Financial comparison on social media quietly shapes how we spend, save, and feel about our lives. This article explores the emotional, psychological, and financial cost of comparison and how to break free from it. The post The Hidden Cost of Financial Comparison in the Age of Social Media appeared first on The Budget Mom.

Founded in 2021, CD Valet is a searchable database of certificate of deposit rates created by John Blizzard through Seattle Bank, where he has been President and CEO since April of 2014. Though it was created through a single bank, it lists over 30,000 CD rates across the country. CD Valet’s strength is that it lists CDs across the country, allows you to search by state and bank name, and can filter based on minimum term ( { const data=event.data; if (data && data.type === “SET_IFRAME_SIZE” ) { const iframe=document.getElementById(“CDValeteFrame”); if (iframe) { if(data.height) { iframe.style.height=data.height; } if(data.width) { iframe.style.width=data.width; } } } }); How I’d Use CD Valet If I were looking for a 12-month CD, this is exactly how I’d use it. Go to CD Valet Switch the search to Maryland Click on All CDs 4. Review the CDs! In some cases, likely where CD Valet and the financial institution have a marketing relationship, you’ll see a green Open Now button. You can click on that to open. If there isn’t that button, do a Google search for the bank and open it directly. Who is CD Valet For? If you’re looking for the best CD rates but don’t want to (or don’t have the time to) do the research yourself, CD Valet is a good tool for the job. If you’re saving lots of money, where 0.25% to 0.50% bump on your yield makes a difference, a quick

If you’re searching for ways to make money online without skills, you’re usually not looking for a long-term business idea. You just want something easy, real, and beginner-friendly that can help you earn your first payout quickly without weeks of tutorials, expensive courses, or fancy tools. That’s exactly why I put this guide together. Every method… Continue… The post How to Make Money Online in 2026 Without Skills (I Tested These 5 Easy Methods) appeared first […]

When my in-laws moved to a different state, the real challenge came when we cleaned out their garage and started minimizing stuff for the move. “Where do you want me to start,” I asked my mother-in-law while looking at her very packed garage. She thought for a while and spent a good ten minutes telling what not to touch. I couldn’t touch those vintage items because she was going to get appraised. I couldn’t touch […]

Many people assume they’re ready simply because they’ve saved consistently or paid off major debts, but retirement brings a new set of challenges and decisions. From healthcare costs to taxes and market swings, small oversights can have big consequences. These signs will help you assess whether you’re financially prepared to retire, or if a few important pieces still need attention before you take the leap. In case you missed it:  Here’s what you need to know before claiming Social Security benefits.  10 surprising things Medicare does and doesn’t cover.  See the 10 retirement mistakes that could wreck your golden years.  1. You Know Exactly How Much You Spend Each Month Drazen Zigic/shutterstock.com Being financially ready for retirement starts with knowing your numbers. If you can clearly outline your monthly spending, including housing, food, utilities, insurance, healthcare, and discretionary expenses, you’re ahead of many retirees. This clarity allows you to accurately estimate how much income you’ll need once paychecks stop. If your spending is a mystery or fluctuates wildly, retirement can quickly become stressful. Tracking expenses for at least six to twelve months before retiring helps reveal patterns and surprises. Retirement works best when spending is intentional, not guessed. If you need a budget, here are a few tools to try.  2. Your Retirement Income Covers Essentials Without Stress Prostock-studio/shutterstock.com One major sign of readiness is knowing that your guaranteed income, such as Social Security or pensions, can reliably cover your basic needs. Essentials include housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, and healthcare. If these costs are covered without dipping into investments, retirement tends to feel far more secure. If you’re relying heavily on market performance just to pay the bills, you may be vulnerable during downturns. Covering essentials with a stable income creates a strong foundation, allowing investments to fund lifestyle extras instead of necessities. Check out these 12 myths about Social Security.  3. You’ve Stress-Tested Your Budget for Inflation Inside Creative House/shutterstock.com Inflation quietly erodes purchasing power over time, especially in retirement when income may be fixed. Being ready means you’ve adjusted your retirement budget to account for rising costs, particularly for healthcare, food, and utilities. A budget that works today may fall short ten or twenty years from now. If you haven’t tested how inflation could impact your spending, you may be underestimating future needs. Accounting for inflation helps ensure your retirement income keeps pace with real-life expenses over the long haul. These 13 moves can inflation-proof your retirement.  4. You Have a Clear Social Security Claiming Strategy GaudiLab/shutterstock.com Social Security decisions are permanent and can significantly affect lifetime income. Being ready means you’ve considered when to claim based on health, longevity, marital status, and other income sources. Claiming early can reduce monthly benefits, while waiting increases them, but not every situation is the same. If you haven’t

Another year of retirement over, and what a year it’s been! 2025 started off with US president Donald Trump’s return to power, and by April he had started a full-blown trade war with every trading partner and was threatening to annex Canada. Since then, we’ve seen the end of a war in Israel, the evolution of Ukraine into a grinding war of attrition powered by drones, and now the start of a whole new conflict […]

December 2025 CPI data as headline inflation stabilizes and core inflation beats expectations, signaling potential interest rate pivots. The post The Final Countdown: Analyzing the December 2025 CPI Data and the 2026 Outlook appeared first on Time in the Market.

With the surge in U.S. home prices since 2020, Americans have more home equity than ever before. As Realtor.com reported in September 2025 (emphasis mine): In the second quarter of 2025, the Flow of Funds data from the Federal Reserve showed that the total value of owner-occupied real estate rebounded after last quarter’s retreat, reaching a record high of $49.3 trillion. Home equity mirrored this trend, also hitting an all-time peak of $35.8 trillion. Due to the high concentration of wealth in U.S. housing, some have begun to argue that rising real estate values don’t represent real wealth.  Kevin Erdmann, a scholar at the Mercatus Center, recently released a paper on this topic titled “We Are Not as Wealthy as We Thought We Were.” In the paper, Erdmann claims that rising U.S. home values don’t translate to tangible wealth changes, but to “a regressive transfer of incomes from tenants and new homebuyers to existing real estate owners.” Erdmann argues that home values are going up because of undersupply, not because Americans are getting richer. Michael Green (now famous for his $140k poverty line post) echoed this sentiment: But if the home you live in goes from $200,000 to $1,000,000, you are not wealthy, because the replacement home also costs $1M. You are trapped. You cannot sell the house and take the profit, because you still need a place to sleep, and the house across the street also costs $1,000,000. You haven’t gained purchasing power. You have simply experienced a revaluation of your Cost of Living. Under these specific conditions, Green is correct. If your home goes up in value and the other homes in your area go up in value and you want to own a home in your area, you haven’t gained any wealth.  Thankfully, this isn’t your only option. Green admits that you can access your home equity if you downsize (i.e. move to a cheaper region, sacrificing income/opportunity/quality of life), or borrow against it (i.e. HELOC, reverse mortgage). Putting borrowing aside, downsizing is a valid option for unlocking your home equity. But, if you don’t want to downsize, there’s an even better option that Green overlooked—renting! Yes, you can sell your home, realize your home equity, and go rent a single-family home instead. Though supply will be limited in some neighborhoods, you may be surprised by what you can find in your area (see Zillow). The reason I even recommend this approach is because rents haven’t risen nearly as much as home prices have in recent years. As you can see in the chart below (from FRED), U.S. rents have only slightly outpaced the nominal U.S. median household income since 1984: In particular, U.S. rents are up 4x in nominal terms since 1984 while incomes are up about 3.6x. If you divide the change in rent by the change in the median U.S. household income over this period, you’d see that rent relative to income rose from 2000 to 2012, but has been basically flat ever since: