Sometimes simple is best. Many of us tend to complicate our financial situation; overthinking our options while ignoring the basics. But like anything else, the simplest rules are often the most important ones; and the ones most likely to be ignored. How many of these...
Education Articles
Avoiding Bad Financial Decisions
Managing finances properly is mainly common sense. While we’ve all made financial mistakes, most of those mistakes are easily rectified, particularly when promptly corrected. However, there are some financial decisions that can be much harder to recover from. Here are...
AICPA Highlights 6 Recent Personal Finance Trends
The American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA) recently published a list of personal finance trends that we should all be concerned about. These trends highlight the fact that almost 63 percent of Americans today are unable to pass a basic financial literacy test. Here are...
Should You Be Participating In Your Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)?
Before answering this question, it’s important to understand what an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) is. An ESPP is a company sponsored benefit plan that allows employees to make after-tax deferral contributions that can be used to purchase shares of the company...
Finance Cost of Owning a Pet
Has a dog or cat grabbed hold of your heart? It doesn’t take much. A paw on the arm. A lick on the nose, or a soft purr or whimper can turn most of us into dog or cat parents in minutes. With animal shelters across the U.S. frequently at their max, there are a record...
Avoiding Retirement Woes
How to Avoid Retirement Woes According to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the top concern of retirees is running out of money. While it’s a known fact that many of us don’t begin to save for retirement when we should, it appears that nearly half of all current...
Top 5 Things 20-Somethings Need to Do
If you’re in your 20s, rejoice! You’re in a great position to create the life you want, starting with a secure financial future. While it’s common to feel overwhelmed when entering the workforce full time, there are a lot of things you can do fresh out of college that...
How to Start Investing
If you’re interested in beginning to invest but are nervous, or simply don’t have a lot of money to invest, why not start slow? There are a multitude of ways to get started without risking a lot of money in the process. If you have $1,000 and are ready to start...
Social Security History and Benefits
Created as a result of the Great Depression, The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1935; mainly due to the rise in poverty of the nation’s elderly population. The act was designed to provide retired workers ages 65 and older with a...
What is Zombie Debt?
Zombie debt is old debt that is typically written off as bad debt by the original creditor and then later sold to collection agencies for pennies on the dollar. Most of the debt sold is years old and cannot legally be collected, though many consumers are unaware of...
Getting Started in the Stock Market
Investing in the stock market can be extremely rewarding, but not without risk. While most investors understand that market volatility is a given in the stock market, for those trying to decide whether to invest in stocks, the volatility alone gives them pause. A lot...
When and Why to Switch Auto Insurance
Like health care, many of us continue with the same auto insurance policy for years, never bothering to find out whether another insurance carrier could provide better service or save us some money. But there are several reasons why shopping for another auto insurance...