Comments on: Is Math The King Of The Financial Jungle?

By: Friday Gathering: Post-Valentine’s Day Edition

Friday Gathering: Post-Valentine’s Day Edition — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:01:42 +0000

[...] Money Matters posted, Is math the king of the financial jungle? Albert Einstein was fascinated by compound interest, I was a math major in college and I enjoyed [...]

By: Personal Finance Links for 2-21-10

Personal Finance Links for 2-21-10 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:39:50 +0000

[...] PF. Love Evernote! Many of these links were noted in my Evernote file to save for this roundup. Is Math The King Of The Financial Jungle? at Bible Money Matters. Make Extra Money Blogging from PT Money. Tax Refund Ideas: Pay Off Debt or [...]

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:17:09 +0000

Following your passions will eventually lead to maximizing your earnings anyway. Anything you love, you will spend countless hours perfecting, learning more about and doing over and over again.

Sometimes this is hard to do at first (especially right out of college when you are broke). Anything you continually build on and let grow will compound into something unimaginable.

Great article Craig!

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:23:50 +0000

Great post Craig, and I completely agree. I left a full scholarship to law school to go to my first choice, which had accepted me but offered no loans. I have $200k in loans to show for it, plus an awesome job, great friends, and my fiancee, none of which I’d have without having made that choice. People will forever tell me I’m stupid, I’ll forever look at my future hubby and know I made the right choice .

They say the same thing about paying down my loans. They’re all at a pretty low interest rate, but I want to pay off some of the lower interest loans first. Why? Because my mom cosigned for them, and her name’s on the line too. I don’t want her to worry about those loans, or feel that she’ll ever be required to pay on them. I want her to know how much I love her and appreciate what she did by cosigning for me, because I never would’ve been able to go otherwise. And since love is a deed, my way of showing my love is by removing that obligation from her. I’m willing to take on more interest in the process!!

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:59:33 +0000

Like Christina said you have to pick your priorities...My wife wanted to stay home and raise our kids....we postponed being homeowners 5 years due to this decision..while we are having to catch up on some things late...you can't put a price tag on being with your kids when they are young...you only have them for a while. Ken´s last post ..Weekend Linkage – Olympic Edition

By: Wojciech Kulicki

Wojciech Kulicki — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:47:25 +0000

Good timing, since I just recently named “respecting math” as one of my three “financial rules for life.” But I completely agree with you–finance cannot stop at math.

While we have to respect the basic math principles, I’m beginning to understand more and more the importance of emotions and psychology in making money decisions. Sometimes we have to bend the math laws to get to what we want faster (if not immediately, then at least in the long run…).

Great and thoughtful post.
Wojciech Kulicki´s last post ..Really Pay Yourself First:Doing a 180 on Savings

By: Personal Finance Weekly

Personal Finance Weekly — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:55:33 +0000

[...] Money Matters Is Math The King Of The Financial Jungle? Craig poses a thought provoking question. If it makes the most math sense it must be the right [...]

By: David/yourfinances101

David/yourfinances101 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:50:52 +0000

To me, sometimes you need to ignore the math to follow a dream.

Otherwise, you’ll never make any headway and my never be happy

By: Craig Ford

Craig Ford — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:10:33 +0000

@Lakia
I agree when you are in debt math must play a more prominent role.
@Darren
If I had the choice I would always do something that I’m passionate about instead of what makes the best math sense.
@andrewbpaterson
Thanks for your comment.
Using your scale example could be helpful for some. However, in our case we played by the math rules for long enough we just did what we wanted to. I still have no idea how much that decision financially cost us. We are paying our bills and that is all that matters.
@Joe
I think that is probably a better way to look at it. Instead of ignoring the math view it as part of a larger equation. Great idea.
@Joseph
If we let math dictate ever decision I think we will be miserable and life with the wrong focus. The verses you suggested do confirm that. Thanks for your great comment.
@Christina
I love that you said, “things that don’t seem smart on paper, end up being the best decisions.” I could not agree more. In fact, that one line really sums up the intent of the post.
Craig Ford´s last post ..MailChimp vs Aweber

By: Christina @ Northern Cheapskate

Christina @ Northern Cheapskate — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:12:27 +0000

I think sometimes the best math answer isn’t the best answer for YOU.

My husband confounded all of our friends and relatives when he left a great full-time job to go back to grad school. He is now in a much-less stresful career that he loves and earns twice as much money doing it.

I quit my full-time job that I loved to be a stay-at-home mom to our three boys. On paper, it was a horrible plan for our finances. But for our three little boys, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve learned a lot through parenting and now that I’m blogging, I feel like I have the best of both worlds – I get to be with my kids AND connect with other people through my writing.

Sometimes the things that don’t seem smart on paper, end up being the best decisions.

Great post!
Christina @ Northern Cheapskate´s last post ..More Free Music from Amazon