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Now that a new year is underway, it makes sense to review your finances and determine what you can do to improve your situation. One of the things you can do is look at your auto insurance coverage to determine whether or not you have the right amount of coverage. How Much Coverage Do You …
In some circles, there is the idea that all debt is bad, and that it should all be paid off as soon as possible. For some time, I felt that way, too. (There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way, either. You manage your money in a way that works for you.) However, I started differentiating …
One of the things that you need to realize is that your credit report is a way for others to judge your level of financial responsibility. So, who’s looking at your credit report? You might be surprised. Lenders The most obvious group of people who are likely to check your credit is lenders. It’s fairly …
One of the ways that you can protect your sensitive financial information online is to use a virtual credit card number. This type of transaction allows you to avoid sharing your real credit card account number online, and can be useful if you are concerned about credit card fraud. However, even when you use a …
One of the biggest financial challenges my family faces is our variable income. The nature of my freelance work means that our income varies a bit from month to month, and my husband is an adjunct professor, so his income changes every semester. Because of the varying income — and the fact that we don’t …
When putting together a retirement portfolio, it’s a good idea to include different types of assets for diversity and to reduce the risk associated with your portfolio. One of the worst things you can do for your financial future is to put all of your eggs in one basket. Without the right asset allocation for …
We live in a world that is connected online. In many cases, your resume will first vetted by a computer program. If someone decides to run a quick online search involving you, he or she will see your social media profiles. This means that, if you want to survive an electronic job search, you need …
When you start building wealth, it makes sense to pay more attention to your tax situation, and what your tax situation is likely to be like in a few years. This is about more than just trying to figure out how to reduce your tax liability for the next year, or even figuring out how …
They say you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, and I’m inclined to believe them. Unfortunately, a lot of the focus on saving money goes toward the small stuff. While I don’t have anything against pinching pennies, I definitely think that there are other ways to go about saving more money. One of those ways is …
Since the law changed a few years ago, many people have been interested in rolling their Traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs. Anyone, no matter their income, can convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth, and that has many scrambling to take advantage of what the Roth IRA has to offer. Many are aware that when …
Many would-be investors are scared of the prospect of investing. They are concerned about how to get started, whether or not they have enough money to invest, and they worry about the complexity of investing. In fact, many people don’t ever start investing because they become paralyzed by fear and information overload. The good news …
One of my favorite things to do is travel. One of the realities of travel, however, is that it can be uncertain. There are a number of things that can interrupt your trip. Whether it’s an illness, the death of a loved one, a car accident or bad weather at your destination, you never know …
One of the questions that many consumers ask as they wrestle with the realities of debt repayment is which debt to tackle first. There are different schools of thought, with some insisting that you start with the debt that has the lowest balance, and others insisting that you rank your debts in order of highest …
By now, there are few consumers who don’t realize how important good credit is. Most people know that they need to have good credit. What’s in a credit report can influence money-related decisions from whether or not you get a loan to whether or not you are hired for a job. Your credit is so …
Do you wish you had a lower interest rate on your credit card? What if you don’t want to pay an annual fee? Just because the credit card issuer says that something is part of the terms doesn’t mean that it has to be for you. A couple of years ago, I was able to …
In times of economic and stock market turmoil, many investors look for ways to increase the safety of their investments. Looking for investments that are likely to provide safety, rather than high returns, become the priority when people are worried about what’s coming in the economy. Cash becomes preferred during times like this. As a …
Recently, it seems as though banks are trying their best to squeeze as much money as they can out of consumers. Fees continue to head higher, and account minimums are imposed. In fact, we’ve heard a lot about the demise of the free checking account, and how consumers are a little unhappy about the current …
Often, when we think about saving, we think about our long term goals. We know that we are supposed to be setting money aside for retirement, and even for emergencies. However, many consumers don’t realize that they can save for short term goals as well. Just like any other savings goal requires planning, short term …