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Previously we’ve run through how to open an online broker account and how to buy and sell ETFs. Today we’re going to look at purchasing an index tracker fund. Next stop, the world – muhaha! (Oops, did I say that out loud? I meant to write: ‘Next step, a globally diversified passive portfolio’…) What is an index tracker fund? An index tracker fund is typically an Open Ended Investment Company (OEIC). In normal-person speak, this means […]
For many families, supporting parents, siblings, and extended family members living in India is a deeply meaningful commitment. For many of these families, however, that financial support would add to their already difficult work of managing household finances in the United States. In addition to domestic expenses in the United States, many families also haveKeep Reading Bridging the Distance: A Parent’s Practical Guide to Budgeting and Overseas Family Support was originally published on WhatMommyDoes.com
“Oh, look. They bought something else…” You love your spouse. You want them to enjoy their life. And yet, sometimes watching them spend money is strangely irritating. Maybe they come home with a new gadget, a pair of shoes, or something for a hobby. You might not even think the purchase was unreasonable. But something about it bothers you. Why? A lot of it comes down to how you manage money as a couple. The Problem With Keeping Your Money Separate One strategy to manage money as a couple is to keep your finances mostly separate. You have your money. Your spouse has theirs. You pay your share of the bills, they pay theirs, and you each decide what to do with whatever is left. There are some obvious advantages to this arrangement. You don’t have to explain every purchase. You can spend your money however you want. And your spouse can do the same. But there are hidden costs. What happens when one of you gets a big raise? That’s great for them, but it doesn’t necessarily improve your financial situation. What happens when one person is a much better saver? You may start to wonder whether you’re contributing equally to your future. And what is the plan for retirement? Do you each save as much as you can and hope it works out? Are you on track for the same kind of future? It feels awkward to talk about these things when you’ve intentionally created a boundary around your money. You don’t want to pry into your spouse’s finances because you’ve both agreed that their money is their business. So you end up with two people who love each other, share a life, and share a home and children, but they are quietly managing two separate financial futures. The Problem With Sharing Everything So perhaps the obvious answer is to do the opposite. Combine everything. One income. One bank account. One financial plan. One future. And in many ways, this is much better. Now you can look at your finances together. You can decide how much you want to save for retirement. You can work toward shared goals. If something unexpected comes up, you’re solving the problem together. You aren’t thinking, “How am I doing?” You’re thinking, “How are we doing?” This is a powerful perspective for a marriage. But shared finances create a different problem. Every dollar your spouse spends is a dollar that you could have spent on something else. Suddenly, a $500 purchase isn’t just your spouse spending $500. It’s $500 leaving the household. And that can make even perfectly reasonable purchases feel threatening. “Did you really need that?” “We’re trying to save for retirement.” “Why can you spend $500 on that when I can’t spend $500 on this?” The problem isn’t necessarily that either person is irresponsible. The problem is that every purchase now has two owners. When all of your money is shared, it’s easy for every spending decision to become a negotiation.
One of the things that many of us aspire to be is, surprisingly, average. We want to have the same things that those around us have. (Or at least, have the same things we think those around us have.) This is natural. We all like to feel as though we belong. However, it’s not always best to be average — especially when it comes to money. After all, do you really want to spend money […]
Do you have a plan for what happens to your freelance business when you die? As a freelancer, your business is … you. You might have an LLC and a business bank account. You probably have contracts, clients, invoices, subscriptions, and tax records. Maybe you even have a website that generates income, but ultimately, you are the business. That’s great when you’re building a career around your expertise. It can create a problem, though, if something […]
Every month since 2017, I have written an article that shows the growth of our passive income. Over the last couple of years, I’ve added some of my annual goals (New Year’s Resolutions). This is usually where I add some personal stuff. My wife was on work travel for two weeks, so my time was focused on being able to get the kids to camps, karate, etc. while managing the busiest month of dog boarding […]
Is Lidl Plus worth it? Our review and guide to app coupons, Coupon Plus spend targets and the small print that affects your savings. The post Lidl Plus App 2026 Review: Are Lidl Plus points worth it? appeared first on The Financial Wilderness.
I’m a goal-setter. I like to have something I’m working toward, always. And when I set goals, I often set them across multiple different categories (e.g., health/wellness, financial, relationships, personal development, motherhood, professional, etc.). On August 1st I started a new fitness challenge: 75 Soft. This is a lighter variant of the 75 Hard workout challenge that became popular during pandemic times when author Andy Frisella published his book about the challenge. I’ve had a few friends try it, but this is my first time jumping on the bandwagon. In the original version (the “hard” version), you follow a diet, do two 45-minute workouts per day (one must be outside), read 10 pages of nonfiction per day (no audiobooks), drink 1 gallon of water per day, take daily progress pictures, and restart the entire challenge if you fail any of the requirements. In the lighter version I’m doing for myself, I’m trying to eat healthy, do one 45-minute workout per day, read for at least 10 minutes per day (audiobooks are okay), and drink 3 liters of water per day. So far, I’ve been doing pretty good! Starting on August 1st means I’ll finish by mid-October, which feels like perfect timing. I’ll be able to enjoy all the yummy fall treats and food-centered holidays that come with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the rest of the holiday season without feeling like I’m in the middle of a fitness challenge. Perhaps because of this new goal, or perhaps because we’re now fully in the back-to-school phase and schedules are changing, I’ve been thinking back to my 2026 financial goals. I wanted to do a little check-in to see where we’re at and what I might need to adjust or change to meet my goals by the end of the year. I wrote about my financial goals for 2026 here: Setting financial goals helps me to stay on target and make steady progress in the direction I want to travel. Let’s see how we’re doing… Plan and Prepare for Early Retirement. Grade: A I’m still actively planning and preparing for an early retirement goal, but I’ve had to accept that I’m living in some unknowns for the time being. There’s really no way to know the future well enough to have a definitive timeline. One of the biggest things up in the air is the girls’ college plans. One of my benefits at work is a significant reduction in tuition for dependents. My stretch goal has been to retire at 50 (8 years from now). At that point, though, the girls will be sophomores in college (assuming they go straight to college from High School). If that’s the case, I cannot see myself retiring at 50 and giving up the major benefit of having inexpensive college tuition for my kids. So maybe I’ll work until 52. But what if it takes them 5 years to graduate instead of 4? What if they take a gap year before starting college? What if they don’t even want