Most people don’t track their expenses, emergency fund, debts, investments, retirement plan or overall net-worth. And of those who do track one or all of those recommended personal finance markers, everyone has their own method for tracking them. Some use homemade excel spreadsheets, some use the classic pen and paper along with a collection of hundreds of receipts, some use individual apps to track each marker separately or some just let someone else deal with it completely. Personal Capital Personal Capital is a FREE, financial planning and wealth management app that is downloadable for any phone. The beauty of this app is its ability to create a one stop shop…
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Simplifying The CARES Act: What Should I Do With My Check?
The CARES Act The CARES act or Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security act is a federal law that in part directs the use of the 2 trillion dollars of funding for COVID-19 relief aid. For the purposes of this article, we are going to focus primarily on the stimulus checks or economic impact payment. These stimulus checks continue to be the sources of confusion amongst conversations, so I think before we talk about how to use it, we need to clarify some of the many questions surrounding it. What is it? The stimulus check is money that is considered a 2020 tax credit that citizens are being given if…
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Coronavirus: The Importance of a Financial Crisis Plan
It was Sunday at noon when I received a call from my secretary. I had missed her call earlier in the day and it was her off day so I figured it was important for her to call again, so I answered. See, at this time, I was hiking a trail in the outskirts of Sedona, practicing social distancing. So I found a spot with okay service near the peak of the trail and answered. I was supposed to be hiking Zion National Park, and visiting Las Vegas this weekend for the first time during possibly the best sporting event of the year, March Madness. I had even taken two…
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Do I Need an Emergency Fund?
Emergency funds are a highly debated topic amongst the financial community and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. So where should you stand on the matter? I personally feel that having an emergency fund set aside for a disaster is important, especially if you have dependents, but I disagree with where this money should be kept. So let’s start from the beginning and break it down so you can come to your own conclusion based on your unique circumstances. So what is an Emergency Fund? An emergency fund is liquid cash being available to use in case of a financial emergency such as home/car repairs, medical bills, or a period…
