9 Questions To Ask On A First Date, According To Divorce Lawyers

“What you really want to know is ‘How did you pay for your last vacation, ’ but that is a hard question to ask outright. But if your date went on an extravagant vacation, you could innocently probe further with a ‘Wow, how did you pay for that, ’-type question. Finding out if your date made a large purchase by saving over time or putting the trip on a credit card can be very useful information. It can lead to information about how much debt your potential mate has and their general attitude toward debt and money in general. Money problems are one of the primary causes of marital problems.

The first thing I would do is take those cards out of my wallet. Freeze them, cut them up, and don’t use them again until all the debt on ALL the cards is paid off. 100. Because if you don’t have any cash savings when an emergency comes up, you’ll just run up more charges on the credit cards.

Next, organize your cards from the lowest to the highest balance. Starting with the smallest balance means getting rid of a debt fast. In my experience, people typically get super excited when they see such quick progress. This results in their becoming aggressive in getting rid of the rest of their debt.

And no, no, no, don’t take money out of your 401(k). Let that money stay invested for retirement. 13,000) with another (robbing your retirement account). Q: Always love your straight-up advice. My husband and I are in our late 50s with a six-month emergency fund and a life-happens fund. We max out my husband’s retirement (23 percent of his salary), and anytime I run a retirement calculator, it says we’re on target.

700 off our tax bill. 2,100 could work harder in a SEP-IRA. It’s just hard to not be tempted to hold onto money, when we can. For those who don’t know: A SEP-IRA is a tax-advantaged retirement account for business owners and their employees, or for self-employed individuals. The “SEP” part stands for “Simplified Employee Pension.” Contributions made to a SEP account are tax-deductible and, like money in a 401(k), investments grow tax-deferred.

Distributions are taxed as income. For self-employed individuals, there is always this conundrum at tax time. The amount you need to fund an SEP can lower your tax bill, but then you have to move money — more than the tax savings — into a retirement account with restrictions on withdrawals. But, over time, this money has the potential to grow and thus help fund your retirement — even taking into consideration that you have to pay taxes on your distributions. 2,100 in the SEP-IRA.

Because, as the reader points out, that’s more money to work for you in the long term. Q: You talk a lot about how it can be hard to actually spend, even in a responsible way. My question is: What is the right amount to allocate to discretionary/fun spending, 250,000, max out our 401(k)s and IRAs, have fully funded emergency/life-happens funds, no consumer debt, and we aggressively pay on our mortgage — which we project to knock out in about seven years.

1,500 per month to discretionary expenses, which includes all entertainment, eating out, gifts, vacation savings, furniture, etc. That seems like a lot of money, although it is a small percentage of our income. Sometimes I think we should spend more but feel guilty moving money away from the mortgage toward fun. A: Retirement savings on pace, Got money saved for life’s economic emergencies, On track to pay off your mortgage before you retire, When you can check off these important financial moves, you’ve got a good balance of financial responsibility with fun. Reasonable amount of money allocated to enjoy your hard work, An early retirement is doable.

For anyone who is in credit card debt and suffering from high monthly interest charges, zero interest credit cards are an easily accessible solution. Many credit card providers offer 0 balance transfer credit cards to encourage people to transfer their charge card balances. This is a popular and successful marketing technique which you may take advantage of.

Debt consolidation, equity loans, credit counseling, debt management plans, even Chapter 13 bankruptcy – it doesn't matter which of these debt programs you're talking about. They all suffer from one fatal flaw, the number one problem that causes most people to fail at eliminating their debts through these techniques. Can you guess the problem, It's probably not what you're thinking.

It's not the fees, interest rates, or the quality of the companies behind these debt solutions. No, the number one problem with most debt programs is that they require FIXED monthly payments without exception. This major flaw is the main reason that very few people make it through a credit counseling program or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan.

Do you make exactly the same amount of money each and every month, If you are like most people, the answer is probably NO. It's easy to understand why. Salespeople, for instance, often experience ups and downs based on how much commission they earn from one month to the next. Seasonal workers experience boom and bust times depending on the time of the year (think retail workers getting lots of overtime around the holidays). Overtime hours come and go depending on company workloads. Part-time jobs may offer hours that vary widely from week to week.