This past year was an exciting one for us, albeit a little bit of a roller coaster ride. However, we were able to pick up a new rental property, max out my 401(k) and contribute up to the match in my wife’s account. We also added to our Roth IRAs and a little bit in my HSA, and continued to save a good deal in our online savings account. No time to rest on our laurels though – last year’s financial goals are in the […]
Our 8 Financial Goals for 2016 Read More »
I’ve said before that Quicken was a lifesaver for me and my finances all the way back in 1999. That’s when I stumbled across the product and it helped me realize just how much of a mess of debt I was in. I was then able to rely on the software to really come up with a game plan and eliminate all of it over the next handful of years. Obviously software can’t get you out of debt (you need to do that yourself),
How Do You Keep Track of Your Finances? Read More »
My grandfather used to always say “When everyone’s running in one direction, you should be running in the other.” Well, this past week was a great opportunity to follow that advice and pick up some new dividend stocks. When the stock market started to drop, people started to panic… everyone and their brother was hurrying to sell what they could before “they lost it all.” The media hyped it up even more and got people even more worried. The good news is
Dividend Stocks on Sale!! Read More »
When I was in my twenties, I had this vision that I would be very rich. Rich, rich, rich!! I thought I needed to have all the money in the world if I was ever going to be done working. I mean, how else can you retire if you aren’t rich and sipping champagne on a yacht near your own private island in the Caribbean somewhere??!! Now, although that vision coming to fruition would be great, it took me until the past
You Don’t Need to be Rich to be Financially Independent!! Read More »
The majority of my net worth is tied up in my 401(k). The reason, if you remember, is that my employer gives me an unlimited 35% match on my plan. This makes it hard to pass up the free money. However, it makes it a lot harder to get to that money when retiring early. When I was younger, I really just planned on having millions… being rich would just carry me into retirement. However, after digging more into things
How to Access Your 401(k) Money Penalty-Free Read More »
As I continue to build up some passive income to help carry me once I retire, I’m taking a second look at dividend stocks. If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I think rental property can be an important part of your portfolio, but I don’t want to solely count on that for passive income. I’m not completely new to dividend stocks, but I’m definitely not the expert. I look at Jason at Dividend Mantra and
Make Dividend Stocks a Part of Your Portfolio Read More »
If you’ve read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, you might already be maxing out your company’s match on your 401(k) plan and putting the rest in a Roth IRA. Well, now it’s time we look at something even better… the holy grail of retirement plans – the Roth 401(k)!! Ah, the Roth 401(k) – that elusive unicorn… I know you’re out there somewhere! I’m still waiting to see the Roth 401(k) become available at my company, but that
401(k)s, Roth IRAs, Roth 401(k)s, Oh My!!! [Part 3] Read More »
In Part 1 of this series, we talked about the benefits of 401(k) plans (and some of the cons as well). These plans are probably the easiest programs to get started with since your employer should be familiar with the process of getting you signed up. If you’re already taking advantage of that plan and any employer matching offered, good for you! Now it’s time to get familiar with another option you have for your retirement investments… Roth IRA plans A Roth IRA is
401(k)s, Roth IRAs, Roth 401(k)s, Oh My!!! [Part 2] Read More »
Should you put money into your retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans or invest your money elsewhere? The ideal scenario is for you to have enough passive income coming in that retirements accounts aren’t really as critical. However, most of us aren’t that fortunate. That said, a good balance is going to be the best bet toward a smooth retirement. So, what’s the difference between some of the different retirement vehicles and where should you be putting your money? 401(k) Most
401(k)s, Roth IRAs, Roth 401(k)s, Oh My!!! [Part 1] Read More »
