Regardless of your current financial situation, your income, or your overall debt burden, it’s important that you’re always working to build and maintain an appropriate emergency fund. The target amount you’ll be looking to accumulate may vary, but the principles behind building your emergency fund will be the same.
This is why emergency funds are generally best placed in savings accounts rather than investment or brokerage accounts – you don’t want to face the prospect of ever losing money. But when you begin looking at your various account options, you’re likely to quickly find that you have an abundance of... Articles Tagged ‘emergency fund’
Best Bank Accounts For Setting Up An Emergency Fund
Regardless of your current financial situation, your income, or your overall debt burden, it’s important that you’re always working to build and maintain an appropriate emergency fund. The target amount you’ll be looking to accumulate may vary, but the principles behind building your emergency fund will be the same.
This is why emergency funds are generally best placed in savings accounts rather than investment or brokerage accounts – you don’t want to face the prospect of ever losing money. But when you begin looking at your various account options, you’re likely to quickly find that you have an abundance of...
Wednesday, May 20th, 2015
Regardless of your current financial situation, your income, or your overall debt burden, it’s important that you’re always working to build and maintain an appropriate emergency fund. The target amount you’ll be looking to accumulate may vary, but the principles behind building your emergency fund will be the same.
This is why emergency funds are generally best placed in savings accounts rather than investment or brokerage accounts – you don’t want to face the prospect of ever losing money. But when you begin looking at your various account options, you’re likely to quickly find that you have an abundance of... Banking Advice on How to Jump Start Your Savings This Year
The start of the new year is a time when many of us look to improve our lives by making resolutions. Along with health-related resolutions, new years goals that relate to personal finances are particularly common. Two of the most important financial goals are to pay down debt and to save more.
The benefits of paying down your debt are immediately apparent, but sometimes the benefits of building up your savings sometimes aren’t clear until a number of years down the road. This means that sometimes personal savings gets neglected.
With that in mind, here are some tips for jump...
Friday, January 9th, 2015
The start of the new year is a time when many of us look to improve our lives by making resolutions. Along with health-related resolutions, new years goals that relate to personal finances are particularly common. Two of the most important financial goals are to pay down debt and to save more.
The benefits of paying down your debt are immediately apparent, but sometimes the benefits of building up your savings sometimes aren’t clear until a number of years down the road. This means that sometimes personal savings gets neglected.
With that in mind, here are some tips for jump... Banking Advice to Survive a Financial Setback
A well thought out plan is a prerequisite for reaching just about any financial goal you may have. Your plan will invariably involve making certain assumptions; both regarding things that are within your control, as well as externalities that you can do little about.
But sometimes the items outside of your control can take a turn for the worse and hit you with a financial setback. In fact, everyone is likely to paint counter these hurdles and stumbling blocks from time to time. The key is to work through them and to minimize the long-term financial damage.
Here is some...
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
A well thought out plan is a prerequisite for reaching just about any financial goal you may have. Your plan will invariably involve making certain assumptions; both regarding things that are within your control, as well as externalities that you can do little about.
But sometimes the items outside of your control can take a turn for the worse and hit you with a financial setback. In fact, everyone is likely to paint counter these hurdles and stumbling blocks from time to time. The key is to work through them and to minimize the long-term financial damage.
Here is some... Banking Advice for New Parents to Consider
The pending birth of a new child, particularly if it’s the first for a couple, is unquestionably a life altering event. Being a parent requires a person to take a significantly different view of the world, given the responsibilities that they have to their new child.
Parenting also requires a couple to reassess their financial position and priorities. Make no mistake about it – raising a child is an expensive endeavor, complete with an entirely new set of financial challenges. And new parents will certainly find no shortage of advice and guidance on what you might expect when it comes...
Monday, June 3rd, 2013
The pending birth of a new child, particularly if it’s the first for a couple, is unquestionably a life altering event. Being a parent requires a person to take a significantly different view of the world, given the responsibilities that they have to their new child.
Parenting also requires a couple to reassess their financial position and priorities. Make no mistake about it – raising a child is an expensive endeavor, complete with an entirely new set of financial challenges. And new parents will certainly find no shortage of advice and guidance on what you might expect when it comes... When Should You Tap Into Your Emergency Savings Account?
