Tag: saving

With year-end around the corner most people are far more focused on holiday shopping rather than on reducing their tax liability. But the fact is that unless you make tax saving moves before year end, you may end up paying Uncle Sam (a.k.a the IRS) a lot more than you…

Despite earning more than $100,000 in household income many people still feel that they are living month-to-month and that a loss of employment or sudden medical emergency could easily move them from upper middle class to low income earners. This feeling of being on the “edge” of poverty, despite these…

My neighbor and I were talking this weekend and he asked me this question, "Andy, do you think I have enough life insurance coverage from my employer, given Coronavirus/COVID risks if I have to start going back to work next month? Don't want my kids to be homeless if something…

I recently saw an interesting video that asked a number of regular people if they would rather have a million dollars now or take a penny now and double the amount every day for the next 30 days. What would be your choice? As expected, 90% of people chose the…

Debt is as American as apple pie. It is estimated that 80% of Americans live with debt and that includes $8 trillion in home mortgage debt.  Many of us go to work every day simply to pay for products or services that we’ve already received. We can’t help our children…

It's not breaking news that you should be saving for retirement. Most employed people understand this fact, so hopefully, you are setting some cash aside for your golden years despite your day to day living expenses. The tricky part of retirement financial planning is figuring out how much you should…

[Updated with latest IRS limits] A year or so after starting my small business and completing my first annual tax return that showed a slight profit, my accountant advised that I start looking into a retirement account/plan for my business in order to lower my overall tax bill and also…

NOW is always a good time to reassess your financial situation and try and determine how you can improve your personal finances. Based on my experiences and observations, here are five simple and relatively cheap strategies to improve your finances. All it requires is a little discipline and overcoming normal procrastination…

Tis' the holiday season and that means sales everywhere you look. This includes sales and discounts in the ultra-competitive auto insurance industry, where with only a few minutes of online clicking and typing you could literally save hundreds on your next auto insurance policy. During the holiday season auto insurance companies really…

I have two family friends. One lives in the DC Metro Area (Bethesda, MD) and the other lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. Classic Big Town vs. Small Town. I met them over Thanksgiving and we got talking about the cost of living and how it varies so much across America. Both…

The market continued on its rampage reaching an all-time high, surpassing levels last seen before the 2008 financial crisis. This is despite Congress and the Biden administration squabbling about the impacts of additional spending and who would be blamed for a potential economic calamity due to the inefficiency of Washington.…

If you are an American, the answer is about 20 years. For Mexicans it's over to 300 years. As you can see from the graphic below, based on a  country's median income, America still provides the best opportunity for the average Joe to get to millionaire status within their lifetime.  The calculation for…

Being the finance wonk that I am, I rather enjoy reading some of the tax advice that the big accounting firms put out for their clients. While their target audience (based on their $250 to $500 hourly fee) is clearly higher net worth individuals, you can glean some pretty useful…