Financial – Redberrydeals

07Mar 2018 by holly

What is a Traditional Spousal IRA?

Financial

Yes, it is deductible! No Personal Income needed! My world turned upside down when I learned about the Financial Independence community. I have mentioned briefly about it. More to come. One of the biggest benefits to the community is learning about the Traditional Spousal IRA. I had no idea! I'm a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) so I personally don't have a 401k plan at this time, my husband does. Yes, the Traditional IRA contribution can be tax deductible and no you don't need personal income to contribute to it. What?! Really? Yes! I have mentioned the Spousal IRA in my post Financial Independence - Step by Step Guide on Contributing to Retirement Accounts: What is a Traditional Spousal IRA contribution? Let's look at the source the IRS. Per their website…

15Feb 2018 by holly

What if your 401k plan stinks. What should you invest in?

Financial

When I started investing in my first 401k I was so excited. I couldn't believe it. I had the opportunity to invest. I was young 21 years old and I couldn't believe it. I knew that a 401k was a big deal and I knew that investing is ...scary! My parents didn't know about investing and I wasn't taught in high school or college. Personal finance was not taught. That first 401k had very few options and to this day I'm not sure which ones I picked I think I did Large Cap, Small Cap and even the company stock?! Oops! Bad idea! I want to teach others the lessons I learned. The first steps to remind everyone about saving: Pay yourself first! This is key. Automatically invest. Make it…

24Jan 2018 by holly

You don’t need $10,000 to invest at Vanguard

Financial

VTSAX - What is that? VTSAX is a common term heard around the Financial Independence community. It is an index fund called the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares and many believe it is the best index fund to own. I have to agree. Per Vanguard's site "since 1992, Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund is designed to provide investors with exposure to the entire U.S. equity market, including small-, mid-, and large-cap growth and value stocks." It holds over 3,000 stocks. Yes, you read that right it has over 3,000 stocks. It is one of the most diversified index funds out there. What are index funds? Why index funds? In short, an index fund per Vanguard's website: "Instead of hiring fund managers to actively select which stocks or…

17Jan 2018 by holly

Financial Independence – Step by Step Guide on Contributing to Retirement Accounts

Financial

Welcome! So, you want to gain financial independence but don't know where to start investing your money. A question you might have includes: Which retirement account should I contribute to first? What should I do with this money that I have saved up? Roth vs. Traditional vs. Taxable? The amount of information out there can be daunting so I thought I would put together a simple introduction. (Standard disclaimer: This is my opinion. Consult a financial advisor to discuss your specific scenario.) Look closely at your budget and decide how much you can cut back to fund your investments. Common wisdom is to pay yourself first. This means put money into savings or investments before it sits in your checking account and you spend it on something. Live on your…

03Dec 2017 by holly

Finance Goals 2012-2016

Financial

What happened since 2012?If you go back and look at my Financial posts you will see my goals for 2012 and prior. I enjoy looking back and seeing what I did. So I thought I would write up a short description of what we did since then.Financial Goals 2013In 2013, we succeeded in maxing out my husband's retirement accounts. We also continued to save in our emergency fund. We also made a decision to hire a financial advisor. At the time it seemed like a great idea and it seemed like a good match. Later, I will explain that wasn't exactly the case. That was a financial mistake we made. Please be warned!We decided to update our kitchen and replace the floor, and replace the countertops with granite. We did…

10Jul 2012 by holly

UPDATE: 2012 Savings Challenge

2012 Savings Challenge, Uncategorized

Come join me! Please leave a comment below of what your financial goals are this year! Let’s work together to achieve them. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a stressful one. We were out of power for over 108 hours starting on the Friday before and didn't get it back until the morning of the 4th. Thankfully we had generator power thanks to my wonderful husband. But it was limited and so very hot. After we got back online getting posts done has had to be put on the back burner. I needed to take care of my family and get some things done. I'm glad I'm back. 2012 Savings Challenge Our financial goals for 2012: Short term goals Refinancing our mortgage. DONE! Finding…

10Jun 2012 by holly

UPDATE: 2012 Savings Challenge

2012 Savings Challenge, Uncategorized

Come join me! Please leave a comment below of what your financial goals are this year! Let’s work together to achieve them. 2012 Savings Challenge Our financial goals for 2012: Short term goals Refinancing our mortgage. DONE! CHECK! We did it! We refinanced our mortgage and got a lower rate and lower payment. Like I mentioned in my earlier post be prepared for anything. Right now even those with excellent credit are having problems with the refinancing process so take a deep breath and go for it. It will be a bumpy ride but worth the savings. Prepare yourself! 1. Make at least 2 copies of your most recent pay stubs or income statements. 2. Collect all of your bank statements for the last month including checking, savings, CDs,…

23Feb 2012 by holly

2012 Savings Challenge

2012 Savings Challenge, Uncategorized

Come join me! Please leave a comment below of what your financial goals are this year! Let's work together to achieve them. I'm super excited to share our 2012 Savings Challenge. Of course, I'm sharing this in February. Time flies when you are having fun. As most of my readers know, in March 2011 we were blessed with identical twin boys! It amazes me that we have survived the year. We also have "Doodle" our wonderful daughter who is a great big sister. If you missed it this is the review of 2011. 2012 Savings Challenge Our financial goals for 2012: Short term goals Refinancing our mortgage. Rates are very low and it makes perfect sense. I highly recommend refinancing but be prepared for anything! In January, we…

27Dec 2011 by holly

2011 Savings Challenge

2011 Savings Challenge, Uncategorized

It is that time of year again. The end of the year. Besides holiday fun it is also the time to think about my budget for the upcoming year and think about how we did this past year. How well did we do in 2011? Since I didn't get a chance to post about it. My plan was simple. My plan in 2011 was to live within our means. However, we had a lot of challenges this year. 1. First we were blessed with identical twin boys this year! Our family grew from 3 to 5 in just a couple months. This meant we had to make a tough decision on child care. I decided to stay home with the kids. We went from 2 incomes to 1 in a…

10Aug 2010 by holly

2010 Savings Challenge Update – July 2010

2010 Savings Challenge, Uncategorized

How are you doing on your 2010 Financial goals? Now that my toddler is a toddler I haven't had the chance to write as much about this as I originally planned in the beginning of the year. Before I lose track I wanted to quickly post our savings challenge and our update to it. Check out the category from earlier posts this year. Our goals that will take most of the year to complete: 1. Note a new situation: Switching our daughter into a different daycare. We made the decision to switch her to a more expensive daycare that we felt fits our needs and she is so happy and learning so much. Increase in childcare expenses. 2. Investing: It looks like we will reach about 50% of our…

Tag: Financial