How to Fix the Leaky Money Faucet
Key takeaways Just like a leaky water faucet, a leaky money faucet can add up to thousands of lost dollars over time, if left unchecked. Use one of the many online services that track all of your expenditures. One day a week, such as every Friday, review each of your expenses to determine where the […]
The FIRE Movement: Will You Have Enough Money?
Key takeaways Almost every generation has its own counterculture movement that arises out of a desire to escape societal authority. Today, the trending countercultural fad is the FIRE movement, which has inspired many younger people to take an interest in retiring much earlier than their parents or grandparents did. While retiring at age 35 or […]
Do You Have a Plan In Place In Case of Death or Disability?
Key takeaways Mortality and morbidity are two intangible, yet very important and unavoidable topics to think about. Addressing these topics requires a discussion about death as well as potential medical and disability issues. Having life insurance, an estate plan, and medical and disability insurance in place will provide relief to those coping with the death […]
Delaying Your Leap from the Nest
Key Takeaways It might sound strange to be living with your parents at 30, but it can be a good idea to help you defray costs if you have a significant amount of student loan debt. With rent costing anywhere from 30-50% of people’s income, housing is one of the biggest costs in a person’s […]
401(k) Tricks You Probably Don’t Know
Key Takeaways Most people, when they are starting off in the workforce, end up working at a few different jobs for the first few years. Many companies offer matching 401(k) programs, and you can actually roll over one 401(k) at one company to another 401(k) at another company. Most 401(k)s have what’s called a loan […]
Your Money Timeline
Key Takeaways When it comes to investing money, the order in which you invest matters. Before investing in anything, make sure your emergency fund is set up and topped off. It’s important to know what your short, intermediate, and long-term goals are in order to know what assets you should invest in and when.
The Down Payment Myth
Key Takeaways A recent survey of 3,000 Millennials found that 53% of them said they hadn’t bought a house yet because they hadn’t saved enough money. You don’t need a down payment of 20% of the value of the home in order to buy it; there are several loan types that don’t require that amount. […]
Is It Ok to Ask For Help?
Key Takeaways A recent study showed that many parents are still paying some bills for their adult children, mainly car insurance and cell phone bills. Asking for financial assistance from family members is ok, but there is always a happy medium between not acknowledging money issues at all, or constantly giving money away no matter […]
The Debt Shovel
Key Takeaways How we take on debt and how we pay it back can be a bit of an intangible concept. When you initially take on debt, it’s tax free, but when you pay it back, it’s with money after tax, and that means it takes more of your income to pay that debt back […]
The 50% Rule
Key Takeaways If you get a raise or your income increases for some reason, use the 50% Rule to take half of that increased income and save it or pay down debt. Many times when we have an increase in income, we spend it on things we don’t really need. That new increase in money […]