Jean Chatzky Quotes

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Jean Chatzky

Profession : Journalist

Birth : November 7, 1964

While you're going through this process of trying to find the satisfaction in your work, pretend you feel satisfied. Tell yourself you had a good day. Walk through the corridors with a smile rather than a scowl. Your positive energy will radiate. If you act like you're having fun, you'll find you are having fun.

Jean Chatzky

Debt certainly isn't always a bad thing. A mortgage can help you afford a home. Student loans can be a necessity in getting a good job. Both are investments worth making, and both come with fairly low interest rates.

Jean Chatzky

Every minute you spend looking through clutter, wondering where you put this or that, being unable to focus because you're not organized costs you: time you could have spent with family or friends, time you could have been productive around the house, time you could have been making money.

Jean Chatzky

Wills are trumped by legal titles to real estate or beneficiary designations on financial accounts, retirement plans and insurance policies.

Jean Chatzky

Unlike other loans, a reverse mortgage doesn't have to be repaid until the borrower moves out of the home or passes away.

Jean Chatzky

It doesn't help to follow every rise and fall of your portfolio. It's better to tune out the day-to-day shifts, in fact. But getting a handle on the larger picture will make you feel more secure, and that goes a long way in calming your fear.

Jean Chatzky

Where wealth is concerned, individuals aren't stuck in little boxes. You don't start out wealthy, stay wealthy, and end wealthy.

Jean Chatzky

Show your kids that needs and wants are two different things. The best way to teach our kids to be smart consumers - and savvy savers - is to model good behavior for them.

Jean Chatzky

Nontraditional students often have the misconception that aid is intended only for high school students entering college. Luckily, that's not the case.

Jean Chatzky

After two decades of personal finance reporting, I've heard every excuse in the book for not saving money. That said, none of them really hold up - at least over the long term.

Jean Chatzky

Just because someone will lend money to you doesn't mean you should borrow it.

Jean Chatzky

In money, and in life, you are very often your own worst enemy. You promise yourself you're going to diet, then eat not one or two French fries but a whole plate. You decide to really commit to saving for retirement, only to wind up with a new pair of shoes in your closet.

Jean Chatzky

Do you have an emergency fund? If not, build one - aim for three months of expenses to start, then boost it to six. It will ease your anxiety and get you out of a potential jam.

Jean Chatzky

You may be basing a portion of your self-worth on your bank account without even realizing it. Try to pinpoint the activities and qualities that, free of charge, fulfill you.

Jean Chatzky

You'll get the biggest bang for each buck by paying off the highest interest rate debt in your portfolio first, while making minimum payments on the remainder. It's called the avalanche method, and it gets you out of debt cheapest and fastest.

Jean Chatzky

Whether it's fly-fishing, taking your camper to the Everglades, or just traveling, everyone has got a little retirement dream.

Jean Chatzky

The older you are when you buy an annuity, the shorter your life expectancy will be - so the greater a monthly paycheck the same sum of money will buy you. When interest rates are higher, the size of the paycheck for the same sum of money will rise also.

Jean Chatzky

Many people focus on the 4 percent rule, which essentially says that as long as you withdraw no more than 4 percent from your retirement accounts each year, the money should last you 30 years.

Jean Chatzky

Anticipating a boomerang child seems the odds-on thing to do. Think about furnishing - hello, sleeper sofa - with this in mind.

Jean Chatzky

There's a laundry list of reasons why not to borrow from your 401(k). While the money is on loan, it's not working for you - and if you leave your job, you'll have to pay it back in 60 days or treat it as a taxable withdrawal.

Jean Chatzky