A health savings account, HSA, is a type of tax deferred savings account that lets you set aside pre-tax money to pay for qualified medical expenses. And any money you take out to pay for qualified medical expenses is income-tax-free. To qualify for HSA, you must be enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). …
So, you have a retirement account, but do you know what you are investing in? Mutual funds? Index funds? ETFs? What are they? Why do they matter? Well, read on… There are mutual funds, index funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs). These funds are either actively managed or passively managed. In actively managed funds, a team …
There are very many different ways to invest available right at our fingertips. Many of us have 401(k), 403(b) or other employer-sponsored retirement investing options, but do we really understand them? Fret not, I’m here to break it down for you. The difference between a 401(k) and a 403(b) is the type of employer sponsoring …
If you were raised like me, then retirement was not a common topic of discussion. You retire when you die, literally. Many older people that I know are still working long hours to make ends meet; even high-income earners. Why is that? No retirement plans. The average retirement savings by age 30-34 (my age group) …
Before I get into investing, I would like to touch on an important part of personal finance: Living below your means. Growing up, we lived below our means because it was necessary. We did not have enough money for all 12 children, but my aunt and uncle did a great job with what they had …
There are many financial gurus who have outlined the “most efficient” way to pay down debt. Dave Ramsey is a master at it. But honestly, how you pay down your debt is personal to you, as long as you pay it. You must do something that works for you (and your family). My approach to …
AMERICA RUNS ON DEBT! According to a recent study, a whopping 80% of Americans have debt, ( https://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2015/07/reach-of-debt-report_artfinal.pdf?la=en). Mortgages are the most common debt, followed closely by credit card, student loans and car loans. Do you have debt? Is debt keeping you from living your best life? I was blessed to marry someone who did …
For 3 months, my wife and I used the zero-budgeting system (we still are), aggressively saved 40% of our income and it was a great short term plan. But we cannot sustain this savings rate because we have DEBT!! Yes, you read that right, we have debt from multiple sources. Before I dive into debt, …
By budgeting wisely, my wife and I saved $11,000 in 3 months! Yesterday, I talked about building an emergency fund, today I will dive into the steps that we took to get our emergency money together. How much do you need? We had to first calculate how much we needed. To do this, we outlined …
Emergency fund. The first change that my wife and I had to do is build up our emergency fund. When I had the “light bulb” moment, we wanted to tackle this first. I was not surprised to find out that only 41% of Americans would be able to cover a $1,000 emergency with savings (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/21/41-percent-of-americans-would-be-able-to-cover-1000-dollar-emergency-with-savings.html), I know …
