Financial Education for Colorado Educators (and those they love). Absolutely Free.
One of the things I try to stress in my financial literacy class for educators is the difference between savings and investments. Savings is more for the short-term, to deal with the expected expenses that arise. Investments are longer term, for longer-term goals (perhaps purchasing a house, paying for a college education, or retiring). Early … Continue reading Cash Isn’t Trash (But It Also Isn’t Investing)
I've written previously about the incredible opportunity of using your HSA as a stealh retirement account (for those who can afford to do so). More recently, I wrote about a variation on that strategy for folks who were not maxing out their Roth contributions. Today's post is about a strategy that some very early retirees … Continue reading HSA Conversions for Very Early Retirees
This post comes with the usual caveat: I am not a tax expert and this is for informational purposes. One of the great things about the tremendous decrease in the cost and difficulty of investing (thank you Jack Bogle) has been that many more people are investing in stocks and bonds through brokerages like Vanguard … Continue reading The State Tax Deduction Many People Miss
I've written previously about how folks who can afford to both contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA) and pay their current out-of-pocket medical expenses from their checking account can use their HSA as a stealth retirement account. It's better than either pre-tax or Roth retirement accounts because as long as you eventually use the … Continue reading Leveraging Your HSA to Increase Your Roth Contributions
I've written previously about installing solar panels and batteries as well as converting our heating, air conditioning and water heating over to electric heat pumps. We now have a full 12-months worth of electric bills since having Xcel Energy completely shut off natural gas to our home, so I thought I'd share our numbers. Before … Continue reading One Year of An All-Electric House
Someone had a question in a financial meetup group I attended today about where they should put a lump sum of money for future college expenses for their current 8th grader and 6th grader. Simplifying a bit, they are probably going to sell a rental real estate property and want to set aside the proceeds … Continue reading Where Do I Put Short-Term Money for College Savings?