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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 […]
Financial Health
When asked about their financial health, many people immediately think of their credit score. While that is an important component, it’s far from the whole story. As an analogy, think about going to get your physical and the doctor only takes your temperature. But what about blood pressure, cholesterol levels and so on? Yep, understanding […]
Personal Financial Calendar for 2024
As the New Year begins, it’s a great time to take note of important financial events that are coming this year. This will let you plan for them and avoid penalties and interest charges for missed payments. January Be sure you have signed up for your company’s 401(k) program – especially if your employer offers […]
Using Home Equity to Fund Long-Term Care
Have you thought about whether you might need long-term care as you get older? The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that 70% of adults who survive to age 65 will need long-term services and support before they die and that 48% of those people will receive some paid care over their lifetime. […]
The Rewards of Successful Planning
For many of us, financial planning can be difficult. Maybe we’re young and we want to have a good time now and worry about the future later. Maybe we’re older and can’t bear to see how far behind we are in saving for retirement. Maybe we feel constrained by plans and want the freedom to […]
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank are the two U.S. banks that failed in the last few weeks. Were the depositors at risk? Normally, if deposits were $250,000 or less per depositor, per insured bank, an independent government agency called the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ensures that depositors will promptly get all of their […]
Delayed Gratification
Delayed gratification is often thought of as resisting an immediate reward in exchange for a greater reward in the future. However the essence of delayed gratification is simply resisting an immediate reward in preference for a later reward. This act of self-control can be useful in many different aspects of our lives, including our financial […]
Which Payment Method to Use?
Of course people still write checks, do electronic fund transfers, use mobile payment services (Apple Pay, etc.) and even use digital currencies (Bitcoin, etc.), but the big three when it comes to making payments are cash, credit cards and debit cards. In 2019, debit cards were used the most (30%), followed by cash (26%) and […]
The True Cost of a Loan
No doubt about it, everyone borrows money. Certainly most of us use credit cards. Probably most of us have mortgages. Some of us have student loans. Maybe we need a car loan. When we look for these loans, we want to get the best deal. It used to be somewhat tricky to compare your options, […]