J.D. Roth

From time to time, I get queries from reporters asking me to comment on particular personal finance topics. I do my best to help these folks, especially when they ask something interesting.

Recently, Katie from CNBC dropped me a line with a question that actually stumped me: For which...

When we're young, we think we know it all. We make decisions -- financial and otherwise -- based on what little we know of the world, and these decisions are colored by a relentless optimism that comes from not having to deal with the harsh realities of the world. Realities...

Have you ever bought something only to discover that this one purchase led to another? And another? And another? I have, and it's frustrating.

Andrew thinks this sort of problem is frustrating, too, and he recently wrote to ask for advice on handling situations like this. What do you do...

Over the past year, one of the most popular features here at Get Rich Slowly has been the monthly "how much do you spend on X?" question. I started these informal and unscientific surveys on a whim. I wanted to see what sort of spending ranges we held as a...

Everyone is different. That's the beauty of life -- but also one of its greatest complications. When two people fall in love, the meshing of these differences can be both fun and frustrating, especially when it comes to personal finance. That's what Elaine has discovered. She'd like some advice on...

Though I steer clear of writing about credit cards at Get Rich Slowly, I use them all the time. I used to be an anti-credit card zealot. Because irresponsible use of credit cards had led me to tens of thousands of dollars in consumer debt, I thought they...

Though I've been reading and writing about money for six years now, I still do stupid things sometimes. Most of these errors are un-interesting -- it's the compulsive spending that's interesting, and I seem to have that under control -- but sometimes it's instructive to look at the mundane...

When I was a boy, my family had a series of dogs: a St. Bernard, a shih tzu, a golden retriever and a whole host of mutts. Because dogs will be dogs, and because we lived in the country far from anything, our dogs would sometimes begin barking... and continue...

Note: This post is part of the Roth IRA Movement event organized by Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents. Today, dozens of financial bloggers are posting articles about Roth IRAs. This is mine.

Most of us know we should save for retirement, but sometimes...

It's strange sometimes to see yourself through other people's eyes. Others see things -- both good and bad -- that you don't see in yourself.

"I see you as outdoorsy," a new friend told me the other day, which caught me off guard. I've never thought of myself that way.

I just returned from three weeks traveling in Argentina and Chile with a group from my university alumni association.



Whenever I travel, I revisit certain recurring themes -- how little I really need to be happy, the quality of food in other countries, the relative costs of...

Over the past few months, I've occasionally used the "Ask the Readers" feature at Get Rich Slowly to poll people about their budgets and spending habits. So far, I've asked folks to share their spending on food, clothes, gifts, and health insurance. Now I want to...

Before I moved out of the house and into my apartment, my cousin Nick paid a visit to play board games. After some rousing Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride action, I gave him a brief tour of my geek room, which was home to my board games, science...

One common request from new GRS readers is some sort of central location where they can find a list of introductory articles to guide their progress. This is a great idea, and I'm working on it. Some of the GRS elves are working on a "Guide to Money" that will...

On Saturday, my friend Tyler hosted a blog meetup.

I first met Tyler several years ago. He was a GRS reader who dropped me a line to see if I'd meet him for dinner. I said "yes" -- as I almost always do. Now, several years later, Tyler runs...

I love to learn. That's part of what makes me who I am. And so I spend large chunks of time pursuing passions like astronomy and Spanish... and investing. Sometimes I'm asked if I have a method for picking up new skills and new knowledge. "Not really," I say. "I...

One of my resolutions since returning from Peru is that I'm going to be more responsive to requests from reporters. I've generally tried to weasel out of interviews in the past because they always made me uncomfortable. I've done enough of them now, though, that I'm able to answer questions...