When you have to spend money on things (which of course you do, every day), the world can seem like a bleak place. Bearing in mind the unsavory aspects of industrialization and globalization, it can seem like every transaction you make inevitably negatively affects someone or something,...
For most of us, the whole process of car buying is a mystery. That, of course, is partly by design — after all, knowledge is power, right? Which explains the whole put-upon drama and bizarre ritual at the car dealership: The misleading advertising; sitting at a small desk in...
If you’ve recently gotten married, or you’re just about to (or you did long ago, but have recently started arguing about this), you’re gonna have to answer the big money question: Should you and your partner get joint accounts? The answers are both straightforward and complicated, so...
It pays to be a jerk. That’s according to new research from the University of Copenhagen, which found that being a “nice guy” means you’re more likely to earn less money in your career after the age of 30. “I find that men’s earnings are not affected...
Emotional intelligence—the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others—was quickly (and somewhat blindly) accepted as a fundamental human trait after being introduced to the masses in 1995. These days, being able to live in harmony with your feelings is one of...
Real estate is obscenely expensive these days: The median home price nationwide in April 2018 was $312,000, which is an eye-watering 50 percent increase over the past 10 years. But if you live in or around a city like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle or basically...
One of the things I’ve learned in my few short years of writing about personal finance is that people hate being given personal finance advice. I mean, they absolutely hate it! In particular, they hate being told that they should spend less and save more — which is terribly...
Perhaps you invested in the wrong cryptocurrency; perhaps you drank it all away at the local pub. Maybe you suffered a terrible event like a fire, or someone got sick and now you have to pay off their medical bills. Or it could be that you just...
Every time you want to borrow money, it comes with an interest rate. This is, of course, the “price” of borrowing that money. But why is the interest rate for a mortgage different for that of an auto loan? Or a credit card? What makes them change,...
Modern adult life all but requires us to borrow money for something or other, and your credit score is getting ever more important. It may one day literally determine your social standing and which friends you hang out with, as with what’s happening in China right now....
Until very recently, I was a firm believer in the “let’s just wing it” mentality. No matter the size of the presentation or the time I had to prepare for it, I held firm in the belief that my charm and quick wit would save me from...
At first, the idea of keeping a file on one of your coworkers (say, screenshotting Slack conversations and saving emails) seems childish and a bit insane — after all, your life isn’t a Soviet era spy novel. But if you consider that former FBI Director James Comey kept notes...