Here is a list of some of the best articles from my favorite personal finance websites. Spend some time digging through the Millionaire Money Habits archives and the links below to improve your financial literacy, and learn how to become a millionaire.

Spotlight: “Does a shortage of money make you feel paralyzed? Seeing yourself in a deep financial trouble is quite a stressful experience-a cold shower which can freeze your willpower to get out of it. But if you don’t take action, you are just like a drowning man who does not try to save himself. Sooner or later you’ll reach the bottom.” Read the Ten Steps To Take When You Are In Financial Trouble at Generation X Finance.

The Rest of the Best:

• Timeless Tips For College Students at WiseBread
• What Is An Annuity? at Moolanomy
• Unhappy With Your Job? You’re Not Alone at Gather Little by Little
• 12 Reasons Why High Gas Prices Are GOOD For America at The Wisdom Journal
• Understanding Investment Risk Types at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
• 10 Things That Bring Success in Personal Finance #10 Part 2: Being Intentional at Prime Time Money
• Twelve Top Personal Finance Podcasts at Get Rich Slowly
• Increase Your Salary Without Increasing Your Work at the Digerati Life

Personal Finance Carnivals:

• Money Hacks Carnival
• Carnival of Financial Planning
• Personal Finance Money Tips
• Festival of Stocks

Millionaire Money Habit: To help you become a millionaire, you need to perpetually improve your financial literacy. Digest as much information as possible and stick to a plan that works for you. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed or by email to be notified of new articles posted here.

Risk measurement calculators can be a fantastic tool. You take a quick survey that makes you reflect on how you would feel or react to certain market conditions, and the risk measurement genie tells you exactly how to invest your money.

But risk measurement calculators are only a great tool, if only they produced realistic results.

The problem with risk tolerance calculators is the output is determined by how you think you would respond to a certain scenario. Turns out that how you think you would act is different than you really do when actually in that situation.

For example, “What would you do if your portfolio dropped 20% in value in a single day? Would you take your money out of the market, invest more, or not do anything?”

You might think that’s an easy question . . . you should invest more while stocks are cheap. That may be the appropriate move, but when the time comes and your money is actually at stake, making the sensible decision is not always easy. You might start thinking, “What if the market drops another 20% after I reinvest?”

When your emotions are involved, it’s an entirely different game. That’s why brokerage firms love it when you use their free stock trading simulator. When you use simulations that provide you with fake money to trade, studies show that people have better investment performance then when they use their actually money. Why? Because when you use the simulator, there is no subconscious emotional interference with your decisions.

Millionaire Money Habit: When using investment risk measurement calculators, use the results to guide your investment decisions, but don’t let them be an end-all-be-all answer to all your investment needs. -RT

Personal finance planning can seem complicated and difficult. With so many investment products and vehicles, budgeting tools, debt pay down strategies, savings plans, and personal finance jargon, it can be tough to weed through all of the information and figure out where to start.

Here’s a quick checklist to make sure you are on the right path:

1. Create a Budget: The first thing you need to do is asses your income, expenses and create spending limits to live within your means.
2. Pay Down Debt: The more interest you are paying on loans and credit card bills, the harder it is and the longer it will take you to accumulate wealth.
3. Build an Emergency Fund: An emergency fund will protect you for inevitable events that would otherwise drive you deeper in to debt. Be prepared for the unexpected and you will avoid one circumstance ruining your ability to become rich. (see Why is an Emergency Fund Important?)
4. Invest Automatically: While investing can be complicated and daunting, it doesn’t need to be. The reality is that the simpler you keep it, the better returns you will receive. Simply invest in diversified mutual funds, index funds, or a life-cycle fund through your 401k plan and you will keep risk low while earning market returns.
5. Stay on Task: As many of the celebrity investors, such as Warren Buffett and Ben Stein, frequently state, you want to be a long term investor in order to take advantage of the The Power of Compound Interest.
6. Increase Your Income: As your income increases over time and you earn raises, promotions and uncover new ways to bring in additional income sources, put more money to work for you.
7. Make Personal Finance Planning Fun: Believe it or not, personal finance can be fun. Make it a challenge to save a certain amount of money, stay within a budget, and find ways to cut your costs. Set short and long terms goals and remember to reward yourself for reaching your goals.

None of these personal finance planning tips here is particularly mind blowing information, but it can be life changing. The important thing to realize is that personal finance does not need to be difficult. Anyone can build wealth with a little discipline and consistency.

Millionaire Money Habit: All self-made millionaires started somewhere. It will take time and a little preparation, but you can reach your financial goals by creating a Millionaire Mindset. -RT