HOW TO SAVE MONEY FOR A CAR? A car is a large purchase, and you may not want to take out a loan for the entire amount. Before you go car shopping, discover how to save money for a car by making a budget, comparing different automobiles, and putting in place methods to make saving easier. What are some ways
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In this post, I will share with you how I become a net worth millionaire. My current net worth It has been a while since I provided you with my net worth update. The truth is I haven’t been entirely honest with you. I have only been counting my portion of assets and liabilities but excluded my wife’s. My current
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An HSA is one of the best-kept secrets out there because of its versatility. My current employer offered an HSA back in 2016 but I brushed it off to opt-in for the PPO plan. In 2019 when I did more research into what an HSA is and how it was helpful to the future financial goals I was determined to
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I made my first backdoor Roth IRA mistake and I’ll share it with you in this post along discussing my portfolio strategy for my Roth IRA account. Backdoor Roth IRA Before diving into how and what I am investing inside my Roth IRA account, I wanted to share with you my first mistake when contributing to a Roth IRA account.
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What is HENRY? High earner, not rich yet (HENRY) is a term a came across with reading an article. Investopedia states that a 2003 Fortune Magazine article defined families earning between $250,000 and $500,00, but don’t have much to show for it after taxes and costs of living. This term is applicable to professionals such as lawyers, doctors, dentists, and
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In this post, I will cover some of the most important money moves you need to take at the end of the year. It is always a good idea to monitor your personal finances throughout the year. As we are heading toward the end of the year it’s equally important to work on certain things and make plans for the
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Can pharmacists retire as a 401k millionaire? The answer is a resounding yes! In fact, non-pharmacists can become 401k millionaires as well. Let’s find out how! 401K Millionaires It turns out American millionaires have a lot of things in common. According to a survey conducted by Ramsey Solutions from personal finance expert, Dave Ramsey found out that: 79 percent didn’t
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My Social Security Social security is an important component of retirement planning. As such it is a good to question its sustainability. First off, since social security is important it’s a good idea for you to create an account to monitor and utilize the resources afforded to you from the social security website. The government’s social security website give you
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Everyone makes mistakes, all kinds of different mistakes and financial mistake is one of them. In this post, I will list all past mistakes that I made and I hope that you can learn from them and to avoid making the same mistakes that I did. Financial Mistake #1: Racking up Credit Card Debts Everyone has credit card debts but
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How Much Money Do Pharmacists Make? In this post, I will explain why how much money a pharmacist make does not matter and what you should focus on instead. First off, let’s acknowledge that money is important. Numerous studies have shown that in fact, money does bring happiness. A study published recently found that among people age 30 and older,
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Wealthy vs Rich Is there a difference between being wealthy vs rich? As it turns out, there is a key difference between the two, and I will discuss it with today’s post. In 1997, Robert Kiyosaki published a personal finance book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The book instantly became a phenomenal success and in no time catapulted Kiyosaki to
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Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps Dave Ramsey is a well-known money expert, he has written numerous personal finance books and is best known for his 7 baby steps. By the way, if you haven’t read his book: The Total Money Makeover, I highly recommend it! 7 Baby Steps Baby Step 1. Save $1,000 for your starter emergency fund. Baby Step
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how pharmacists can build wealth and I’ve come to the conclusion that getting rich slowly is the key. You’ve heard it on the radio, you heard it on television, or perhaps read it in a blog just like this one-uncover this secret, buy this and that to get rich quickly! That is not
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In today’s post, I will list seven different finance books that may change your life completely if you take the time to read or listen to them. I highly recommend that you do so! I have paid hundreds of dollars purchasing these books and others in order to broaden my knowledge and understanding of personal finance. These seven books definitely
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A 529 plan is a great tool for saving for college. So should you open a 529 plan for your loved ones? According to NerdWallet, there are two different kinds of 529 plans. 529 Savings Plan 529 prepaid plan 529 college savings plans are the most common type. Investments grow tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free for educational expenses like tuition,
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Can you earn money from YouTube? Can you earn money from Youtube? Have you ever wonder how much money YouTubers earn? I wondered about it too, but today my friends, I have some data to share with you! First let’s start off by offering some basic regarding how you can start to earn money from YouTube. You have accumulated 240,000
