With interest rates so low right now, a question on every homeowner’s mind is, “should I refinance my mortgage?” And what about doing a refinance on a rental property? It takes a fair amount of effort to refi -- it’s just like qualifying for a brand new loan. There’s also hefty closing costs and fees... Is all that money and time worth it for a lower interest
Investing
Selling our car online … Are people even buying cars right now?
“Good luck, man. Nobody is buying used cars right now. You should’ve sold it six months ago before COVID happened.” This is what one of my friends said to me recently. 😔 And at the time I kind of agreed. With most people working from home and limiting their travels, I thought we’d have a really difficult time getting rid of our second car. Luckily, it turned out
How to Give Stock to Children With a UGMA Custodial Account
When my wife was a baby, one of her Aunties created a gift account and put a few thousand dollars in it. This Aunt was pretty financially savvy and didn’t have any kids of her own. She put the money in a UGMA account (named for legislation called the Unifed Gifts to Minors Act) and invested it in a broad, low-cost mutual fund that would multiply over time as my wife grew
Investing With Family … the Good, the Bad, the Meh
Are any of you guys investing with family members or co-owning any assets with siblings? Like partnering on rental properties, businesses, and joint estates or lending them money? I’m not talking about your spouse or significant other … I mean investing with siblings, aunties and uncles, your parents or kids. I’m curious to hear your experiences and if you recommend it as a
My Rollover IRA Account — The Backstory
Last week I wrote about tracking one of my rental properties and comparing it to the growth of an index fund that’s currently worth about the same amount. Post here - Real Estate vs. Stocks I got a ton of feedback and questions, which I’ll delve into over time. For today I’ll start with some backstory on my IRA, my out-of-pocket contributions, and what the future might hold
Real Estate vs Stocks: A Real-Life Look at Returns
There will always be a hot conversation in the personal finance community about investing in real estate vs stocks. I do both, so today I’m gonna share details about two of my long-term retirement assets. Asset #1 is a Rollover IRA account. The current balance is about $109k. Asset #2 is a buy-and-hold rental property I've owned for five years. Coincidentally, it’s also
The Lifetime-Net Worth-Simulator
Happy Memorial Day everyone!! While you're out reflecting and celebrating today, let me suggest another fun (and FREE) activity to include for your enjoyment: Filling out this Lifetime-Net Worth-Simulator! From a new blogger on the scene, Money Is a Solved Problem, who wants to help in his own way of giving you freedom :) And considering it's only his 2nd post on the
Did you get a Stimulus Check? What did you end up doing with it?
Saw some stats on how people are using them, and thought it would be interesting to compare with our own community here :) Here's what SmartAsset.com found when they polled 1,300+ people: More than half of adults – 52.09% – said they primarily plan to use their stimulus check on needs such as rent and food. Putting the money into savings was the next most popular category,
“Why I Love my 401(k)”
So this is exciting news!! Two of the three winners from this year's 401(K) CHAMPION® AWARDS are part of our community here!! Bari Scheinbach and Laura Dobbins aka Mrs. Nickels from MyShinyNickels.com! Congrats guys!!! A cool $1,000 for just loving your 401(k)! Awesome!! Haha... You might recall me blogging about this when the contest opened up this year, but it's an
“I’m very happy and stable in this unstable time, ironically, unlike how lost and desperate I felt three years ago.”
Exactly three years ago on this day, we featured a reader of the blog who was suffering tremendously and trying to get a grip not only on his finances, but on being accepted in a world that doesn't make it easy on people of certain backgrounds. In his case, being gay, of non-white ancestry, and part of a religious Muslim community. Many of you reached out with generous
