A summary of what has worked well for me
I have spent hours & hours over the past year doing a deep dive into personal finance blogs, podcasts, and books. I am nowhere close to being an expert on the subject, but I have learned a lot of great, actionable tips that have worked well for me, so I wanted to share them with you. Not everything will apply to you, but that's ok. Take what works for your situation, and disregard the rest. And don't let me be the "expert" for you - use this as a starting place for your own learning. Do your own research - it's actually fun!
I'm sharing a lot of specifics here, and there are some affiliate links. These are products I would recommend even if you choose not to use my link. They have been awesome for me, and they are things I believe in. This is just a quick overview - I will be going in depth into each category at a later date. But for now, here's what I use & love!
Tracking your Net Worth
I recently learned of a free app called Personal Capital that helps you track your net worth. In order to make your finances better, you need to see the big picture & know what you're working with. You can link everything together here - your credit cards, mortgage, house value, investments. Then every day (or however often you want), you can instantly access your net worth & see what your financial picture is. It's so helpful!! You also get a $20 Amazon gift card with a qualified account by using the referral link here - Referral link.
Savings Account
I use Capital One 360. I get a 1% interest rate which is considerably higher than most savings accounts I've seen. I also just learned this morning that their Money Market Account has a 2% interest rate if you have at least $10k in your account. Even better! Through May 19th, they have a $200 bonus if you open a Money Market Account with $10k+ - use promo code EARN500. This is a great place to have an emergency fund so you can access your money quickly, and it's not as volatile as the stock market.
Investments
I highly recommend Vanguard VTSAX. Until this year, I have been completely terrified of the stock market because it seemed so complex. But based on what I know now, the best option is to buy index funds (instead of individual stocks or managed funds) and don't mess with it. Do Actively Managed Funds Really Pay Off For Investors? I ran a comparison & over the course of 30 years, if I left my money in my actively managed fund (with necessarily high fees due to the nature of it) instead of switching it to VTSAX, I would lose over $115k in projected investments just due to fees. You can compare your numbers here - Compare Fund Costs
If you don't have $3k to invest in VTSAX, you can start with ETF's which have a slightly higher expense ratio. Note - this is NOT for the faint of heart. The market goes up & down - that's the nature of the beast. But if you're in it for the long run & you keep putting money into it, history shows the market always goes up over time. To learn more about this, check out JL Collins' Stock Investing Series.
Travel hacking
My sister & I just went on a 10 day/9 night trip to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada for 7 people almost entirely for free using this method. Our flights, hotels, and the car rental were all covered by points we earned after doing travel hacking for just a few months. I learned about it here - Travel Hacking. They have podcasts & articles on the subject. But basically, you intentionally & responsibly use credit cards for all of your expenses, you maximize the sign-on bonuses, then move on to a new one. You MUST pay off your balance in full every month to come out ahead, so if you can't do that, this will not be a good option for you.
I started with Chase Sapphire Preferred - you can earn 60,000 points when you spend $4000 on the card in the first 3 months. That is $750 toward travel.
I then used the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card - you can earn 40,000 points when you spend $1000 on the card in the first 3 months.
I paired that with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card - you can earn 60,000 points when you spent $3,000 on the card in the first 3 months.
By pairing the two Southwest cards and getting 110,000 points (you can refer a friend or spend more than the minimum on the cards to get the remaining 10,000 points), I earned a free Travel Companion Pass that is good for the remainder of 2019 & all of 2020, so I can fly my son for free!!! Then I use points to book travel for the rest of my family.
Side hustle
Having a side hustle has been life-changing! Do your research. There are so many great options out there. You want to create extra streams of income so you can increase your investments. You can also access business cards for travel hacking if you have a side hustle! This is the one that has worked the best for me - Perfectly Posh
Roth IRA for kids
I just set up Roth IRA's for both of my boys thru Fidelity. They have very low fees & no minimum balances. **Your kids MUST have earned income to participate in this, so check out options for that first. If you own your own business or side hustle (see above), you can employ your kids to do legit business activities. I use my kids to model for my advertisements for my photography & Posh businesses. By starting your kids early, you can set them up for financial independence! Can You Open A Roth IRA For Your Kids?
Favorite resources
ChooseFI - They have tons of articles & free podcasts to help you achieve financial independence
Afford Anything - Great tips via articles & free podcasts on how to prioritize what is important in your life. You can afford anything, but not everything.
