Neal Frankle is a financial blogger who considers himself lucky that he started as a Certified Financial Planner. He lost both his parents while he was 17, and have come a long way to learn about finance through his own experiences. He believes in sharpening the financial skills so as to become successful financially. He generally writes on such personal finance topics like how to get out of debt, saving money, investing and retirement planning issues.

Let’s take a look at what Neal has to say about his experiences with blogging and managing personal finance.

Sarah : From where did you get the idea of blogging?
Neal : I started working on a book and my publisher suggested I do the groundwork for it by starting a blog.

Sarah : Your blog’s tagline says, “A journey to self, health and wealth”. What preparations are you making to achieve this goal and how?
Neal : Personally? I try remain balanced. Remember to be grateful. Do the best I can and forgive myself when I make mistakes.
On the financial side, I have a financial plan and have involved my wife and family and this is great progress.
I also work out and try to watch out for the brownies who try to get me to eat them all up.

Sarah : What do you do in real life and how’d you get started?
Neal : I am a Certified Financial Planner. I got started 25 years ago because I needed a job…… I met a friend and he told me about the opportunities so I just started. Lucky.

Sarah : Do you think blogging has changed your life in some way or the other?
Neal : Maybe a little. I spend a lot of time doing it. It has helped me focus. Blogging can drain ALL your time if you let it. I’ve cut back and try to focus on the important things. That has helped me in other aspects of my life too.

Sarah: What are the three biggest finance mistakes you have ever made in your life?
Neal : a. Sold a house we owned because I was afraid of holding it when prices were low.
b. Sold a profitable business for almost nothing because I wasn’t paying attention.
c. Speculated on investments
(These 3 were more than 15 years ago…..I guess that mean I’ve learned something!)

Sarah : Where do you see yourself in 10 years down the lane?
Neal : I hope to travel w/my wife a lot more. I hope to visit my kids where ever they might be. I hope to still be blogging and working as a CFP at that time.

Sarah : Give Me One Good Reason Why people Should Read Your Blog?
Neal : Well…there are many great blogs out there but I there aren’t many of the super popular ones that are run by people with personal and professional experience. I have both. I have been a professional advisor for more than 25 years. On top of that, I know what it’s like to have no money and lots of fear. I was broke and semi-homeless at the age of 17 when both my parents died.

Sarah : So Do You Have Any Famous Followers?
Neal : You.

Sarah : Please advice our readers how to pay off their debts from your past experiences?
Neal : The most important step is to put a tracking system in place and also get everyone in the family on the same page.

Sarah : How do feel by becoming a part of world’s largest debt consolidation community now?
Neal : Not sure I understand the question……I need to understand more about what you guys do.

Many of us try to be helpful when a friend or relative wants us to cosign a loan for him/her. But before you sign in the loan document you must understand the pros and cons of being a cosigner.

Things that you’re putting at stake as cosigner

• Your friend would try to convince you that he would make regular payments towards the loan and the responsibility of repaying it would never fall on you but we all know that things change very quickly. As the cosigner you will become responsible for repaying the entire amount when the borrower defaults.
• Being a cosigner involves great risks. The lenders would come after you if the borrower doesn’t make payments on time. They would try to get hold of you first even before pursuing the defaulted borrower.
• Most likely you would be harassed by the creditor and collection agency for payment.
• The defaulted loan would appear on your credit report and likely to make a dent in it. This negative information on your report may also disqualify you from getting a loan in the future.
• In most of the states consigners can be sued by the creditors and depending upon the state laws can also have their wages garnished. At the same time you would also be responsible for all the late charges and attorney fees on the account.
• The creditor can also put a lien on your property/assets to collect the debt and can seize the property which has been used as collateral.

Things to consider before cosigning a loan

You first need to determine who needs a cosigner. Of course a person who has been denied a loan when he tried to get one by himself. This is also true for people with poor credit. Therefore, chances are high that they may default on the loan. According to a survey conducted by FTC, borrowers default on three out of every four cosigned loans leaving the cosigner responsible to make the future payments on it.

Hence, when you cosign for a loan check the following,

- Is the person trustworthy?
- Can this person afford the loan?
- Can you afford the loan?
- How long and how well do you know the borrower?
- Would he come to your rescue at the time of need?
- Is the borrower disclosing all information regarding security issues?
- Do you understand the terms and conditions and the consequences respectively for cosigning the loan?

However, if in spite of all odds you need to cosign a loan, learn your rights as a cosigner. Ask the lender to inform you whenever the borrower misses payments. Also make sure that you receive all the important documents regarding the loan.

Reaching a Financial Independence at the age of 30 is a great achievement for Jacob Holmes of Earlyretirementextreme. He is a man who is right now focusing on his “retirement” and for that reason he has come up with his blog on the same theme. A very different person, unlike others, he does all unusual things. Let us find out what are his unusual views on Personal Finances from the interview below.

Jason: From where did you get the idea of blogging ?

Jacob: I started “blogging” on myspace several years ago. At that time I did not even know what a (we)b-log was, so I simply used the profile blog to write opinion pieces on this and that. A couple of years ago, I realized that there were “real” blogs on the internet that were accessible by search engines and not just limited to my small circle of friends on myspace, so I started a real blog to reach more people. And it seems to have worked!

Jason: In your entire blog you have given importance to retirement. Why is that so?

Jacob: Even though I write about many different things, successful blogs seem to have at least one focus area. Also, obviously, you need to have some material, something you did, something you’re doing, or something you thought or know a lot about. I, therefore, decided to focus on early retirement, where by early I mean extremely early: People, who retire in their 30s or before. If you want to retire in your 40s you can easily find examples in the money and finance magazines, but retiring in your 20s or 30s is rare. This also meant very little competition, which always helps.

Jason: What do you do in real life and how’d you get started?

Jacob: I set my own schedule and do whatever interests me. Some things, I get paid to do, most things I do for free, there are few things I pay to do, like sports. Most of the things I do thus started as hobbies or projects that developed into something bigger. For instance, I have had an interest in geopolitics and strategic resource depletion for a long time—I even wrote a chapter for a book—and at some point an opportunity presented itself to couple this with my interest in sustainability, extreme early retirement is really about sustainability in many ways when you think about it, and so we started a non-profit to bring some of these things together.

I also work for a scientific publisher for half an hour a day on average editing papers; I guess this started when I was editing papers for my friends in high school. It’s like doing crosswords except I get paid. I don’t think I could do it full time though, my head would explode.

I usually have 4-5 big projects going on at the same time; I’m also writing a book, working on a facebook app, and joining a blogging network. Then there are projects currently on the back burner, like financial analysis, watch making, and bicycle repair. It seems that if you stick with something for 1000 hours or more it serendipitously turns into an opportunity eventually as long as you keep your eyes open

Jason: Whom do you think is responsible for the bankruptcy of General Motors? Do you really think it is a death of an American Icon?

Jacob: Think of it this way: Suppose someone dies of diabetes. Who is responsible? Did the deceased mismanage his insulin? Did the doctor not explain the disease well enough? Was it a lack of treatment? Insufficient insurance? Did he eat too much sugar? Was it a culture that emphasized sweet foods made from corn syrup and starch? Did he exercise too little? Was it genetic?
In a complex collapse, you can never pin down one cause since the collapse has multiple interdependent causes. Sometimes, you can see the problem coming from a mile away.

The problem is that when it’s a mile away it gets ignored because you think it will change course and mostly it does. Smaller problems get solved with band-aids and duck tape. In GM’s case, it failed to adjust to the new reality of higher oil prices quickly enough; this could have been misfortune. A more secular problem was the lack of quality and later lack of perceived quality when car buyers wanted quality. Also add the cost of past promises, like pension benefits, unionization, which could no longer be afforded. Always be careful about making promises 30 years into the future. GM died a death by a thousand nibbling ducks!

Jason: How do you feel by attaining financial independence at the age of just 30?

Jacob: For one, I’m free to do whatever I want, naturally this does not mean the same as being free to buy whatever I want. There is a difference although for those who are used to solving all their problems with a credit card and a couple of phone calls, this may not be obvious. So yes, there’s this feeling of freedom, like every day is a Friday … or a Saturday, so I sleep a lot better and I’m generally a happier person.

Financial independence is, however, just a necessary but not a sufficient requirement for full independence. I spent a long time battling expectations and pressures from traditions that say that you need to work (and shop) until you drop to be a valuable citizen … I think they really mean profitable consumer, and so I kept working for longer than I otherwise would have, merely to meet other people’s expectations.
In that regard, financial independence is easy. True independence is somewhat harder.

Jason: What are the three biggest finance mistakes you have ever made?

Jacob: 1) Investing in AIG, I should have seen that one coming from a mile away. 2) Buying a car when I had successfully lived without one for many years. I don’t want to think about how much money that car has already wasted in terms of depreciation, insurance, repairs, and gas.
3) Not learning about investing until I was 28-29, if I had known what I know now when I was 18, I could have been a lot further today.

Jason: Where do you see yourself in 10 years down the lane?

Jacob: This is a difficult question to answer correctly, because if you had asked 10 years ago, I would have gotten it very wrong. One way to see it is to say that if you could really tell, it would mean that you are not developing as a person. A lot can happen in 10 years. You can get a PhD. You can move to another country. You can get married. You can change your career. I did all that. If I may venture a guess, in 10 years, maybe I’m an associate at Wall Street, maybe I’m a diesel mechanic on a yacht in the Caribbean, maybe I work for a watch company, maybe I run a dojo, or maybe I got run over by a bus. You never know.

Jason: Do you think blogging has changed your life in some way or the other?

Jacob: I don’t know if it has specifically impacted my life but it has changed the way I see traditional careers and employment as a way of “making a difference”. For instance, blogging might just be the most meaningful I have ever done in terms of benefiting other people. A few people have told me that they have sold their toys, cars, dusty jet skis, and electric fly swatters, and moved into places with fewer bathrooms to be more free to do what they want. Others make fewer changes and that is good too. Conversely, in my career, I would write papers that would be read by maybe about 50 total, and I would get an inquiry every other month or so, and I think this is normal.

Yet for the blog I get about 10 comments on average for each post and I have more than 40000 page views from more than 18000 visitors a month coming from many different places to read what I have to say: Exxon, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Raytheon, Center of Disease Control and other agencies, (I have yet to see whitehouse.gov on the list of inbounds yet though ), different countries, and so on. Sometimes when I write a post, somebody will tell me that the person I just talked about is his neighbor’s grandfather, say, it’s a small world. I think blogs tend to form their own little (or big) communities; I probably have more in common with my readers than with my colleagues and neighbors for obvious reasons, and the readers I have met in real life seem to confirm that.

Jason: Please advice our readers how to pay off the debt?

Jacob: Aside from catastrophes like medical events, debt happens much like gaining weight. It creeps up on you as you eat too much and move too little over a long span of time. There is only one thing to get back to normal. You must move more than you eat to “pay off” the excess fat. Similarly, with debt, you must spend significantly less, that is, not even just what you earn now, but what you spent but did not earn before plus the interest. You can try to earn more, that is good. However, a much stronger effect comes from decreasing the interest either by renegotiating the rate or much more effectively, by making payments that are as large as possible and make them as fast as possible.

Depending on how large the debts are, consider living in something smaller, getting around on foot, bicycle, or public transportation, cooking your own dinner, entertaining yourself with other means than a cable TV subscription, and not “shopping for fun”, in short, live like you did when you were a student. All things being equal you probably aren’t much happier now than you were then and yet if you’re in debt, you probably spend and spent way more than then.

Jason: Lastly, How you do feel about becoming a part of world’s largest debt consolidation community now?

Jacob: Well, I hope that after paying off the debt some will consider saving enough money to retire early. You could do it in say 10 years—5 years for the retirement part—if you really wanted to.

Jacob has given us an excellent advice on how to pay off debts. If you have anything else to add on his advices then please leave a comment.

In his twenty’s, working in one of the largest banks of the United States. He doesn’t need to promote his company’s name because as per him we are all aware of it. He was in love with finance at an academic level and then migrated his way into personal finances. A blogger from weakonomics, Philip, is a person to talk about. Let us know more about him from the interview below.

Jason: Are you sure you are 20? Because a person at the age of 20 working in a bank without a name sounds strange to us.

Philip: No I’m not sure I’m 20, because I’m not. My website says I’m in my 20s, which means I’m somewhere between the ages of 20 and 29. On Twitter and mentioned randomly around my blog I often point out I’m a few years out of college. While that doesn’t necessarily give away my age, it does validate my working at a bank.

Jason: There are so many topics on which you can blog. But why Personal Finance and economics?

Philip: You blog what you know. I majored in finance and money has always been important to me. I started the blog to keep myself informed about the goings on in the finance and economics community. Cars and electronics are also of interest to me, but both of those are more hands on activities and so I don’t believe I could write a decent blog on those subjects.

Jason: You consider yourself to be very smart and talented, smarter than any other financial adviser. What great things you have achieved in your life that can signify this statements of yours?

Philip: I don’t think I’ve ever claimed to be smarter than any other financial advisor. Though I don’t say it in the words you’ve phrased in the question, I do think highly of myself. My grades in college and the positive feedback I’ve received for advice provided have lead to a high self-esteem when it comes to finance. I don’t know everything about. Taxes are my weakest point, I know little about estate planning, and considering I’ve never purchased a home I don’t know squat about mortgages.

What I have claimed is that most financial advisors don’t have your best interests in mind. This isn’t their fault because in their hearts they might have an interest in helping you. However the companies they represent often incent these advisors in a method that may encourage them to not provide you with the best product for you, but what will pad their pockets. I know enough about money and this industry to know who to trust and who not to trust. When it comes to investments and budgeting, I don’t need help but can certainly help just about anyone find their proper portfolio balances. So I don’t claim to know more, I do claim to be smart and that many folks in financial services may not be your best friend.

Jason: You said you started working at the age of 15. Where did you work and how did you manage to come out of debt so soon? Please share your experience in brief with our readers.

Philip: I did what many teenagers do where I come from, I was a lifeguard. I worked for a few years as one in the summers. The work was good and the experience was great. Not so much the time sitting in a chair next to the pool, but the time I spent with the patrons of the pool. I didn’t work at a country club, this was a public pool in a rough part of town. As for getting out of debt. I’ve only ever had a car loan. I paid it off in 11 months by simply putting every spare buck I had into paying it off.

Jason: We just noticed the tagline on your blog is, “30% Personal, 60% Finance, 20% Stupid.” What does this signifies?

Philip: There are a two messages in this tagline. The most obvious is my blog is more about money than it is about you. It’s about economics, finance, government spending, and investing. It’s not teaching you about the proper asset allocation for your circumstances, it’s not advice on budgeting, and Weakonomics does not exist to help you save money. The other message of the tagline is that a lot of what you see out there is ridiculous. Economists are almost useless yet we live and die on their words. Financial advisors rip you off. Guys rob banks using their own ATM receipts for their demands. Conservatives spend freely.

Liberals blame conservatives but do nothing to fix the spending. Insurance companies invest in home loans and at the same time offer insurance on the default of those loans, doubling their losses in a down market. It’s my goal to highlight these people and businesses for my readers so that they too can avoid them at all costs. The sum of the percentages is 110%, which points out there you might find a little humor behind an otherwise serious set of subjects.

Jason: What are the three biggest finance mistakes you have ever made?

Philip: Thanks to supportive parents in college, hundreds of hours listening to Dave Ramsey callers, and smart use of my own money I’ve never really had the chance to make many mistakes. I bought a penny stock and lost a few hundred bucks once, that’s about it. I am still young and may make many mistakes, but I’m doing my best not to. I rely on stories of others mistakes for motivation, and I always enjoy hearing of the successes.

Jason: Where do you see yourself in 10 years down the lane?

Philip: I’m getting married this fall. I expect in 10 years I’ll be gearing up for a 10-year anniversary. It wouldn’t be out of the question to have an MBA at that point. The future wife and I will probably have a couple of kids running around a house that I would hope to be paying down on a somewhat aggressive scale. Overall, I would like to have a net worth of $1 million by then (including the house), but that goal is somewhat lofty.

Jason: Are you afraid of disclosing any identities of your as in your workplace name or your college name?

Philip: I’m not afraid of anything. I don’t disclose this information because I don’t want to be bogged down with talking about my employer on my blog all the time. It’s not important, but I did feel the need to disclose I am an insider to the industry I discuss. I don’t share where I went to college because it would provide additional clues into who I am and where I’m from. In previous interviews and on Weakonomics I’ve said I have spent most of my life in the same state, this includes college and where I work now. I’ve also said I went to public school because I believe there is little to be gained from going to a private school. In state tuition is just too good.

Jason: Do you think blogging has changed your life in some way or the other?

Philip: I spend more time on my blog now than I do reading Digg, or watching TV. My Nintendo Wii gets lonely sometimes, and I annoy my fiance when I check on something while we’re out together. No significant change has occurred, but I feel like I’m accomplishing something and have something to show for what I’ve done in my free time.

Jason: How long do you think this current economic situation will last and what do you think the answer to it is?

Philip: That’s a difficult question. There are two “theories” out there right now. The first is that we did bottom out sometime in the winter of 2009 and we’re on the road to recovery. This could mean the “end” of the recession in the fall of this year. However that doesn’t mean it’s all roses and candy, unemployment will probably still rise and things won’t be easy.

But we’ll at least be on track to a longer term recovery. The other idea is that we’re scratching the surface of a depression. This could happen of government debt gets out of hand or if the commercial loans on the books of banks start to go bad. Remember much of the problems we’ve seen have been with residential credit and debt, not business debt. If that becomes a problem we’ll likely dip down again and go deeper in the hole. I can’t place odds on which is more likely, however most economists seem to feel more and more optimistic every day.

Jason: What was your best personal finance decision?

Philip: Getting married. By hitching up with The Sheconomist we will be able to leverage our skills and become more productive. I am seriously deficient in the common-sense department and my future wife will fill that void for me. This frees up my cognitive baggage to focus more on finance and my career. Most of my day to day expenses over the last few years have been associated with spending time with a girlfriend instead of a wife. Once married many of these expenses will come down. There’s more to my marriage than a business relationship, but I have to say it’s the smartest thing I’ve ever done and will ever do for my personal finances.

Jason: How do feel by becoming a part of world’s largest debt consolidation community now?

Philip: I wasn’t really aware I was joining a debt consolidation community. At the moment I’m kind of hungry and somewhat chilly, but I don’t think those are feelings associated with Debt Consolidation Care. I suppose if I ever needed to consolidate my debts, I’d feel pretty good right now. I guess I need to get some debt.

I really enjoyed interviewing Philip on his views on personal finance. If you have really enjoyed the interview too then please leave your valuable comments.

A man who loves to call himself lazy. A man who being the laziest in the family has earned a lot and today he considered himself as a perfect blogger, writer and marketer. Software Engineer by profession, Corey, loves to write on personal finances like on budgeting, career, credit, debt, entrepreneurship, investing, taxes, real estate, insurance, spending, retirement, and estate planning. Let us learn some tips from lazy man and money for saving money and making more money is this economic downfall.

Jason: From where did you get the idea of blogging?

LMM: In 2006 I wanted to learn more about blogging and why people were starting to get their news via blogs. One day I decided to look for blogs in areas that I was interested in – Gizmodo was the one that came to mind.

Jason: There are so many topics on which you can blog. But why Personal Finance?

LMM: I read an article in Business Week about how Boston Gal’s Open Wallet writes about her finances. I thought it was very interesting to write about things that people don’t talk about anonymously. I started reading the site and became more interested. Eventually, I decided that I should write – just to improve my own writing. Since I had been investing in mutual funds since the age of 14, it seemed as good as topic as any.

Jason: What do you do in real life and how’d you get started?

LMM: I used to consider myself a software engineer, but I’ve stepped away from that career. Being as Lazy as I am, I had no interest in learning all the changes to the industry during my own time at home. I got started in software engineer when my parents got me an IMB PCjr at the age of 8. Today, I consider myself a blogger/writer/marketer. I do some freelance writing, contract marketing, and blogging. I bring home a bigger paycheck from my contract work, but that is usually month-to-month. I prefer the times when I’m not contracting full time. It’s a much better work/life balance.

Jason: How long do you think this current economic situation will last and what do you think the answer to it is?

LMM: I see it getting a little better each year for the next 4-7 years. Since I see it as a gradual thing, I’m not sure when to say, “That’s it! We have the answer!” I don’t know what the answer is.

Jason: We just noticed the title on your blog is, “Lazy man and money.” How can I be lazy and still earn money?

LMM: You have to look at the saving money part of the equation as well as the earning money. It’s easy to be Lazy and save money. It’s usually just a matter of discipline and saying, “I don’t need that BMW or McMansion. I can work less and buy a cheaper used car and smaller, more economical home. Suddenly, you don’t need to make six figures… perhaps you can get by on a part-time job. It’s also about recognizing how interest works. If you are paying interest to credit cards each month, you need to work harder for nothing. If you have lots of money invested, your money does the work for you.

Jason: What are the three biggest financial achievements you have ever made?

LMM: I’ve had a lot of slow and steady gains. I’d say the biggest achievement was when Lazy Man and Money made enough money to cover all my necessary expenses. If I lost my job, I could eat, pay rent, utilities, etc. just blogging. It’s great from a cash flow perspective, but it doesn’t allow me to save what I would like to. That’s why I either need to work on my businesses to make them more efficient, or continue to take contract jobs and invest wisely.

Jason: Where do you see yourself 10 years down the lane?

LMM: Retired. My wife and I have a fairly extensive plan for how we’re going to reach that goal. I wrote a short 5 part series on our early retirement plan.

Jason: Do you think blogging has changed your life in some way or the other?

LMM: It certainly has. I once wrote the Top Ten Ways Personal Blogging has Helped Me. That’s still true today.

Jason: Please advice our readers how to pay off their debts?

LMM: I would say that you should take the following three steps:

1) Work with debtors to try to reduce the loan’s interest rate. This may or may not work, but it’s worth a try.

2) Look at your assets. If you have a new Corvette, consider selling it and pick up a used Kea. This is an extreme example, but many people can save hundreds a month with a switch from the cost of a new premium car to a used car that gets you from point A to point B.

3) Look at your monthly commitments. Are you making payments on that car… maybe you the above switch helps you get out of that debt completely. Do you have a Netflix subscription, HBO, an expensive cell phone plan that you can cut back on? This all goes towards making sure your income exceeds your expenses. Don’t forget to add the interest you are paying to those expenses.

4) Be caution of debt consolidation… Heed the advice of Wikipedia on Debt Consolidation. Look out for the pitfalls there – especially if you are putting your house on the line.

Jason: How do feel by becoming a part of world’s largest debt consolidation community now?

LMM: I am… hmmm… I didn’t know that. To be honest, I’ve never really cared about debt consolidation. I’ve focused my money research around things that are applicable to my life. Since I don’t carry debt, it’s not anything that I’ve ever looked into.

That said, I wouldn’t care about debt consolidation… I’d care about debt elimination. To me consolidation doesn’t improve things unless you can lower your interest rate while keeping your unsecured loans, unsecured, while not paying any fees for the service. If you come out with the same rates, pay fees, or have to put up collateral (like your home), it simply doesn’t make sense.

Jason: What was your best personal finance decision?

LMM: I think it’s starting Lazy Man and Money. It goes back to the aforementioned ways that blogging has helped me. It forces me to focus on my finances more. Not only that, but it also brings in some income each month outside of a normal 9-5 job. There were 8 other reasons listed in there.

Jason: What is a major personal finance issue that is on your mind right now?

LMM: My tenant in Boston called the other day and said she lost her job and can’t pay the rent. The link has the whole story, but that’s a big deal financially for me. However, in general, I think the country has too much debt, too much unemployment, and credit has become too hard to get. Baby boomers are finding their life savings decimated at the worst time – as they look to retire.

Do you really think it is so easy to be lazy and earn money? Do you really think Corey is a lazy person or he is doing this just for publicizing his blog? Do leave a comment on this before logging out from this post. All the comments will be highly appreciated.