Ask the Readers

Ask the Readers: Do You Split Your Direct Deposit?

While doing some research into direct deposit statistics, I came across an interesting release (PDF) as part of America Saves Week (which happened in February). The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which managed the campaign, is encouraging people to split the direct deposit of their paychecks — meaning, have some of it go directly into […]

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Ask the Readers: How Many Bank Accounts Do You Have?

As part of the Automatic Finances system, it’s necessary to have a number of different bank/investing accounts for your money. In order to better save for goals, every account you have needs a name: from your main checking account to your short-term savings to your long-term investment and retirement accounts. Sometimes, however, it’s easy to […]

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Ask the Readers: Do You Invest in Active or Passive Funds?

We’ve been focusing a lot recently on investing, with the basics of assets like ETFs, trading vs. investing and even hedge funds. With the stock market essentially on sale right now, it’s a great time to be investing — but it obviously matters what you’re buying. I’m a big fan of index funds, especially since […]

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Ask the Readers: How Big is Your Emergency Fund?

Having an emergency fund is one of the first steps to setting yourself up for financial success. When you find yourself with a legitimate emergency — unemployment, unexpected medical bills or family issues — knowing that you can pay can be one of the most assuring feelings, especially in a time of turmmoil. Generally, personal […]

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Ask the Readers: What’s Financial Freedom to You?

On this 4th of July weekend, Americans across the country are celebrating independence and freedom (our friends to the north did earlier this week on Canada Day). But when it comes to your finances, you may not be as free as you’d like. Are you buried in debt? Are you living beyond your means? Or […]

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Ask the Readers: Do You Still Write Checks?

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I wrote a check for anything. All of my spending is using debit cards with the occasional cash purchase and once-in-a-while credit card charge. All of those checks that I ordered way back when are just sitting around, yet to be used. Probably the only time I’d be […]

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Ask the Readers: Debit, Credit or Cash?

How do you spend money? I’ve argued that, when it comes to your spending, you should exclusively use a debit card since it’s essentially the same as cash, it’s convenient, and it’s easily trackable using online banking and other online tools. But there’s a decent argument for responsibly using a credit card to get rewards […]

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Ask the Readers: Do You Budget or Track Your Money?

Everyone has a different style when it comes to their day-to-day money management. Some people check in everyday, others use the envelope system to budget, and others only update once-a-month. For the most part, if you are just starting out your financial journey, budgeting is the best way to find where your money is going. […]

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Ask the Readers: Are You in Debt?

Like I’ve mentioned before, now that we’ve purchased our house, our next big saving goal is to eliminate our debt. Thankfully, we don’t owe that much: only a student loan and a couple of private loans. No credit card debt, and no car payments. But I’d like to wipe out what we have, preferably as […]

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Ask the Readers: What are You Saving For?

Now that we’ve purchased our house, we’re done saving for one of our biggest goals ever. But the short-term saving isn’t over — not by a long-shot. Since we have an emergency fund in place, our next big goal is to pay off all of my student loan debt. (You can tell I’ve been listening […]

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Ask the Readers: How Often Do You Check In?

When it comes to automating your finances, the point is to avoid worrying about the day-to-day budgeting/tracking and let online tools do it for you. But, depending on where you are in your financial journey, you may need to adapt the system and check in more often on your day-to-day behaviors. Often, when you’re starting […]

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