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“The Mexican Fisherman” Parable
Today, I will share a short parable that has made the rounds over the years on esteemed websites. Every time I read it, it makes me pause and look inward. The story is often referred to as “The Banker...
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Using the Power of Re-framing & Ingenuity to Cut Expenses
When you distill it to its most basic level, personal finance is simply: 1. What’s coming in (your income) minus 2. What’s going out (your expenses) With that in mind, it stands to reason that if you...
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Can we Kill Home Ownership as the “American Dream”?
How many times in your life have you heard that “Owning a home is achieving the American dream”, or words similar to that effect? In a recent survey, 56% of millennials, 59% of Gen X’ers, and 68% of...
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Free Credit Freezes are Almost Here. Here’s How to Use Them.
With the massive hack of Equifax last year resulting in the theft of sensitive information on 145.5 million Americans (including their Social Security numbers), consumers quickly became all too...
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7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Every Purchase
Trying to frugally navigate our lives through a consumer-driven culture is not easy. We are presented with choices about if and what we should purchase multiple times per day. And we are so bad at...
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Post Comments are Live Again
Hey readers. Quick PSA: post comments are live again. If you tried to comment in the last few weeks, your comment was swallowed whole by the blog machine. Sorry for the inconvenience. I’ve located the...
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Where to Get Cheap or Free Flu Shots
The 2018 flu season is here and it could be a bad one. Should you get a flu shot? There are many good reasons to… On average, approximately 5% to 20% of U.S. residents get the flu and more than 200,000...
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How to Replace your ISP’s Modem with your Own (& Get Rid of the Rental Fee)
I’ve previously written about how to replace your Comcast XFinity modem with your own in order to get rid of your XFinity modem rental fee, as part of my ongoing frustration as a customer of the...
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My Review of the New Lyft “All Access” $299 Monthly Subscription Plan
When I first heard that Lyft was going to be offering an “All Access” monthly subscription plan to “deliver on our goal of making car ownership optional“, I was intrigued. I thought to myself, “hmm…...
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Should You Use UltraFICO to Try to Improve your Credit Score?
At some point in your life, if you apply for credit, you will benefit if you have a strong credit score. It could come in the form of getting a mortgage at the best rate available to purchase your...
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2018 & 2019 Maximum 401K Contribution Limits
The IRS just announced a 2019 maximum 401K contribution limit of $19,000, which is the max you can contribute to a 401K in a given calendar year. This is an increase over the 2018 maximum 401K...
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2018 & 2019 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 IRA’s) in a given year. And for the first time in 6 years, we...
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Saver’s Tax Credit Qualifications for 2018 & 2019
The Saver’s Tax Credit details below have been updated for the 2018 and 2019 tax years. What is the Saver’s Credit? The Saver’s Credit (aka the ‘retirement savings contribution credit‘) is a lesser...
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Millennials Need to Change Politics & Save Our Democracy. Let’s Start this...
Tens of millions of patriots, activists, and heroes have fought for, suffered, and given their lives for you to have the right to vote in a free democracy. By no means do we have a perfect democracy...
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Your Guide to ACA Open Enrollment
The Affordable Care Act lives, and with Democrats winning the House of Representatives, it’s safe for at least the next 2 years. Despite a need for some bi-partisan cooperation to improve it (and end...
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Where Should I Invest Short-Term Savings?
One of the personal finance questions that I most frequently get asked is: “where should I invest short-term savings?”. When I dig deeper, I often find that the context behind the question is that the...
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Earned Income Tax Credit Basics (2018 & 2019)
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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Is Costco Executive Membership Worth it? Is Any? I Run the Numbers.
Mrs. 20SF and I just got our first annual Costco “Executive” membership rebate check in the mail a few weeks ago, after upgrading to the Gold Star Executive membership from the standard membership,...
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2018 & 2019 Tax Brackets & Standard Deductions (Updated: Post Tax Reform)
The IRS has released the 2019 tax brackets (a table breakdown of the IRS federal income tax rates) and standard deduction amounts, and there are a number of inflation adjustments over the 2018 tax...
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Fidelity HSA Accounts Are Live. Here Are the Enticing Details.
If you’ve completed research in an attempt to find the best HSA account, you’re probably well aware that it is a bit of the “Wild West” out there. Because health savings accounts (HSA’s) are still a...
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