crop unrecognizable financier using calculator on smartphone near dollar banknotes

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As a College Financial Educator, I’ve become familiar with several mistakes that students, and their families, make when paying for college. And one that concerns me is when parents prioritize college over building their own retirement fund.  I get it, parents love their kids. But here’s the thing, there are loans for college, no one’s going to give you a loan for your retirement. I also get that your kids are headed to college before you’re retiring, but your money needs time to grow. For every 10 years that you hold off investing, you’ll need to double the amount of money that you invest toRead More →

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at our District’s Student Success Conference on the topic of ‘Turn Your Money Mess into Your Money Message’. It might surprise some, but for a long time I saw myself as not good with money and not the money type. So, sometimes it even surprises me that I’m now a Financial Educator. But then again, the journey that I took is part of the reason that I’m passionate about Financial Education.  It’s because I know what it’s like to struggle with money, not only the money issues but the emotions and the stress. I remember times when IRead More →

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Generational wealth is a topic that many have become interested in and that’s a good thing. But the focus is largely on passing along wealth in the form of assets and savings. But money without money management skills only leads to bigger money issues. Don’t believe me? A CNBC article reported that lottery winners are more likely than average individuals to declare bankruptcy. And just google: ‘celebrities who went broke’ to see more examples of how money without financial education (and self control) led to bigger money problems than the individual previously faced. I’m on a mission to break generational legacies of being broke andRead More →

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Google how to manage your money, and most of the results will be about budgeting.  I know, because when I started my current job I went through exactly that exercise. Budgeting, okay, I get it. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a budgeter (Gasp! Horror! Travesty!) Here’s the thing – a budget is a tool to help you manage your money. And I think a budget can be helpful for many people, but I’m not of the mindset that everybody must budget. But I do believe that everyone needs to manage their money. You may remember that this was one of the Key Takeaways fromRead More →

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You’re probably very familiar with the many health benefits of drinking water; water aids digestion, flushes out toxins and boosts your immune system and metabolism. But do you struggle to get enough water each day? One strategy that can help is to start tracking your water intake – you can do this on paper or with an app.  I started doing this over a year ago. Originally my tracking consisted of tallies. It worked well but there were times when I lost track and wondered if I’d tallied that last glass of water or not. So my new system is that each day I writeRead More →

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If you’re in debt, you’re not alone! After a decline last year, credit card debt is up again and nearly 1 in 5 Americans have credit card debt of $20,000 or more. As we covered last week, compound interest can work for us or against us – when we have debt, especially credit card debt, then compound interest is definitely working against us. While it may take time to get out of debt, it helps to have a strategy. In this post, I’ll share 3 strategies – each is not better or worse than the others, just different. Focus on deciding which one makes theRead More →

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No one will ever care as much about your money as you do. This is a point I like to make in my financial education sessions with students. It’s our money and our responsibility to manage and grow it. But I also say this to make a point about how interest goes both ways, that is, you can earn it or pay it.  Interest is simply money paid for the use of money. Are you borrowing money? Then you’re paying interest to use that money. Are you depositing money into your savings account? Then the bank will pay you interest on your savings. They canRead More →

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Of course, you’re leading your life. But, that’s not the same thing as being the leader of your life. In truth most of our decisions are automatic – that is, we don’t really even think about them anymore. And even when we do think about our decisions we may rule out or not even realize some of our options. Why?  Because instead of leading we’re more concerned about fitting in. We’ve learned since we were little to go along and most of all to avoid standing out.. That means doing what others do and what others would find acceptable while avoiding anything that others wouldRead More →

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Sometime in the last year or two I finally got around to listening to the audiobook of The Millionaire Next Door.  I’d come across the book and also heard from one of my favorite authors, that one of the key takeaways was the importance of managing your money. After hearing that, I actually felt less motivated to read the book but it would still cross my mind. Eventually I took the plunge and I’m glad that I did.  While this book is not one that I would necessarily recommend to someone who is just starting to learn about money (The Automatic Millionaire is a betterRead More →

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It’s interesting how sometimes a word or a phrase can have a connotation for someone that others don’t have. Recently, it crossed my mind that something inside of me cringes at the phrase ‘live within your means’ yet, I feel empowered by the idea of living on less than I earn. The directive, ‘live within your means’ is advice that I heard frequently growing up and for me, it always seemed to suggest that people should live within their ‘station’ and be satisfied with their lot in life. Looking back, I’m pretty sure this is far from what was intended when people gave this advice.Read More →