Why is Holistic Financial and Investment Planning Important? A pandemic changes the way people invest. For some, this means putting their money into assets that are safer. For others, it means rethinking how they decide how much risk to take. Others have to wait for the market to settle down….
Category: Debt
Even If You Pay off Your Credit Cards Every Month, Your Credit Scores Can Be Hurt by Large Spending
Your credit utilization measures the amount you owe to the creditors on your accounts against your total credit lines. If you charge a large amount to a card or multiple cards, it does not matter whether you pay off the balances immediately once you receive the bills, your credit scores…
Ways to Improve Your Credit Score All by Yourself
To have an excellent credit score requires consistent hard work. Many factors matter. Always pay on time, keep the credit usage low, keep your accounts open even though you don’t use the credit cards, and etc. One way to improve your credit score is to review all of your credit…
Things You Can Do to Pay down Your Debt Quickly
You can pay the debt down with determination. Find the extra money where you least expect it to pay down the debt. Skip eating out at lunch, and bring it from home instead. That can be $5 savings a day, which translates to $100 a month. Use it and pay…
Credit Score 101 – 1
New credit accounts for 10% of your FICO score. Now this means the amount of new credit applications, including the amount of recent hard inquiries and the total amount of new accounts you’ve opened in the last 60 to 90 days. Your payment history accounts for 35% your score. Work…
Planning for Retirement Part 1 – Conquering Debt
Borrowing money against your 401K is typically not a good idea because if you leave your employment prior to full repayment, the outstanding balance becomes due and payable immediately. Therefore, ensure any 401K loan can be repaid before you leave your job. Loan amount will be added as a type…
Fed Surprises and How They Affect Your Finances
The U.S. dollar rose sharply higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced its first interest-rate increase of 2016 and signaled that it expected to increase rates 3 more times in 2017. Stocks traded sharply lower, while yields soared. The 2-year Treasury yield, which was the most sensitive to the Fed,…
Is Paying off the Student Loan More Important? Or Saving for Retirement?
My personal opinion? Treat it like any other debt. Get rid of it as soon as you can. You can choose the order of priorities to pay off a student loan, or to save for retirement. Some argue that saving for retirement is more important because of the benefits of…