I probably should preface all further posts by saying that I am in no way certified in personal finance, accounting, tax laws, actuarial, or anything of the sort. My background is in math and science.
My opinions I share here are solely my own, and should in no way constitute any professional advise on any matter. Conversely, enlisting the service of actual professionals on these topics is likely often a good idea.
Glad we got that out of the way.
Perhaps it’s just the way I’m wired, but I like to quantify things as much as possible.
While this might prove tiring for my spouse (sorry!), it’s often quite true that you can’t control what you don’t measure.
I can clearly recall asking a professor, “which type of YY solution is better, A or B” (details redacted to prevent boredom), to which she replied, “I have no idea. It depends. Calculate the cost of both and figure it out yourself.”
I am constantly reminded of this concept. Just the other day I was shredding some junk mail, you know, the kind which has pre-populated application numbers for a personal loan (great idea banks!), and came across a life insurance advertisement. Before I eviscerated the document into a hundred thousand pieces, I thought, maybe I do need more life insurance. The fear side of my brain was taking over. Luckily, the other side of my brain kicked in, and I went to my computer to update my calculations. I tweaked a few numbers in the conservative direction to quell my fears, and found that I still had about what I think I would need.
Knowledge is powerful. Quantifying things bring a lot of knowledge. Don’t be afraid to do a little math. You’ll be glad you did!
My opinions I share here are solely my own, and should in no way constitute any professional advise on any matter. Conversely, enlisting the service of actual professionals on these topics is likely often a good idea.
Glad we got that out of the way.
Perhaps it’s just the way I’m wired, but I like to quantify things as much as possible.
While this might prove tiring for my spouse (sorry!), it’s often quite true that you can’t control what you don’t measure.
I can clearly recall asking a professor, “which type of YY solution is better, A or B” (details redacted to prevent boredom), to which she replied, “I have no idea. It depends. Calculate the cost of both and figure it out yourself.”
I am constantly reminded of this concept. Just the other day I was shredding some junk mail, you know, the kind which has pre-populated application numbers for a personal loan (great idea banks!), and came across a life insurance advertisement. Before I eviscerated the document into a hundred thousand pieces, I thought, maybe I do need more life insurance. The fear side of my brain was taking over. Luckily, the other side of my brain kicked in, and I went to my computer to update my calculations. I tweaked a few numbers in the conservative direction to quell my fears, and found that I still had about what I think I would need.
Knowledge is powerful. Quantifying things bring a lot of knowledge. Don’t be afraid to do a little math. You’ll be glad you did!
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