When individuals set goals that are especially meaningful to them, they experience a sense of mission. They feel enthusiasm for the tasks that lie ahead and for what they intend to accomplish. At every stage of life, having a mission gives them a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to bounce back from setbacks, and a reason to explore their potential. (more…)
The concept of retirement is undergoing a metamorphosis. Demographic, societal, and workplace trends have all converged to offer a stage of life that is much more fluid and flexible than what most of us previously imagined. In fact, retirement has become a matter of personal definition. (more…)
The tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way back to ancient Rome. In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar developed a new calendar and named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and endings. Janus has always been depicted with two faces—one on the back of his head that allowed him to look behind and one on the front of his head that allowed him to look ahead. (more…)
When it comes to college, you’re more than what you pay
Here in California, we joking refer to Harvard as “the Stanford of the east.” That gentle jab reflects the rivalry between two schools renowned for their stunning campuses, prominent faculty, prestige and sky-high costs. Four years of tuition at either school will set a family back more than $200,000. (more…)
Maybe it’s time to learn a new language
Just 130 years ago, one in five white American adults was considered illiterate. And only 20 percent of adult African Americans could read and write. Today, nearly everyone in America is literate. What if our financial literacy could make a similar leap? (more…)
If you’re saving for a child or grandchild’s college education, brace yourself. The annual cost at the typical private university now exceeds $38,000, and the annual cost at the typical public college is greater than $17,000.1 Multiply those figures by four, and you might wonder if it’s worth it to send Junior to college. In most cases, the answer is yes. Fortunately, there are ways to make your college savings work harder for you. (more…)
Guest post by Jada DiedrichAs we enter the holiday season, we often feel compelled to evaluate, and frequently to increase, our charitable giving. This time of year, specifically, seems geared toward reminding us that giving to others can be personally fulfilling in a multitude of ways. In many cases, our deepest values guide us to give back to our communities, contributing to the causes that we hold most dear and where we can make an impact. (more…)
It’s that time of year again. No, we’re not talking about the holiday season, we’re talking about the prediction season. And, just as Christmas decorations seem to appear earlier and earlier in stores, predictions for 2020 are already appearing in newsstands. (more…)
Although a number of studies have focused on the effect of income on happiness, Elizabeth Dunn, a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia, also wanted to understand the effect of spending choices on happiness. (more…)
Recommended Reading
If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right! At least, that is the conclusion of researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, two rising stars in of the world of behavioral science.
In Happy Money, Dunn and Norton provide an engaging and often entertaining tour of the latest research that shows, from the standpoint of personal well-being, how we can get the biggest bang for our bucks. (more…)
