When you share finances with a partner, you can outsource the budgeting to the one who is most interested, but there are good reasons not to. After doing this for many years, I’ve learned a surprising fact: not everyone is … Read More … Read More
Decisions
How to take advantage of a student loan payment freeze
During the student loan payment and interest freeze, if you are able to make payments now, you’ll have a much greater impact on your loans. A lot of the benefits that were passed to ease the crisis for people dealing … Read More … Read More
Freed from the golden handcuffs: the surprising joy of being laid-off
Anyone can feel like they have golden handcuffs even if they don’t make a lot of money. But breaking free can give you surprising relief. There is a lot to be unhappy about right now. Rampant injustice, an economy that … Read More … Read More
Where you can find me on social media (and why)
If you’re thinking about taking an early withdrawal from your 401(k)
New legislation eliminates penalties for some early withdrawals from your 401(k). However, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. UPDATE: This legislation has expired as of the end of 2020. Penalties will apply again for early 401k withdrawals. These … Read More … Read More
The affiliate trap: How professionals can lose both trust and income
Time to plan for the unthinkable
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
Why I’m going for my AFC® certification
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
The Roth IRA danger zone (part 4): How to withdraw an excess contribution at Vanguard