Mindful Money Blog

If Abraham Maslow taught a class in personal finance, he would have described earning and saving as the foundation of any personal financial success program. Earning allows us our physiological needs – food, shelter, clothing – and saving is the bedrock of security. Earning and saving would be the bottom two levels of his famous pyramid.

How to Get Ahead of 99% of People (Starting Today) [Video] | When The Music Stops | Expanding Awareness of the Science of Intellectual Humility | Ten Ways to Breathe Meaning into Existence | Half of American Households Have No Retirement Savings

There is a lot of ink spilled on the how's and wherefore's of deferring our gratification. But, with so many choices in front of us in every moment… why should we bother? Why not live in the moment? The answer is Love.

Examining the History of the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide Shows Stagnating Progress on Closing These Disparities | In Defense of the Unoptimized Life | Americans Largely Satisfied With Their Personal Life | How Sensitive People Can Stop Taking Things So Personally in Their Relationships | The Long Term Investor: How to Measure the Success of Your Portfolio (Podcast)

All successful long-term investors are continuously acting on a plan that is founded on their deeply personal values and goals. They are appropriately allocated, they are broadly diversified, and they rebalance regularly. They are patient and remain mindful of their limitations. No one knows what is coming next.

How to Create Luck | What the Culture Wars Get Wrong | Justifying Optimism | How the Modern World Makes Us Mentally Ill | Snowball’s Indolent Portfolio

About 40,000 people visit Mt. Everest’s southern base camp every year. Only 800 make the summit. Our brief step-by-step guide to personal finance that started in early January has brought us comfortably to the financial equivalent of base camp.

An Ancient Technique Can Improve Your Attention Span | 7 Self-Reflection Questions to Create Your Own Happiness This Year | Five Ways to Be Calm – And Why It Matters | How to Talk About Money With a Partner | Vanguard’s Guide to Financial Wellness

Even if you love working, financial independence – the ability to live comfortably on your own terms (working or not) – is probably your ultimate financial goal. This used to be called “retirement”...

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.

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.

Life Is Hard. And That’s Good | Surrendering Isn’t Giving Up: Why We Need to Accept What’s Happened | The Psychology of Prestige: Why We Play the Social Status Game | Overcoming the Myth of Separateness | 6 Conversations About Money to Have With Your Family Over the Holidays

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

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.

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

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.

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.