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How much cash cushion do you need? In light of the recent current pandemic that’s creating an economic uncertainty, a cash cushion is crucial to your financial health. First, let’s discuss the difference between a cash cushion versus an emergency fund. According to the balance: In general, a cushion is a small balance (less than $1,000) that you maintain in your checking
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Are You Ready to Buy Your First Home? Many renters opt to remain renters for a long time for different reasons. Some of them value the flexibility of having a landlord take care of some of the headaches that come with living in a house or apartment. Others find it convenient to be able to relocate to another place with
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In this post, I am going to compare a Roth IRA versus a 401k plan and recommend which one is better for you in your situation. What is a Roth IRA and 401k? Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is essentially a self-directed retirement account. A 401k, on the other hand, is an employee-sponsored retirement account. These are two main ways
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In this post, I am going to discuss the differences between term life insurance and whole life insurance. Insurance is one of those things in life that’s necessary because of life’s uncertainties. I could finish this post, go outside for a walk and get hit by a car, and that’s all it takes. Most likely we’re all eventually going to
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In this post, I will go over the top five takeaways from Ramit Sethi’s book: I will teach you to be rich. I will teach you to be rich Becoming rich isn’t something that only happens to Ivy League graduates, elite athletes or lottery winners. Anyone can become rich. What you need to do is to define what being rich
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Today we’re going to talk about the controversial topic of pay off debt or invest? The fundamental question is should you pay off your debt first or should you take that money and invest it? Debt is bad Debt sucks! Debt is the worst! There’s definitely good debt and there’s definitely bad debt. In general, most people don’t want to
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Today’s guest post on how to plan a realistic budget and create a debt reduction plan comes from Catherine, a freelance writer. How to plan a realistic budget and create a debt reduction plan Are you struggling to repay debt? Don’t worry! Continue reading to know about what to consider when you’re planning a budget and how to create a
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What are the best investing apps out there in 2019? When it comes to investing, yup, you guessed it right, there’s an app for that! In traditional investing, you need a couple of thousand dollars to get started with either through ETFs or index mutual funds. Enter micro-investing apps. In today’s high-tech world, there are easier ways for you to
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In this post, I wanted to look at the average net worth by age in more detail and provide you with an update of my net worth as of August 2019. Let’s start by reviewing some basics. The average net worth for an American to consider wealthy is $2.27 million according to Charles Schwab. Net worth means assets minus liabilities,
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In today’s post, I am looking at what are the causes of and how to prepare for a recession. Our economy is cyclical, we have had times of great economic prosperity for the past 10 years. Eventually, we will have a contraction, where we see unemployment rates go up, consumer confidence fall and possibly leading to a decline in GDP.
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The Intelligent Investor In today’s post, I will summarize and discuss the top takeaways from the book, “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham. Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors the world has ever known has this to say about the book. The best book on investing, ever written. Warren Buffet Investment vs. Speculation Graham defines investment as: One
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You may already own a car, and know somewhat the costs associated with car ownership. But have you ever asked yourself this question: how much car can I afford? In this post, I’ll discuss the 20/4/10 rule and how it applies to the process of buying a car. If you can afford to buy a car with cash that’s the
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What is the true cost of car ownership? Believe it or not, owning a car is expensive. You probably already know that but do you know what’s the real cost of car ownership? An article from MSN shed light on the average cost of a car. Car gurus estimate the average cost to operate and maintain a car is $9,576
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Continuing with my book review series, in this post I will summarize and showcase the top 5 lessons from The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. It’s true that money principles derived thousands of years ago can still be relevant and applicable today. Let’s dive into the top 5 takeaways from this book. Richest Man in Babylon Lesson
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Ever wonder how financially literate you are? Take the financial literacy test here and find out! The quiz is from The National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) is a project of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation). For your convenience, here are the questions: Financial Literacy Test: Question 1. Suppose you have $100 in a savings account earning 2 percent
