Single Point of View
Single Point of View is our way to occasionally share planning ideas relating to personal finance. Our goal is to pass along concepts that you may not be exposed to on a daily basis.
Student Loan Follow Up
As a follow up to our post earlier this week, today CNNMoney published an article on the differences between public & private loans in the case of death of the borrower. This illustrates another big difference between the two types of loans.Click the link below for the article.http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/28/pf/parents-student-loans/index.html?iid=Lead
Student Loan Repayment Options
In our previous post we briefly mentioned the various options available to recent graduates for repayment of their student loans. Here is an overview of those options along with some important resources to consider when deciding the best strategy for yourself.What Type of Loans Do I Have?The first thing to understand is the type of loan you have. Many of [...]
NerdWallet: Maximizing Contributions
I am 32 and max out my retirement savings every year through 401k and IRA. I also save an equivalent amount that I put into savings/investment accounts. How should I think about trading off between maximizing my contributions to retirement accounts versus putting less in my retirement accounts so I have more liquid assets to put towards a downpayment? The [...]
NerdWallet: Roth IRA Contribution
I made a non-deductible "Backdoor" Roth IRA Contribution (to get around income limits), and my taxes went up in TaxAct when filing taxes. I am using a 1099-R that I received with a Gross distribution (box 1) and Taxable amount (box 2) in agreement, plus 2b checked (taxable amount not determined). Distribution code is showing "02 - "Early distribution, exception [...]
NerdWallet: Life Insurance Policy
I'm 40 years old, in good health, and considering a life insurance policy for the benefit of my wife and one-year old. Would you rather get a whole life insurance policy, or a term life insurance policy and "invest the difference" in the market? I'm also contributing to a 401K, a 529 account, and have about $1M in loan liabilities. [...]
NerdWallet: Spending Habits
I am 26 years old and have had some bad spending habits and am currently in debt. What is the best way to pay it down? I have been making $100,000 per year for the past couple of years. I have $30,000 in credit card debt. What is the best way of paying this down? What is a realistic goal [...]