Financial Panther

Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

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The HSA: The Perfect Retirement Account For Millennials

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Read enough personal finance blogs and at some point, you’ll probably stumble across someone writing about the “secret” retirement account known as the Health Savings Account (“HSA”). For those of us who are entrenched in the personal finance world, the HSA really isn’t all that much of a secret. Most of us who are into this money stuff know that it’s a pretty advantageous savings vehicle.

The thing that I think doesn’t get pointed out enough is how perfect the HSA is for millennials. By giving yourself access to an HSA, you get two awesome things. You gain an extra tax-advantaged account that can really help you maximize your savings. And you lower your monthly health insurance premiums at a time in your life when you probably have very low healthcare costs.

Job Spotter App Review: Earn Extra Money By Taking Pictures Of Hiring Signs

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Table of Contents What Is The Job Spotter App? How The Job Spotter App Works How Much Can You Make With The Job Spotter App? The Main Reason I Like The Job Spotter App: It’s Fun! Job Spotter Tips and Tricks Unfortunately, Job Spotter shut down in early 2020. If this app ever returns, I’ll […]

January 2017 Side Hustle Report

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Welcome to this month’s side hustle report! If you’ve been following along, each month, I document what I made using various sharing economy and gig economy apps. It’s pretty great to have a little bit of extra income coming in each month for things that I’m basically already doing…

Do You Use Work As An Excuse Not To Reach Financial Independence?

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I sometimes get into conversations with friends of mine who wonder why I’m trying to save so much money. When I tell them that I’m doing it because I’d love to be able to retire early, I’m often met with the same response: “I couldn’t imagine myself not working. I’d get too bored.”

I’m sure those of you on the path to financial independence have heard that same remark as well. It’s all well and good, mind you. There’s nothing wrong with working. If you like your job, by all means, you should keep doing it. Honestly, if I ever do reach financial independence, I’ll probably keep working too. Perhaps not in a traditional 9-5 job, but I’d probably do something that I find fun.

My problem isn’t with people who say they enjoy working. That’s totally fine. It’s that I find that people who tell me they like working often use that, not as a plan, but rather, as an excuse for why they’re not saving very much. Or they use it as a reason to criticize my own drive to save money.

Netspend Account: The Ultimate Guide to a 5% Interest Savings Account

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Most people don’t believe it, but even in today’s market, you can still earn 5% interest on money sitting in an FDIC insured savings account. It does require a little bit of legwork to set up, but once you’ve done it, the entire account is completely automated.

For most people, a 5% interest savings account is a perfect place to store your emergency fund. It’s where I store my emergency fund. And depending on how much you like to keep in your emergency fund, you could potentially have your entire emergency fund earning 5% interest per year.

Net Worth Report – Q4 (2016)

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I can’t really believe it, but this past weekend, I turned 30 years old. It’s sad to say, but my 20s are now officially over. I think I have to become a responsible adult now or something.

I’ve been casually tracking my net worth over the past couple of months, and back in October, I published my first quarterly net worth report. You can take a look at that post here. My plan is to continue these reports so that folks can see where I’ve been and where I’m going. It’s also not bad for me to have these numbers documented for my own records so that I can get a picture of where I’m going.

Here’s the current picture of my net worth:

Wealth Is Relative – Remember This And Be Happier

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I think that wealth, much like temperature, is relative too. One person might feel wealthy making a certain amount of money while another person, making the same amount of money, might feel like they’ve only got pennies to their name. Some of us might scoff when a doctor or lawyer says they don’t make enough money and are living paycheck to paycheck. When this happens, we wonder how someone making six figures can spend so much money.

The 529 Plan Hack For Current Students

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We don’t often think about 529 plans as a way to reduce our immediate tax liability. But I was recently talking to a friend of mine who pointed out an interesting strategy that might help him reduce the amount of state income taxes he would owe this year.

Traditionally, 529 plans act sort of like a Roth IRA for college. You put money into the 529 for your child’s future college expenses, allow that money to grow over time, and then withdraw that money tax-free so long as you use it for college expenses. If you start right when your children are born, you can basically get yourself 18-22 years of tax-free growth. Considering the fact that the S&P 500 has never lost money over a 20 year period, you’ve got pretty good odds you’ll come out with some tax-free money for your kids by the time they enter college.

The above scenario is the traditional way to use a 529 plan. But a 529 plan can be opened up in anyone’s name, including your own. This opens up a number of interesting possibilities that most people don’t think about…

What Does Financial Panther Invest In?

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Welcome to Part 3 of my series detailing how I invest in my employer sponsored retirement plans. Today, we’re going to look at the exact funds I contribute to in each of my employer sponsored retirement plans. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Part 1, where I discuss my general investing philosophy, and Part 2, where I discuss the different types of employer sponsored retirement plans.

For those of you that don’t know, back in June 2016, I switched jobs (taking a $50,000 pay cut in the process). I ended up rolling over all of my 401(k) contributions from my prior employer into my new employer’s 457 plan. Then I needed to figure out how to put my money to work.

Pay Off Your Student Loans Now – It Doesn’t Get Any Easier Later

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I recently realized that I’m turning 30 in a few weeks. As I was reflecting on entering my 30s and the things I’ve achieved, one thing occurred to me – I must be in the minority of recent lawyers that will be entering their 30s with absolutely no student loan debt remaining.

This is sort of interesting when you think about it. Student loans have become so normalized in our society that we just expect everyone to have them now. This is especially true for most high income professions that require many years of post-college schooling. When you include all the time spent accruing debt in grad school, it’s not uncommon for someone to keep their debt around for a decade or more. A lawyer graduating at age 25 could easily still have their student loan debt kicking around until they’re 35 or older. I know of dentists that will be paying their student loans well into their 50s!

A common refrain is that you’ll pay more on your student loans sometime in the future…

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