Debt Free DDS’ Friday Favorites are a collection of this past week’s (or month’s or year’s if still relevant) financial blog posts, articles, or other resources. These are resources I have found very helpful for me on my journey to becoming debt free, financially literate, and financially independent. I believe they will help you too.
If you need help with financial education, please see my Recommended Resources tab. If you are drowning in student loan debt like I once was, start by refinancing them to get a lower interest rate. See my Student Loan refinancing tab for great options. And if you don’t feel like you know enough to manage your own finances and you need help, see my Financial Planning Services tab for help.
When this goes live I will be at WCICON20. I am sure I will be having a blast and learning some amazing financial information that will help me be even more educated and even more able to help you. If you are there too, come say hi. I’m the handsome one :). Now on to my Friday Favorites……..
Debt Free DDS’ Friday Favorites 03/13/2020
1) There is more drama about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) in the news this past week. Trump administration plan to sunset the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program would be ‘devastating,’ expert says. I don’t want to get into politics. But no matter which side of the aisle you are on, you need to be prepared. I don’t think it is that easy just to get rid of the program. Although, I guess it is possible. If you are in the program or plan on doing the program, you need to protect yourself.
How do you do that? You save money as if you were trying to destroy you’re student loans in a side fund. If you owe $500,000 in student loans and then the PSLF program gets taken away from you, and you have $500,000 in investments dedicated just for that purpose then you will be fine. Just like I always say, if you are prepared there is no reason to fear. If you have that $500,000 side fund and you still do get your loans forgiven, then great. You are $500,000 richer and you can add that to your retirement savings. Going for PSLF and not saving any money in a side fund just in case could be a recipe for disaster. So yeah, for those not prepared it would be devastating. But don’t let that be you.
2) It took me until I was about 36 years old to really be financially educated. I am going to try and make sure it doesn’t take my kids that long. Luckily for me I was a natural saver and not an over spender, but there are still things I could have done differently earlier in life that would have helped me. The Penny Hoarder had a good article for a starting point about what we can start teaching our kids when they are young. Teaching Your Kids These 4 Financial Lessons Will Help Them Avoid Debt.
3) I have talked a lot about how if you want to become financially independent you have to avoid lifestyle inflation and the keeping up with the Joneses mentality. Get Rich Slowly had a great article to that effect. Keeping up Appearances.
4) Having Life Insurance is part of any good financial plan. If you have a spouse and/or children that depend on your income, you need to protect them with Life Insurance. Good Financial Cents had a great round up recently of The Best Life Insurance Companies for 2020. Check it out and make sure you have one of these important policies. (Tip: you should probably avoid Whole life and only get Term Life.)
5) It’s tax time and it is on a lot of our minds. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 is still new to most of us. What can and can’t we deduct now? How does this affect us? Michael Kitces of Nerd’s Eye View explains to us The 6 Types Of Itemized Deductions That Can Still Be Claimed After TCJA.
This Week’s Recommendation
Mike Piper is a guru in a lot of ways. He has tremendous knowledge and really knows how to explain things in terms we can all understand. He has a series of books about all sorts of financial topics. They are all great. The one I want to highlight today is Taxes Made Simple. I know a lot of us may have CPA’s, but we still need to understand how taxes work. Just how we still need to be financially educated even if we have a financial planner, we also need to be educated about taxes even if we use a CPA. This is a great and simple read to help you do just that.
-Debt Free DDS
Please comment below on what you think. Sign up to receive each new post and much more. Please share on social media and subscribe to the blog.
*Nothing on my website is professional or legal advice. It is for entertainment and informational purposes only. I am only sharing information that I have learned and it may or may not be accurate. I am not liable for any problems you may have by following this advice. Please do further research and get professional and/or legal advice about any of these topics. This post contains affiliate links. This site could be paid for clicks or purchases made through these links.
DebtFreeDDS.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
