Budget
20 Second Advisor: Wedding Planning Excitement and Stress
Good news: There’s a wedding on the horizon! Our daughter got engaged in December to a wonderful young man, and my husband and I are excited to have him join our family. Bad news: Uh, there’s a wedding on the horizon! It will involve lots of finances and planning, things normally right up my alley.…
Read More20 Second Advisor: How to Not Break the Bank with Spring Break
Who doesn’t love a vacation? This cherished week to get away with family and friends can be a great time to rest and recharge before the final push towards summer. In the midst of travel accommodations, exciting outings and, of course, delicious meals, the total bill for this week can easily get out of hand. …
Read More20 Second Advisor: High-Yield Savings Accounts without Cutting Off Your Local Bank
My husband and I have long-standing ties to our local brick-and-mortar bank, which provides us in-person service if we need it, a safety deposit box, and our paychecks are direct-deposited there. We don’t pay any fees, but the savings accounts there pay an interest rate of 0.01%. (Translation: keeping $10,000 there for a year generates…
Read More20 Second Advisor: College Acceptance, Now What?
The inbox ignites with recognition of years of hard work – your child has been accepted into college! As college acceptance letters go out across the nation, many parents and students are struggling to decide how to pay for it all. With the cost of an undergraduate degree having risen 169% from 1980 to 2020*,…
Read More20 Second Advisor: Challenging Apple Pay
The chain of banks behind Zelle, which is owned by seven banks total, including Chase and and Bank of America, are planning to launch their own digital wallet. This wallet will jump into the increasingly-crowded field of digital wallets, dominated by the likes of Apple Pay and PayPal. For the tech companies that have so…
Read More20 Second Advisor: SMART goals = intentional life
It’s that time of year when we clean out the junk in our house, take stock of where we are, and maybe make a few goals and plans for the coming year! I love to plan, but I’ve learned that nothing happens by accident. The best way to move incrementally toward the life you envision…
Read More20 Second Advisor: 6% vs 2.5% Mortgage – The impact of rising rates on home affordability
If you’re looking for a prediction on when interest rates will rise or fall, alas, I cannot give you that info as I left my crystal ball at home this morning. But, I want to point out how much the recent rise in interest rates affect the monthly payments homeowners must pay when refinancing or…
Read More20 Second Advisor: Fed Rate Hike- What it means for you
Inflation is at a 40-year high. Just last week, the Fed raised its benchmark rate .25%. In theory, the rate hike increases a number of borrowing costs, which slows demand for goods and taps the brakes on inflation. The Fed has indicated that further rate hikes are in store. If we continue to see further…
Read More20 Second Advisor: Keeping Up With The Steinbergs
Last week, our family took a trip for our kids’ winter break from school. On the long drive, I had the chance to listen to a podcast, The Just Enough Family. It details the rise and fall of Saul Steinberg, an American businessman that rose to great wealth by the age of 30 only to…
Read More20 Second Advisor: Savings Subaccounts Trick
In working with clients, we have found this trick to be super helpful and provide additional peace of mind. We all have non recurring expenses that happen randomly or every now and then. Some examples include, travel, home repair, car repair, medical, gifts, insurance premiums, etc. These can cause stress because they don’t happen on…
Read More