Category: Saving & Investing

Learn how to pay yourself first, build up your savings, and start investing

Debt, Personal Finance, Saving & Investing

The Fed’s March 3rd Surprise Interest Rate Cut

You are probably one of the millions of Americans who are concerned about the COVID-19 coronavirus and you are trying to best deal with all the news about it and the risk it imposes. We all are.

With worries about the coronavirus affecting our economy, a new Fed rate cut is meant to stimulate growth, but how will that affect consumers?

Besides the huge health risks, the world economy is dealing with the potential impact the virus is having on it. To help our economy withstand the threat from the rapidly spreading and scary coronavirus, the Federal Reserve sliced interest rates by the largest amount since 2008. While many financial experts feel that a Fed rate cut may not have any impact on what’s happening, it’s a big move that might have impact on the credit cards in your wallet, the rates you pay for a home loan or a refinanced mortgage, and many other borrowing costs, too. Whether it encourages the consumer to keep buying as they have been for the past several years during this medical crisis is another thing completely.

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Saving & Investing

Best Ways to Save Money That Few Ever Do

If you’re a financial blog reader, you are most definitely being bombarded by “good advice” almost every day and I have to admit myself that sometimes the advice is complex and hard to understand. Any time someone swears that their ideas are foolproof and guaranteed to bring you financial peace of mind and success, you should be just a bit skeptical when it comes to your money and re-read the words a few dozen times before you jump right in to changing everything about your money and life. That’s one “blog tip” I will share and stand by, for sure. But sometimes, the advice you read about can be pretty simple and really basic and practical. Yet, despite that fact, many people read about those best ways to save money, understand them, and never do them! Why is that?

Knowing the best ways to save money isn't enough; you actually have to do something! Here are 6 things you can do to get your finances in shape.

Is Anyone Really an Expert When It Comes to Money?

When it comes to money, there are lots of people claiming to be experts. No doubt some actually are just that. Either they have learned about financial success through their own experiences or they have studied about it and learned to apply what they have learned to real life. Some of these people are household names like Dave Ramsey or even Suze Orman. But what about all the other hundreds of people (like me) who are willing to share some saving tips that we think are right on? Should you believe and trust our advice?

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Saving & Investing

Saving Money Should Be Easy, So Why Is It So Hard?

Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

With early and continued exposure to personal finance and economics, kids today are growing up to be better savers, investors, and borrowers, according to the Council for Economic Education. The expectations are that they can and will make better financial decisions for themselves and their families in the future. But, then what about you?

Saving money isn't as easy as it should be, so follow these saving money tips to increase your funds. Every little bit helps!

If saving is just a matter of “education”, well you aren’t living on a remote island someplace, are you? It’s the 21st century and you are getting money advice from everywhere these days, so what is the problem? If saving money is just a matter of educating yourself, then saving should be easy. So why is it so hard?

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Retirement, Saving & Investing

Everything You Need to Know About 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2020

When it comes to preparing for retirement, it’s very important to stay right up to speed with all the rules, regulations, and changes made by the IRS from year to year. With the next year looming just two months away, the IRS has made some 401(k) contribution limit changes for 2020 but still has left both Roth and traditional IRA contribution limits for 2020 flat.

The IRS has changed 401(k) contribution limits for 2020 and here's what you need to know about them to maximize your retirement savings.

The IRA limits are again unchanged from 2019’s $6,000, or $7,000 combined if you’re age 50 or older. This is the second straight year at those caps. The caps are the maximum amounts you can kick into those retirement accounts, whether you use just one type or in any combination. Before 2019, the IRA contribution limits stayed the same for six years in a row. So just in case you needed a refresher, today I thought I’d go over some of the things that you really need to know when you are saving in these accounts for your retirement!

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Saving & Investing

What’s Worse Than Not Saving Money: “Dissaving”

There may not be any other word in the English language that says such an obvious thing as the word “dissaving”. We all know what each part of that word means. “Dis-” means “not”, as in disrespect, meaning not to have respect for something like saving money. “Saving” is the thing we all want to do with our money whenever we buy something and try to put away the difference after we do it. Funny thing is when you combine those two parts together, it becomes a complete disaster! If you’re in “dissaving” mode, then you need a life saver.

Dissaving is when you're spending more than you're taking in. That can put you in a financial hole that leads to disaster if you're not careful.

The Definition of This “Dis”

Dissaving is an actual real word. I swear I’m not making it up! You can Google it if you have any doubt, but trust me, it’s real.

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Money Mindset, Saving & Investing

Three Mistakes I Made on the Road to Financial Freedom

Today we have a guest post by Simon from Financial Expert, a blog that offers free learning experiences which combine articles, interactive experiences, and assessments. Today he talks about some of the mistakes he personally made in investing and some of the lessons he learned along his way to becoming a smarter investor in the 21st century!

While the post title implies that my failures only number three, I feel it is only fair to admit that I have comfortably exceeded this number over my decade of investing!

In today's guest post, Simon from Financial Expert shares three investing mistakes he made on the way to financial freedom and how you can avoid them.

Here are three mistakes which I feel hold broader lessons for all of us to reflect upon.

1. I believed that complexity was the key to an excellent portfolio

I loved investing so passionately when I first began, that I immersed myself in the topic at every opportunity. I read magazines, blogs, newspapers to satisfy my hunger for knowledge.

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Insurance, Retirement, Saving & Investing

Are Annuities Good or Bad for Your Retirement?

A lot of financial experts and bloggers don’t recommend annuities or even like to talk about them very much. They are more likely to recommend and want to talk to you about investments in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds for growing your wealth and prepping for retirement. That may leave you to wonder what annuities really are and whether you should you invest in them for your retirement years.

Annuities...good or bad? They have a poor reputation, but there can be good reasons to include the right one in your retirement plans.

I chose to purchase an annuity about 20 years ago (when I was 50) with qualified money I used from a 401(k). Then, about 5 years ago, I took that money and used it to purchase a 5-year deferred annuity that will start paying me beginning in January of 2020. Those payments are guaranteed to me or a beneficiary (my wife who is 20 years my junior) for 20 years, or for my entire life as long as I live (even if I live to be 100 or more). This made good sense for my situation. But, before you decide that an annuity is either a good or bad choice, ask yourself this: Have you taken a really good look at annuities and do they make any sense for you?

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Frugality, Saving & Investing

Saving Money Doesn’t Mean You Have to Have No Life!

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I guess I have always been surrounded by the “aura” of saving money. It started for me as a kid, simply because I grew up in a family that didn’t have a lot of extra money and I was the child of parents who grew up during the Great Depression. I am pretty sure that experience shaped my Mom and Dad’s philosophy about money and the importance of saving for a rainy day. The rainy days of the 1930’s were pretty rainy, so I get it.

If you feel like you have to have no life in order to save money, it doesn't have to be that way. Here's how to save and still enjoy life.

Of course, my parents were also around for the post-war abundance and prosperity of the 1950’s and things got a lot better for them and for all Americans as the 20th century rolled on. But even with that, the art and skill of the “saving of money” (which really primarily fell on my Mom’s shoulders as the main shopper and budget keeper) was still upper-most in their minds. And yes, of course, since I was right there by their side, mine too. But despite the emphasis on the saving of money, it didn’t mean that we had to have no life!

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