It’s the time of year where we rush to stores to buy the latest gadgets on sale, save a few dollars, and act like untamed animals which inevitably results in multiple news stories about awful things that people have done to others to make sure they got the deal they were looking for. All for something that we’ll probably forget about in a year or two, if not sooner. There’s plenty of evidence showing that experiences provide much more happiness than material things. However, most Black Friday deals revolve around getting a good deal on a “thing” rather than an experience.
4 Ways to Save for Your Child’s College Education
4 minute read
College is expensive, and the costs of attendance generally continue to rise at a significant rate. Many people want to at least help their children through college financially, if not pay for it for them completely. But should you?
Three Steps to Organize Your Finances & Prepare for 2019
4 minute read
When you’re working on a big project at work, having all of the data and all the documents that you need in one place makes your job a lot easier, leaves you less stressed than if you had to search for everything and get data from multiple different sources, and helps you to get the job done on time with accuracy. When you’re at home cooking dinner for your family, knowing where all of the utensils, dishes, and ingredients are makes things much easier on you and helps you to get dinner on the table when it needs to be. When you’re doing a project around the house, knowing where your tools are helps you get the job done efficiently without having to waste time searching for them.
Generate Momentum
4 minute read
There are 54 days until the new year. That’s 54 days that you can prepare yourself now and generate momentum to reach your 2019 goals. Start thinking about what you would like to accomplish in 2019 and develop a game plan of how you’re going to do that. Once you’ve figured out your goals and the steps that need to begin taken, start now! Generate positive momentum that will help make sure that you’re full steam ahead towards reaching your goals once the new year rolls around.
Why Wait?
4 minute read
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment 2018
4 minute read
Today marks the first day that you can enroll in health insurance through HealthCare.gov, the US government’s health insurance exchange. Open enrollment in 2018, for insurance that is effective January 1, 2019, is from November 1 through December 15. If you don’t have health insurance available to you through your employer, or any other source, then you want to make sure that you enroll in a marketplace plan before December 15 so that you have coverage for 2019. If you fail to enroll in a plan by December 15, and you don’t have a qualifying event in 2019 that makes you eligible for a Special Enrollment Period, then you’ll be without health insurance for the whole year or will have to resort to an option such as short-term health insurance, which is less than ideal.
Money Well Spent
3 minute read
A lot of articles I write revolve around saving money and different strategies to do so. However, there are times to spend the money that you’ve saved as well. This is going to be a story of one of those relatively insignificant times, but one that I ended up being very satisfied with.
Where Should I Setup a Retirement Account?
3 minute read
This is a question that someone asked me recently. Actually, the question was if there’s a Roth IRA that I recommend, but I think that they were essentially asking where to open an account and the answers to those two questions are one in the same. I can see how this could be very confusing for most people.
Equifax Data Breach
3 minute read
Hopefully we haven’t forgotten about the Equifax data breach due to the severity of the potential outcomes. The Equifax data breach happened over a year ago on September 8, 2017. The breach exposed sensitive data of 146 million consumers and most American’s Social Security numbers were compromised.
2018 NAPFA Fall Conference
< 1 minute read
I had the opportunity to spend the majority of this week in the City of Brotherly Love while attending the NAPFA Fall Conference.