Your Social Life Needs a Budget, Not Another Subscription
A friend texts: “Want to take a walk Saturday?” You say yes, because it’s free and you haven’t seen her in weeks. Then the walk turns into coffee. Coffee turns into a pastry. On the way back to the car, you both duck into a store “just to look.” By the time you get home, […]
Best Educational Apps That Reward Kids for Learning
Rewards can get a child’s attention, but parents should ask a second question: What is my child becoming more capable of doing? KNOWLEDGE SNAPSHOT The best educational apps that reward kids for learning combine an age-appropriate challenge with clear feedback, transparent reward rules and a meaningful skill. Some provide cash or gift cards; others use […]
Should You Pay Your Kids to Learn? The Pros, Cons and a Smarter Approach
If you have ever offered your child $20 for an A, you are not a bad parent. You were trying to make effort matter. The better question is whether the system teaches what you want it to teach. KNOWLEDGE SNAPSHOT Parents can pay kids to learn, but it is usually smarter to reward a defined […]
How to Teach Your Kids About Money: A Practical Guide for Parents
Before I tell you how to teach your kids about money, let me tell you what you don’t need: a perfect financial life. You don’t need to have paid off every debt, maxed out a retirement account, or never once bounced a check. Parents come to me all the time feeling like they have to […]
Best Financial Literacy Apps for Kids: What Parents Should Look For
Parents ask me all the time for the “best” financial literacy app for their kid. My honest answer is that the best app is the one that fits your child’s age, gives them something meaningful to actually do, and helps your family have better money conversations. A beautiful app your child ignores, or one that […]
Credit Card Delinquencies Hit 12.8% as Balances Near $1.26 Trillion: What It Actually Means
A widely shared headline says credit card delinquencies reached 12.8% while Americans carried nearly $1.26 trillion in credit card balances. That headline is based on real Federal Reserve Bank of New York data. But it leaves out an important distinction: 12.8% is a stock measure, not the current rate at which consumers are newly falling […]
4 HOA Red Flags I Learned the Hard Way (After Selling Two Condos in the Same Complex)
A recent Wall Street Journal story on spotting HOA risks before you buy a home stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t even need to read past the headline to feel a jolt of recognition. My husband Earl and I lived through our own HOA fiasco not too long ago, when we sold two investment […]
Who Really Pays for Credit Card Rewards?
Credit card rewards can feel like a bonus for spending you were already planning to do. Cash back, airline miles, hotel points, and sign-up offers are attractive because they appear to reduce the cost of everyday purchases. But rewards are not free. A recent study from researchers affiliated with Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, and Georgia State […]
Your Student Loan Payment Just Went Up: Here’s What You Need to Know
Knowledge Snapshot A survey from the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), titled “New Survey Highlights Growing Confusion Over July 1st Changes to Student Lending Impacting Millions,” found that: 67% of 3,208 borrowers said they cannot afford their new monthly payment amounts. 72% of Parent PLUS borrowers said they cannot afford their new payments. 62% of […]
More Than 500 Women Applied for 30 Spots at This Financial Wellness Retreat. What Does That Tell Us?
Camp Ca$h Weekend offers a glimpse into what many consumers actually want from financial education: less raw data, and more time, conversation, and space to deal with their money. There is no shortage of financial information. Search for how to create a budget, improve credit, buy life insurance, start investing, or prepare an estate plan, […]
How to Teach Your Kids About Money: A Practical Guide for Parents
Before I tell you how to teach your kids about money, let me tell you what you don’t need: a perfect financial life. You don’t need to have paid off every debt, maxed out a retirement account, or never once bounced a check. Parents come to me all the time feeling like they have to […]
How to Spend Money on Things That Bring You Joy Without Feeling Guilty
During one of my recent appearances on FOX 5 New York, I was asked about an interesting financial dilemma: Why do so many Americans feel guilty about spending money on things that make them happy? My answer was pretty simple. We all work hard for our money. Yes, we have bills to pay, savings goals […]
4 HOA Red Flags I Learned the Hard Way (After Selling Two Condos in the Same Complex)
A recent Wall Street Journal story on spotting HOA risks before you buy a home stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t even need to read past the headline to feel a jolt of recognition. My husband Earl and I lived through our own HOA fiasco not too long ago, when we sold two investment […]
Dolly Parton: 7 Lessons on Money, Marriage, and Mogul Life
I was so sorry to hear the recent news that we’ve lost Dolly Parton. She was 80 years old, and by the time you read this, the internet will be full of tributes to her voice, her songwriting, and her decades on the stage and screen. And she deserves every one of them. Songs like […]
Should You Get a Personal Loan? 7 Rules to Follow Before You Borrow
A personal loan can make sense when you need a specific amount of money for a clear purpose, can comfortably afford the payments, and the loan improves your financial situation rather than simply moving debt around. Before borrowing, compare multiple lenders, look at APR and total repayment costs, choose a manageable term, understand all fees […]