Budgeting and Financial Planning

As humans, it is in our nature to lie to ourselves. We do it without thinking about it, really. And in the world of personal finances, it has become a problem. Instead of saving for the future, we spend money today on things we don’t need. And we do this because we underestimate how much… Read More

Many times you see and hear about how much people make. Most articles about inequality focus on ‘income inequality’. But income is not the only, or best, measure of how people are doing financially. Just focusing on income ignores wealth, how much money people actually have to their name. And it turns out America is… Read More

If you have debt to pay off, there will come a time when you need to answer the following question – pay off debt or invest? William Cowie, writing for Get Rich Slowly, identifies the reasons given for each of the two options. For investing, there is the power of compound interest and the time… Read More

A very common tenet of sound financial advice is “live within your means.” Living within one’s means holds different meanings to different people. So let’s put the confusion to bed right now. Living within your means means spending less than you make. Figure out how much money you earn, after taxes, on a monthly basis…. Read More

Have you ever been curious to know how people with similar incomes to you spend their money? Want to know if your expenses are similar to theirs? Vox.com recently published a series of interactive charts that show you how Americans in different income brackets spend their money. And the conclusion is, we all spend our money… Read More

Many people believe that it is always better to buy a home rather than rent, as long as you can afford it. We’re taught at a young age that one of the best investments most people can make is to purchase a home. But these days, it is becoming more clear that renting is sometimes… Read More

Fewer people owning homes means more renters in the market. And when there are more renters in the market, the rental prices are driven higher. That’s exactly what’s happening in the marketplace right now. And that is leading to more and more people who are having trouble affording their rent. Rental prices rose an average… Read More

There is a growing trend among today’s adults, especially the younger generation of workers we refer to often as Millennials, to put off life’s major milestones longer than their parents and other previous generations. People are leaving home to live on their own later, buying homes later, getting married and having children later in life… Read More

Home-ownership is lower than it has been in the last 20 years. That’s a big deal for a country that bases a large part of its economic success on the housing market. It means that more and more Americans must resort to renting instead of owning. And that’s having negative consequences that are finally getting the… Read More

In a mostly volatile, and occasionally harsh economy, stringent financial planning no longer is befitting of the “ideal” label. Necessity is the name of the game, and if you are not on top of your cash flow (weekly, monthly, or annually), the consequences can be brutal. Unfortunately, such is the case for many citizens out… Read More