Savings is defined as “income that is not consumed immediately by buying goods and services.” Do you have any personal savings? The rate of personal savings is way down here in the US. We just aren’t saving our money. You’d think with the recent downturn in the economy and the drop in housing values that [...]

No one’s forcing you! Well, actually they are. The “forced” savings account is being used in several areas of our lives. In some cases, you may even be forcing yourself to save. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The biggest forced savings account that we all participate in here in the U.S. is the Federal [...]

This is a guest post from Sunil of ExtraMoneyBlog.com There is no doubt personal finance is a critical component of our lives. But because the education of this topic is not required in schools, most of us grow up on our own in terms of how we view and manage our finances. For many, personal [...]

I want you to improve your financial life in 2013 and beyond. Therefore, over the next 31 days I’ll be sharing my best tips to help you improve your financial life. Each post will contain a short, actionable tip, followed by some related resources. Download a PDF of this post. While I can’t promise you’ll [...]

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Parents can easily get caught up in the day-to-day needs of their children and forget about imparting the big life lessons. But our kids need more from us than just diaper changes, peanut butter sandwiches, bandaids, and hugs. They need to be prepared for their lives as adults, particularly when it comes to money management. [...]

As a veteran of the banking industry, I’ve often wondered why our public school system doesn’t spend more time teaching our kids the financial life skills they need in order to be successful in the real world. I mean, there is no doubt that my thirteen year old daughter will understand the ins and outs [...]

There are a million reasons not to save money, and even the best-intentioned saver can succumb to temptation in the face of a shiny new gadget or sun-drenched vacation. Who doesn’t love the feeling of instant gratification? That’s why the average American carries more than $8,000 in credit card debt and has nothing but cobwebs [...]

In my opinion, an emergency fund is money set aside to be used only in the case of a life emergency. Think of it as a small self-insurance policy. A last minute vacation to Vegas, although pretty awesome, isn’t an emergency. A financial emergency is an unexpected and required event / happening that you’re unable [...]

In the years leading up to the current global economic mess, virtually no one can claim that they weren’t guilty of some fiscal irresponsibility. While it was the actions and decisions of major investors and industries that directly contributed to the Great Recession, it was a collective culture of bad financial habits that encouraged the [...]

With the school year right around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about college savings. Have you heard about the 529 college savings plan? Are you curious if you should get started with one? I’ve had some questions come in lately regarding saving for education expenses using a 529 Plan. I thought [...]

All of us probably have habits we wish we could change. This likely includes money habits! If you are looking at your money habits, and realizing that you could be doing something differently, now is the time to do something about it. You can change your bad money habits, and replace them with better habits [...]

Let’s take your savings to the next level. If you’re like me, you have the knowledge and tools to help you save more money.  Still, like me, you may occasionally lack the mental edge to take your money saving abilities to the next level. Heck, sometimes life just gets in the way. We’re all human, right? [...]