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How I Invest In My Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans, Part 2: Know Your Plans

Last Updated on 19 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Welcome to Part 2 of an ongoing series detailing the process I went through in picking investments for my new employer sponsored retirement plans. Back in June, I switched jobs, moving from the private sector into the public sector. In addition to a huge change in salary, the job change also meant a whole new set of retirement plans and employee benefits that I had never heard about.

My hope is that this series can help those of you who are just starting a new job or have just switched jobs to learn more about the benefits that your employer probably offers . If you haven’t already, I recommend first reading Part 1: My Core Investing Philosophy, which details the key principles I follow when investing.

Part 2 of this series is pretty straightforward, but is something that is often overlooked (even by people who are good at saving). You need to ask yourself the basic question – what type of retirement plans does my employer offer?

November 2016 Side Hustle Report

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This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Thanks for stopping by for another side hustle report! Sorry about putting this out a little later than usual. For those of you new to this, each month, I document what I earned doing various side hustles outside of my day job.

With the rise of the sharing and on-demand economy, it’s super easy to pick up a flexible side hustle. There’s literally never been a time in history where you could work in your spare time like you can today. The beauty of your side hustle income is that you can save every single dollar of it! Just think about what that can do for your savings rate…

Making Money With Airbnb In 2024: Why I Rent Out Our Guest Room

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This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

It never really occurred to me how much space in a typical house goes unused until Ms. FP and I moved back into her four bedroom house. As a renter, we never lived in an apartment bigger than 800 square feet or so. Our smallest apartment (where we found all of that sweet, sweet trash) was about 600 square feet. At the beginning of this year the two of us moved back into a 4 bedroom house that was double or triple the size of any apartment we’d ever lived in.

It seemed like a waste to have so much space for just two people. But we didn’t want to get roommates either. That’s when we decided to try out our hand at Airbnb…

Is It Possible To Make Over $50 Per Hour As A Bike Messenger?

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This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Here at Financial Panther, we’re all about looking for weird money making opportunities. And if we can make a little bit of extra money while doing something we’re already doing, all the better! That’s why when I received the below email from Postmates, I immediately started figuring what I could do to snag that referral bonus.

As some of you already know, I’m a big fan of on-demand delivery services. I’ve written in a previous post about how I get paid to bike around town in my spare time using Postmates…

A Reminder: You Probably Make A Lot More Than You Think

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This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Thanksgiving is now behind us and with its passing comes the official start of the holiday season. I’ve always thought it helpful around this time of the year to remember how fortunate most of us are. If you’re reading this, chances are that you live in a developed country. You probably also make a decent income and have some education under your belt. If you’re smart, you might even be able to save up enough money one day so that you never have to work again. Most people in the world aren’t lucky enough to have the luxury of thinking about financial independence, let alone actually achieving it.

This is why its always struck me as a bit ridiculous when I see people with good jobs complaining that they don’t make enough to get ahead. Sure, making more money is probably better than making less money. And some cities are definitely more expensive to live in than others…

How I Invest In My Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans, Part 1: My Core Investing Philosophy

Last Updated on 26 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

I started a new job back in June and with it, I needed to set up my new employer sponsored retirement accounts. I’ve never switched jobs before, so I thought it’d be a good bit of education to share how I chose to invest in my employer sponsored retirement accounts.

My original plan was to write about it all in one post, but as I was doing so, I realized that I was talking about things without really giving any background as to why I was making those decisions. Needless to say, as I started writing, I realized my post was getting way too long!

So, instead of writing one ridiculously giant post, I thought I’d do my first series of posts! Part 1 is right here and deals with my core investment philosophy. It’s the foundation for how I pick the investments for my employer sponsored retirement plans.

Give Yourself A Raise By Creating Your Own Overtime

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This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

I think most of us could use a little more money in our lives. The only problem is that earning more money isn’t always that easy or immediate. Raises are typically an annual thing and definitely not guaranteed. Bonuses are the same way. You could switch jobs to make more money, but that’s not always an option for everyone.

One surefire way to make some extra money is to get yourself some overtime hours. But, if you’re a white collar worker – like a lot of us are – you’re probably getting paid a salary. Even those of you who might be eligible for overtime probably can’t do so on a regular basis. Most organizations limit the amount of overtime that you can work.

Why I’m A Huge Fan Of Robo Advisors

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This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

When I was in college, I picked up a copy of The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. His book is still one of my favorite money books and probably the first book I recommend to anyone beginning to learn about personal finance.

When I first read Bach’s book, I too, wanted to become an Automatic Millionaire! One chapter in his book talked about setting up an IRA or a Roth IRA. I was a 19 year old kid at the time, so I didn’t have a clue what that meant. All I knew was that it was something good! After reading Automatic Millionaire, I hopped onto E*Trade, opened up a Roth IRA, and transferred 100 bucks into my Roth IRA account.

And then, I was stuck. I remember Automatic Millionaire talking about investing in mutual funds, but I didn’t really know what that meant or how to put my money into that type of investment…

Has There Ever Been An Easier Time To Start A Side Hustle?

Last Updated on 21 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

We live in the golden age of side hustling. If you’re looking to make some extra money in order to pay off debt, save more, or even to buy that shiny new toy, there’s really no excuse for why you can’t do it.

Compare the nature of a part time gig today, as compared to just a few years ago. There wasn’t a sharing economy or on-demand economy. Things like Uber and Airbnb didn’t exist. When I was in college, making extra money meant either finding a part time job or figuring out a way to make your own job.

Finding a part time job meant working when your boss told you to work. That’s a problem for people who want flexibility. And creating your own job meant figuring out a skill you had and finding customers, not to mention you probably needed to spend some money in order to get your hustle started…

Do You Have The Strength And Stamina To Survive A Trump Presidency?

Last Updated on 15 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

By now, you’re all probably aware that Donald Trump is officially going to be the next president of the United States. This isn’t a politics blog, so I’m not sharing my thoughts on the matter (plus, I’m no politics expert). Nor is this a blog about the economy, so I’m not going to talk about that either. Heck, I have no idea where the economy will go. Things go up, things go down. Jobs are created, jobs are lost. I don’t really know why it happens.

What I do know is that the doomsday prophecies are out there. Trump is going to cause a recession! Stocks will crash! The rich won’t pay any more taxes! I have no idea if these are true or not. All I can do is stay calm and stick to my game plan.

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