The Mission Critical Blog
What NOT to put in your last will
It’s always a good idea to have a will, regardless of your situation (financial, medical, etc.). In fact, I'd say it's imperative to have a will because it's the set of instructions or directions you're leaving for the courts for how to deal with all your 'stuff'. Without a legally binding identifier that indicates where your assets are supposed to go after you pass, you risk... the state claiming it your surviving family fight over it Generally speaking, the beneficiary [...]
How to Pass Along Something More Valuable Than Money
Warren Buffett is credited with saying, “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.” When we’re young, it seems like we have an easier time with the first part of the quote. We begin cataloging situations where we say, “I’m never doing THAT again.” But we still think we’re immune to certain problems—until they happen to us. For example, your dad might have said, “Don’t drive around with less than a [...]
Why We So Often Fail to Keep Our New Year’s Resolutions, and Why We Should Cut Ourselves Some Slack
Amanda Mull's father was a smoker for 20 years. When he became convinced that cigarettes were harmful, he simply quit smoking them. Later, when he decided he should take up running, he got up at 4:30 AM to get in five miles before work. And has continued this practice every day for more than 30 years. Mull, writing in The Atlantic, says that her dad's ability to adopt life-changing habits (or quit bad ones) was seen by her as [...]
What’s in Store for 2023?
A long time ago, when Woody Allen was known for writing funny books, he described a character named Weinstein who lay in bed feeling depressed about his age. “Next year I will be fifty-one. Then fifty-two.” Allen adds, “Using this reasoning, he could figure out his age as much as five years in the future.” While some of us have the advanced math skills to figure out our age 10 or even 15 years into the future, it’s [...]
Overspending and the True Meaning of Christmas
According to Gallup, this Christmas individual Americans intend to spend an average of $932 on gifts. That’s up nearly $100 over last year. Are people planning to spend more because they have more money in their pockets? Not exactly. Over the past year Americans have been relying more and more on credit to make ends meet. According to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by WalletHub, in the second quarter of this year alone credit card debt increased [...]
Should You Convert Your Traditional IRA Into a Roth?
When the Studebaker car company ceased production in 1966, it wasn't just their business that failed. Auditors found that the company's pension fund also had serious problems, leaving thousands of workers with reduced benefits or none at all. The Studebaker employees' retirement was completely reliant on the success of a single company. Sadly, all their eggs were in the wrong basket. In response to this and other pension disasters, congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). [...]
