (and how they outpace almost all fund managers).

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 01:16:31 +0000

In reply to Carrie Willard. @Carrie- yes, you should write a post! That was the thing about this article - it does get people thinking and talking, and it is easy to have an opinion. But I agree, it is a beautiful thing to be able to write a large check (as you did) and not sweat it. Not that it's fun to write such a check, but it is good to not have it be scary.

By: Carrie Willard

Carrie Willard — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 22:51:28 +0000

In reply to CNM. Lying to his wife betrays a character weakness: dishonesty, cowardice. This is "financial infidelity", and I wouldn't have let my husband get away with it. Married people should be partners in managing money no matter WHO is earning the bulk of it. The wife doesn't get off free either, she was foolish to put her fingers in her ears and cry "la la la la". Get involved woman, SAHM doesn't mean you get to opt out.

By: Carrie Willard

Carrie Willard — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 22:22:25 +0000

I tried to ignore this article but all my favorite bloggers kept mentioning it, then I found myself transfixed by the comments! It seems everyone wants to either say the author is an idiot or put the blame on someone other than the person spending the money (the government, big business, “the economy”, illegal aliens, racism/whiteness, Democrats, Republicans, etc…)
The bottom line for me is that the only factor I can control is ME. Nobody is coming to save me so I had better do the right stuff so I can minimize the impact of stuff I CAN’T control.
My husband and I don’t earn as much as the author, but we just cut a check for $23,000 to Uncle Sam without too much sweat. I’m a stay at home mom with no college education, but I’ve been able to earn enough (after my divorce) to put a roof over my kids’ heads. I had no debt, but my second husband did. We buckled down, budgeted, held weekly Budget Meetings a la Dave Ramsey and paid the debts off (with a huge contribution from me, earnings from an ebook I wrote). We are frugal. We pay cash for late model cars. All our friends, who earn less than we do, go on cruises. We never have – vacation is camping or sharing a rented house on the beach with family, cutting costs, cooking at home. Being frugal in our hobbies and recreation, and TEACHING our kids. I swear my 15 year old has more financial savvy than the author of that article with his degrees. Recently at my behest the kids all transferred their savings to a local credit union that pays 5% interest until they’re 25 years old, away from an online bank that paid .5%. We talk money around here all the time. We can’t wait for the school system to teach our kids about finances, and anyone can learn about money for free using the public library, the great educational equalizer. I could go on and on and should probably write a post of my own. 🙂

By: Carrie Willard

Carrie Willard — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 22:07:45 +0000

In reply to lauravanderkam. My parents paid less than $5000 for my wedding, many people said it was the most beautiful wedding they'd attended. I cannot understand a parent who would jeopardize their retirement to pay for a princess wedding. The kindest thing my parents have done for me in a very long time is when they told me they had purchased long-term disability insurance, paid off their house and amassed a nest egg. They'll be 90 and I'll still have teenagers at home, and it's a HUGE relief to know they'll be financially sound.

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:09:35 +0000

In reply to Anne Bogel. @Anne- yeah, she can pull off the once-every-decade mega bestseller! For the rest of us it's more of a volume game, really. Since I had never heard of Neal Gabler before this, I suspect he's in the pool with the rest of us.

By: Anne Bogel

Anne Bogel — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:54:00 +0000

Will and I have been talking about this piece since the Atlantic hit our mailbox a few days ago. It’s been great conversation fodder, but definitely sobering. I appreciate this analysis (and I’m still chuckling at the Laura Hillenbrand line!)

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 19:15:07 +0000

In reply to Cloud.

@Cloud – I think, reading between the lines, the issue now is big debt caused by compounding IRS penalties, and having remortgaged the house. Maybe that should be the public service piece coming out of this: pay your taxes and don’t use your house as a piggy bank…

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 19:11:29 +0000

In reply to CNM.

@CNM – I think this conflating of two separate issues is what bothered me about the whole Anne-Marie Slaughter piece a few years ago. It took some legitimate issues — completely inflexible workplaces, maternity leave policies, the inability to afford daycare, inequitable relationships — but put a personal story on it that did not match: a woman who had not actually experienced any of those problems.