Pete the Planner: Why mid-life can be a rocky time for personal finances
I’ve long thought ages 47 to 53 were the most financially challenging years of a person’s life.
Peter Dunn
Articles
Pete the Planner: If you’re dependable, you’ll be better with money
We all know certain people who, at their deepest core, are dependable. We trust these people, and we typically give them opportunities to help us accomplish what we need to accomplish.
Pete the Planner: Now is not the time to pull money from the stock market out of fear
Knowing when to get back in is significantly harder than knowing when to get out. This is why I choose to do nothing different.
Pete the Planner: Should your home’s equity be included in your net worth?
There are at least four common uses for an annual net worth calculation. And depending on the purpose of your calculation, you might or might not decide you want to include your home equity.
Pete the Planner: Many Americans are overly confident about their retirement—and that’s no joke
For instance, roughly seven of 10 pre-retirees plan to work for pay as a means for retirement, while in retirement. When in reality, the 2021 survey finds just over two in 10 retirees end up working for pay as a source of retirement income.
Pete the Planner: Loosen purse strings for experiences, not stuff
Dear Pete, My husband and I realized we may have a weird little conundrum. We got into a zone in our early and mid-50s in which we lived frugally in order to secure a sustainable retirement. Now we’re retired, and we’re afraid we’re squandering some very active and healthy years due to the frugal habits […]
Pete the Planner: Use the ‘lazy person’s budget’ to see what’s left for hobbies
Most of the guilt people feel about spending money on unnecessary things arises from knowing they aren’t making tomorrow easier.
Pete the Planner: Build an emergency plan for extreme situations
I never imagined commerce screeching to a halt, leaving millions of Americans paralyzed with fear and struggle.
Pete the Planner: Before your retire, think about what you’ll find fulfilling after work
Retirement has two primary elements, and they’re shockingly obvious at first glance. You must navigate the financial and the non-financial aspects of retirement.
Pete the Planner: How to teach teens the value of investing
I’ve come to learn that three areas need to be addressed when teaching teens how to handle money. They all feel intertwined, but they aren’t.
Pete the Planner: Your adviser wants a lot of your time? Ask why.
Of course, you want your adviser to know his stuff, but how he communicates those concepts can be the difference between a good relationship and a bad one.
Pete the Planner: What is life’s most difficult financial task?
I’d now like to introduce you to my candidate for the most difficult financial task a person must accomplish in a lifetime: decreasing an established lifestyle.
PETE THE PLANNER: As pandemic eases, lifestyle spending will increase
The housing market is red-hot, the travel industry is on the verge of poetic justice earned by a year lost, and certain consumer goods are increasingly difficult to find.
Pete the Planner: Encourage grads to start saving for retirement now
New grads will face many challenges, but if they address the retirement challenge from the very beginning, everything else will fall into place.
Pete the Planner: Life insurance is an important financial-planning tool
Twenty years ago, you took action on a major hole in your financial plan and then spent the last 20 years making the best of the time you bought yourself.
Pete the Planner: To sell your home or not (in a seller’s market)
The trick is to understand whether you’ve put yourself in a position to ignore the financial ramifications of a seemingly fortuitous opportunity.
Pete the Planner: Minimalism means less stuff, more enjoyable experiences
The way I figured, as long as I didn’t have a storage unit, or even a garage I couldn’t pull my car into, I was doing just fine.
Pete the Planner: Early commitment to saving is essential for retirement
An early commitment to saving is what got the job done here, and now you get to reap the rewards of that decision.
Pete the Planner: Don’t use stimulus to create habits you can’t sustain
I’m happy that our familiar manifestations of joy are on the horizon, but my crystal ball (my hairless head) tells me 2022 and 2023 could produce the largest consumer debt burdens of all time.
Pete the Planner: Trend-driven risks are not an investor’s friend
When people don’t take the time to develop an investment strategy—generally because they don’t want to see how far behind they are—they’re more likely to adopt an “anything goes” philosophy.