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7 Types of Income Streams It is often said the average millionaire has 7 types of income streams. The average person typically has 1 stream of income, usually from their job, and this can put them in a vulnerable position financially. If you take a look at the average millionaire, it is true that they have multiple streams of income-generating
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In this post, I will review financial engines also known as advised assets group and decide whether or not it is worth it due to their fees and other factors. What is Financial Engines (FE)? According to its website, they are founded in 1996. They described themselves as: We provide objective, fee-based advice and asset management, with an aim to
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I will have paid off my student loan at the end of July 2019. My next major financial action is an early mortgage pay off. Early Mortgage Pay off Strategy Early Mortgage Pay off using HELOC Surveying the inter-web there are many options and strategies in which to to pay off my mortgage early. The first option I stumbled upon
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Continuing on my investing series, in this post I will show you exactly the strategy on how I will invest in Vanguard Index Funds. Advantages of Vanguard Index Funds Investing in index funds might the best, easiest, safest long term investment out there for most people. It’s one of my favorites ways to invest. This investment strategy requires very little
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Step by Step on How to Invest Your Money In the post, I will show you exactly how to invest money in seven steps. Starting with the lowest risk and progressing to higher risk forms of investment. How to invest Money Step 1: Low-Risk Investment Here, you’re looking for a basic place to put your money. The number one choice
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I signed up for a free trial of Audible and got a free audiobook. Due to the high recommendations from friends and other personal finance bloggers, I chose Rich Dad, Poor Dad as my starter audiobook. As a busy pharmacist, while maintaining a nascent blog, I find myself with less and less time. I turned to podcasts and now Audible
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I opened an account with Betterment 7 years ago in 2012. In this blog post, I will document my experience with Betterment. Betterment along with Wealthfront are the two best and most well-known of the so-called robo-advisers. They are called robo-advisors because they decided to cut the human middle man out of the equation and instead relied on its own
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Enjoy the current edition of the Sunday reading for pharmacy professionals, which features interesting articles and topics from the world of personal finance. Average 401(k) Balance by Age The average 401(k) balance may be at an all-time high, but you’ll likely be surprised to see just how low that number actually is. View the chart to see how you compare
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What’s my net worth in May 2019? When I graduated from pharmacy school in 2011, I had a negative net worth of $218,000 with a combination of student loan and credit card debts! It has been a humbling experience clawing my way of that debt to having a net worth of $241,451 at the end of May 2019. I was
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Congratulations! After four years of hard work filled with sweat, and tears, you graduated from pharmacy school! You’re ready to conquer the world but what’s next? Hopefully, you didn’t have a hard time passing your NAPLEX or MPJE exams. Now that you’re officially a pharmacist and started a job, how are you going to deal with your personal finance? I
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High-yield savings are a fantastic way to stash your free money wasting away in your checking account. This Sofi Money Review will go over the pros and cons of opening an account with Sofi Money. You typically earn an average of 2.20 % APY or more dependent on which savings account you pick. One of the problems with keeping cash
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I am sure there are a lot of reviews for both Mint.com and Personal Capital out there. However, as with everything, everyone has a different perspective and this is my honest review of two free and most popular personal finance tracker out there. Mint.com I have been a long-time user of Mint. I don’t quite remember when I started using
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I recently ran an analysis through my 401 (k) provider to check what is the optimum age for me to retire at. My 401 (k) provider, Empower advised me to retire at the age of 70 to get the full retirement benefit! Well, you might be thinking about how long can I live to enjoy that retirement? As you can
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Let’s learn different strategies for your investment and saving today! Disclaimer, I am not a personal finance expert. If you’re a personal finance newbie just like myself, the SEC has a really good resource called introduction to investment for you to peruse. Because I’m not an expert I have to do a lot of reading on personal finance from various
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In this post, I will document my student loan journey and how I paid off my student loan in 2 years. MyFed Loan accounts Many college graduates are familiar with this loan servicer. My initial loan started with approximately $29,000 subsidized loan after my graduation in 2006. Student loans are usually subdivided into three different types of loans. After my
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