The Cost of Childcare
Cindy Marie Jenkins has been trying to get her toddler into preschool for a year, but the cost of childcare near her Florida home is too prohibitive. Grace Lee pays $1,100 a month for a preschool in Vermont, after a $200 subsidy from the city. “The preschool is really amazing,” she said, citing its Reggio Emilia learning style, loyal and engaged teachers and walking distance from her home.
Why Shopping for a Mortgage Is as Important as Shopping for Your Dream Home
“Let’s start with the obvious,” says Dave Heard, a Sacramento-based loan officer with more than 30 years of experience. · Fixed rate loans have a consistent interest rate over the life of a loan. · Adjustable rate loans typically begin with a low introductory interest rate that will change to an unknown (but typically much higher) interest rate at a specified point in time.
5 Rules for Refinancing Your Mortgage
Who wouldn’t want to jump on a low interest rate or reduce a monthly mortgage payment? “A lot of people stumble into the office and say, ‘I want to refi,’ and haven’t really thought it through,” said Ruben Lopez, a veteran loan officer based in Santa Barbara, California. Some are scared their adjustable rate mortgage will start climbing upwards.
How I Did It: Saving for Retirement
High school teacher James Rose explains how he has already met his retirement goals before turning 50.
How I Did It: Bigger Family, Bigger Home
Rocco breaks down how he was able to upgrade the size of his home with careful planning and budgeting to meet the needs of an expanding family.
How to Avoid Unnecessary Bank Fees
An overdraft charge here, two ATM fees there?banking fees add up quickly and often without you even noticing. Kate Carleo switched to a bank that promised to reimburse her for any outside ATM fees. Rather than switch banks again, Carleo said she tries to only use ATMs associated with her bank.
Understanding Credit Card Offers
From cash in your pocket to myriad discounts, even free plane tickets—rewards points are a popular credit card perk. A 2015 study of more than 20,000 credit card customers found that 52 percent selected their new credit card based on rewards programs. In the case of rewards cards, customers who have one spend an average of $1,132 per month, compared to $744 for customers who don’t have a rewards card—a whopping 52 percent difference.
5 Smart Strategies for Paying Down Debt
Whether it’s credit card bills, student loans, car loans or mortgages, Americans are drowning in debt—to the tune of $12.35 trillion. Amber and Danny Masters, who chronicle their student loan paydown of more than $600,000 on the blog RedTwoGreen.com, set their monthly budget at $3,000 and refuse to go even a penny higher. “We make student loan payments at the beginning of the month when we get paid, before we pay for any other additional expenses,” Amber Masters said.
Money Matters for Kids
When you ask parents what their kids know about money, you hear a lot of the same things: the belief that credit cards mean you can buy anything, the idea that ATMs print money, that age-old clich? Here are some strategies employed by parents?and advocated by experts?for teaching kids at every age and stage how to be money-smart. Theresa Langhaar said her 6-year-old daughter learns a lot through the Money Mammals app, especially when it comes to her $6 a week allowance.
How I Did It: Buying a House with My Spouse
Tonnechia and Ryan explain how to buy a house with your spouse by combining assets, curbing spending and leveraging a realtor.
How I Did It: Repairing My Credit Score
Alexis provides actionable, real-life tips and tricks for repairing your credit score and battling debt.
How I Did It: Starting Over in a New City
Natalie Friedman explains how proper planning, clear focus and careful planning can ease the stress of moving to a big city.
The Savings Gap
Text by Sarah NetterDesign by Amy Segal-Burke
Why You Need a Rainy Day Fund
It wasn’t how O’Connor and her husband wanted to spend their savings, but they didn’t have to scramble to find the money or rack up a huge credit card bill. Across the country in Long Beach, California, Lisa Heacox jumped out of bed to rush her sick cat to the emergency veterinarian in the middle of the night. “My ‘not marked for anything’ savings account absorbed the $750 bill,” she said, adding that the cat is healthy now.
What's Lurking in Your Credit Report?
Take Brad Wright, a certified financial planner at the New England Financial Planning Group. It turned out to be another Brad Wright with a different Social Security number that somehow got attached to my report,” he explained. Wright has some simple suggestions.