The first ritual of wealth and the most important rule of financial success is: Pay yourself first; it’s okay to keep some.
— Tod Barnhart, The Five Rituals of Wealth

I hear this all the time:  “But it [smart personal finance] is so hard.”  Well, it’s easier than you think, and it’s certainly easier than becoming a financial statistic.  Being a financial failure is what’s really hard.
— Tod Barnhart, The Five Rituals of Wealth

I can’t claim that giving is a prerequisite to amassing a pile of money, because there are so many obviously greedy people getting rich.  However, I would never consider these people wealthy, and I’ve seen a lot of them fall hard in the last few years.  As I’ve said before, wealth goes beyond money.  It [...]

When advised to budget, most people respond: “But I just don’t have enough money.”  In fact, most of these individuals have a lot more money than they think; they just lack control of it.  Making more money is not the answer.  The sad truth is that if you’re out of control, no matter how much [...]