Every year, like clockwork, financial planners across the land cheer as the IRS announces higher contribution limits for tax-advantaged accounts like HSAs, IRAs, and 401(k)s. It’s a big win, they say—a chance to squirrel away even more for our golden years while avoiding Uncle Sam’s grasp in the present. And yet, while those planners are…
Most arts workers I know are freelancers, and if you’re a freelancer, gig worker, or proudly self-employed hustler, saving for retirement might sound like a mythical quest. But don’t worry, there are ways to set yourself up for that cushy retirement…or at least ensure you’re not subsisting solely on instant ramen (or living under a…
Progress is a funny thing. I think about it a lot as a PhD student. I see that circles meme a lot in of PhD social media and I really do believe it – especially on a long journey such as 3-4 years on the same research question. As we come up on the end…
Retirement is such a crazy concept. Like, how on earth are we expected to know how much money we will need that far in the future? And every estimate you’re given regarding how much money you will need seems like a blatantly insane amount of money in your 20s. What is a brokeGIRL to do?…
Continuing with this series where I look at what progress I’ve made when I created my Money Manifesto shortly after starting this blog in 2013, today’s topic is IRA contributions. I tracked this a little better because when I checked out the manifesto, I had actually linked each year through 2018 to the accountability update…
Aging is an unavoidable fact of life. Until someone develops an elixir of life, we’re stuck with the inescapable reality of growing old. While we may maintain some sense of mental age, growing physically older is something that we all have to cope with and deal with in our own way. In fact, many of…
One thing I’ve noticed when talking with college students about personal finance is how totally overwhelmed they are on exactly where to start. It’s easy to get a few years down the path of financial literacy and forget how impossible making any progress can seem. So let’s review a little. Step 1 for planning for…
A 401(k) is a retirement savings plan that is usually offered by an employer. If you work in education, your employer may offer you a 403(b), which is essentially the same thing. Additionally, if you’re self-employed, you can open a SEP 401(k), though they are a bit more complicated and while the essence of a…
Today’s post will be a quick one but important. When you open a retirement account like an IRA or 401(k), the money you contribute often goes into a money market account. After you make a contribution, you still have to invest that money! Some folks open retirement accounts and think that because the money is…
An IRA is an Individual Retirement Account and mine has played a key, if not the key, role in my financial success. And it all started with a stroke of luck and the right person coming into my life. When I was 25, I started dating a guy who peer pressured me relentlessly – to…
I have felt pretty good the last few years about finding my way financially through my weird, pieced together freelance/side hustling/stage manager life. I’ve fairly well rocked it with savings, investing, setting up retirement accounts, and even figuring out Health Savings Accounts. Funny story though, if you leave your weird little pieced together life, so…
Albert Einstein is credited with calling compound interest the 8th wonder of the world. If you harness that power in your 20s, your path to retirement is going to be much, much easier. Step #1: Open an IRA People can write page after page after page about whether a traditional one or a Roth one…
Planning for retirement means much more than thinking about the places you’ll go or things you’ll do. People need to start thinking early about how they’ll afford to retire and when. The process takes a lot of time and consideration, with so many different factors to think about before heading in for the final day…
Did you guys know this is National Retirement Planning Week? What a boring week name, #amiright? You know what’s not boring? Feeling secure. Compound interest. Life options. Here are some names I think would be better for this week: How to Avoid Eating Cat Food in Your 60s, 70s & 80s How to Make Magic…
Whenever you read advice about how to save for the future and retire in a financially secure position, they’ll all tell you to start saving money and cutting your spending. I’m not for a minute trying to suggest that you shouldn’t be doing that. Saving on your spending and putting money aside is a very…
This week, I got to meet one of my high school friend’s daughter for the first time. At one point in our conversation, we got to discussing money and investing, but Callie needed a little attention, so my friend started telling her all the video games he was going to teach her to play once…
Though the current average retirement age is 62, retirement culture is swiftly changing. Today’s college graduates may not be able to retire until 75. If you’re a decade or more away from retirement, that could mean your retirement is pushed back closer to your early seventies. The good news here is that this gives you…
Sometimes when I’m feeling a little unmotivated, I like to daydream about what I’ll use my retirement fund for. To be honest, when I first opened my Roth IRA, I used to mutter “Old Mel will be happy you’re doing this” as I transferred over large chunks of my paychecks. It was the only financial…
Compound interest is pretty much a miracle. Albert Einstein called it the eighth wonder of the world. But if you read a lot of personal finance blogs, they’re all yelling at 20-somethings to open retirement accounts and using math formulas to show all the amazing compound interest you’ll save up by barely putting in anything.…
Having the money you need to retire doesn’t necessarily mean having a lot of money saved or having paid a lot into Social Security. By simply learning how to make smart financial decisions in retirement, you can still live well. You may not be taking a vacation to St. Tropez every year (or maybe you…
There’s a book called The Top 10 Distinctions between Millionaires and the Middle Class. In which, the author talks about how rich people plan-year-to year and the very reach plan decade-to-decade. Of course we want to become very rich. So it’s time to plan for the long-term. Now there is a major difference between investing…
It’s never too early to think about retirement. It will come one day and those who even save a small amount while they are in their 20s are likely to have a much more comfortable and satisfying time than those that spend all their income as they go along. The Social Security System was never…
The other day I got an email reminding me to do an annual review of my Social Security benefits. If you’ve logged into the government website before to check out any of your social security information, odds are good also get a similar email once a year. Social Security can be a little confusing.…
Have you heard of Incubate: The Time-Delay Messenger? I was reading a CNN article about it earlier this week and as soon as I saw it, my personal finance wheels started to turn. It lets you record something today and send it to yourself in the future – as far as 25 years in advance!…
Now that you’ve gotten a ballpark number you need for retirement, I bet you’re ready to do some saving! So you’re finally ready to take the plunge and open an IRA but have no idea where to get started? To start with, let’s consider a few things. Do you have a lump sum to open…