I have been talking with a young friend about a lot of different financial topics over the past couple of months. I realized that the challenges my young friend faces are the same things that almost all young adults deal with. Over the next few months, I'll be sharing some of our conversations...
As some of you know, my husband and I recently got married last May. One of the next steps we would like to do together as a married couple is to purchase a house. I think one of the quintessential American dreams is that of owning your own home. It gives a sense of accomplishment as well knowing...
It's easier to make New Year Resolutions than to keep them! Let's take a look at some strategies to keep your financial resolutions on track. State the resolutions effectively. Research by behavioral economists suggests that how we frame our resolutions may affect how successful we...
We're wrapping up the end of our 7th year of blogging here at Plan Well, Retire Well Blog. We aim to post about once a week and in 2014 we did pretty well with 54 blog posts. On average, a blog post in 2014 had about 340 page views. So, just what have we been writing about in 2014? And,...
I come from a long line of habitual expense trackers. Growing up, there was always a legal-sized ledger book in the drawer. A new page was started for each month. Every receipt was entered. There were often a few loose receipts tucked into the book, waiting to be logged. When my mom passed away and...
Money is more than dollars and cents. We choose how we manage our money based on our personal values. Values help define who we are and what we do. During the holiday season our values about money are highlighted: how much do we spend on treats; do we use credit; do we give to charities? Many of us...
Earlier this year I wrote a blog post about creating a 2014 Financial Goal and I challenged our readers to write and share their goals with us. At the time of the posting, I deliber
A recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) indicates some of the business practices of large student loan lenders may be making it particularly difficult for borrowers to repay their loans. In the last year, the CFPB handled approximately 5,300 private student loan...
You answer the phone. Or open a letter that came in the mail. It's from a collection agency. A medical bill that you never knew existed has been turned over to collections. What goes through your mind? "My credit score just went down the tubes." I may have some good news for you. Under FICO 9 – the...
Katie Bryan works for America Saves, managed by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which seeks to motivate, encourage, and support low- to moderate-income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. Learn more at...
