Money Questions and Answers

The Ultimate Guide to Earning a 10% Rate of Return on Your Investments

Are you getting the best rate of return on investment? Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine annually discusses ways to boost your investment yield in its latest issue. I have to say that I am always pretty disappointed with their recommendations. I love the magazine, but I didn’t really care for a list of mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). But, I wanted concrete ideas on how to earn a 10% annual rate of return on my investments. US Treasuries are earning less than 1% and money market funds are not fairing much better. Certificates of deposit are barely scraping by at 2% or so even for the longest maturities. But, are these levels going to last? The stock market has … Read more

Bespoke Development – From Cocktails to Careers

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post by Julie Winkle Giulioni, author of Promotions Are So Yesterday. If you’d like to contribute a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out the site’s Guest Posting Guidelines. I recently visited a trendy new restaurant with friends. Arriving a bit early, we decided to grab a drink, but there was no menu insight. The mixologist (James) explained that this was by design and offered to create the perfect cocktail for each of us. He began by ‘interviewing’ each of us about our likes, dislikes, and how we were feeling that evening. Then he proceeded to whip up a tray full of cocktails that my friends and I could never have ordered … Read more

How to Choose a Financial Planner

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post by Michael J. Garry, CFP®, JD/MBA, the author of two books, The Smart Person’s Guide to Financial Planning & Investments: A Simple and Straightforward Approach to Understanding Your Personal Finances and Independent Financial Planning: Your Ultimate Guide to Finding and Choosing the Right Financial Planner. If you’d like to submit a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out our Guest Posting Guidelines. There are as many different kinds of financial advice as there are financial advisors, and choosing the right person to help you reach your financial goals can be a daunting process. One rule of thumb I think it’s always a good idea to keep in mind: follow the money. … Read more

Your Teen’s First Car – A Financial Learning Opportunity?

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post by Adrian Johansen, a writer specializing in business and technology topics. Follow her on Twitter @AdrianJohanse18. If you’d like to submit a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out the site’s Guest Posting Guidelines. As your kids grow up, you should take any chance you can to teach them about money and finances because those lessons will be essential as they grow into adulthood. While you’ll have many opportunities to do so, one of the best times to teach them about financial responsibility is when they show interest in buying their first car. This is a great time to educate the kids on the various expected and unexpected costs of vehicle … Read more

The Emotion of Money: Have You Had the Honest Conversation??

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post by Anthony Delauney, author of Owning the Dash: The No-Regrets Retirement Roadmap. If you’d like to submit a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out our Guest Posting Guidelines. We often associate financial success with achieving a target amount of wealth, finding the ‘hot’ stock, or discovering the most cost-efficient way to achieve the maximum rate of return. In essence, it’s all about the money. It’s a rat race to see how much better you can do than your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers, and even your own family. Some individuals love to share success stories about when they bought into a certain company or cryptocurrency or real estate holding and … Read more

Semi-Retirement Is Not the Answer to Life’s Dilemmas After 65

by Guest Contributor

“I’m not ready to retire, or I can’t afford to retire, so I’ll work part-time.” How many times have I heard this said? Too many. For some reason, millions of people around the age of 65 believe semi-retirement is the answer to all their dilemmas. They feel now is the time to slow down and take things at their pace. But to have one foot in retirement and the other in work, is living in the worst of both worlds. Take it from someone who knows. At 52, I was given just six months to live. Semi-retirement was forced on me and it was not pretty. I had money, friends, family, a social life, good health, but it was not … Read more

How to Start Investing Even When You’re Almost Broke

by Hank Coleman

How to Invest with Little Money Even When You Are Broke

If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, long-term savings and investment strategies aren’t exactly a priority. After all, you need to make sure you can afford basic human necessities like the roof over your head, utilities, and food, not to mention life necessities like car insurance and cell phone plans. Once everything is accounted for, what little is leftover from your last paycheck might be used to pay off debt or go out to dinner one night per month. Investing money in stocks, bonds, or any other option just doesn’t seem feasible, given your income/expense ratio. You know that investing is important, especially when it comes to saving for retirement, but the freedom to divert money to investments instead of necessities and debts … Read more