If you’re following sound financial advice then you’ve built up a good-sized emergency savings account. And you’ve resisted the temptation to use this fund for splurges like a vacation or a new car. But you may have asked yourself when exactly it makes financial sense to go ahead and tap into that emergency savings account.
In general, you should be comfortable using your emergency savings for expenses that fall outside of a well considered budget plan. Even the best planned budgets can be hit with something unexpected.
Here are some examples of situations in which it would likely make sense...
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
If you’re following sound financial advice then you’ve built up a good-sized emergency savings account. And you’ve resisted the temptation to use this fund for splurges like a vacation or a new car. But you may have asked yourself when exactly it makes financial sense to go ahead and tap into that emergency savings account.
In general, you should be comfortable using your emergency savings for expenses that fall outside of a well considered budget plan. Even the best planned budgets can be hit with something unexpected.
Here are some examples of situations in which it would likely make sense... 5 Best Places to Park Cash
Investing your long-term savings and retirement accounts will generally be the best way to maximize the value of those accounts over time. But you’ll always need to have a portion of your savings in a form that you can quickly spend, such as your emergency fund for example.
But having highly liquid accounts doesn’t necessarily mean cash, or at least not literally. After all, while you may want to keep a small supply of physical cash on hand, you certainly don’t want to keep tens of thousands of dollars from your emergency fund in cash in an envelope under your...
Friday, May 3rd, 2013
Investing your long-term savings and retirement accounts will generally be the best way to maximize the value of those accounts over time. But you’ll always need to have a portion of your savings in a form that you can quickly spend, such as your emergency fund for example.
But having highly liquid accounts doesn’t necessarily mean cash, or at least not literally. After all, while you may want to keep a small supply of physical cash on hand, you certainly don’t want to keep tens of thousands of dollars from your emergency fund in cash in an envelope under your... Time to Open a Money Market Account?
When you open a new savings or checking account at your local bank or credit union, you may be asked if you also want to open a money market account. Money market accounts are similar to savings accounts except that they generally offer higher interest rates, have a higher minimum balance requirement, and only allow you to make a few withdrawals each month.
If you’ve never had a money market account before, then you might not be familiar with the situations in which having such an account makes good financial sense.
Here are some instances in which it might be...
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
When you open a new savings or checking account at your local bank or credit union, you may be asked if you also want to open a money market account. Money market accounts are similar to savings accounts except that they generally offer higher interest rates, have a higher minimum balance requirement, and only allow you to make a few withdrawals each month.
If you’ve never had a money market account before, then you might not be familiar with the situations in which having such an account makes good financial sense.
Here are some instances in which it might be... 10 Money Mistakes that Hurt Young Adults
It’s easy to make financial mistakes when just starting out. Even after graduating high school, trade school or college there are still going to be a lot of things that must be learned, particularly in the area of personal finance.
Money mistakes that a person makes when they are young can be some of the most devastating, even if the financial value of the mistake is relatively small. We’re constantly being evaluated through the activity on our credit reports, so mistakes that are made early in life can have a negative effect for many years.
Also, not focusing on saving...
Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
It’s easy to make financial mistakes when just starting out. Even after graduating high school, trade school or college there are still going to be a lot of things that must be learned, particularly in the area of personal finance.
Money mistakes that a person makes when they are young can be some of the most devastating, even if the financial value of the mistake is relatively small. We’re constantly being evaluated through the activity on our credit reports, so mistakes that are made early in life can have a negative effect for many years.
Also, not focusing on saving... How to Handle a Cash Crisis
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
Having to deal with an unexpected financial crisis can be one of the most stressful events an individual will ever face. When we’re facing some type of cash crisis – whether it’s not being able to pay our mortgage or pay our bills – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and simply do nothing. In the northeast many folks are now facing a cash crisis due to super storm Sandy.
Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to handle a cash crisis in the best possible way. There’s usually a solution to the problem, even if it’s not immediately apparent,...
Banking Advice on How to Set Up an Emergency Savings Account
Thursday, July 12th, 2012
One of the key principals on the path to financial independence is to build up an emergency or “rainy day” fund. The purpose of such a fund is to provide you with a financial cushion in the event that you lose your job, are involved in an accident or are otherwise faced with significant unexpected expenses that your normal income can’t cover.
The traditional advice is to build up your emergency savings account until it contains at least six months’ living expenses. But given the increasingly longer times that many individuals are finding themselves out of work, you might wish...
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