Tag: financial know-how

How to minimize fees to maximize your big money returns

As referenced in my new book Making Big Money Decisions and recent blog posts, transaction fees can take a big bite out of your returns. The good news is that the costs for holding investment funds and selling a house in the USA continue to decline, allowing you to keep more of your money. Since these investments are usually large, even small differences in the fees you pay can add up to significant amounts of money over time.

If you are interested in finding out more about these transactions costs and tips for ensuring you are paying the lowest fees, then please read on.

Continue reading “How to minimize fees to maximize your big money returns”

You don’t need a budget to manage spending

60% of people don’t use budgets to manage spending, according to the 2017 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey from The National Foundation for Credit Counseling. While that number may be surprising, what is more shocking is that this number has not changed much since the 2007 survey. For all the advances in technology, including spreadsheets and online budgeting software, people’s habits related to managing money and tracking spending have not really changed that much over the last decade.  Continue reading “You don’t need a budget to manage spending”

Buying a vehicle? Check the TCO

If you are in the market for a new or used vehicle, then it is important to do some homework before you settle on make and model. Here are a few things to consider before you pull the trigger on buying that new or used vehicle:  Continue reading “Buying a vehicle? Check the TCO”

Don’t pay to manage your credit score

I was asked earlier this week what’s the best way to check a credit score? There are a few ways to get your credit score, but check to see what your credit card company offers first. Many credit card issuers now provide cardholders with their credit score as a free benefit.  The card issuer I use provides my FICO® score, score history, key factors affecting my score, and suggestions on how to improve my score.  Continue reading “Don’t pay to manage your credit score”

How to maximize the money you make from payments

Individuals can use similar methods employed by businesses to monetize payments made to vendors. For individuals that diligently optimize payments the results can generate hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars in extra cash with the same level of budgeted spending.    Continue reading “How to maximize the money you make from payments”

Have we declared our financial independence?

Financial literacy (a.k.a. FinLit) is the education and understanding of various financial areas, such as saving, spending, investing, insurance, budgeting, retirement and tax planning. The positive impacts of financial education on people are clear, as are the negative impacts to those that lack FinLit.

Continue reading “Have we declared our financial independence?”

How to donate your money more wisely

Caution:  This article contains graphic images that may help some people make more informed decisions about donating money.

Ever wonder how much of the money you give to a charitable cause actually finds its way into the hands of the people that need it?  Well, you can find that information and most anything else you want to know about a specific charity by using independent organizations that rate the quality of charitable organizations.  Two of the more well-known organizations are Charity Navigator and CharityWatch. Both have very useful websites and information to help evaluate charities.  Continue reading “How to donate your money more wisely”

3 questions every parent and child should answer before choosing a college

If you’ve been reading my recent articles you may sense a theme (or an obsession) with figuring out the costs and benefits of going to college.  There are clearly benefits of going to college, but it is a ‘big money decision’ and should only be made with the appropriate level of due diligence.

While the decision about which school is the “best fit” is somewhat subjective, the cost of obtaining a diploma and how to pay for it should be viewed more objectively.  Continue reading “3 questions every parent and child should answer before choosing a college”

4 ways to get free money from spending and saving

Free money does exist, but you need to know where to look for it and how to get it.   Free Money is available when you save by compounding savings and through employer-sponsored matching of retirement savings.  For spending, you can get access to Free Money through cash back credit card programs and federal grants for college. Technically, these methods are not entirely “free” in the true sense of the word since you need to give something to get something, but I consider using these methods like getting Free Money since you need to spend and save any way.  Continue reading “4 ways to get free money from spending and saving”

How to prioritize your list of colleges

My son will be going to college next year and we are working with him to narrow down his choices. After a first cut, we arrived at a list of 6 schools that he would be interested in attending based on location, programs, admissions requirements, and taking a campus tour. He applied to all 6, and we expect that he will get into at least 4 of them, but he could get into all 6. We now need to figure out how to help him further prioritize that list.

To help us make informed decisions, we are going to weigh both qualitative and quantitative criteria to prioritize the list.   Continue reading “How to prioritize your list of colleges”