Skip to main content

Financial Priorities

Need a plan for getting out of debt and onto the financial high ground? Follow this plan, in this order, and be patient.
  1. Participate in your company's matching 401K or 403B.
  2. Put $1000 in a savings account and don't touch it unless there is an emergency.
  3. Pay off your credit cards, personal loans and car loans, highest interest to lowest.
  4. Go back to the $1000 and start building it up to an emergency fund that you could live off of for 8 months. I'll blog more about this in the future. Keep this in a savings account where you can get to it easily.
  5. Contribute the maximum amount to a Roth IRA. For most of us, that means $5000/year.
  6. Save for and buy a house, preferably without a mortgage or with 20% down to get the best rate.
  7. Pay off your student loans.
  8. Increase your contributions to your 401K or 403B up to the maximum.
  9. Pay off your mortgage.
Simply ignore the steps that don't apply to you. Obviously, if you have no job or your employer doesn't match funds, then step 1 is not an option. You'd do better to move swiftly towards saving your money in a Roth IRA. You could even put some of the emergency fund in a Roth IRA, since you can withdraw that money (but not the interest accrued) at no penalty. But you should keep some emergency funds ($1000-$3000) someplace more readily available.

My emergency savings in an ING savings account at 1.4% interest. That's about the best you can find right now, but FNBO is currently offering 1.5%.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teaching Tools

I've added two new teaching tools to my regime this semester. 1. Skitch . Skitch is both a desktop application that lets you capture images easily, and a website that allows for easy image sharing . I'll use it this semester to capture images that we can discuss in class, and to take pictures of the blackboard at the end of class (to capture interesting brainstorming sessions). I can upload the pic via email, straight from my phone, and the students will have access right away. I can use the image capture software to circle parts of the reading, charts, graphs, etc. and bring those to the surface for discussion. 2. Slideshare . This program allows you to upload PowerPoint presentations to the Web. I uploaded all of my slides for the semester to one page where they can be accessed from any computer. It allows me to worry less about carrying the slides on a USB drive or having to upload them to the course Blackboard page, which sometimes doesn't open. It also makes fo...
4 comments
Read more

Internship Skills: Difficult Scenarios and Difficult People

Internship Skills: Difficult Scenarios and Difficult People For this exercise, we will take a look at difficult situations that can arise at work. --> Learning Objectives 1.      Pinpointing Your Triggers 2.      Recognize How Culture and Personality Influence Your Reactions 3.      Implement Healthy Conflict Resolution Strategies 4.      De-escalate Volatile Situations Pinpoint Your Triggers Discussion: What do you think your personal triggers are? What kinds of interactions have pushed your buttons in the past? Culture     Discussion: Where have you encountered cultural differences and conflicts in the past? What did you learn from them? Gender   Discussion: Where have you confronted gender differences in the past? How have you confronted them? Personality Discussion: Which personality type/s a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Board Recruitment Resources in Philadelphia and Beyond

http://dustinkidd.blogspot.com 1. Business on Board : A function of the Arts and Business Council. Provides training to prospective board members and connects them with local arts organizations. 2. Philadelphia's Young Nonprofit Leaders : Provides training and resources for staff and volunteers, including board members, for local nonprofits. "Young" is broadly defined. 3. Blue Avocado : An online magazine about non-profit boards. 4. Board Cafe Archives : The predecessor to Blue Avocado. Has a nice section on recruitment and diversity. Here's a good one . 5. BoardnetUSA : A board recruitment and placement website. Like Monster.com for boards. 6. VolunteerMatch : Similar function to BoardNet. 7. Bridgestar : Connects corporate employees to nonprofit service. 8. Eide Bailley : Non-profit toolbox. Includes a nice short article about board service. 9. BoardSource : Recruitment and Orientation resources. More resources throughout the site. 10. Wharton Nonprofit Board...
2 comments
Read more