The Simple Path To Wealth
Richest Man in Babylon
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Think and Grow Rich
The 4-Hour Work Week
I'm sharing a lot of specifics here, and there are some affiliate links. These are products I would recommend even if you choose not to use my link. They have been awesome for me, and they are things I believe in. This is just a quick overview - I will be going in depth into each category at a later date. But for now, here's what I use & love!
Tracking your Net Worth
I recently learned of a free app called Personal Capital that helps you track your net worth. In order to make your finances better, you need to see the big picture & know what you're working with. You can link everything together here - your credit cards, mortgage, house value, investments. Then every day (or however often you want), you can instantly access your net worth & see what your financial picture is. It's so helpful!! You also get a $20 Amazon gift card with a qualified account by using the referral link here - Referral link.
Savings Account
I use Capital One 360. I get a 1% interest rate which is considerably higher than most savings accounts I've seen. I also just learned this morning that their Money Market Account has a 2% interest rate if you have at least $10k in your account. Even better! Through May 19th, they have a $200 bonus if you open a Money Market Account with $10k+ - use promo code EARN500. This is a great place to have an emergency fund so you can access your money quickly, and it's not as volatile as the stock market.
Investments
I highly recommend Vanguard VTSAX. Until this year, I have been completely terrified of the stock market because it seemed so complex. But based on what I know now, the best option is to buy index funds (instead of individual stocks or managed funds) and don't mess with it. Do Actively Managed Funds Really Pay Off For Investors? I ran a comparison & over the course of 30 years, if I left my money in my actively managed fund (with necessarily high fees due to the nature of it) instead of switching it to VTSAX, I would lose over $115k in projected investments just due to fees. You can compare your numbers here - Compare Fund Costs
If you don't have $3k to invest in VTSAX, you can start with ETF's which have a slightly higher expense ratio. Note - this is NOT for the faint of heart. The market goes up & down - that's the nature of the beast. But if you're in it for the long run & you keep putting money into it, history shows the market always goes up over time. To learn more about this, check out JL Collins' Stock Investing Series.
Travel hacking
My sister & I just went on a 10 day/9 night trip to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada for 7 people almost entirely for free using this method. Our flights, hotels, and the car rental were all covered by points we earned after doing travel hacking for just a few months. I learned about it here - Travel Hacking. They have podcasts & articles on the subject. But basically, you intentionally & responsibly use credit cards for all of your expenses, you maximize the sign-on bonuses, then move on to a new one. You MUST pay off your balance in full every month to come out ahead, so if you can't do that, this will not be a good option for you.
I started with Chase Sapphire Preferred - you can earn 60,000 points when you spend $4000 on the card in the first 3 months. That is $750 toward travel.
I then used the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card - you can earn 40,000 points when you spend $1000 on the card in the first 3 months.
I paired that with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card - you can earn 60,000 points when you spent $3,000 on the card in the first 3 months.
By pairing the two Southwest cards and getting 110,000 points (you can refer a friend or spend more than the minimum on the cards to get the remaining 10,000 points), I earned a free Travel Companion Pass that is good for the remainder of 2019 & all of 2020, so I can fly my son for free!!! Then I use points to book travel for the rest of my family.
Side hustle
Having a side hustle has been life-changing! Do your research. There are so many great options out there. You want to create extra streams of income so you can increase your investments. You can also access business cards for travel hacking if you have a side hustle! This is the one that has worked the best for me - Perfectly Posh
Roth IRA for kids
I just set up Roth IRA's for both of my boys thru Fidelity. They have very low fees & no minimum balances. **Your kids MUST have earned income to participate in this, so check out options for that first. If you own your own business or side hustle (see above), you can employ your kids to do legit business activities. I use my kids to model for my advertisements for my photography & Posh businesses. By starting your kids early, you can set them up for financial independence! Can You Open A Roth IRA For Your Kids?
Favorite resources
ChooseFI - They have tons of articles & free podcasts to help you achieve financial independence
Afford Anything - Great tips via articles & free podcasts on how to prioritize what is important in your life. You can afford anything, but not everything.
The Simple Path To Wealth
Richest Man in Babylon
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Think and Grow Rich
The 4-Hour Work Week
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