Helpful tips for financial planning and getting your finances under control. Plan for a healthy financial future.
Receiving a raise can be one of the easiest ways to increase your savings. Even if you invest just half of the monthly increase into your emergency fund, your retirement account, or your children’s college account, you are on your way to greater financial wellbeing without much more effort on your end. Prior to President […]
When the U.S. economy took a plunge back in 2008, the amount of money Americans spent eating out took a parallel plunge. But since 2010, that number began to rise once again. In fact, it surpassed 2007’s previously highest dollar amount just 2 years later. We get it. Eating out is convenient: there’s little planning, […]
Imagine your spouse of 30 years dies suddenly of a heart attack, and amid your fog of grief, you don’t realize you haven’t paid your power bill for three months. The power company is threatening to shut your lights off, and you don’t have the money because you drained your savings account to pay for […]
1. Job Loss Whether you are unexpectedly laid off or fired, or you have to leave a job for personal reasons, living without a paycheck is extremely stressful. You need a stash of cash to make ends meet between jobs. 2. Hours or Salary Cut Maybe you still have a job, but your salary or […]
1. File on time. This can be the hardest step—and the most important. The IRS charges penalties for failure to file taxes and for failure to pay them. Avoid the late-filing fee, even if you can’t pay what you owe. For 2018, tax returns are due on April 17, which gives you two additional days […]
If you have any doubts that a college degree is an investment in your child’s financial wellbeing, these statistics should put them to rest. According to CollegeBoard’s most recent study, a person with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn 66% more in wages over a lifetime than someone with only a high school diploma. […]
If you have less than $500 in your savings account, you are not alone. According to one Bankrate survey, 63% of respondents do not have $500 in savings to pay for an unexpected expense such as a sudden car repair or medical bill. While having low savings is common among Americans, you may be surprised […]
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are a means of helping Americans save for future healthcare and medical expenses. The incentive for doing so is the money you save on costs you will have to pay anyway. First created in 2003, an estimated $42.7 billion is held in over 21 million HSA accounts less than 15 years later. If […]
Not surprisingly, opinions about how, why and when to give kids an allowance vary widely. Many articles, particularly those on sites devoted to personal finance, tout the benefits to helping kids gain an early grasp of financial literacy. When done right, they argue, teaching kids to manage their own money, to earn, spend and save […]
There are lots of ways to save money. Most, if not all of them, require some degree of steadfastness and discipline. You can resolve, for example, to hold off buying yourself any new clothing or housewares for a set period of time. You could pledge to never buying coffee or water out or tossing all […]
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