I think I may have found another good one. A few weeks ago when I laid out my ultimate plan for becoming financially independent, I thought I had really done a pretty good job of optimizing every single angle of my retirement savings options. My 401k. My IRA. Is there anything else I’m possibly missing where I could find even MORE tax-deferred savings? Apparently there is! And as it turns out it has a lot to do with this blog. So all of my blogging friends or people earning any kind of side income may want to listen up … … [Read more...] about Did I Just Find Another Great Retirement Saving Strategy? Understanding the SEP IRA Rules
Putting Your Hobbies on Hold
The following post is a guest contribution from Jefferson at See Debt Run. If you would like to write for My Money Design, please feel free to contact me. People often ask us about the sacrifices that my family had to make when we were paying off over $20,000 in credit card debt. I usually respond by telling them about how we cancelled vacations, stopped eating out, and figured out ways to slash our utility bills. We also found ourselves having to get creative to find ways to spend our free time that didn't involve spending any money. Even many of our traditional hobbies that we used to pour ourselves into in our free time were no longer an option for us. With so much of our cash flow tied up in your repayment efforts, there was … [Read more...] about Putting Your Hobbies on Hold
Niche Website Update 14 – Creating an Amazon Niche Site and $439 in Passive Income!
For a while I’ve been talking about it. And soon talk will become a reality! I’m starting off 2014 with the creation of my latest niche website; which we’ll dub NS4. This one is going to be slightly different than the rest. How? Instead of relying on Google Adsense for revenue, we’ll use Amazon to monetize it! There will be plenty to discuss on this. So let’s jump right into it. New Amazon Niche Site Q&A: Because of how much thought and strategy is going to go into the development of this website, I thought it would be best to explain my thought process in the form of a Q&A. Hopefully I answer one of the questions you had about it: What will the new site be about? That’s another really cool … [Read more...] about Niche Website Update 14 – Creating an Amazon Niche Site and $439 in Passive Income!
You’re Going to Need A LOT More Emergency Cash – Bad Things Will Happen!
If you’re one of these people who walk around in a cloud of optimism thinking that nothing bad will ever happen to them, and that a safety net of $1,000 or so should suffice, I’ve got some bad news for you… You’re going to need A LOT more emergency cash. And I mean A LOT more than you think! Let me tell you what happened to us over the Christmas break. It’s a pretty funny story – funny for you to hear, but not funny to me at the time. All I can say is start saving! You never know when something like this is going to happen. But its inevitable that it will! Here’s my story… What Happened? On the last day of work before our official Christmas break started, I drove my wife’s GMC and noticed some pretty weird … [Read more...] about You’re Going to Need A LOT More Emergency Cash – Bad Things Will Happen!
How to Take a Vacation on a Budget without Breaking the Bank
The following is a post by David Bosier, a personal finance and money saving enthusiast with a background in the S&L industry. If you would like to write for My Money Design, please feel free to contact me. There’s nothing better than getting ready to go vacation. Soon you’ll have nothing to do but relax, play, eat, sleep, and explore. If you haven’t taken one in a long time, I can guess the reason why: Money! Hotels and airfare can add up really quickly. However, little do people know that it is actually pretty easy to take a vacation on a budget without spending an arm and leg. The trick is all in knowing where to find all those great extras and then using them to your advantage. How to Plan a Vacation on a … [Read more...] about How to Take a Vacation on a Budget without Breaking the Bank
Traditional vs Roth 401k – Is the Roth Really the Better Deal? Maybe Not!
Check this out. Recently my employer made a big announcement to our 401k plan: We now have the choice to save our money under a Roth option if we want to! If you already have a Roth IRA, then you’re probably already familiar with how this would work. As a quick refresher, the Roth option basically means that: Your contributions to the 401k will be invested using after tax money (i.e. you’ll pay your taxes now rather than later) Your money still grows tax free just like it did in a regular 401k When you finally retire, you DON’T pay any taxes. When you weigh a traditional vs Roth 401k, the Roth is considered to be a good thing for you and your money for a lot of reasons. By paying your taxes now, you’ll enjoy a tax free … [Read more...] about Traditional vs Roth 401k – Is the Roth Really the Better Deal? Maybe Not!
Niche Website Update 13 – NS3 May Be Lost But We Still Made $933 in Passive Income!
2013 finally came to a close, and when it did it closed a big development for me in terms of building new websites. Since I began this niche website initiative, we’ve grossed $2,300! That’s a lot of revenue for a side project! And in 2014, I’ll be looking to multiply that figure even further. I’ve learned so much about not only what it takes to create a brand new site, but also all the other things you also need to do and NOT do if you want it to be profitable. Because I’m looking to build quality over quantity, I have no problem focusing my efforts on only activities that will help promote these sites. We’ve already seen month over month growth from using this strategy, and I can’t wait to see how far up we can take it in the … [Read more...] about Niche Website Update 13 – NS3 May Be Lost But We Still Made $933 in Passive Income!
My ULTIMATE Plan for Becoming Financially Independent – December 2013 Update
For weeks I’ve been hinting at it, and at last I’ve finally put it all together! The end of the year and the beginning of the new one is the perfect time to sit down and revise your goals. So what better time than now to publish the latest edition of my ultimate plan for becoming financially independent! This is not a retirement plan you will find anywhere else. How can I make such a bold claim? Because my plan for financial independence does what no other plan on the web does – use real numbers to show just exactly how much money I plan to generate and how I will get there! … [Read more...] about My ULTIMATE Plan for Becoming Financially Independent – December 2013 Update
