What happens if your child ends up not spending all (or any) of the funds in their 529 plan? Maybe they received a scholarship or opted to enroll in a U.S. Military Academy, and now you need to figure out what to do with the money you saved for them. Although it may seem farfetched that your child will not need every penny, about 10% of families end up having funds leftover that the original beneficiary did not need. To put that in perspective, there are more than 14.8 million 529 plan accounts, and at the end of 2020, they were holding a record-high of $425 billion! If you and your child find yourselves in such a predicament, don’t worry, you have plenty of options to ensure the remaining money is put to good use.
How To Help Your Teenager Start Investing
In this grand age of communication and technology, it is likely your teenager is on the internet and has come across the concept of investing. Perhaps their curiosity was sparked by reading the forum WallStreetBets on Reddit, seeing a Tweet about stocks, or a family member sharing an article on Facebook about saving for retirement.
If they are ready to start investing, the good news is they have options! Many custodians and platforms allow minors to open a retirement or taxable investment account with parental consent. This provides a great opportunity for teenagers to learn how to save and invest, all while gaining valuable financial literacy. In addition, the younger someone is when they begin investing, the more time their investments have to grow through compound earnings. It’s a win-win! [Read more…]
Understanding Renter and Homeowner Insurance
Like most insurance types, renter and homeowner insurance policies are often glossed over and/or unfamiliar until you’re dealing with an issue such as your kitchen flooding or someone breaking into your car. These policies are important to your financial well-being because they provide protection for both your home’s structural issues and the possessions inside your home. Depending on the landlord, carrying renter’s insurance may be required as a part of your lease. If you own your home and have a mortgage, your bank will very likely require you to have homeowner’s insurance. A 2016 survey by the Opinion Research Center determined that only 41% of renters carry insurance as compared to 95% of homeowners. Such a divide is surprising considering that accidents can happen at any moment, regardless of whether you own or rent, and they can be very expensive to cover out of pocket.
Let’s explore the common benefits and limitations of these types of insurance. [Read more…]
Should You Rent or Buy?
We’ve all heard the sentiment that you may as well be throwing money away if you’re renting a home, but is that really the case? The answer is that it depends on your specific situation: your needs, finances, and future plans! Home ownership can be beneficial under the right circumstances, but it’s not all sunshine and white-picket fences and while renting may be convenient, you are at the whim of a landlord. There are upsides and downsides to both options and you may find one appealing over the other at different stages in life. We’ll help you explore the factors to consider before deciding whether to rent or buy!
How to Approach Retirement Savings at Different Ages
It’s no secret that the earlier you’re able to start saving for retirement, the better. Since private company pensions have virtually gone extinct and Social Security benefits are intended to only cover a portion of your working wages, the brunt of saving for retirement falls on your shoulders. With this in mind, you may wonder how much you should be saving as you progress through your career and how your current savings compare to others in your age range. Fortunately plenty of research has been conducted on these topics to help us all find clarity in the great feat that is saving for our later years!
We focus the discussion below on median retirement savings because it gives a more accurate representation as averages can be skewed by outliers: those with very low retirement savings or those with extremely high savings. [Read more…]
