Nina Smith

All Posts

  1. Ten Money Questions for Heather Barmore

    1/26/08 1:41am by Nina Smith
    • 2
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions we speak with Heather Barmore, one of BlogHer’s Contributing Editors for Business, Career & Personal Finance. She also blogs at No Pasa Nada. In her money posts, Heather always offers a refreshing and honest view about finances. She lives up to this reputation in her answers below. Enjoy! 1. You’re a rarity in that you escaped college without any student loan debt. Does this make it easier for you to get ahead financially? I didn’t realize how rare it was until after I graduated from college and started reading more about personal finance. Throughout college many of my close friends had parents who paid for their educations because they – our parents – wanted for us to be as ‘free’ to do what we really wanted to do without having that burden of paying back several thousand dollars. It’s helping me more now than it did at first; at 21 I was broke no matter who was paying for what and at 24 I am making more and saving more without the fear of Citibank knocking on my door to get their money back.  Read more >

  2. Ten Money Questions for Morra Aarons-Mele

    1/18/08 5:11pm by Nina Smith
    • 2
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Morra Aarons-Mele, who serves as BlogHer’s Political Director in addition to covering politics as a Contributing Editor. She’s also a grad student, political consultant and frequent media commentator. I’ve caught her more than a few times on CNN. She gives her financial take below on school, mortgages, politics and her whopping wedding bill. Enjoy! 1. What kind of return do you hope to gain on your grad school investment? Well, I did a career change, and I needed a credential to help me along, so my grad school is more of a credential than an ROI. My big return is that I hope to complete my doctorate, which will allow me to work clinically in the field of adult development, do research, to teach, to write and to consult and carry the kind of capital-C credential I'll need to do my work. I won't know the real return for a long time, but in terms of return on investment, it has already helped. It's a wonderful door-opener.  Read more >

  3. Ten Money Questions for Sanyika Calloway Boyce

    1/11/08 6:13am by Nina Smith
    • 0
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Sanyika Calloway Boyce, an International speaker, financial expert and author of several books on personal finance, including Crack ‘Da Code: What Every College Student Needs to Know About Money, Love & The Dream Job. In the questions below, she tells us her “money story” and how she got from there to here. She’ll elaborate on these and more at the virtual Wealthy Girl Summit on January 24th to 27th, 2008.  Read more >

  4. Ten Money Questions for Adryenn Ashley

    1/4/08 6:18am by Nina Smith
    • 0
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Adryenn Ashley, an outspoken pundit, constitutional scholar, speaker and author of the new book, Every Single Girl’s Guide to Her Future Husband’s Last Divorce, dubbed as an all access pass to the world of second marriages. Read on to hear what she has to say about money and matrimony. Consider it a sneak peek to what she’ll be touting at the virtual Wealthy Girl Summit on January 24th to 27th, 2008. 1. What are three things that women can learn in your book about protecting their assets? Why Co-Mingling Is For Cocktail Parties! Keeping your assets separate is only good business practice... remember, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket!"? That's because you could drop the basket. Then what? So keeping your assets separate ensures that if one pot of gold is stolen, you have more to live on.  Read more >

  5. Ten Money Questions for Virginia DeBolt

    12/28/07 6:16am by Nina Smith
    • 1
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Virginia DeBolt, one of BlogHer’s Contributing Editors for Technology and Web. She is a former educator, who now writes about teaching web design using web standards and other web related topics. She blogs at Web Teacher and First 50 Words. As you’ll read below, she gives us with more than fifty words about money memories, the intersection of work and retirement and needing less “stuff” as we age. Enjoy! 1. You wrote that the elder years have been among your happiest. How does money play into this? I can get through the month without having to worry about whether or not I can afford to go to a movie now. That’s always been my criterion for whether or not I’m living from paycheck to paycheck. But I think I’m happier now because I’ve worked through so many of the difficult and turbulent issues of my youth and I’m more at peace with myself. I live alone, which is one of the things I enjoy and find peaceful about my life now. I’m in close daily contact with family and friends, but I really love the independence of living my life my way.  Read more >

  6. Hassle-Free Returns

    12/26/07 7:10am by Nina Smith
    • 2
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    “The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.” – Pierre Corneille Did anyone get a bad gift yesterday? Andrew Tallman at the conservative Townhall.com liberally defines what could be considered a bad gift: The insult gift, which criticizes rather than edify the person. “Here’s your Thigh-Master video and a subscription to Escaping Codependency Magazine, hon.”  Read more >

