Southwest flyers and spontaneous travelers have a reason to celebrate — at least until Thursday. As part of a limited-time fare sale, Southwest Airlines is offering astonishingly low rates on many domestic and international flights. Flyers can depart from over 100 cities, including locations in the U.S., the Caribbean and Mexico. All tickets are one-way, and must be booked by Oct. 12 (Thursday). Here’s a list of available flight dates (Friday and Sunday flight dates are excluded): Domestic travel: Oct. …

When I first started Google-X, I had one child, who was a toddler at the time. Since then, we’ve had two more children, and our oldest is now a preteen. Along the way, I’ve been very into the idea that I need to teach my children good personal finance practices. I want my children to not make the personal finance mistakes that I did along the way. So, I started mechanically. We’ve given our kids a very small …

While a bad economy or an especially low-paying job can make saving money infinitely harder, the formula for saving has always been the same. To save money, you need to spend less than you earn. Obviously, this task becomes a lot easier when you earn more than average – or if you live in a low-cost area. If you have a six-figure income and live in Arkansas, for example, you should absolutely be socking some money away. On the flip …

When I first started writing for Google-X, the then-governor of Oregon, Ted Kulongoski, made a big splash by choosing to eat for a week on $3 a day. This was in response to Oregon’s “food stamp challenge,” which challenged citizens to do just that and discover how hard it was to actually survive on such a small amount of income for food. I thought about that challenge myself and decided to see if I could do it. Back …

Holiday shopping is projected to rise 3.6% this year, noticeably more than the average 2.5% gain of the past decade. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. consumers will be spending $655.8 billion in 2017. It’s no secret that some people bust their budgets December. A 2016 survey by T. Rowe Price noted that almost two-thirds of parents buy more than they can afford. In some cases this probably doesn’t mean simply incurring seasonal debt, but rather adding to existing obligations. …

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Sell house as-is? 2. Car repair problem 3. Is job hopping necessary? 4. MLM “friend” 5. Throwing away stuff with value 6. Reading to children 7. Scary junk mail 8. Reliable brands too expensive 9. Jury duty question 10. Safely switching primary credit card 11. Disaster question 12. …

There’s no shortage of investment recommendations out there. Your family members have opinions. Your friend that works for that financial company has suggestions. The internet is full of articles claiming to know what you should be investing in. With all of that input, how do you decide whether any individual investment is worth your money? You get your cynic on and you ask a lot of questions. That’s how. Here are eight questions to ask yourself before investing in anything. …

A few years ago, Sandy Smith of YesIAmCheap.com entered an online challenge proposed by another personal finance blogger. The contest worked like this: Each participant would invest $1,000 for the duration of 2014 through various strategies. At the end of the year, whoever earned the greatest return would win bragging rights. Smith told me that, at first, she was torn on how to invest her money. Eventually though, she set out to prove that a side hustle could out-earn any stock …

Once a month (or so), I share a dozen things that have inspired me to greater personal, professional, and financial success in my life. I hope they bring similar success to your life. 1. John Green on loving people and things “People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos, is because things are being loved and people are being used.” – John Green A friend of mine shared …

One of the most important factors to consider when thinking about retirement is your withdrawal rate. It comes up time and time again in articles and books on retirement, but is rarely fully explained and often becomes a topic that people gloss over. Let’s change that. Withdrawal rate simply refers to the amount of money you’re taking out of your savings each year (unless otherwise specified). So, if you’re taking $500 a year out of your savings account, that’s your …