The basics of personal finance are a new focus for many people, and sadly for some out of necessity. Across our nation efforts to spend less, save more, and reduce debt are helping individuals to gain some control and stability. For many it’s a long hard road, but forming good financial habits will have life-long […]
Author Archives: Chris Simber
The most popular approaches to debt elimination are: paying off the largest debt first, paying off the smallest debt first, paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first, and loan consolidation. In my book “Personal Finance Simply Understood” I walk through a detailed analysis of these approaches using various loan and debt amounts, and […]
There is a lot of interest right now in reducing debt, and that’s a good thing. And there are several debt reduction approaches that have proven successful for many people. We can focus on paying the smallest debt, the largest debt, or the debt with the highest interest rate. Or we can use debt consolidation […]
What is personal economic value and why is it important? Our personal economic value is our earnings potential or what can we expect to earn between now and when we plan to stop working. As an example, if I currently earn $44,000 each year, I’m 32 years old, and I plan to retire at age […]
We’re often surprised by our credit card statements, and not just because of how much we’re charging. The balance amount always seems to be a number that we wouldn’t have guessed, and some purchases that we expect to see aren’t on the statement, and some that we don’t expect to see are listed. This is […]
Most experts agree that we need an emergency fund…a separate savings account that we set aside to cover monthly expenses in an emergency situation. If we experience a layoff or we’re unable to work for a period of time, the emergency fund is there to provide a financial cushion or safety net until our situation […]
People buy a lot of things that they don’t need, and in some cases don’t even want, and they often buy them with credit. It’s interesting that people who use cash spend less on average than people using debit or credit cards. Apparently we’re less likely to buy when we see the money that we’re […]
If you’re employer has a 401(k) plan and you’re not contributing, it’s time to take a serious look at the financial benefits these plans offer. Company sponsored 401(k) plans allow us to deposit a limited amount of pretax income (taken from our gross pay before taxes are withheld) to an account that grows tax-deferred. This […]
With interest rates staying at all time lows, we may be tempted to look at saving as a no-win situation. Monies deposited just aren’t accumulating any interest and with an annual inflation rate around 2%, aren’t we actually losing money on our savings? The short answer is yes, but a more prudent answer lies with the […]
Our saving plan should cover three essential areas: cash on hand for unexpected bills, money put aside to cover expenses in case our income is interrupted, and an account for later in life when we stop working or work in a reduced capacity. This approach protects our longer term savings from an unexpected withdrawal by providing for short-term […]
