6 Tips Towards a Debt and Stress-Free Retirement  by Dennis
Miller | February 6, 2014 12:00 pm  6 Tips Towards a Debt and
Stress-Free Retirement   In the last few year I’ve watched two
friends handle debt quite differently, and those differences
illustrate the real taboo about debt that we seem to ignore.
I’ve changed names and tweaked a few details to keep peace in
the world, but what follows are essentially two true stories:
those of Joe Able and Tom Baker.  Both Joe and Tom are early
baby boomers. During their careers, both had the external
trappings of success: nice homes, luxury cars, and a good amount
of other cool stuff. They earned good incomes and paid a lot in
taxes along the way. They moved into their peak earning years
during the Internet boom, and both of their companies
flourished.  Nevertheless, neither Joe nor Tom amassed much
wealth. Instead, they financed signs of wealth. Their
justification: they made enough money to easily afford the
payments. Neither Joe nor Tom had a problem with this ap