It’s daunting to think about the day when you may not be able to live independently and care for yourself. But planning early for long-term care can keep you from becoming overwhelmed in the event that you develop a chronic illness, disability or other condition. By planning your care now, you’ll be more likely to have greater control over significant decisions and remain comfortable as you get older. Here are some ways that you can...
College represents a time of independence in a young adult’s life. It may be the first time that your child has almost complete control over their own finances. From deciding how to use their spending money to deciphering student loan options, it can be difficult for students to adjust to the financial side of college living. But it’s a great time for them to learn how responsibility and planning can lead to success, both for...
Many people dream of the day they can leave work behind and start pursuing their lifelong dreams. But for most people, you’ll need to achieve financial stability and independence before you can leave behind your day-to-day job in exchange for a more fulfilling path. This is where the increasingly-popular financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement comes in. The basis of the FIRE movement is quite simple: Save and aggressively invest a large percentage of your...
Whether you like it or not, your credit score can determine how easy or how difficult it is to buy a car, buy a house, get cell phone service, or even get a job. A bad credit score can negatively impact just about every area of your life. Sometimes, a bad credit score can result from events entirely out of your control such as illness, disability, or from the loss of a job. Other times...
Personal finance, like just about everything else, is mainly common sense. Advice like “don’t spend more than you make; start investing while you’re young; don’t loan money to friends with the expectation of getting it back,” have been around for generations, and most likely will survive the next few generations as well. Even money mistakes that are corrected early enough will have little impact on your wealth going forward. What you do want to avoid...
If you’re looking to diversify your investment portfolio, you may want to consider purchasing investment property. Depending on how hands-on you want to be, you may want to purchase real estate as a short-term investment; fixing up the property and then selling it immediately for profit. For a long-term investment, rental property can provide a steady income stream over the longer term. If you’re considering purchasing real estate as an investment, here are a few...
