Similar to spontaneous combustion, spontaneous debt financing can cause a personal debt crisis to erupt seemingly out of nowhere. Control the slow rise of unplanned debt by guarding against its most common sources.
Good Debt Versus Bad Debt
How to Create Your Net Worth Statement
A net worth statement is one of the key documents you’ll need in planning your finances and achieving your goals. Creating your net worth statement might seem like an intimidating task, but for most people it’s actually relatively simple. Learn how to create a basic net worth statement in about 15 minutes.
To Increase Your Income, Hone These Five Skills
If you aren't updating your skills and adding new skillsets, your value in the economy and in your profession will decrease. As you explore educational opportunities, the following are the most common types of courses you can take to advance your career or grow your business. And a list of resources for free or low-cost classes.
3 Surprising Things That Will Make You Keep Beneficiaries Up to Date
How to Automate Your Finances
The 15-Minute Basic Budget
Why Investment Liquidity Can Trump Returns or Risk
Send Your Kids to College For The Cost of a New Car
Improve the Chances of Achieving Your Financial Goals
Your Financial Plan Should Be Grounded in Your Life Goals
When developing your financial plan, focus less on your finances and focus more on the lifestyle you want to achieve. Your financial plans should be rooted in the life goals you want beyond your finances. No matter if your goal is to pay off debt or own a villa in Europe, your finances are simply a means to an end.
Beware These Credit Score Myths
Don't Wait Until January First to Plan Next Year
Why Have a Net Worth Statement
The human brain is an amazing thing, capable of dreaming up whimsical fantasies about our personal finances and how we are doing with our wealth and our debts. Creating a net worth statement is one of the greatest tools we can wield in stripping away our fantasies and waking ourselves to the realities of our personal finances.
Signs You Need A Financial Adviser
For those who regularly read and learn about their personal finances, it is easy to fall into the thinking you don't need a professional financial adviser. For some, do-it-yourself financial management can work quite well when you are first starting out. As your life and your finances become more complex, doing it yourself can cause unforeseen problems. Here are some of the signs that indicate you might need a professional financial adviser.
One Major Resume Change Can Revolutionize Your Career Search
When writing your resume, make sure your experience section isn't filled with the job descriptions of your previous employment. Employers don’t care about what you’ve done in the past, they only care what you might do for them in the future. Rewrite your experience section to be something that sells the unique value you can bring to the company.
These Five Questions Could Help Determine If You Have Enough Life Insurance
Life insurance isn't a "set it and forget it" part of your financial plan. Each year you will need to review your life insurance needs and see if you have enough life insurance to provide for your family. Even though it's not comfortable, asking these questions each year can help you determine if your family has enough life insurance to provide for their needs.
Four Questions to Ask Before Donating Property to Charity
The benefits of giving to others are many, including health, happiness, and tax deductions. The complexities of the tax code, however, can cause unhappy surprises for those who donate without proper planning. Make sure you understand the answers to these questions before donating any property, including cars, personal items, stocks, or real estate.
If Your Portfolio is Drifting, You Could be Headed for a Crash
Portfolio drift is when the natural movements of the market cause your investments to stray from your strategic asset allocation. One asset class has done extremely well, causing it to be overweighted in your portfolio. When this happens, you need to manage the drift through rebalancing or you could leave yourself more at risk in a market downturn.
Quick Guide to Healthcare Accounts: HSA, FSA, and HRA
Health Savings Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, and Flexible Spending Accounts all offer you ways to manage the costs of healthcare by providing a mix of tax savings, investment growth, and free money. Learn more about what each account does and the potential benefits they could provide you.