All in Financial Basics

When A House is More Than An Investment

When A House is More Than An Investment

Catherine Agopcan
Alternative Lifestyle, Financial Education, Financial Basics

“After you leave home, you may find yourself feeling homesick, even if you have a new home that has nicer wallpaper and a more efficient dishwasher than the home in which you grew up.”

Next week, my parents will complete the sale of their home and journey back to the Philippines. Whether they end up staying in the Philippines for the remainder of their retirement or come back is yet to be decided. For the past few months, our entire family has gone through the exercise of cleaning out the house that we’ve called home for the past 23 years.

4 Books to Help You Talk to Your Kids About Money

4 Books to Help You Talk to Your Kids About Money

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Financial Books, Financial Education, Kids and Money, Mommy Money

Talking to kids about money does not make money hungry kids.

I’ve been doing a lot of reflection lately about where I first started to learn about money and how best to talk to others about money. I’ve also been doing a fair amount of research and found a few books I thought were worth mentioning if you are a parent or an adult that is looking for ways to talk about money to your kids or your students. The reality is that the money conversation should start at home. It think it is the responsibility of the parent to expose kids about money concepts, otherwise, media and peers will create money influences that may lead to a distorted money mindset later on.

Sisters for FI Wealth Building Strategies

Sisters for FI Wealth Building Strategies

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Alternative Lifestyle

We recently created these postcards as a friendly reminder of the many things we can do today to set ourselves up for financial independence. The 3 Guidelines of Personal Finance is Spend Less, Earn More and Invest the Rest. These are what I also call the 3 Wealth Building Strategies. Do all 3 and you are sure to have a sizeable nest egg to help you fulfill your dreams, but I am going to change the order a bit and actually make it Invest First, Spend Less, Earn More.

How to Have a Financial Checkup With Your Aging Parents

How to Have a Financial Checkup With Your Aging Parents

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Relationships

“To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.”

I never thought I would write this or be adult enough to have a discussion with my parents about finances, but it happened and it's been happening folks. I feel like the more I talk about money, the more comfortable I am getting and the more people around me are also getting comfortable talking about it.

Substitute the Word Money with the Word Freedom: Phrases to Try

Substitute the Word Money with the Word Freedom: Phrases to Try

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Education, Financial Basics, Alternative Lifestyle

"A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life."

I recently came across an article written by Whitney Cummings on the last page of Money Magazine. She talks about her personal money management, but more importantly how she started substituting the word money for the word freedom. So I thought I would compile a list of phrases with this substitution. It's important to note that sometimes changing our language changes our mindset in a whole new way even if we haven't fully internalized it yet. Try these on for size. Speak them out loud. How does saying one versus the other make you feel?

Why Take Advantage of a 401K Match: It's Part of Your Compensation

Why Take Advantage of a 401K Match: It's Part of Your Compensation

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics

Without vision you don't see, and without practicality the bills don't get paid.

If your employer told you you would get a $5000 bonus each year, would you take it? Of course we all would, but we would ask the question, what do we have to do to get the bonus? How much to we have to meet in sales? How many projects do we have to complete? What performance metrics would be tracked and what do we have to do to meet it?

Guess what? That $5000 bonus is actually easier to get than you might think. All you have to do is to save money. Easy right? The reality is that many people don't do this because they don't understand what a 401K is or why they should take advantage of it. Today, we are going to breakdown why you should be taking advantage of your 401K to build your nest egg, to build your retirement accounts and get you to financial independence faster.

Financially Successful Woman: How to be Financially Empowered

Financially Successful Woman: How to be Financially Empowered

Nelly
Financial Education, Financial Basics

“A woman’s best protection is a little money of her own.”

The gender gap is everywhere. Women are usually paid less in spite of their male counterpart doing the same job. Finance and women are also considered to be poles apart.

According to a survey conducted by Forbes, around 58% of men were of the view that their financial understanding was up to the mark, whereas only 47% of women said so.

But, the situation is changing day by day. Women are now gradually climbing the ladder and gaining financial success.

10 Decisions I Might Change to Get Me to FI Faster

10 Decisions I Might Change to Get Me to FI Faster

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Alternative Lifestyle

Hindsight is always 20/20.

My sister and I (who are in our 30s) recently sat down with our 22 year old sister to talk about finances and lessons learned. This got me thinking about some of the things I would change if I could to get me to financial independence faster. Of course, these are nice to think about and perhaps if I really did come across a time machine, I may change one or two decisions, but I do have to also say that the decisions we make get us to a certain point in our lives and we just need to learn and let live.

We Almost Fell Into The Trap of Buying a Larger Home

We Almost Fell Into The Trap of Buying a Larger Home

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Alternative Lifestyle

"If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say: the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.”

My husband and I just closed on a condo a few weeks ago. After a few calculations and looking at the prices in the market and towns we wanted to be in, we came with a number that we were comfortable with. When we first started the process, we met with a mortgage loan officer and provided our financials. His first statement to us was “you know you could afford more,” but we stuck to our guns and kept our original budget in place.

