The interest rates are expected to get cut by the Federal Reserve. Many have been waiting for this moment because the cost of borrowing money will get cheaper. When interest rates get cut so does the rates for mortgages, car loans, and your savings account rate. You can get an auto loan at a lower rate but don’t forget that your ability to collect interest on your savings account is affected also. I’m not in the market to get a…
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) is the minimum amount that the IRS requires you to withdraw from your pre-tax retirement funds annually when you hit age 72. This is not an option. When you withdraw from your pre-tax accounts, it counts as income and you will have to pay taxes. The point of investing your money pre-tax is that you defer paying taxes later on. Well, you will start to be forced to start withdrawing at the age of 72 or 73. If…
How do you know how much you’re going to need in the future, whether it’s for retirement or early retirement? It’s simple but not as simple. What are your expenses going to be? What income and/or cash flow will you have? Two simple questions but not that easy to answer. Plus, who can predict what their expenses will truly be? One key to financial independence success is to know your expenses. Recently, I had to help my mom, who is…
Traveling abroad is an adventure. Trying new cultures, meeting new people, hearing new languages, and eating different foods are just a few reasons visiting another country is so exciting. It can also be a burden on you financially which could stray you away from even looking into it. How do you even start looking to travel abroad cost effectively? I try to travel as much as possible for my family vacations. I want to expose my family to the adventures…
When looking into what to invest in, you have to do your research. I am still grappling the concept of AI (artificial intelligence) and how it has such an influence on us. A few months ago I watched a couple of YouTube videos showing how AI services can create an actual video by giving it certain criteria. From just commands and a description, AI can create an entire YouTube video. That is when I knew that AI was going to…
Back in 2023, I purchased a Tesla and it’s been over a year now. Was it a good purchase? Do I regret it? How has it impacted me financially? I’ve had great experiences and some not so great experiences with my Tesla and I’ll explain those below. Bottom line, a year after owning my Tesla EV car it’s been a pleasure owning one. Tax Incentives When you buy a qualifying EV or plug-in hybrid car, there can be a tax…
When I look back at how I started my investment journey, I know that I made the best decisions with the knowledge and information I had at that time. I also feel that I was very conscious about my investing patterns which lead to a more conservative portfolio. When you hear about being more aggressive in your younger years, it’s a high risk high reward strategy. The younger you are the higher risk tolerance you may have. Not taking more…
A friend of mine asked me about the Chase Ink credit card and that he was thinking of opening one. I was happy that he came to me and the excitement made me forget about referrals. Certain Chase credit cards give referral bonuses when you refer someone to one of their credit cards. In this case, I totally forgot about it and missed an opportunity for the referral bonus. Lesson learned, don’t forget the referral. I’m kicking myself because missing out on an…
Planning for vacations well in advance has a benefit. In my experience, the costs of flights and hotels are less expensive than if you were to make reservations closer to your travel date. For example, I’ve reserved airline flights 6 months in advance and I noticed as my travel date gets closer the price tends to go up. Reserving hotel rooms well in advance will have a similar experience. This is something I’ve known about and have practiced this for…
Ever think that a huge company like Microsoft would be in the business of giving you rewards for taking pictures of your receipts and interacting with their services? I didn’t until I came across Microsoft Rewards. Microsoft is trying to bring people to use their products and services so what better way than to offer a rewards system. You earn points by taking polls, quizzes, uploading receipts, searching with Bing, and others. Microsoft has a legitimate rewards program. I’ve been…