“What a month this week has been?!” COVID-19 has forced “non-essential” businesses have been ordered to shut down. People are confined to their homes and advised to stay home. The economy is in a free-fall. It’s a crazy time to be alive right now. Even crazier, it could get much worse before it gets better. So what steps can you take now to protect your personal finances? How can you protect your family not only from the COVID-19 pandemic but also from the coming recession that could result from all of this economic unrest? Let’s dive in and talk defense.
Read MoreMM019: 15 Personal Finance Resolutions for the New Year
We come into January energized and refreshed to conquer the world. We set ambitious resolutions so we can better ourselves and achieve our goals. And then, almost as quickly as we made the resolutions, our resolve falters and we give up on our New Year’s Resolutions. But, WHY do we have a hard time sticking to our resolutions? HOW can we set ourselves up to accomplish our resolutions? And WHAT are some attainable personal finance goals that we can strive for this year? That, and more, in this episode!
Read MoreMM018: The Importance of Reflecting at Year’s End
This time of year, specifically during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I always like to take a beat to reflect on the previous year and do some heavy planning for the upcoming year. It’s usually pretty quiet at work and at home (with the exception of school kids running around the house), but my headspace is usually pretty clear. So, I wanted to talk through some of my own reflections in the hope that they might inspire your self-reflections as well.
Read MoreMM017: How We Cut the Cord Without Losing Our Sanity
Almost exactly a year ago, we cut the cord and ditched our cable. Along the way, we learned a few things that might be helpful to you as you consider cutting the cord. The fact is, nobody needs a 200-channel cable package; you’re just paying for extra channels that you’re never going to watch. So, why not streamline your budget and only pay for the TV that you actually watch. Come join the groundswell of cord cutters that are challenging the status quo and getting the same series, sports and movies they were used to, but for only a fraction of what they were paying to the cable company. This episode talks about how to do it.
Read MoreMM016: How to Find Your Side Hustle
I’ve been known to have an idea or two for a side hustle. Some are ridiculous ideas. Some are impossible ideas. Some ideas are so far-fetched I don’t know how in the world I came up with them. And then some ideas are solid, feasible, actionable and ambitious. These are my favorite. The fact is, when you’ve got a side hustle you’re working on, you have more options that can help fund your future. Today’s episode covers some rules to follow and a few idea starters so you know how to find your side hustle.
Read MoreMM015: How to Create a Money Binder
If you manage your family’s personal finances, what would happen if the worst happened and you were no longer “available” to manage the household finances? In our house, I manage the finances, and Mrs. Modest is perfectly okay with that. If something happened to me, I don’t know if my wife would know the location of all our assets. Enter, the money binder. In today’s episode we talk about the importance of a money binder and how to create one today.
Read MoreMM014: The Simple Math of Calculating Inflation in Retirement
Figuring out how to calculate how inflation affects your retirement savings is made out to be a super-complicated process, requiring advanced math skills. What’s frustrating is that calculating how your retirement savings is impacted by inflation isn’t all that difficult. In today’s episode, we talk about the simple math of calculating inflation in retirement.
Read MoreMM013: The Power of Small Dollars for Personal Finance
There’s this misperception out there that you need to have a bunch of money socked away before you can invest in either a retirement account or taxable account. Some of this advice comes from popular pundits who promote a debt-free-first lifestyle, some of it comes from the legacy model of investment advisors that only work with clients with a minimum threshold of investable funds. The fact is, the sooner you start investing, no matter how small that number is, the more exponential the growth of your nest egg. The math is crazy!
Read MoreMM012: Price is What You Pay Value is What You Get
As a proud budgeteer, I’ll be the first to admit that I say “no” more often than I say “yes” when it comes to budget decisions. But sometimes, you need (or want) to flex your budget to make room for various purchases. So, how do you figure out the best option? It’s easy to look at the bottom line and make a decision from there, but it’s more important to make a decision based on what’s the best value, rather than the best price.
Read MoreMM011: A Tribute to Moms
Let’s take a quick departure from our regularly scheduled personal finance programming to talk about moms, specifically about the two most important moms in my life, Mama Modest and Mrs. Modest. It’s because of the money management principles that my mom (tried) to instill in me early on in life that set the foundation for my interest in personal finance and money management. So, today’s episode is a quick tribute you, Mom.
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