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Financial benefits of being over 60
This article is by staff writer William Cowie.
Do you dread getting older? There is no need to. Getting old is not all creaky joints and hearing aids. Above and beyond the joys of travel and sleeping in, there are many benefits awaiting those who cross the bridge of the great 6-0.
I mentioned in an earlier post that our life expectancy is increasing with every passing year. Not only are we living longer, but the quality of life for those golden years is improving too, thanks to advances in healthcare and interest in eating healthy foods and exercising. But living longer has direct financial consequences which can, for the most part, be broken down into two general categories — income and expenses.
How to interview a prospective employer
This article is by staff writer Honey Smith.
Speaking about building wealth, J.D. Roth felt that he could never make this point emphatically enough: “Frugality is important, but if you want to make real progress, increase your income.” It’s in this context that being able to ace an interview becomes a very important skill. And certainly part of the interview process should include your asking questions of a prospective employer to make sure that the job and the company are right for you.
If you are early in your career, though, it is natural to approach a job interview as if it’s a test that you might or might not pass. But this perspective could lead to some undesirable results:
Ask the readers: How are you saving on spring break?
This article is by staff writer Holly Johnson.
How are you saving on spring break?
A few weeks ago, I attended a daytime get-together comprised mostly of mothers of school-aged children. With spring break approaching, the topic inevitably came up, to which everyone in the room simultaneously let out a grunt of frustration.
Unlike some parts of the country, our school system works on a modified year-round schedule. So instead of one week of spring break, we have two. That means that, in most cases, even the families who go on vacation are left trying to find childcare for the second half.
Unfortunately, it isn’t always cheap. And as we talked amongst ourselves, I realized what a huge pain spring break can be.
“I still need to find someone to watch my kids,” admitted one of my friends. “The school-sponsored break camp is crazy expensive this year,” she complained.
What does Quantitative Easing mean for me now?
This article is by staff writer William Cowie.
If you have ever heard talk of Quantitative Easing (QE) and “tapering,” you may have been left wondering what it is exactly. The terms are bandied about so frequently these days that it is rather difficult to parse out the facts from the political hype that surrounds every move the Federal Reserve Board, or Fed, makes.
Another, more pointed question to ask might be, “Does Quantitative Easing or tapering really even affect me?” And to answer that question you would need to know:
The sharing economy and taxes
This article is by staff writer Suba Iyer.
Etsy, TaskRabbit, Uber, AirBnB, and numerous other technologies make earning a little extra income (or even a full-time income) easier than ever. Almost anyone can be a micropreneur these days, even if they started out just pursuing a hobby. The sharing economy or peer-to-peer economy is growing at a record pace by leveraging disruptive technologies. But a lot of people don’t seem to understand how the sharing economy can impact their taxes, and the IRS has never issued any official publication regarding how to deal with the income and expenses from these new ventures. I can’t cover every single aspect of tax law and how it applies to the sharing economy in this article, but here are some tips to get you started in the right direction.
How to use coupons effectively
This article is by staff writer Lisa Aberle.
I like saving money — but it has to be easy. And spending hours clipping and organizing coupons, or planning epic shopping trips based on my coupon stash is not easy. Most of the time — if I clip coupons at all — they end up floating around the bottom of my purse, expired. Instead, I usually choose to save in other ways.
Yet, there are coupons. And there are people who use coupons. And then there are the people who USE coupons … in a big way. No matter what our method, there is room for all of us to save with the coupon game and then to put those savings in our savings account to go to work on our next goal.
Why (and why not) use coupons
Why use coupons? To save money. Simple.
How to use coupons effectively
This article is by staff writer Lisa Aberle.
I like saving money — but it has to be easy. And spending hours clipping and organizing coupons, or planning epic shopping trips based on my coupon stash is not easy. Most of the time — if I clip coupons at all — they end up floating around the bottom of my purse, expired. Instead, I usually choose to save in other ways.
Yet, there are coupons. And there are people who use coupons. And then there are the people who USE coupons … in a big way. No matter what our method, there is room for all of us to save with the coupon game and then to put those savings in our savings account to go to work on our next goal.
Why (and why not) use coupons
Why use coupons? To save money. Simple.
How to save money on dental bills
This article is by staff writer Holly Johnson.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, around 108 million Americans go without dental insurance during any given year. And since paying the full weight of dental care is often out of the question for those living on low incomes, many people simply choose to go without or get by with as few cleanings and check-ups as they possibly can.
However, if you do have out-of-pocket funds with which to pay, you already know how quickly cleanings, fillings, and basic dental care can take a bite out of your budget. After all, a typical dental filling can cost anywhere from $100 to $200, a cleaning can cost upwards of $200, braces can cost $5,000 to $6,000, and so on.
Ask the Readers: How do you motivate yourself when you feel like giving up?
This article is by editor Linda Vergon.
Honey Smith’s article about achieving your long-term financial goals got me thinking. It’s one thing to tackle big, long-term goals if you are healthy and employed. But hopefully you have to imagine how difficult it is to stay on track to reach them if you aren’t. What if the bottom has dropped out in your world? What if you lost your job – and even lost your second job? What if you are sick?
How to achieve long-term financial goals
This article is by staff writer Honey Smith.
In my last post, I talked about how personal finance is about playing the long game and “making choices that are harder in the short term for the good of the long term.” But when the payoff is so many years down the road, it can be difficult to stay on track. In order to actually reach long-term goals, you have to keep making the right choices day after day. How easy is it to fall off the wagon a week or two after you start a new diet, for instance? You need a game plan for the short term that supports your long game too.
Establish priorities
Especially when you are young, there are just so many goals to strive for simultaneously. For example, Jake and I currently have the following goals:
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