Why we chose to not have kids
John Schneider from Debt Free Guys shares the costs associated with having children for the LGBTQ community.
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What Your Credit Score and Debt Should Be In Your 30s
In your 20s, managing your finances may be an entirely new concept. For instance, you might be learning how to budget for the first time while navigating the beginnings of your career or figuring out how you’re going to pay down student loans.
Once you settle into your 30s, it’s time to start taking a closer look at your financial picture, particularly where your credit score and debt are concerned. While credit is a helpful tool for improving your score if used wisely, it can just as easily lead to debt if not.
If the big 3-0 is on the horizon or you’re already a part of the 30-something crowd, here’s how to make sure you’re on the right track when it comes to your credit score and debt.
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A Year Older, Still Younger
I have a little over a month until I turn 34. My 30s are nearly halfway over!
In many ways, I still feel so young, and sometimes I look at Mazen and my friends and remind myself “We are the grown-ups now.”
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The (Not-So) Quick and Easy Path to Financial Freedom
The internet is ablaze with talk about financial freedom, or financial independence, or early retirement. These terms are synonymous, and represent the same idea – no longer needing labor income because you have enough passive income to cover all of your monthly expenses.
Achieving financial independence is a major goal for my wife, Vanessa, and I. It might even be our only financial goal, because it encompasses so many other aspects of personal finance. To get there, we have to continue growing our income, managing our expenses, and investing the surplus savings. Most small financial decisions move us closer or further away from that primary goal.
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Five Ways We Create Financial Peace of Mind in Our House
My husband, Mal, and I aren’t financial experts by any means, but we’re pretty good with our money. Mal is a successful teacher, and I’ve been fortunate enough to form an amazing career by having Carrots ‘N’ Cake. We definitely consider ourselves lucky.
But, a big part of why we live a good life is because we make decisions to ensure peace of mind in our household. Part of that is making sure we are on the right financial path.
Mal and I work together as a team to manage our money. We have similar views on our finances, so we’re both involved in the decision-making process and sharing this responsibility definitely makes us stronger as a couple.
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Saving: A Love Story
I’ve always been a saver.
As a child, my parents instilled the importance of setting goals and working toward them, both financial and otherwise. Even before having big, long-term financial goals, I remember as a kid diligently stashing away my allowance and babysitting money for months to buy a new Gameboy TM (the height of technology!) – then $100.
Having a target in mind is something that helps keep me motivated and on track to this day.
That said, when I got my first job after college, I remember confidently assuring my father that I’d start saving in my 401(k) once I hit 40. That job was as a financial advisor – adding significantly to the irony. My father simply shook his head and reminded me gently of the power of compound interest.
While this story is fairly embarrassing it’s a snapshot of how differently people think about money at different ages and how much your experiences change the way you will view saving.
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Embracing the Financial Challenges of Entrepreneurship
I’m a young entrepreneur. It sounds so cool, right? At one point or the other, I’ve heard a ton of people talk about how much they’d also love to be their own boss and how they dream of making it on their own like I am.
Then I mention the non-steady pay, crazy hours (I’m writing this article at 9:10 pm on a weekday), and general uneasiness that you have financially for the first few years of being out on your own, and they instantly go back to loving their day job again.
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Three Questions
I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside numerous smart, interesting people from diverse backgrounds in my time at Haven Life. Mark Sayre’s take on life insurance in the LBGT community and Greg Johnson’s thoughts on planning for your own funeral, are among my favorite points of views we’ve shared on the blog.
Working for a life insurance company forces you to consider mortality and take stock of life in a way that can be unexpected. It’s made me curious about how different people view big questions in life, such as aging and life decisions. Instead of wondering, I went ahead and asked some of our friends.
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Thinking of Going to Grad School? You Might Need Life Insurance
Whether you’ve recently graduated or have been in the workforce for years, at some point, you may be thinking of going to grad school.
Grad school can be a great next step to boost your career or try your hand at something else. The only problem? Grad school can cost a pretty penny. I should know — I took out an additional $58,000 in student loans for my master’s degree, which helped me fulfill my dream of going to NYU.
If you’re thinking of going to grad school, you’re probably aware that you may have to take on student loans to make your dreams a reality. When you’re young and single, those student loans usually aren’t a consideration for anyone but yourself (unless you needed a co-signer to get them.) But, if you’re married and taking out student loans, you’re potentially taking on a debt burden that would impact your spouse and children.
If you’re single with a loan co-signer or married with children and taking on debt, did you know that you might need life insurance?
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Think You Want to Work For Yourself? Here’s What You Should Consider.
There can be huge perks to being a full-time independent contractor: You set your own schedule. You decide what work you do and don’t want to do. You often make more money – and in some cases can really blow off the ceiling of your potential earnings.
However, before joining the land of the 1099 employees (1099 = the tax form you’ll be getting instead of a W2), make sure you’ve thought through the following five changes that will be coming your way, so you don’t get caught off guard or under prepared.
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