  7. Ten Money Questions for Alexis Martin Neely

    12/21/07 6:42am by Nina Smith
    • 0
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Alexis Martin Neely, a mom, writer, speaker and the Personal Family Lawyer you love. She gives the kind of guidance that is critical to the growth of your family wealth and she’s speaking at the virtual Wealthy Girl Summit in January. Get a sneak peek below about what she has to say about money, death and taxes. Enjoy! 1. How are you revolutionizing the world of financial and estate planning for families? I’m revolutionizing the world of financial and estate planning for families in a few ways. First of all, I’m bringing back the idea of the personal lawyer as the family’s trusted advisor and making a personal relationship with a lawyer both affordable and accessible for families who need the regular guidance of a lawyer, but have not felt that was possible. I see too many people turning to stock pickers and insurance agents for legal and financial advice and getting taken advantage of because they don’t have enough in investable assets to get good, objective advice. The personal lawyer is the answer. Second, I’m helping people see that an estate plan is so much more than just a set of form documents, like a Will or a Trust, and it’s not something you wait until you are old, sick or getting ready to retire to think about; very often by then it’s too late.  Read more >

  8. Retirement and the Savings Gap for Women

    12/19/07 6:43am by Nina Smith
    • 7
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    Retirement: It’s nice to get out of the rat race, but you have to learn to get along with less cheese. – Gene Perret For many people, contemplating retirement can trigger anxiety about having enough money. There are gobs of books one might read to make sure we have saved the magic number. There are worksheets and online calculators that can help determine the amount. While it’s a highly personal calculation, figuring out the number is usually the easy part. Establishing the plan to get to the number is typically the bigger challenge. Women have a harder time than men with closing the retirement savings gap. We live longer and make less. This isn’t an astounding revelation.  Read more >

  9. Ten Money Questions for Liz Rizzo

    12/14/07 5:18am by Nina Smith
    • 0
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Liz Rizzo, one of BlogHer’s Contributing Editors for Sex & Relationships. She also blogs at Everyday Goddess. Liz lives in Los Angeles, dates a hunky actor, and aims to direct television. She also has a great money story and like most Hollywood aspirants she’s trying to get by on a budget and pave her way to success in LA. Enjoy! 1. You moved to Los Angeles to direct films. Has the money followed? Actually, if I had one adage for aspiring directors, it would be that it takes money to make money. I have accepted that my life goal of becoming a working director is going to take a very long time because I don’t have the time or the money to shoot regularly and build my reel. I suspect I will direct my first feature in my 40s, and I’ve accepted that I’m probably going to have to write something fabulous and fight to finance it. I’m dedicating 2008 to the “write your way in” theory, so we’ll see where that leads.  Read more >

  10. Gifts that keep on giving; the art of regifting

    12/12/07 5:00pm by Nina Smith
    • 0
    • Sparkle (
      )
       

    Regift: (verb) To give an unwanted gift to someone else; to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift. – Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition My partner and I recently received a lovely hostess gift and after realizing – what it was and where it came from – I said, “Don’t unwrap it. That will be perfect for so-and-so.” I can’t actually describe the gift or name the so-and-so, because you can bet I’ll be regifting it this year. Yes, I’m a regifter. There, I said it. I even have a gift drawer. Doesn’t everyone?  Read more >

Nina Smith

Full Name
Nina Smith
Member Since
February 2006
About Me: 
By day, Nina sells software, but her real estate investments have grown to become a significant part of her financial plan and also a great passion. At the age of thirty, she was still struggling to make ends meet -working night shifts, cleaning houses, and catering when she could. Since then, in the last ten years, she has owned and lived in four homes (three of which she upgraded and sold for tidy profits, one she occupies now). She also owns three investment properties and recently sold a fixer in Palm Springs, CA. She enjoys sharing her views on how to achieve financial independence through real estate investing at Queercents.

Nina Smith's Followers

More >

 

Conferences


BlogHer '12

The BlogHer Annual Conference is heading back to New York City on August 2-4, 2012! Join thousands of other bloggers, writing on every topic under the sun, for 3 days of learning, networking, and fun. Register today!

Learn more about BlogHer conferences.

Subscribe to our newsletters.
Follow our RSS feed.