Merging Finances as a Couple: Which Path to Choose?
In our last post, we discussed the foundational steps couples needed to take to merge their finances. . Now, we move onto part two: the actual merging of finances. We’ll break down the three options couples have to merge (or not merge) their finances and the pros and cons of each. Fully Merging All Finances: […]
Why is it so easy to spend money?
It’s a month after the holiday season and looking at your credit card bill probably makes you cringe. All that money, gone. Sure it was to buy presents or go out to dinner with out-of-town guests or send your yearly holiday cards, but the amount still makes you feel hungover. Why is it so easy […]
Do you really need a budget?
Budgeting is one of the most mainstream topics of personal finance. If you search “How to get better with my money”, you’ll find that having a budget is the overwhelming answer according to financial experts on the internet. Of course, having a budget makes sense. To build wealth, you need to spend less than you […]
Where Should I Put My Money?
How do you know if you’re putting your money in the right places? It’s a broad, overwhelming, yet common question. The good news is that the answer can be straightforward once you know all the components. First, you need to consider the actual places of where to put your money, like in savings and checking, […]
What Should I Do with My Money?
What should I do with my money? This is one of the most common questions that clients have when they come into financial planning work. And, for better or worse, it’s a question I really can’t answer for them! Lurking beneath this question is another, more central one: Am I doing the wrong thing with […]
Make Saving for Vacation (and Rest) Part of Your Planning!
I want to shout it from the rooftops: I just got back from vacation! Even as someone who loves to travel, taking a vacation feels like a major accomplishment. And as someone whose money script is a little (ok, a lot) more on the vigilant side, successfully saving for vacation feels even more important. I […]
How to Prepare for a Recession?
Right now, we’re in the middle of some very stormy weather. Aside from our health concerns, our collective worry about the changing economic conditions has come to the forefront. Since we don’t know how long the stay-at-home order will be, we also don’t have a sense of how deep the economic impacts will be. One […]
Financial Planning for the Gig Economy: A RoadMap
Becoming a freelancer seems like a dream for a lot of people: you make your own hours, choose your own clients, and most importantly, you do what you love. But in this gig economy, there’s a lot to think about before striking out on your own. While it’s true that you can start freelancing tomorrow, […]
How To Reduce Money Anxiety & Feel More in Control!
Mental accounting is an economic concept that has gained recognition over the past thirty years. Popularized by economist Richard Thaler, mental accounting describes how we often mentally segment money for different purposes despite the fact that our money is fungible. In other words, the money coming into our lives — income, bonus, gifts, inheritance — […]
The Next Millionaire Next Door: A Book Review
The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and Sarah Stanley Fallaw, Ph.D. There are countless books available about “how to get rich”: Invest in this fund, buy this piece of real estate, whatever. Don’t you find them all a bit… out of reach? I know I do. […]