The foundation of any solid financial freedom plan is in knowing the best ways to budget your money and save effectively. It’s absolutely fundamental to preserving your wealth. Have you ever wondered why so many lottery winners end up going broke a short while after winning? Fortune reports that nearly a third declares bankruptcy within 5 years. You’d think that all those millions of dollars would solve their financial problems. But as it turns out: If you don’t know how to budget your money normally, than more money isn’t going to make a difference. But “budgeting” … Most people … [Read more...]
How Does Social Security Factor Into Your Retirement Safe Withdrawal Rate?
Have you ever wondered what kind of impact Social Security makes on the retirement safe withdrawal rate you choose? When it comes to retirement planning, lots of people know that there exists some withdrawal rate that is considered "safe". The most popular of these rates is of course the 4 Percent Rule. This was popularized in the 1990's by Bill Bengen and The Trinity Study. However, one very important point to consider is the fact these studies did NOT account for Social Security. They merely only considered retirement savings. Since most U.S. tax-payers will stand to receive at … [Read more...]
What is the Minimum Retirement Savings You Could Comfortably Live On?
Have you ever thought to yourself: What's the least amount or minimum retirement savings I could get away with? It's a perfectly valid question to ask; especially when you consider how little retirement savings most people actually have. (Fidelity estimates the average is around $273,600.) While the major media outlets would have you believe that you need somewhere between $2 and $3 million dollars, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that you could possibly become financially independent on a whole lot less than that. In fact, if there's one thing I've learned from reading … [Read more...]
My Practical Advice for Writing Blog Content That Matters
If you own a website, I’m going to guess that one of your greatest struggles is continuously writing blog content. I should know ... This week, MyMoneyDesign.com officially turns 6 years old. Can you believe it? And while I don’t have any ultra-impressive five or six-figure monthly income reports to share with you, I do celebrate the fact that we have a ton of blog content to offer you - over 500 posts (and counting)! But that’s not to say I haven’t had my fair-share of success either. Blogging over the years has been an incredible source of modest passive income; generating … [Read more...]
What’s the Difference Between a 403(b) vs 401(k)?
Have you ever wondered about the differences between a 403(b) vs 401(k)? In our house, we have both. I work as an engineer and have a 401(k). My wife is a teacher and has a 403(b). Early on when we first got our jobs, I honestly knew nothing about either plan. We each just simply filled out the forms and really thought nothing of it. A few years later when I started taking more and more of an interest in personal finance, I became more curious about how each one of the plans works. How are they the same? How are they different? More importantly, as we started crafting our … [Read more...]
How to Turn Your Kids Into Millionaires in the Future
Wouldn’t it be great if you had the ability to turn your kids into millionaires? As parents, we want our kids to have the best. We want them to be happy, healthy, and successful in life. And one of the best ways I can think to help aide them in building security is to set them up on the path for financial excellence from an early age. This of course does not mean winning the lottery or transferring over your wealth. I’m talking about passing on the knowledge and skills necessary to help build wealth from scratch over the long haul. With both of my children becoming teenagers and … [Read more...]
Can I Make Contributions To An HSA?
Recently I wanted to find out: How can I start making contributions to an HSA? HSA's (Health Savings Accounts) have been gaining a lot of buzz in the personal finance community. In case you've never heard of them, HSA's are a type of special investment account in the U.S. you can setup to help bank money that can be used for medical expenses - tax free! This means that similar to your retirement accounts, you get a tax-break on the front-end ... just for saving your money. For years, we've been using an FSA (flexible spending account) to help stash tax-advantaged funds that we can … [Read more...]
Roth IRA Contribution Limits and Using the Backdoor Conversion to Get Around Them
Would you like to contribute to a Roth IRA, but been told you make too much money to do so? According to the IRS, your Roth IRA contribution limits can be affected by how much you earn as well as your tax filing status. In other words, the more money you and your spouse earn, the greater the chances your ability to put money into a Roth will be reduced … all the way down to zero. However, I’m here to tell you: You CAN still contribute to one; even if you earn more than the IRS Roth IRA income limits. You just have to use a little known technique of what’s known as a Backdoor Roth IRA … [Read more...]