I recently heard a great analogy that aligns well with the topic of DIY investing—consider the process of changing your car’s oil. While you could learn to do it yourself and save some money, it can be messy and mistakes can happen, as my husband discovered years ago when oil dripped on his face while …
Read More
Last year, Charles Schwab announced that they were reducing trading fees to zero, and Ameritrade, E*TRADE and Fidelity shortly followed. Hooray, free trades! But hold on are there hidden costs in no cost trading? For consumers of these companies, however, there really is no free lunch. It is important to look to see what you …
Read More
There are a lot of F words, especially in the world of finance. Fiduciary, Finance, Financial Advisor, etc. But none of those are my favorite F word. My favorite is “Female Financial Planner”. Ha, you thought I was going to pick a different F word, didn’t you? I also like “french fries.” It can be …
Read More
Sometimes you hear the phrase, “put your money where your mouth is,” meaning, use your dollars towards things you really are passionate about. If this matters to you, then you might be interested in ESG or SRI investing. ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Governance. SRI stands for Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact. These terms usually …
Read More
March is National Women’s History Month. So, in honor of that, I’d love to tell you about some female financial pioneers… In addition to mentioning that we have several female financial advisors on our team! The wife of President John Adams, Abigail Adams, is credited with being the first female investor. Abigail managed her household’s …
Read More
Ok, so, in case you have not heard, there was this really weird thing going on with GameStop stock. GameStop, in my opinion, is going the way of Blockbuster. They have brick and mortar stores, and sell physical discs for video games, which, hello, the industry is heading towards everything online, especially with downloads of …
Read More
In honor of Financial Literacy month, I’m sharing important information related to credit scores. Do you know what your credit score is? And what it means? First, shout out to my dad who is turning 69 today. Happy birthday, dad! Here is the range for Credit Scores: *Source: https://www.experian.com You can check your score for …
Read More
If you have children or grandchildren, or if you have a special relationship with your niece or nephew or the child of a dear friend, you can enrich their lives in many ways. One of the most important things you can do is teaching children about money and how they manage their money and invest …
Read More
The government shutdown has shed light on a problem that plagues many in this country: what would you do, if you suddenly were out of a job, or missed a paycheck? That’s what credit cards are for, right? Spoiler alert: No. Pretty much any financial guru is going to tell you that one of the …
Read More
Budget. The 6-letter dirty word. After the series of blog posts on debt, I figured I should talk about budgeting, even though, if you’re like most people, you’re not interested. A Gallup poll showed that less than 1/3 of Americans (32%) actually keep a formal budget, and that you are most likely to have a budget if …
Read More