Staying Healthy is the Best Way to Improve Your Finances

Maintaining good health is important for maintaining good finances.

When you've lost everything else, you still have a lot if you have your good health. This platitude has fallen on stressed and despairing ears for generations. But I truly believe that if you are healthy you can overcome any financial setback. If you lose your job for health-related reasons it won't be easy to replace that income. And the same is true for anyone who supports herself as an independent contractor. Freelancers and contractors all share a common worry: how can we pay for healthcare?

What Do Billionaires Know that We Don't?

Howard Hughes had a legendary life. He was also known to be ruthless and hard working.

I met someone at a business lunch who explained his theory of wealth to me. I'm not saying I believe everything he said but his ideas piqued my curiosity. He began his impromptu lecture by asking, "What do billionaires know that we don't know?" I immediately knew I was in for a long lunch. I only prayed I wasn't about to have lunch with a Mansplainer. Fortunately, he's just a crackpot with a few crazy ideas. But what an entertaining crackpot he turned out to be!

Bury Your Pride and Drive that Sedan another Four Years

Americans love their SUVs and hate their car payments. I refuse to pay more than I can afford.

It's official. I am now the only person in my social group who doesn't own an SUV. I refuse to hock my life for a $40,000 "cheapie" when my 5-year-old sedan carries me around just fine. Sport utility vehicles may be big and roomy but they are way over-priced. All my friends have children and pets. Somehow they managed with their Toyota Camrys, Nissans, and Volkswagens before they bought SUVs. And now they complain about how high their car payments are. Ladies, I told you not to do that and you did it anyway. You only have yourselves to blame.

What Every Freelance Writer Should Know about Blogging

Every writer learns by doing. Here are some of the lessons I learned as a freelance writer.

Freelance writing has come a long way since my grandmother began earning extra money writing for magazines in the 1980s. Back then she had to visit the library and research markets in books and magazines for writers. Then she sent off query letters, pitching article ideas to small and medium-size magazines. She did that because she loved writing and as a mother raising 4 kids she wanted to work from home. Her career lasted about 10 years before she stopped writing.

How Can You Make Money on the Internet?

How to Make Money on the Internet

I am not happy with the options we have for making money on the Internet.  It should be simple but instead it's complicated.  What bothers me is that every month -- every month -- I read a news story about someone who made it rich on the Internet.  And they are usually kids.  These stories make me feel like I have missed opportunities.  But I know, when I dig deeper into the facts, what I will find.  There is always someone who helped the "lucky" opportunistic millionaire.  I have never read a story about a true self-made Internet millionaire.  They don't exist.  The people with the best networks of contacts are the ones who succeed.

The Internet Has Become a Very Different Place

The Internet is a much more frightening place than it used to be.  We have become divided between crazed uber-liberals and crazed uber-conservatives.  I look for Websites with moderate points of view and find fewer and fewer of them.  This polarization leaves me wondering what will happen next in the world.  I am not sure we are ready for that.  Part of this dangerous slide into political extremism is reflected in the transition of the Web itself from a broad medium for expression to a platform for business.  You can see it everywhere.

Donald Trump Is Hurting Our Economy

I don't believe any President can, by himself, destroy the US economy but Donald Trump has set us on a course that will only hurt our economic future.  He has very unrealistic ideas about what is broken and how to fix things.  Although jobs reports for the last year have been improving I think they have been misleading, and recent job reports that show a downturn in new job creation may reflect what the future holds for us.