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The Social Security Overview for Everyone Under Age 62
Social Security: An Overview I’ve been crafting this Social Security overview for the last 3 years. Seriously. It has taken me that long to get it to the level of thoroughness that I feel justifies the...
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How to Make a Yahoo Data Breach Class Action Settlement Claim
In 2016, Yahoo announced 4 data breaches that compromised 3 billion(!) accounts, including names, emails, and passwords. The legal fallout of that breach has now finally come to fruition, in the form...
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Should you Use Credit Card Auto-Pay? Here are 3 Reasons I Don’t.
Credit card auto-pay is widely heralded as a best practice in the personal finance world for those looking to avoid credit card late fees, interest payments, and negative impacts on your credit...
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Your Guide to 2020 ACA Open Enrollment
The Affordable Care Act lives on, and with split government control, it’s safe from the legislative branch of government at least until January, 2021 (though there is an active effort to kill it in the...
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2019 & 2020 Maximum IRA Contribution Limits
The IRS just announced its annual update to the maximum IRA contribution limits, which is the max anyone can contribute to an IRA (or multiple IRA’s combined) in a given year. Unlike last year, there...
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2019 & 2020 Maximum 401K Contribution Limits
The IRS just announced a 2020 maximum 401K contribution limit of $19,500, which is the max you can contribute to a 401K in a given calendar year. This is an increase over the 2019 maximum 401K...
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Saver’s Tax Credit Qualifications for 2019 & 2020
The Saver’s Tax Credit details below have been updated for the 2019 and 2020 tax years. Here is an overview of what is covered in this article: What is the Saver’s Credit? The Saver’s Credit (aka the...
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Personal Finance & Life Lessons From Our High Cost Pet Emergency
It was the weekend after Labor Day. Our beloved happily retired therapy dog, Murdock (named after the A-Team character, not Rupert), had started urinating in his room at night – the first he had done...
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The Good Times Paradox
It could rightfully be argued that the single greatest human survival adaptation that we have developed is our ability to plan far into the future. Almost every other form of life on this planet very...
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2019 & 2020 Tax Brackets & Standard Deductions
The IRS has released the 2020 tax brackets (a bracketed rate table for the IRS federal income tax rates) and standard deduction amounts, and there are a number of inflation adjustments over the 2019...
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Capital Gains Tax Rates & Overview (Updated for 2019 & 2020)
Capital gains tax rules do not make for a particularly thrilling topic. But… seeing that this is a personal finance blog geared towards young professionals and we should all be investing as early as...
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The Best HSA Account Administrators (Updated)
In this article, I will share my updated research and picks for the best HSA accounts available to individuals and families (outside of employer-sponsored offerings). Lively and Fidelity recently have...
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How to Get Rid of XFinity TV Box & DVR Fees with a Roku or Smart TV
After recently completing a 2-year contract with Comcast XFinity, I went through another round of price negotiations and came out much better for it. Through the negotiation process, I was able to drop...
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Earned Income Tax Credit Basics (2019 & 2020)
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most significant tax credits available in the entire IRS tax code. It is also simultaneously one of the most complicated and popular tax credits as...
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How to Get a Costco Membership Fee Refund, Post Annual Rebate Check
Have you ever received a Costco annual rebate check, not sure if you broke even on the membership fee, and wondered what to do next (including asking for a membership fee rebate)? Then you are in the...
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How to Reduce Cognitive Load for Personal Finance Gain
You know that feeling you get when you walk in to an amusement park, fair, arcade, or casino? You’re immediately bombarded with an unending stream of visuals, sounds, smells, and other stimuli. At...
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2019: The 20somethingfinance Year in Review
2019 – what a year. I’m sure that there was some good stuff that happened. Maybe? However, as I searched far and wide to find it so that I could highlight it here, I came across a lot of really...
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My Self-Review of 2019 & Goals for 2020
Right around this time each year, I take extended time off of work to visit with family and friends for the holidays. I also like to set aside some personal time to pause, rewind, and review the year...
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2020 Tax Deadline, Start Date, and Extension Dates (for 2019 Tax Year)
This article has been updated for the 2020 tax season (i.e. the 2019 tax and calendar year). It’s January and other than frigid cold temperatures and seasonal mood disorder, you know what that means –...
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The Cheapest New Cars of 2020
For each year, I enjoy researching and publishing a ranking of the cheapest new cars sold in the U.S. market. This article ranks the top 10 cheapest new cars of 2020, by price. If you’re in the market...
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