How I Will Raise Money-Smart Kids (Not Spoiled Kids)

How I Will Raise Money-Smart Kids (Not Spoiled Kids)

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Education, Financial Basics, Mommy Money

"How can we be the future if you're not going to teach us about money, which is our future?"

I don't have kids, so this will sort of be my manifesto for when I do. It will also serve as a snapshot of my thoughts at this point in my life. I know perspectives often change especially when there is an actual human being in the picture so I hope this helps me navigate how I want to raise kids that understand what money can do so that I may set them on a good financial path. These are my thoughts today. It could be different tomorrow as the world changes and I change. My husband's perspective and plans will be different. At some point, we will have to compromise as our goal, in the end, is to provide a good financial background for our future kids.

You Can Travel Hack and Still Have an Excellent Credit Score

You Can Travel Hack and Still Have an Excellent Credit Score

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Financial Education

It's better to see something once, than to hear about a thousand times.

One of the biggest eye openers for me in the past few years has been the idea of travel hacking. I had my first credit card when I was a senior in college. It had a $500 credit limit. A few months later, I was already maxing out that limit. I had no concept of credit (despite majoring in Econ), let alone how to use it wisely. Fast forward a few more years, I got into more credit card debt. Thankfully, I was able to put a stop into my credit card debt and started getting wise about its use.

What Barriers Do Young Australian Women Face in Reaching Financial Independence?

What Barriers Do Young Australian Women Face in Reaching Financial Independence?

Jill
Financial Education, Financial Basics

Australia is popularly known as “the lucky country.” It holds the OECD record for economic growth at 26 years and counting. While there are some definite advantages of living in Australia over the United States in terms of reaching financial independence (like free universal health care) there are still many reasons why Australian women need to think about financial independence differently than their male compatriots.

The Power of F U Money

The Power of F U Money

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics

Save for your freedom.

OK, I didn't necessarily call mine F U Money, but I did have a fund setup in case I needed a break from the 9 to 5.

I first had this sense of wanting to get out of the race early on in my career. I had just graduated from college and was working full time in IT at a pharmaceutical company.

Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest? FIRE Logic

Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest? FIRE Logic

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics

This has been a question that's been weighing on my mind lately. Today, my husband and I have two large debts: a car loan and his student loans. I've been trying to weigh what our best strategy is towards these. Should we pay these off quickly or use some of the money to invest instead. Those in the FI/RE community will probably have a different way of looking into this.

How to Use Venmo Securely

How to Use Venmo Securely

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics, Financial Education

Venmo me tomorrow.

Based on certain sources, I am considered a millennial, although I'm at the end of the older spectrum. My sister on the other hand is at the opposite side of the spectrum so it's interesting to see her take on certain things: Venmo is one of them. I actually use Venmo and find value in it, but perhaps not to the extent that the younger generation does so I asked her to provide some best practices for using Venmo. Here are some tips on how to use Venmo safely and securely.

If you are not familiar, Venmo is a mobile payment service owned by Paypal. It allows a quick and easy way to transfer money via a mobile app or desktop.

How to Use Your Public Library on the Journey to Financial Independence

How to Use Your Public Library on the Journey to Financial Independence

Catherine Agopcan
Alternative Lifestyle, Financial Basics

A library is infinity under a roof.

Today, I want to talk about the library. I know, for most adults, the library was probably a thing of the past. For many of us, we probably stopped going to the library after middle school or after college. With everything available on the internet, it's easy to rely on Google or Amazon for all of our information needs. I want to challenge that thinking and encourage you to get your library card and take advantage of what your local library has to offer. I think the library is one of the most underutilized resources out there. For anyone starting the FIRE journey (Financial Independence/Retire Early), don't discount the library as a tool for your journey.

Total Stock Market Investing As a College Student or First Time Investor

Total Stock Market Investing As a College Student or First Time Investor

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics

There are things we don't know we don't know.

Investing is a scary act. It involves risk and reward. It involves research. It involves understanding how companies work and how company information is presented in financial statements. There's an old advice out there that says "invest in what you know" meaning support the companies that you would buy from. For a period of time, I invested heavily in an index that tracked against the growth of the S&P 500. This was a hands off approach and one that I would recommend to those just starting out. There's a lot of volatility (ups and downs) with investing in single companies so instead the idea is to invest in an index fund or a mutual fund that already has a diversified list of companies (meaning the basket consists of various companies from many industries.)

Is Being Basic Costing You Money?

Is Being Basic Costing You Money?

Catherine Agopcan
Financial Basics

Is being basic costing you money?

There's been a term floating around for a few years now called "basic." Urban Dictionary defines it as someone who "engages in typical, unoriginal behaviors, modes of dress, speech, and likes." Is there anything wrong with liking the things that are being mass marketed to us? Absolutely not, BUT, sometimes we have to start doing the unconventional to be able to get off of the same hamster wheel that everyone is on. Being average in the world of Financial Independence sometimes carries a price. 

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