Spending & Budgeting
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many Americans and with the holidays quickly approaching, it's important to start thinking about how to avoid debt during the holidays and prepare in advance.
Living without certainty about your income is challenging enough without having market volatility to contend with as well. Here are some tips to navigate all of your finances if you find yourself in a situation with an irregular income, and how you can still manage day to day expenses and invest some of your savings for the long-term so you can live the life you’ve envisioned.
Most of us want to save time and money throughout the day. Whether your schedule is jam-packed or you just wish there were a few more hours in the day, being able to do less on your own and still get things accomplished probably sounds nice.
You hear a lot about the down payment required to buy a home, but closing costs are also a significant consideration. You can’t eliminate all or even most of these costs, but there are steps you can take to reduce them.
Saving for retirement is a lifelong challenge, and there's never a perfect time in life to save.
Preparing for the unknown may seem like a daunting task now but has the potential to help you in the future.
Generation X, those people who weren’t born in time to be Baby Boomers but came along before Millennials were invented, are now in their 40s and 50s and ready to consider their retirement concerns.
Managing finances properly takes planning and commitment, but sometimes we need an extra push to really cut costs. If you’re drowning in debt or struggling with living paycheck to paycheck, you might be in need of a drastic change.
Unless you can buy a house entirely in cash, finding the right house is only half the battle. The other half is choosing the best type of mortgage. Since you'll likely be paying back your mortgage over a long period of time, it's important to find a loan that meets your needs and your budget. When you borrow money from a lender, you're making a legal agreement to repay that loan over a set amount of time – with interest.
Because, life happens. You deserve to feel good about your finances, even when life catches you off-guard.
Here's a look at how debt changes throughout your life.
During the Great Depression, panicky Americans converted deposits into currency and thousands of banks that could not meet withdrawal demands were forced to close. When the banks closed, depositors ended up losing all of their savings. Consequently, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
If saving money were a total breeze, perhaps people would do a better job of it. Unfortunately, a large percentage of Americans are glaringly behind on both near-term savings and retirement savings. If you've been slacking on the savings front, or have been making an earnest effort to save but find that you're still falling short, you're not alone.
January is a good time to kick start some habits that will up your money game and help you reach your goals, whether you want to build an emergency fund or save for the next big vacation. Try these strategies to set yourself up for success.
Nearly 40% of Millennials overspend¹ to keep up with friends. And two-thirds of them feel buyer’s remorse after spending more than they had planned to on a social situation. Apparently, regardless of generation and/or net income, the temptation to overspend in an effort to keep up with our friends and their spending habits is common to all of us. No doubt, many of you have felt the same temptation in your own life. So how do you overcome this?
Is your holiday spending budget in place? If you’re like most American retail shoppers, it may be far more than you anticipate. No matter your income level or budget, the following steps can help you put a plan in place now to curb unanticipated spending and avoid adding new debt this holiday season.
Saving money can be challenging. Fortunately, there are many ways to save more. The following tips don’t require much effort at all so you can build an emergency fund without even really trying.
Saving money is a big goal for all of us. So in a single-parent family, when one parent bears the responsibility of raising kids and making financial ends meet, saving for something like your own retirement might be further down the priority list compared to your other financial goals.
Any experienced parent will tell you that you’re never done “raising” your kids.