If you're saving for the long run, it's actually a good thing when the market is down because the more shares you have, the more you can potentially make when markets rise. And over time - decades, not months - the markets rise more than they fall.

What happens to your money directly affects the quality of your life -- not your stockbroker's life or your banker's life, but YOUR life.

Even if you were to fall into extreme financial hardship and file for bankruptcy, you need to understand that your student loan debt will not be discharged in bankruptcy. It is the Velcro of all debts.

Consider a 15- or 20-year fixed-rate mortgage instead of a 30-year, if you can afford the monthly payments - they may not be as high as you think.

If you wait until your children are high school seniors to spring it on them that there's not a whole lot of money for school, they won't have too many options.

You can never solve a financial problem with money. The only way for you to have a larger net worth is for you to go within to see why you are going without.

You are to set your own value, communicate that value to the world, and then not settle for less. Sound daunting? That's just because it takes you out of your comfort zone. You have got to stop being an obstacle on your own path to wealth and security and happiness. You must understand that valuing yourself is well within your control.