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Author Archives: James Hendrickson

Avatar photo About James Hendrickson

James Hendrickson is an internet entrepreneur, blogging junky, hunter and personal finance geek. When he’s not lurking in coffee shops in Portland, Oregon, you’ll find him in the Pacific Northwest’s great outdoors. James has a masters degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Bachelors degree on Sociology from Earlham College. He loves individual stocks, bonds and precious metals.

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Millionaires Give to Charity, or Do They?

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This posting looks at millionaires and charitable giving. The general conception is that millionaires often give much of their wealth away to charity. In fact, in the blogosphere, this characteristic is viewed as one fundamental defining difference between millionaires and regular folks. However, its far from clear if in fact millionaires do give away more to charity.

While some wealthy people undoubtedly do give away more, a lot of thinking on millionaires is driven by Stanley and Danko’s The Millionaire Next Door. The Stanley and Danko piece is one of the most popular books in personal finance ever, but there are serious problems with their data.

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The Art of Paying Bills

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We all know that paying bills isn’t sexy or fun, but it is part of having a healthy financial life. Everyone pays their bills differently, but I’d argue that the more steady your strategy is the better.

Most of us have some kind of system in place, but it’s always good to take a look to see if everything is working. Some questions to ask when developing your bill pay system:

  • Do you pay yourself first? This is a must.
  • Do you have all of your bills estimated and know when they are due?
  • Do you have an automated system where you don’t have to think about this fun task?
  • Does your strategy prevent you from getting dinged with late fees? If you ever get hit with these, rethink your system.
  • Is the money left over at the end of the month working for you in an interest bearing account?

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The $1 Thanksgiving Meal Challenge

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1 thanksgiving meal challenge
Obligatory picture of turkeys.

Okay, so this is Thanksgiving week in the United States.  I wanted to share the best stuff I’ve found on saving money for the holiday.

The best example of a frugal thanksgiving I’ve seen is by this guy Jeffrey over at Grocery Coupon Guide – he basically tested himself by seeing if he could complete a $1 Thanksgiving Meal Challenge – essentially by buying enough food for a thanksgiving meal for 6 people – and paying only $1 dollar.   Quickly summarized, he was able to do it using extreme couponing skills.  This is a feat that belongs in the frugal olympics.  Most of the time, you’re luck if you can get Turkey for $1 a pound, much less a full meal for six.

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Retirement Contribution Limits Increase to $19,500 for 2020; Catch-up Limit Rises To $6,500

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RS 2020 contribution limits

Earlier this week the IRS released their updates to retirement plan contribution limits. The good news is everyone’s favorite tax agency has increased the amount you can contribute for your 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans. Limits generally increased from $19,000 to $19,500. Catch up contributions for workers aged 50 and over who participate in these plans increased from $6,000 to $6,500.

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