Most people have a savings account. Sometimes folks have that savings split into different "buckets", perhaps money set aside for future specific purchases (a car, a new furnace), for contingencies (car repairs, an appliance breaks), or more generally as "emergency savings". By its nature, "savings" is different than "investments", because you generally want to take … Continue reading How to Help Your Savings Keep Up with Inflation
How to Make $2,000 in 30 minutes (For Real)
Yes, it's a clickbaity headline, but it's accurate. If you ask most people if they would take a job that offered to pay them $4,000 an hour, they would most likely say yes (assuming it wasn't dangerous, illegal, or against their principles). If you followed that up with the condition that the total duration of … Continue reading How to Make $2,000 in 30 minutes (For Real)
Time to Buy! Buy! Buy! (Service Credit)
Many pension plans allow members to purchase service credit. This may be counterintuitive for some folks, but many plans allow you to "buy" years where you didn't work under the pension system and then treat those years as if you had. This typically both increases your ultimate pension benefit and often can allow you to … Continue reading Time to Buy! Buy! Buy! (Service Credit)
Colorado’s First Step Program for College Savings
I've written about 529 plans before and how I believe, for most folks, they are the best way to save for a child's possible future college education. This is especially true if your state plan offers some kinds of tax incentives. For example, in Colorado your contributions are deductible from your state taxes each year, … Continue reading Colorado’s First Step Program for College Savings
Illinois TRS SSP: A Good (but not great) 457 Plan
The Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois (TRS) is rolling out a new 457b plan in January of 2022 called the Supplemental Savings Plan (SSP). This does not change anything with the TRS pension, but is simply an optional additional tax-advantaged savings vehicle. This post will look at the pros - and cons - of this … Continue reading Illinois TRS SSP: A Good (but not great) 457 Plan
Medicare and PERACare Premium Changes for 2022
One of the most important spending factors to take into account when planning for retirement is the cost of healthcare, including the cost of health insurance. Most people are generally aware that their employer picks up a large portion of their health insurance premium costs, but it's not until you stop working and that goes … Continue reading Medicare and PERACare Premium Changes for 2022
Fisch Financial 