I came across a dilemma that you probably have come across at one point in your life. Should I trade in my car for a new one? Well, the answer isn’t that simple because there’s a number of factors to consider. I have a 12 year old SUV with 180K miles and I need new tires which will cost me approximately $1000. When my car reaches 200K miles, I’m going to have to spend another $1000 to change the timing…
There are risk takers and there are risk avoiders. I, myself, am more of a risk avoider especially when it comes to things I’m not familiar with. Normally, I like to take my time to research and learn the topic at hand until I’m comfortable. When I look back, there are many situations where I probably took too long to research. I probably took too long researching how to start a blog and learning cryptocurrency. One of the risks of…
So I have a high yield savings account and over the past couple of years, the interest rates have just gone down so low it’s unbearable. I’ve contemplated whether or not to move my savings into my stock portfolio or a mutual fund. However, I’m all about not putting all my eggs in one basket and to diversify my portfolio. Currently, my high yield savings account earns 0.40%. It’s healthy to shop around. It’s not personal, it’s interest. I’ve been…
An emergency fund is exactly what it says…for emergencies. You never know what life brings you so being able to have funds that will help you through an emergency can lessen the financial stress. If you’ve ever been laid off, had an unexpected death in the family, a medical emergency, or other, one of the first things you probably think about is how to afford the financial obligations. It’s good to build an emergency fund. How Much How much do…
The year 2020 has come with a lot of news and challenges that have affected the economy: Covid-19, Presidential Transition, and a recovering economy from the pandemic. Now there have been more news this year but the most economic influences, in my opinion, are these. We saw that a huge dip in the stock market when it forced shutdowns and more people were working from home. Plan for an economic recovery. With the market, you have to keep an eye…
When I first started writing this blog, I asked myself what does early retirement mean to me? It has different meanings depending who you ask. In my About page I wrote that early retirement doesn’t mean that I stop working. Rather it allows me to explore other opportunities without causing a financial burden to myself and my family. One amazing accomplishment is that we are half way there to achieving early retirement. As the title of this post states, my…
Ever since I started working, it’s been said that social security won’t be around when I hit retirement age. They started emphasizing to contribute to a 401K or other retirement account so that you’re not stuck with anything. And that’s what I did from an early start, 20+ years ago. I wrote about maximizing 401K and why I did it. I wrote about the pros and cons from my experience. You might be asking whether my decision has paid off…
Building confidence takes time and it takes action. Building financial confidence is just the same. It takes time and it takes action. Confidence is “the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something.” Let’s start to build financial confidence. Financial confidence is the belief that you can rely on your finances, your experiences, your decisions, and any other action or inaction that affects you financially. Are you unsure about your financial future? Are you insecure about some…
Amazon is huge! So huge they have their own Amazon Prime Day and this year it’s October 13-14, 2020. It’s the day that millions of people will be searching for deals and shop for the holidays. Prime Day is an annual deal event just for Prime members on Oct. 13-14, delivering incredible savings on products from small businesses & top brands. Who doesn’t want to find deals and buy things discounted. Years ago the sales used to start around December timeframe and that’s…
Back in 2018, you may recall that there was a new tax law going into effect. There was news of people going from usually getting a tax refund to either not getting much of a refund or having to pay. This included me as I went from paying a little back to the government to paying 5 figures back to the government. Until I saw this video from Dave Ramsey, I didn’t know truly why. Will Paying Off Your House…