Finances & Money

Am I a Personal Finance Site? What is Personal Finance?

I, Clever Dude, have been immediately accepted into the Personal Finance community, and even attended a gathering of DC area Personal Finance writers a few weeks ago. But I have to admit, I didn’t really know what my topics would be when I registered CleverDude.com. (Read about where I got the name Clever Dude)

What is Personal Finance?
I’ve honestly never looked up the definition of Personal Finance, and I’m not planning on researching the meaning either. For the purpose of this site, my own definition of Personal Finance is the following:

Anything that has, is, will or may impact one’s individual financial standing or stability

That definition covers so many areas:

• Employment (Salaries, Job Hunting, Coworkers)
• Taxes (Personal, Business, Estate)
• Retirement (401k, IRA, Mutual Funds, Stocks, Bonds, Other Investments)
• Family Matters (Kids, Parents, Insurance)
• Marriage (keeping it happy and healthy)
• Material Possessions (Cars, House, Stuff, Bling)
• Health and Fitness (Medical, Life Insurance, Food)
• Social (Friends, Neighbors)
• Safety and Security (more Insurance, Protection)

…and that’s just a SAMPLING of the far reaches of Personal Finance. Where should I focus?

I choose to not focus on any single topic. I don’t know much about Investing, so I avoid that topic. I avoid Taxes because of my current job (potential conflict of interest). But everything else is fair game.

So although I’m now considered part of the Personal Finance Community, I’d like to be clear that my tagline “Family, Marriage, Finances & Life” still holds true.

What’s your definition of Personal Finance? Am I outside the lines?