You know your current net worth and your average annual expenses. You also have your target number . So, now it’s time to start putting your financial independence plan together. And I’ll share my tips on creating a plan that will work, including my best tip that I learned watching basketball. You might be wondering if it’s even necessary to create a plan. Why not just wing it? Yes, I know making a plan isn’t always fun. I like to wing it  on most things myself, but I don’t

A close friend recently asked if I used CDs (Certificates of Deposit) and would recommend them. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on CDs and tips on how to build a CD ladder. Let me start by saying that CDs are not great investments if you want to grow your wealth. Because they have such low risk, their rates of return are also very low. The annual percentage yield (APY) of CDs usually falls somewhere between 1%-5%. Not great at all. Sometimes, the APY can even fall well bel

Keeping your money in the bank is safe. The bank won’t lose your money, so it will always be there!  While the bank technically won't lose your money, the old wisdom is dead wrong . Let me explain why a standard savings account loses money to inflation every single year. In my previous post , I talked about how inflation drains your financial bucket roughly 3% per year. That number may seem trivial until you actually see how it affects your finances. If you haven’t done so