Financial Education for Colorado Educators (and those they love). Absolutely Free.
Many school districts have a salary schedule for teachers where your pay increases based on a combination of the number of years you have taught in the district ("steps") and the educational level you attain ("lanes"). While steps are automatic (well, except for the occasional bad budget year where steps are frozen), lanes are dependent … Continue reading Salary Schedule Lanes: Your Million Dollar (or two or three) Decision
In the financial literacy class I teach for educators we frequently talk about the concept of "paying yourself first." Think of "yourself" (or your future self, if you prefer) as an expense that you have to budget for and, just like you set aside money for the mortgage and the electric bill, set aside money … Continue reading Invest Half Your Raises
Yeah, I know, I write about EVs a lot for a blog focused on financial literacy for educators. Part of that reason is because of the climate emergency we are presently in that I think we should all be urgently addressing. But, even ignoring the climate emergency, EVs are just way more efficient, less hassle … Continue reading Coloradans Can Buy a Used Tesla Model 3 for as low as $13,000
We don't fly all that often but, when we do, it's usually on Southwest. Like any airline, there are good and not-so-good things about Southwest. One of the good things is how easy they make it to change your flight if you need to without charging you anything (other than perhaps the difference in the … Continue reading Rebooking Southwest When the Fare Decreases
I've written before about 401k, 403b, and 457b retirement plans and the similarities and differences between them. Unfortunately, many school districts offer some truly horrible 403b plans (listen to Learned by Being Burned for more info). But there has been a positive development lately in that some school districts, typically large ones, have now started … Continue reading Aurora Public Schools Single-Vendor 403b Plan: Is It The Best Choice?
I continue to come across a surprisingly common misconception when I'm talking to people about finances and/or teaching my class. The misconception arises in the context of paying down debt and where folks should put any "extra" funds they may have available. I'm going to use the following theoretical example of someone who currently has … Continue reading Interest Rate Matters
Fisch Financial 