Decisions

Time to plan for the unthinkable

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Now that we’ve seen firsthand how the unthinkable can happen, we need to prepare for other situations that can (and probably will) happen. By now, we’ve all been dealing with “the unthinkable” for many weeks now. “Nobody” thought this could … Read More … Read More

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Why I’m going for my AFC® certification

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I started the process of becoming an Accredited Financial Counselor®, to gain more skills and for people who prefer want to work with certified professionals. Years ago, I wrote a post called, “Do you need to be certified in order … Read More … Read More

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The Roth IRA danger zone (part 4): How to withdraw an excess contribution at Vanguard

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After having decided to remove my Roth IRA excess contribution, I went through the process at Vanguard for making it happen. More posts in this series: The Roth IRA danger zone (part 1): What to do when you almost make … Read More … Read More

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The Roth IRA danger zone (part 3): How I resolved an excess contribution

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With a number of different ways to resolve this problematic situation, here is how I dealt with an excess contribution to a Roth IRA. More posts in this series: The Roth IRA danger zone (part 1): What to do when … Read More … Read More

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The known unknown: On preparation and getting laid-off

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How financial preparation can lessen your anxiety when getting laid-off, and give you more choices and freedom to find your next path. Last year, I wrote about job loss, specifically the loss of a paycheck. I was tempted to call … Read More … Read More

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Course review: How to Win the Game of Advanced Personal Finance

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I review “How to Win the Game of Advanced Personal Finance”, an online course by Ramit Sethi (from I Will Teach You Be Rich). A while back, I talked about purchasing a personal finance course. In response to the obvious … Read More … Read More

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How to determine if a purchase is worth deliberating over

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If you cut down on time spent making decisions on things that don’t matter, you will have more energy for the decisions that do. As you make more money, the way a certain amount of money will feel will change. … Read More … Read More

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I am not me: Capital One and the failure of Know Your Customer

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A frustrating experience trying to login to an account leads to a rumination on how Know Your Customer (KYC) fails us and our humanity. In the financial services industry, you need to be familiar with a procedure called Know Your … Read More … Read More

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Time to be intentional with your accounts

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Verifying your accounts will keep your funds all accounted for, and will help you to decide if it’s time to change servicers. It’s a new year, and with it the usual deluge of good intentions, lofty goals, and everything going … Read More … Read More

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Year in review 2019: Top 10 posts

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The top posts of the year on Empathic Finance, including both my favorites and the ones readers viewed most. At the beginning of this year, I made a big change to this site. After six years of blogging on a … Read More … Read More

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