Mindful Money Blog

Your financial road, like the rest of your life, is multi-dimensional. The path must traverse the many switchbacks of a steep and relentless climb. In financial terms, the difficulty of the climb is all about debt.

As we all know, life comes with a fair amount of challenges. Your car breaks down. A tree falls on your house. You lose your job. The proverbial s#!t happens. But none of it has to get in your way – not when you have an emergency fund.

Inequality Might Be Going Down Now | The Mindset That Brings Unlimited Willpower | Seven Ways To Make the Most Of Your Time | Two Lifestyles Table (from Huberman Article) | How Dividends Juice Your Returns in the Stock Market

There is NO secret to building wealth. Contrary to popular opinion, the steps to growing wealth are not sexy or tricky or speculative. Nor do they require personal brilliance or constant hands-on management. What it takes to build wealth is within your power right now.

Financial security is not a commodity; it can’t be found in a product. It isn’t available for sale in any way. Financial security is a journey. It is a path of trade-offs, acceptance, self-reflection, and hope. Getting there will require some effort and no small amount of luck.

If you look hard enough, you can find stories that tell a contrasting and enduring narrative for what we truly need for a successful and meaningful life. Your story can do the same - but first, you have to know your heart. You must define what is worth seeking for you.

Get Rich Without Working: The Dark Fantasy of Today | Google’s Former Happiness Guru Developed a Three-Second Brain Exercise for Finding Joy | Rethinking Authenticity | Financial Regret at Older Ages and Longevity Awareness | The Three Laws of Human Behavior

The Real Magic of Rituals | 2022 Photo Contest Winners | Naturally Produce More Dopamine, Serotonin, Endorphin and Oxytocin for a Happier Brain | Experienced Well-Being Rises with Income, Even Above $75,000 Per Year | Publication Bias in Economics

Six New Studies That Can Help You Rediscover Gratitude | Happy Talk | Partisans Agree: Time With Family and Friends is Meaningful and Fulfilling | The 5-Hour Rule: How To Turn a Wasted Day Into a Successful One | Three Reasons Why Indexing Works and Continues to Grow

Doc G of the Earn & Invest Podcasts talks with Jonathan DeYoe of Mindful Money about how to be thoughtful about what our financial framework is meant to support. Jonathan takes us through his pillars of happiness and how to use them to create a financial plan that serves our unique goals in life.

“Isn’t Personal Finance Pretty Simple?!” | Men Are Struggling. A New Book Explores Why and What to Do About It | Wealth is Partly Imaginary | The Lonely Hearts Club Man | The Quality of Our Questions

To borrow from Churchill, “The balanced (stock/bond) portfolio is the worst form of investing known to man, except for all the other forms.” Those people who are suggesting – based on its immediate past 1-year performance – that the 60/40 portfolio is dead are probably trying to sell something that isn’t a balanced stock/bond portfolio.

Expectations and Reality | Life is Too Short? Bereaved Managers and Investment Decisions | Daily Meditation May Work As Well As a Popular Drug to Calm Anxiety, Study Finds | Rupert Murdoch Knees Trump in The Balls While He’s Doubled Over Coughing Up Blood | Ballerina Music Box

SVP Jonathan DeYoe joined the Smart Money Circle podcast to discuss how wellness and spirituality tie into investing your money and happiness.

For me, worrying isn’t just a sense of anxiety. It is a push to learn more. After I did some research and learned a little bit about how earthquakes work, I wasn’t worried about them anymore (or, at least, I worried less). Earthquakes and the fear of earthquakes are a pretty good stand-in for “market volatility.”

The Difference Between Amateurs & Professionals | Envy, the Happiness Killer | 5 Meditations to Calm Your Anxious Mind | How to Stop Overthinking Your Relationship | 12 Lessons on Money and More From Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger

Fast Unicorns Frequently Fade | An Epidemic of Delusions | The Right Way to Be Introspective (Yes, There’s a Wrong Way) | An End to Doomerism | Why Saving Is More Important Than Investing

In real estate investing, lack of financial literacy is deadly. Investors who don’t have a fundamental understanding of basic financial concepts like risk tolerance and return expectations are destined to make costly mistakes... or worse, to go bankrupt! But it's not all doom and gloom — financial literacy is something that can be learned.

Kevin Kelly: The Case for Optimism | Discover the Best Graduation Speeches | A Fitness Guide to Preventing Dangerous Falls in Old Age | What Happened to Giving Money to Charity? | The Tragic Irony of Overconfidence in Investing

Mindful Money - broadly sharing basic financial education and presenting the simple actions that enable and inspire wealth-building - is my "Second Mountain." This is the purpose of this reading list. These are the core books that have helped me establish my own set of financial beliefs and behaviors that can work for anyone who is climbing their own mountains.