Retirement Savings Means It’s Time to Sweat the Small Stuff

Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials. The lack of retirement savings in our country is an epidemic that affects all three generations.. According to the 2016 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), only two-thirds of workers (or their spouses) are currently saving for retirement, with 26 percent reporting they have less than $1,000 saved. It’s time to sweat the small stuff.

In case you haven’t heard, compound interest is the best.

You may remember it as an equation you had to memorize for math class, but it’s so much more than that. It’s the concept that powers all sorts of savings and investment products and, over time, allows you to turn your money into, well, more money!

It’s your junior or senior year in high school. You’ve taken the SAT’s and ACT’s and filled out the college apps. Now… Where should you send them? Good question! Not easily answered though. Here are a few things to consider when applying to college.

So you’ve been driving the same car since your junior year in high school, and now that you have a college degree and stable employment, it’s time to purchase a new car.  The thought of going to a dealership and spending all day trying to find the right car and then finding out how to finance said car are enough to make you second guess this decision. But here’s a nice little To-Do list before you make that trip to the car lot.

Seriously guys, I just refinanced my car for a wayyy lower interest rate. If you’re like me, you bought your first car when you were young, around 18. And had a tough time getting approved. The worst thing about this whole “credit” deal is that if you don’t have any, they consider you a liability. Nobody wants to finance the millennial with little to no credit. If you’re lucky, you might have managed to get your parents or grandparents to cosign on a vehicle for you. But I was determined to do this on my own. So I walked into a dealership with no idea what to expect.

Hey you! Yeah, you, with the credit cards. Remember when you were shopping at the mall the other day and the cashier asked you, “Do you have a _____ credit card?” And you said no?

Remember how she then proceeded to say that you save 15% of today’s purchase if you open an account and charge your card? So you did. You were “instantly approved.” Who doesn’t wanna save 15%, right?

Wrong.

Credit is one of the single most important things you will need in your adult life. Credit is used for everything from applying for a loan to getting car insurance. (Yes, car insurance companies will raise your rates if you don’t have good credit.) That’s why it’s so important to start building credit as soon as you’re able to. It’s even more important to maintain a good credit score,

As a first time home buyer myself, it can seem very overwhelming on where to begin when considering buying your first home. Here are a few tips I have learned along the way.