Get smart with your money
You’ve cut spending to the bone, sold excess stuff and hustled every side gig imaginable. But your emergency fund, if it ever existed, is on fumes.
What you do next may determine how fast — or even whether — you recover from the setback of losing your job.
In my latest for the Associated Press, how to survive a lack of emergency funds without making things worse.
Today’s top story: Stocks at a crossroads: 3 things to watch for in June. Also in the news: Why kids should stash summer job cash in a Roth IRA, millennials are stressed about their finances, and why now is the time to buy a used car.
Stocks at Crossroads: 3 Things to Watch for in June
Watching the market.
Why Kids Should Stash Summer Job Cash in a Roth IRA
It’s never too early to save for retirement.
Study: Millennials are stressing about their finances
Feeling worse off than their Baby Boomer parents.
Why Now Is the Time to Buy a Used Car
Getting the most for your money.
Today’s top story: 7 ways to ready your finances for divorce. Also in the news: Tips for the Class of 2017, simplifying your savings, and how a credit union raised the roof on credit card rewards.
7 Ways to Ready Your Finances for Divorce
Preparing for a difficult time.
Class of 2017: Get a Jump on Adulthood With These 7 Tips
No more kidding around.
Simplifying Saving with the 52-Week Money Challenge
You can do it!
How a Credit Union Raised the Roof on Credit Card Rewards
A Chicago-based credit union is taking rewards to the next level.
Dear Liz: I am 68 and not in very good health due to heart disease. I’m not sure what do with my savings of over $1 million, which sits in online bank accounts, earning 1.25% to 1.35% in 18-month certificates of deposit. (No account contains more than $250,000 to remain under the FDIC insurance limits.) The money will eventually go to my daughter, though I could use it for my retirement. I don’t have the appetite for market swings. What should I do with my money?
Answer: Your money currently is safe from just about everything except inflation. If you want to keep your nest egg away from market swings, you’ll have to accept that its buying power will shrink. There is no investment that can keep your principal safe while still offering inflation-beating growth.
If you do want a shot at some growth, you could keep most of your savings in cash but also invest a portion in stocks — preferably using low-cost index mutual funds or ultra-low-cost exchange-traded funds.
Before you know how to invest, though, you’ll need to think about your goals for this money. A fee-only financial planner could help you discuss the possibilities and come up with a plan. You can find fee-only planners who charge by the hour through the Garrett Planning Network, www.garrettplanningnetwork.com.
The odds of winning a lottery are infinitesimal. Yet inevitably, someone does. Inspired by the idea of a huge payoff, millions of people burn money on lottery tickets.
The financial strategies below aren’t as much of a long shot as the lottery. More than a handful of people may actually benefit. But many who are tempted to use them don’t understand how high the odds are stacked against success. In my latest for the Associated Press, what seem like smart money moves on the surface may hide perils underneath.
Today’s top story: Budgeting for college students. Also in the news: What to do when the GI Bill won’t cover college, 6 ways to travel cheaply, and why frugal retirees are ditching the 4% rule and hoarding their savings instead.
Budgeting for College Students: Where to Start
You don’t have to live on ramen.
What to Do When the GI Bill Won’t Cover College
Finding alternatives.
6 Smart Ways to Travel Cheaply
You don’t have to go overboard.
Frugal retirees ditch 4% rule, hoard savings instead
Why they’re making this choice.