Let's Talk Money

It's heating up outside!  That means you will start seeing more and more yard sales popping up.  I decided to try my hand at yard sales for 3 weekends in the month of June.  I opened it up to family and friends to see what would happen.  I will preface this by saying that this was my first yard sale EVER.  I would always donate everything but being that I am not working, I wanted to see how much I could make.  Over the 3 weekends, I made about $400 just from my sales.  This is what I learned:

Tip 1 - Location, Location, Location
Make sure wherever you are having your yard sale is a high traffic street or area.  My street gets quite a bit of traffic so I figured it would be a good place to set up shop.  Analyze the traffic in your neighborhood.  I used my Ring Doorbell to see how many cars come through on a typical Saturday.  If you do not get a lot of traffic, find a friend whose street does and ask if you can bring...

I think I have been bitten by the Vlogging bug.  I am going to try to record a video a week!  I have fun talking about money and this allows you to see me in my element!  I get so many questions about investing.  To most people, it is uncharted territory so it may be hard to grasp some concepts.  I attempt to break down what you need to know in 7 minutes!  Please let me know what you think!

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I don't believe I finally made a video!  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I believe this was my 5th take!  I don't envy actors and actresses at all!  I hope you enjoy.  Let me know what you think.  

Also, I left all of the bloopers in tact.  LOL!

https://youtu.be/PZ6lUZ-xMzk

JUST LAUNCHED

I want to feature your questions on my blog, YouTube channel, and podcast.  Submit here and you could be featured!  Let's continue the money talk!

If I had $1 for every person that I talked to that was unhappy at their job I would be a millionaire (ok maybe a thousandaire) but nevertheless we go in day after day usually living paycheck to paycheck.  Recently, I quit my job.  It was abrupt and no, I didn't have another job to go to.  I just wanted a better quality of life for me and my boys.   

A Brief History
If you remember a few posts back (A New Appreciation for Life), I discussed how stressed I was and how my health was starting to suffer as a result. It took me having a practically near death experience to realize that I wasn't making a living, I was making a dying. I was killing myself slowly by giving companies my all and not leaving anything for myself let alone my kids. I was in bad shape. My family could even tell something was wrong. I was no longer my happy, laughing self but just a shell going through the motions. I decided enough was enough and made June 1st my last day. I had had enough...

If you haven’t read my posts Retirement 101 and Retirement 102, I highly recommend starting there first. It will give you a decent foundation on retirement accounts and all of the different options available. Now, I want to focus on the potential pitfalls you could encounter if you are not actively involved in managing your accounts.

1. Not Getting Your Full Company Match - As an HR professional, I saw first-hand how many people do not take full advantage of the company's match. If the company matches up to 6%, you put in at least 6%. If they match up to 3%, you put in at least 3%. If not, you are leaving free money on the table. That money every pay check adds up! Some may say, "but Tiffany, I have debts to pay before I can even think about retirement". Honestly, everyone's situation is a bit different BUT my late grandpa always told me to pay myself first then the bills and other responsibilities after. It doesn't matter how much I think I need the money...

You have options!  As we discussed in the Retirement 101 article, there are many different retirement accounts to choose from when you are planning for the future.  You also probably noticed that I said "available in traditional and roth".  Our next step is to define what those are.  Let's explore the similarities and differences.

Similarities
First, let's cover what's the same between a Roth and a Traditional retirement account.

1. Contribution Limits - Both types of accounts have the same contribution limit.  If you are younger than age 50, that amount is $18,500.  If you are older than age 50 before the end of the calendar year, you are eligible for "catch-up" contributions. This means you can put in up to $6,000 more for a grand total of $24,500 per year.  Keep in mind that your contribution limit is across all accounts so if you have more than one account active make sure that you are not putting in over those limits.  Otherwise,...

I just sold my 2016 Honda CR-V!  I bought it brand new and still owed about $21,650 but I felt like it was time.  Car payments make a huge difference in any debt free journey especially when they are around $400 a month!  That's not taking into consideration the taxes, maintenance, insurance, and gas.  I decided that to make my goal of being debt free by 30, I needed to cut this expense.  The car dealership was looking at me like I was sick or something was wrong but I told them I am completely fine.  I just have a goal that I need to get to and I am determined!  They admired me for being so young and thinking long term.  It was an easy decision for me and it all happened in less than a week.  I bought a 2010 Mazda CX-7 for $5,850.  I paid most in cash and the rest I financed.  Just like that I got rid of over $15,000 in debt!  My new balance is $51,748.91!  #debtfreeby30  

One word: underrated.  Retirement is key to your wealth building.  Yes, you can be frugal and save as much as possible.  Yes, you can aim to be debt free and be intensely paying off your accounts but what are you doing for your future self.  Is your future self broke while your current self is comfortable?  The good news is you can start saving for retirement at anytime.  The bad news is the longer you wait the harder it is going to be on your current self to build a comfortable nest egg.  

Let's do the math really quick.  Let's say we have a 25 year old that makes $30,000 a year.  In order to have $500,000 by retirement at age 65, they would only have to put away 8.5% of their income or $212/month.  Now let's take the same example and make it a 45 year old.  To have the same amount save by retirement, they would have to save 41% of their income or $1,025/month.  See the difference?

Let's start with the types of retirement...

If you have been following my blog and social media, you know that I am on a journey to be debt free by 30. This is going to take a lot of work but I am up for the challenge! 3 more years and counting!

Well, this week I had to get about $2000 worth of housework done and trust me the contractor took no time to cash their check! I feel like the work was a must as it will save me money in the long term but what about now? What about what I set out to do?

Sometimes, you have to weigh your costs with the potential benefits and once I did that, the money is well spent. But, because I made that sacrifice, I am going to have to work that much harder to get to my goal.

Adversity means nothing when you have determination.