Category: Saving & Investing

It was just a few years ago that my 12-year-old nephew asked his grandmother for a CD on his birthday. She was so proud that the young man was interested in looking for ways to build his finances that she wanted to open a new CD for him right away. I had to laugh just a little when I explained to her that he wasn’t asking about an interest-bearing certificate of deposit from the bank, but rather a new compact disc just released by his favorite rock band! There’s a lesson here somewhere, but that’s for another post on another day.

Today we are talking about CD’s (certificates of deposit), the kind that can help you round out your financial portfolio and help you reach your financial goals. The strategy is called laddering, and it helps you make some decisions about the terms and interest rates. Longer terms mean higher interest rates for CD’s (in general) and shorter terms mean faster access to your money. A CD ladder strategy helps you balance higher rates with more frequent access to your funds.Continue reading“How Can a CD Ladder Strategy Help You Reach Your Goals?”

Over the past several weeks, the US stock market has been bouncing up and down like it hasn’t done since the recession back in 2008. The daily swings and huge one-day drops and gains in the major markets have caused a lot of speculation and even panic as the bull market that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise to a record 18000.00+ has transitioned to a bear market falling to as low as 14750.00 during that time period (minus about 20%).

The causes of this volatility are being called by some experts “a market correction”, which periodically occurs after large gains are made and profits are taken by investors. The US market has also been heavily influenced by other world markets, most recently the decline in China and Japan. Our market had been gaining now for years since 2008 and had reached all-time highs just very recently. But the beginning of “bear market conditions” can be a longer term activity than a correction indicates and if that’s what is happening, it can affect you whether or not you are an investor.Continue reading“How Turmoil in the US Stock Market Affects Everyday Life”

It’s Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Now it might not be as bad as all that, but you never know when a crisis will hit out of the blue. And that’s why having an emergency fund is so important. Typical personal finance advice says to save approximately 3 to 6 month’s worth of expenses in an emergency fund to deal with life’s unexpected expenses. But how many people actually keep that much sitting around? Most people have some consumer debt, so if they’re focused on their finances at all, they’re typically saving up a minimal emergency fund (like $500-$1,000), and then spending the rest on paying down their bills. That seems reasonable, after all the interest you’re likely paying on your consumer debt usually far outweighs the measly 1% interest you’d be lucky to get on your savings (if you can even find 1%). But is your emergency fund big enough to save you? When it comes to emergency savings, size matters.

Continue reading“Is Your Emergency Fund Big Enough?”