Financial Literacy Month
April is Financial Literacy Month. Financial literacy is the ability to understand and manage personal finances effectively. It involves skills such as budgeting, saving, investing and making informed financial decisions. Strong financial literacy helps individuals achieve financial stability and long-term security. While there are many aspects to financial literacy, many people think that the following […]
Tax Filing 2024
The deadline for filing your 2024 taxes is just 6 weeks away – April 15, 2025. Most of us don’t look forward to this, but this month I’ll offer a few tips to help you get organized and hopefully reduce the pain. First of all, you can easily extend this deadline to October 15, 2025 […]
National Caregivers Day – February 21, 2025
National Caregivers Day is observed to recognize and honor the dedication and hard work of the approximately 53 million caregivers who provide essential support to individuals in need of care due to aging, illness or disability. These caregivers may include professional caregivers, family members or friends who offer physical, emotional and practical care. In the […]
Individual Bonds versus Bond Funds
You probably know that bonds are fixed-income securities where you loan some money to an entity for a specified interest rate and period of time. Here are the types of bonds you can choose from: Government: Government bonds are considered safest, since a government can always “print more money” to pay its debt. In the […]
2025 Tax Law Changes
As you make your plans for the coming year, it’s important to take note of the changes in contribution limits and other tax changes in 2025. The information that follows was gathered from the IRS and other relevant government agencies. Social Security Social Security payments will increase 2.5% in 2025. 401(k) I view 401(k) plans […]
How Much Should I Save Each Month?
How much to save is such an important question and it can vary quite a bit depending on your age and goals. Nonetheless, there are some rules of thumb that many professionals recommend. This month we’ll take a look at some of them. A widely accepted strategy is the 50/30/20 rule. It simply states that […]
What is a Credit Card CVV?
The CVV (Card Verification Value) is a security feature for credit card transactions, typically used in online or phone purchases. It is a three- or four-digit number printed on your credit card — separate from the card number. Location: On Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cards, the CVV is a three-digit number on the back of […]
Blending Finances for Couples & Newlyweds – Part 2
This is the second part of an article that talks about the three approaches available for combining your finances. Last month’s article discussed keeping finances separate and partially combining finances (hybrid approach). This month we’ll wrap up this discussion by talking about completely combing your finances and we’ll also give you some information on separating […]
Blending Finances for Couples & Newlyweds – Part 1
If you’re engaged in a committed relationship with another person, there are many things you’ll want to discuss and to find a way of dealing with them that works for both of you. I previously wrote about how you can achieve this alignment and it might be good to read that article before digging into […]
Roth 401(k) Plans
You probably know there are two commonly used types of retirement plans: Individual Retirement Plans (IRAs) and 401(k)s/403(b)s offered by employers. Further, they come with different tax treatment choices, Traditional and Roth. In short, the Traditional option is funded with pre-tax dollars and withdrawals (contributions and growth) are taxed as ordinary income. The Roth option […]