Author Archives: ajkeown

An Unplanned Expense of $1,000 Would Be Tough for Most Americans to Handle

Posted on August 13, 2011 by ajkeown

What would happen to you if you needed to come up with $1,000 for an emergency?  If you’re like most Americans, you’d be in trouble.  This is a question that CNN.Money looks at in an August 10th article titled “Most … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 2, Measuring Financial Health and Making a Plan, Ch. 5, Cash Management | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Jean Chatzky on Surviving the Downturn

Posted on August 12, 2011 by ajkeown

Jean Chatzky, one of the best personal finance writers around, just wrote her first column for Newsweek.  This column is titled “How to Protect your Portfolio from Politics” and also appears with a slightly different title, “Jean Chatzky: Surviving the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 2, Measuring Financial Health and Making a Plan, Ch. 5, Cash Management, Ch.11, Investment Basics, Personal Finance In The News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Avoiding Credit Card Late Fees

Posted on August 11, 2011 by ajkeown

At some point in your life you’re probably going to be hit with a credit card late fee – things just seem to happen.  Fortunately, as you learn in Ch. 6, the new credit card rules that went into effect … Continue reading →

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Ponzi Schemes and Heisman Trophy Winners

Posted on August 10, 2011 by ajkeown

Ponzi schemes have been around for a long time, and there just doesn’t seem to be any end in sight to them.  The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi who became rich and famous in 1920, making, at his peak, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 1, Financial Planning Process, Ch.11, Investment Basics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Market Drops – Is It Time For Panic?

Posted on August 9, 2011 by ajkeown

August 9th was a tough day for common stocks as the three major indexes – the S&P 500, the DJIA, and NASDAQ all fell between 5% and 7%, making August 9th the worst day on Wall Street since 2008.  In … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.11, Investment Basics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

What To Do With Your Cash

Posted on August 9, 2011 by ajkeown

Certainly, if you want to survive this, or any, economic storm you need something in the way of an emergency fund.  In fact, in Ch. 1, Principle 5: Stuff Happens, or the Importance of Liquidity speaks to this very issue, … Continue reading →

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So You’re in College – Is it too early to start thinking about retirement?

Posted on August 8, 2011 by ajkeown

If you’re a college student, saving for your retirement probably doesn’t sound all that exciting – in fact, if you’re like most college students, the extent of most of your planning is focused only a week or two ahead.  After … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 3, Time Value of Money, Ch.16, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Debt Deal and Your Money

Posted on August 8, 2011 by ajkeown

In Ch. 1 we discuss the personal financial planning process.  In that process the fifth step is to review your progress, reevaluate, and revise your plan.  This becomes even more important when the rules to the game change, and that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 1, Financial Planning Process, Ch. 7, Consumer Loans, Ch.14, Investing in Bonds | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment