Sometimes it’s more effective to be smart about money than it is to be rich. I mean, nobody is going to argue that being rich automatically makes you happy or successful, or that being happy and successful are going to make you rich. But at the very least, if you choose smart financial perspectives as the groundwork for some of your life, chances are you’ll move toward self-actualization more readily than otherwise.

And five of these perspectives could be listed as understanding that credit cards are good, knowing that you can live cash-only if you want, keeping a savings account, learning about interest rates, and paying attention so that you live within your means at any given segment in your life. [Read more…]