Do You Have an Emergency Fund?
Key takeaways A recent survey from Lending Tree reports that 52% of Americans and 60% of young investors cannot cover a $1,000 emergency. With no emergency fund in place, many are tempted to take out payday loans, which charge predatory interest rates from 300% to 700%. If you haven’t built an emergency fund yet, you […]
Don’t Invest Too Much in the Next Big Thing
Key takeaways A recent study, conducted by the financial company Edelman’s, showed that 25% of affluent millennials were investing in Bitcoin. The pull of trends like Bitcoin is reminiscent of other trends that popped up in the past—trends that failed to pan out, causing people to lose a lot of their hard earned money. Bitcoin, […]
Advisors for Success Minded People
Key takeaways A catch-22 is a situation that keeps you from attaining your goals due to a set of inherently illogical rules or conditions. Younger, success-minded people need professional advice as they accumulate wealth over time. The majority of the professional advice available for success-minded individuals—at the beginning of their wealth building years—is either far […]
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 […]
Where Is Your Happiness Level Around Money?
Key takeaways Some people continually raise the bar on themselves when it comes to the amount of income they need in order to be happy. A recent study found that most people are happy at annual income levels of $80,000 to $100,000. For people making incomes above that level, yet who still aren’t happy, there […]
You Don’t Have to Spend Money to Have Fun
Key takeaways Money spent every weekend on eating out and other entertainment can add up to five or ten thousand dollars over the course of a year. Spending money every, or almost every, weekend can make it harder to save money for a future goal like making a downpayment on a house. Entertainment and having […]
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 […]
The Importance of Having Family Meetings
Key takeaways 2 million millennials are currently caring for aging parents or other aging loved ones. Having a family meeting with parents, in-laws, or grandparents to discuss their estates and other wishes before they need help is very important. Communication and understanding in this area will go a long way toward reducing the chances of […]
What Would You Do With a Million Dollars?
Key takeaways Baby boomers and millennials have vastly different views on money and how to use it. The severe frugality of most millennials likely stems from them watching their boomer parents or other boomers suffer during financial crises in the 80s to the dot com financial crises and the great recession of the 2000s. Budget […]