Jim Wang is a thirty-something father of four who is a frequent contributor to Forbes and Vanguard’s Blog. He has also been fortunate to have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.
Jim has a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Information Technology – Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. His approach to personal finance is that of an engineer, breaking down complex subjects into bite-sized easily understood concepts that you can use in your daily life.
One of his favorite tools (here’s my treasure chest of tools,, everything I use) is Personal Capital, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you’re on track to retire when you want. It’s free.
He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn’t want a second job, it’s diversified small investments in a few commercial properties and a farm in Illinois via AcreTrader.
Not everyone wants to make the sacrifices it takes to save enough to retire "early," whatever that means to them, and that's totally OK. I think there are a lot of great takeaways from the FIRE movement even if you don't want to retire early, or be extremely frugal, or anything else that you find unappealing about it.
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Ando Money is a newbank that seeks to fight climate change by only investing in projects (with bank deposits) that fit that mission. They do all this while still offering perks you associate with online banks.
The cards are similar in many ways. They have the same welcome bonus, introductory offer, and neither have an annual fee. The main difference is in how they earn rewards. The Chase Freedom Flex has rotating categories that earn 5% but only earns 1% on standard purchases.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has a huge [acf field="bonus" post_id="14228"] welcome bonus, 25% bump on Chase Ultimate Reward point spending on the portal, and a list of perks that offset it's modest annual fee. See why we just got one.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a great card, but that $550 annual fee can be tough to accept. Luckily, there are cards that offer similar benefits with lower annual fees. Here are the top eight.
Save aggressively, invest prudently, and - if you want to - retire early. You don't have to wait forty years to quit a job you hate. If you're financially independent, you control your time. It's all about financial flexibility and there are a lot of different ways to build financial flexibility into your life.
If you live in the Midwest where Associated Bank operates, you could get up to $500 to open an account.
Associated Bank is one of the few that will offer a good initial bonus just for the account and direct deposit but then follow that up with a higher bonus when you deposit more cash. And from a deposit to bonus ratio, it's one of the best offers out there.
Adding the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve to your wallet lets you earn and redeem some of the best credit card points for travel. Each card has unique strengths that benefit different travelers but either one can make it easier to save money with travel rewards.
The number of brokerages who will give you free shares of stock continues to grow. The latest company to offer…
