You know spring is in the air when people start thinking about home buying. I recently got questions from several people asking about buying a home. One of the most common is how much to put down. Let’s look at a few things to consider: Continue reading “How Much Should You Put Down On a Home?”
In this article, Learnvest provides some guidelines as to how to budget and prioritize your financial goals. First, when it comes to budgeting, they suggest what they call the 50/20/30 rule: Continue reading “How Not To Prioritize Your Financial Goals”
While we usually discuss investing in the context of retirement planning in 401(k)s and IRAs, I was recently asked by a young mother about investing $50k in her 1 year old child’s name. (Since it’s in the child’s name, the money has to be used for his benefit but since he’s a minor, the mother has control over how the money will be invested and spent on his behalf.) Here are some things to consider. Continue reading “How to Invest for Your Child”
I was recently watching the 1980s cult classic Roadhouse (listed as one of “The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made”) on TV with a couple of friends and there was a scene in which the typical rich evil businessman antagonist sets one of the character’s properties on fire. One of my friends joked that it wasn’t such a big deal since it should be covered by insurance. Later in the movie, one of the characters actually said “you got insurance, don’t you?” after another similar incident. Continue reading “You Got Insurance, Don’t You?”
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about investing in rental real estate. I’m going to conclude this series with a final argument in favor of real estate investing and that’s how it’s likely to be affected by four different economic environments relative to other investments and the opportunities each situation presents to real estate investors. Here are the four different scenarios: Continue reading “How Real Estate Investors Can Take Advantage Of Any Economic Scenario”
Over the last couple of weeks, I wrote about the opportunities and challenges involved with investing in residential rental properties. If you feel ready to take the plunge, you may be wondering what to look for in an investment property. After all, it’s not the same as buying your home, which is as much if not more of an emotional decision than a financial one. Like all investments, the less emotion involved with real estate, the better. Here are some things I looked for in purchasing my first rental property: Continue reading “What to Look For In an Investment Property”
Last week, I discussed some of the advantages of investing in direct real estate for retirement. Of course, there are downsides to it too. Here are some of the challenges would-be real estate investors will face:
Continue reading “The Challenges of Real Estate Investing”
I recently got a question in one of my retirement workshops about investing in rental properties for retirement. This can be a great idea for some investors. In fact, I just closed on my own first investment property. Here are some of the unique benefits to supplementing your other retirement investments with direct real estate: Continue reading “Why I’m Investing in Real Estate”
One of the most common questions I get asked is how to divide your money between different types of investments. You’ve probably heard that 90% of investment returns can be explained by your asset allocation or how you divide your money between stocks, bonds, and cash. The problem is that asset allocation guidelines can vary dramatically based on where you look. So how do you decide? Continue reading “The 5 Things That Really Matter When It Comes to Investing”
Over the last two days, we discussed the Baby Boomers and the Generation Xers. Finally, let’s take a look at the newest generation to enter the workforce: the Millennials. Like the other age groups, not saving enough for retirement is the biggest vulnerability facing Millennials. However, they’re the only generation that doesn’t seem to know it as Millennials ranked more urgent needs like managing cash flow, getting out of debt, and investing as higher priorities. Here are some steps Millennials can take to strike a better balance between the needs of today and tomorrow: Continue reading “7 Steps For Millennials to Define Their Financial Future”
I recently saw someone with a cell phone case that doubled as a sort of wallet. It had an opening to keep cards and cash so everything you need is in one place. At first, that seemed pretty neat. Who wouldn’t want to simplify their life?
A new year often brings new changes. In fact, some research shows that we’re more likely to initiate changes in our behavior during the beginning of a time period like a year, month, or week. Here are 3 steps I plan to take this month to kick off the new year: Continue reading “How I Plan to Kick Off The New Year”
I hope you’re having a great holiday season! But in-between various parties and celebrations, there are some last minute financial moves to save you money that you might want to make before the end of the year. Here are a few to be aware of: Continue reading “7 Last Minute Financial Steps to Take Before the End of the Year”
I recently read this article about how the real question in life isn’t what you want. It’s what pain you want. We all have unlimited wants, but what are you willing to struggle for? What price are you willing to pay? Continue reading “The Question That Will Determine Your Financial Success”
While making my travel plans for this holiday season, I went to use my American Airline Aadvantage miles to book a free flight home only to realize that my miles had expired! I now had to spend several hundred dollars on a flight that I could have had for free. Needless to say, I wasn’t very thrilled with this. I contacted American Airlines and found out that I could get my miles back by either paying $200 or paying $30 and booking a roundtrip ticket with them in the next 6 months. I guess I’ll have to keep a lookout for a good flight on American. Here are some tips on using mileage points to make sure you don’t end up paying more for a flight too: Continue reading “Make the Most of Your Miles”
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my journey towards a career in financial education. But now whenever people ask me what I do, I always prepare for a longer conversation than if I were to say I’m a lawyer or I work for Google. If I say I’m a financial planner, people assume I’m selling something. If I say I’m a financial educator, people assume I teach at a school or university. To understand financial education, let’s take a look at how it relates to financial media, sales, and advice since I have some experience with each of them: Continue reading “What is a Financial Educator?”
We may have evolved to focus on the bad things in life (our more cautious ancestors were more likely to survive and reproduce) but today is a time to give thanks for the good things that we too often take for granted. This applies to our financial life too. Here are 5 financial blessings we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving and some steps you can take to make the most of them: Continue reading “5 Financial Blessings to Be Thankful For Today”
I recently had to drop off my car for some repair work and rather than call a taxi, I decided to try a new “ride sharing” service I had heard about called Lyft. Before using it, I really didn’t know what to expect. I thought it was the car version of Airbnb, in which practically anyone could sign up to give rides for a fee to people using the service. I figured that at the very least, it would be more interesting than the typical cab ride and could possibly save me a few bucks. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a whole lot more. Continue reading “Need a Lyft?”
I often analogize financial planning to dieting and exercise (as if financial planning isn’t unappealing enough already). The pain and effort comes now and the benefits come later. Both are also the subject of numerous New Year’s Eve resolutions that are cast aside by Groundhog’s Day. Continue reading “How Financial Fitness is Like Physical Fitness”
I was happy to hear that my colleague and fellow finance geek Linda Robertson recently joined me and Greg in ditching cell phone contracts and coming over to the prepaid side. I’ve been a huge fan of prepaid cell phone plans over the last few years and they keep getting better in terms of price, phone selection, and overall value. For example, you can now get a top of the line iPhone or Android smartphone and pay a fraction of the monthly cost of the big 4 carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and –Mobile). Continue reading “Are You Ready to Ditch Your Cell Phone Contract?”
