One of the financial moves I support is contributing to a retirement account such as the 401K. Especially if your employer offers a matching contribution, that’s free money to you. I’ve contributed to my retirement account since my first job and contributed the maximum amount. In 2021, the maximum contribution was $19,500. In 2022, the IRS set the 401K contribution limits to $20,500, an increase of $1,000. If you’re of the age 50 and over, you can add $6,500 as…
Historically I have been focused on pre-tax retirement accounts for the past 20+ years. I’m slowly leaning towards focusing on post-tax retirement accounts because of tax reasons. Most of all my retirement funds are in pre-tax accounts. I’m worried about the tax implications later on so I decided to explore Roth conversions and I just completed my first Roth conversion. When it comes to retirement accounts, there are two major ones: pre-tax and post-tax. Pre-tax accounts are those accounts like…
Our parents are our role models. We learn so much from them. We pass down traditions generation to generation. We consider them wise and experienced. However, there may be things that our parents did that we should avoid ourselves. Learning what not to do from our parents can help us make better decisions and minimize financial burden. Invest My parents didn’t invest much. They were the type to work their job and put their money into regular savings accounts. Back…
Living a life with just the things you need…living minimally. One area to consider when pursuing financial independence or if you’re just trying to get a hold of your financial stability is to try to live minimally. Living minimally doesn’t mean you have to live like a monk. Living minimally is being aware of your needs and wants. How to live minimally depends on you and what your definition of minimal is. Now that I’m older and a little wiser…
Prior to COVID, did you feel like you could barely keep up with life? I had a 3 hour roundtrip commute to work. I had kids activities I had to take them to. My To-Do list kept getting longer and longer each week. I barely had time for myself. I felt like I was barely keeping up. After working from home due to COVID, it gave me so much of my time back. Luckily, I had a job where I…
This is a second update to this article. I wrote in a previous article about apps that will give you cash for your receipts. I wanted to give an update because I started using yet another app to help me build my cash rewards because receipts are as good as money. Receipt Hog Receipt Hog is an app where you take a picture of a receipt and upload it in their app. You earn credits and when you reach a…
The housing market is on fire right now. You might have heard that there’s a housing shortage. Along with that, interest rates are at record lows and there’s a push for remote working. With all those factors combined, people are selling high, buying high, and willing to pay more to get a home. In my neighborhood, homes for sale don’t stay on the market long and people are selling at a high price. This triggered a discussion between my wife…
Reaching financial independence (FI) isn’t easy. No one should ever think that it is not will it be quick. I was at me dentist appointment and was taking with the dental technician. We got to talking about work and the economy. She was thinking about moving closer to the dental office but the housing was too high even to rent. I told her about a couple of things I did that helped me to afford housing which she has actually…
Expenses are the things you spend your money on. For example, food is an expense. If you have a car, car insurance is an expense. If you rent an apartment, monthly rent is an expense. If you eat out, that is an expense. And the list of expenses can go on and on and on. If your expenses are more than your income, you’re in negative territory. If you are breaking even, you’re living paycheck to paycheck. If you’re income…
We come across opportunities available to us each and every day. We need to take off our blinders and notice them. Opportunities can be knocking on our door but it’s up to us to open that door. Once opportunities are gone, they may not come again so make sure to seize each opportunity. What opportunities am I talking about? It could be anything that helps your career, your relationships, your friendships, your financials, your network, your knowledge, your exposure, your…