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The government allows you to put a ton of money into tax-advantaged accounts – you just wouldn’t know it at first glance. Technically, a traditional or Roth IRA is the only tax-advantaged account that every working person in the US has access to. As of 2021, the max contribution per person to those accounts is $6,000 per year. It’s a start, but someone saving only $6,000 per year will likely be saving for a long time. Luckily, there are many other ways to save money in tax-advantaged accounts beyond the IRA or Roth IRA. You just need to think about…

Part of the duties of my current day job involves going to a bunch of lawyer conferences. As a result, I’m often surrounded by really successful lawyers. These are lawyers who have done pretty much everything right in their legal careers – top grades, good law schools, big-name law firms. One thing they all definitely have in common is a high level of prestige. I have a weird relationship with prestige. If you’re a follower of this blog, you know that I followed a fairly traditional legal path to start off my career – I went to a good law…

Make no mistake, insurance companies need clients and don’t want to non-renew or cancel any of them. However they sometimes find it necessary to do so and insurance policies can be non-renewed or cancelled for a variety of reasons. Because shopping for new insurance coverage on the fly can be a hassle, avoiding the situation in the first place is the best solution. Knowing why insurance companies are compelled to non-renew or cancel an insurance policy is the first step, and the five leading factors are: Filing excessive claims, even zero-paid claims Failure to make payments on time Increased location…

On November 2, 2017, Kidde, a producer of commonly-used fire extinguishers, recalled nearly 40 million of these devices because they may not function in the event of an emergency. This recall includes two styles: plastic handle fire extinguishers and push-button fire extinguishers. Please check your home and workplace to see if you have been affected by this Kidde fire extinguisher recall. If so, we encourage you to contact Kidde immediately to request a free replacement fire extinguisher and information on how to return the recalled item. To determine if you have an affected model, view the following fire extinguisher ID guides:…

There’s a little-known fact about investing that most people don’t appreciate until they really think about it. That fact is this: if you give yourself enough time, the amount you have to save in order to end up with a large sum of money is actually very reasonable. Perhaps nothing can open your eyes to how much you really need to save than to look at a concept like the Latte Factor. This thought experiment says that if we forego small, daily expenses and instead save and invest that money, we’ll end up with a large sum of money given…

Personal Auto Insurance and Ride-Hailing Services Most personal insurance policies exclude business operations, and even go so far as to exclude coverage when transporting passengers “for hire”. These exclusions are nothing new, and have existed for decades. This is because personal insurance policies expect to cover activities such as driving to work, around town, or even the occasional cross-country road trip while on vacation. However, they neither provide protection, nor are they rated, to handle driving for business. Coverage Gaps Anytime the driver is logged into the ride-hailing dispatch app, they are waiting for a fare, and therefore are engaged…

Due to the pandemic, shut-downs have created an economic crisis that substantially increases the risk for lenders. With tens of millions of people unemployed, it’s not surprising there’s a greater reliance on credit. And with that, a higher percentage of missed payments on these accounts. To minimize risk, financial institutions are reducing some borrowers’ credit limits and lines of credit. They’ve also tightened approvals for new credit, removed some loan and credit card options from their websites, and even canceled consumers’ credit cards. While many cuts are in response to financial challenges from COVID-19, banks do make adjustments to…

Taking control of your personal finances means spending plenty of time looking at numbers. It can be overwhelming tracking expenses, creating a budget, monitoring credit card balances, and growing your income and net worth. But it’s also some of the most important work you can do for yourself. Another number you need to watch is your credit score. There are several different credit scoring models that produce a number between 300 and 850 as your credit score. According to Experian, people who are financially healthy have higher credit scores. Lenders use credit scores as a way to assess risk…

Personal finance management information is everywhere. You can read about how to manage your money almost anywhere on the internet these days. They write books about it. In fact, a lot of them are best sellers. If the opportunity to learn how to manage your finances is so accessible, why are North American household debt levels the highest they’ve ever been? Why do we carry debt? Personally, I’ve been there. I managed to spend $100,000 of money I didn’t have in one year, all on credit. The worst part for me is I’m a Chartered Professional Accountant, a money…

Carrying adequate levels of insurance protection on a home is imperative. If the insurance policy levels are too low, they may not cover the cost to repair or replace a home. In addition, underinsured claim penalties can be an additional financial burden. Conversely, with too much insurance costs are unnecessarily high. Below are the common values available to homeowners and which ones are important for insurance purposes. Market Value The market value of a home is what most owners think of when considering what their house is worth. It is the price at which a property could be sold on…