Barbara Friedberg's Blog: Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, page 35

OnTrajectory, the ‘Google Maps’ of Financial Planning Answers the Question; Can I Retire Early?

Can I Retire Early? Get the Answer

Big and even small regular expenses can sabotage a comfy retirement.

Are you curious about how decisions about car purchases and lattes, might affect plans for retirement?

Maybe you’ve never thought about the relationship between your new car and your retirement date.

Can I Retire Early? OnTrajectory Shows If You’re On Track for Retirement What is OnTrajectory and How Can it Help Me?

OnTrajectory.com is a “fin-tech” startup helping you map your current and...

5 Personal Finance Habits to Help You Achieve Financial Freedom

Guest Contributor, Tina Roth

Developing ‘good habits’ has become an industry. From Charles Duhigg of The Power of Habit to Gretchen Rubin’s,Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits–to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life, creating good habits isimportant across the spectrum or our lives. This guest article will show you how a few simple habits, started early, can help you achieve financial freedom.

We don’t make our habits...

Is Passive – Index Fund Investing Over? Are Robo-Advisors Doomed?

Is There a Dark Cloud Hanging Above a Passive Index Fund Investing Approach?

Most, although not all, of the robo-advisors practice some form of a passive index fund investing approach. This type of investing is based upon widely accepted and well researched investment practice that demonstrates that it’s extremely difficult for actively managed funds to beat the performance of the major market indexes such as the S&P 500 and others.

Arerobo-advisors are doomed?

What if Everyone Started Inves...

You Don’t Need an IRA; There’s Always Social Security

Do INeed a Roth IRA If I Have Social Security?

I’m one of those dinosaurs that started her first IRA in her 20’s at the beginning of the IRA movement. At that time, there was no such thing as a Roth IRA, so I invested in a traditional IRA. On top of that anomaly, I was the only 25 year old at a retirement seminar in a room full of 60 year olds. The question of whether I neededneed a Roth IRA if I have Social Security didn’t cross my mind since I believed that there’s no such thing as ‘too muc...

Pro Rata Rule for Roth Rollovers – Is the Back Door Roth for You?

What is the Pro Rata Rule for Roth Rollovers?

After reviewing our 2014 taxes, I realized that we need to look for ways to cut our tax bill. I set up a call with our accountant and one topic which came up is the Backdoor Roth. This is a strategy for individuals whose income makes it impossible to directly contribute to a Roth IRA. Armed with enthusiasm, I was all set to open a traditional IRA and then roll it over into a Roth, until I read about thepro rata rule for Roth rollovers.

Bonus read;...

9 Ways to Make Extra Cash on the Weekends

Make Extra Cash on the Weekends

By staff columnist, Alexandra Deluise

9 Ways to Make Extra Money While Working a Full-Time Job

It’s a much-repeated idea throughout the personal finance community: if you want to make positive changes in your financial situation, you need to spend less than you earn. A simple way to do this is tomake extra cash on the weekends. After all, smart financial progress means not stealing from yourself by saving money where you can.

Make extra cash on the weekends for...

6 TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR INCOME

Make More Money and Don’t Spend it – Tips to Increase Your Income

Ever since my first lemonade stand in elementary school, I’ve been an entrepreneur.

At age 16, I replied to a published job announcement and started my door to door Avon sales business. In college I made “hippie” shirts and sold them to my friends. While working as a business intern in Spain, I gave English lessons on the side. I enjoyed my stint selling real estate, as my compensation was directly tied to my effort. After obt...

Top Tax Reads to Slam Your IRS Bill

I’ve been writing quite a few tax articles recently. What I’m realizing is that the more I research the tax system, the more complicated it seems. In order to help you with this daunting seasonal task of preparing your taxes, I’m going to share some of the top tax articles I’ve been reading (and a few that I’ve written). Hopefully,these top tax reads will take a bit of the sting out of tax season.

Top Tax Reads

“Taxes: What’s New for 2016?” by Rande Spiegelman at Charles Schwab

“How to Save...

Should I Take a Tax Extension or Rush to File My Tax Forms?

My Thoughts About Whether I Should Take a Tax Extension or Not

I’ve taken a tax extension for our personal taxes and business taxes for several years. I’m not normally a procrastinator. Actually, I usually beat my work deadlines and am very planful and organized about my responsibilities. So what’s up with the tax extension?Should I take a tax extension?

Here’s my situation, each year we have at least 4-5 returns to oversee. Some I do on my own, others I pass on to ouraccountant. But even if...

Which Accounts to Tap 1st in Retirement

Retired? Which Accounts to Tap 1st in Retirement

“I’m free” you think after that last day of work. You’ve toiled, saved, invested and finally you’re ready for the next life transition-retirement. Even if you’re still working a bit, you consider yourself ‘retired’. Once the elation subsides, you’re confronted with a whole new set of challenges. You need to adjust to the idea that your retirement nest egg may not grow, but decline in the upcoming years. It’s crucial to figure out which accounts...