Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
It’s not quite spring yet but I feel like I’ve already caught the spring cleaning bug. I’ve tackled my closet getting rid of almost half my clothes. I’ve went through old magazines and paperwork and pitched almost everything. And, now I’m about to start on the toys…. I wouldn’t say I’m a minimalist but I definitely hate clutter. When the house is a mess I
Chances are if you plan on getting an income tax refund you’re ready to file. For those of you planning to owe taxes this is probably a different story. I have filed my own taxes every year. I also prepare taxes for my brother and this year, a friend. Since I’ve always prepared my own taxes, have taken several accounting classes, and have had seven
For those looking to save money auto insurance is one of the first expenses to get slashed. Unfortunately, many people are oblivious to what they’re really switching when they shop for auto insurance. As we’ve previously discussed it’s extremely important to carry the right insurance coverage’s, especially when it comes to liability insurance. If getting a new auto insurance quote is on your agenda here’s
Income tax time is approaching. Around this time of year the internet is buzzing with articles and blog posts on why getting an income tax refund is a bad decision. I was officially self-employed during the last three months of 2013. This year my taxes are going to be a bit different. I’ve already began calculating my best and worst case scenario for my income
Do you hate leaving a large amount of cash in a savings account earning nothing? Would you rather invest a portion of that money? Is that even a good idea? I came across an article the other day from a reputable site suggesting that you should invest a portion of your emergency fund so that it can do double duty – keep you safe and
One of the financial goals we’ve made is to have our house paid off before age 55, or at least have the capability to pay it off if we want to. I know that as I get older, I’ll struggle to find a job if I lose the one I have now. I anticipate that sooner or later I will lose my job, so much
Last week I was invited to attend a financial event at the local baseball stadium. A friend of mine has been a client of a major investment/insurance company for years and was encouraged to bring a couple friends to this small event. (There were about 70 people total) I’m normally not very interested to attend speaking engagements like this but because it was at the
Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time going over my spreadsheets and playing with various scenarios for our retirement. I often wonder how long I need to work before I can walk away and have enough to last the rest of my life. In reality, I think my wife will live much longer than I will so most of my scenarios ensure that she
I’ve recently found myself surpassing some financial milestones that I never thought I’d see. Our retirement accounts are at levels that I used to just dream about when I was first starting out. Never underestimate the power of consistent contributions and compound interest, that’s for sure. As I was sitting here looking over the numbers I started to wonder why I’d always thought these milestones
Lately I’ve been somewhat obsessed with the idea of tiny houses. I stumbled on to a Youtube channel that shows lots of different examples of people living in a smaller footprint. In this day and age, we are living in much larger houses than ever. During the economic downturn, I started to read about how builders were starting to build smaller houses to keep costs
