financial imprisonment

This is a guest post by Heather Johnson.

The most valuable lesson I’ve been taught came from my dad –- from the day I was a little girl being bounced on his knee till today when I’m a career woman in my own right, dad has just one piece of advice when it comes to finance [...]

Over the weekend, I came across a rather interesting series called The History of Credit and Debt at Myvesta.org. In this carnival, I’ll be sharing short excerpts from the series.

This week carnival is not big, but it’s packed with good articles. In this carnival, I selected 9 articles as the editor’s picks and the first [...]

Credit cards make it easy for us to buy now and pay later. This mindset is pervasive and dominant in the United States, and it keeps many Americans financially imprisoned. I can still remember when there was no credit card, and I had to save for what I want.

Morpheus offers him the chance to learn [...]

For someone who doesn’t carry a lot of debt, I didn’t give Debt-to-Income Ratio a serious thought until I start lending money on peer-to-peer lending networks — i.e., Prosper and Lending Club. The truth is, DTI is important; especially in the business of borrowing and lending money.
Definition of Debt-To-Income Ratios (DTI)
Debt-to-income ratio, or DTI ratio, [...]

Many financial professionals and experts advocate that we keep at least 3 months of living expenses in liquid investments such as CD, money market, and high yield savings. If you have any doubt regarding the validity of this advice, here are 10 reasons that may change your mind.

Photo from morgueFile

If you are in a money [...]

Many people see credit cards as one of the primary keys to financial imprisonment, and this has proven to be the case for many people. However, the problem isn’t the credit card itself, but how they are used.

Photo by Ian Britton via FreeFoto.com
When I was in school I received a well rounded education which covered [...]

In my post “My first credit card and the fallacies,” I mentioned the term financial imprisonment. It is the opposite of financial independence, and I defined it as the state of having to work for money, living from paycheck to paycheck, and never having enough.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons
So, how can one become financially imprisoned?
From [...]

I was reading “Hooked On Credit! 5 Ways The Credit Card Companies Get Our Kids To Sign Up” at The Digerati Life, and the post brought back memories about my first credit card.

Photo by Ian Britton via FreeFoto.com
During my orientation week, Citibank had several booths throughout the campus. Being by myself for the first time, [...]