Ms. Financial Literacy

Paying with an Unloaded Gift Card (and My Mother’s Day Moment)

In the past few months, my husband and I have been challenged trying to explain to a toddler how credit and debit cards work.

mothers day

At 31-months-old, our daughter gets eagerly (and impatiently) excited to swipe the card every time walk into a store. Resistance is almost futile. As soon as we get up to the cashier, she’d pull on our clothes and/or attempt all kinds of sweet gestures (how about a big hug while padding your back, daddy?) to get hold of the card. Certainly, her short stature doesn’t stop her from completing her mission.

Once she gets hold of the card, she’d tip-toe higher and higher until her toes are sore, trying to reach the card reader. Sometimes, the cashier couldn’t see her and wondered why we were not making a move to pay. Most of the time, we’d lift her up and help her swipe/insert the card into the card reader. To slow down the line even more, Ruby would insist she’s got the hang of it and refuse to let us help. My husband and I’d watch her missing her aim 98% of the time, until one of us finally loses it and grabs the card away from her so that we can get out of the line. This usually involves lots of crying. If you don’t know any better, the expression on Ruby’s face would typically tell a story of a child being robbed of her favorite belonging.

An interesting and amusing incident happened this past weekend as the three of us were shopping at Target. Every time we enter a store, the following conversation (or a similar version of) occurs:

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Financial Journey, Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Work and Career

401(k) Direct Rollover

When I left my previous employment in early March 2017, I was eager to do a 401(k) direct rollover as soon as possible. In an earlier article, I shared that my 401(k) plan charged relatively high fees. I was also excited to have more control over my investment options. In this article, I’m sharing my experiences doing a 401(k) direct rollover to a traditional IRA. I hope you’ll find this article useful as you go on to learn what’s financially possible for you. I also wrote two comprehensive articles on 401(k) here and here if you’re interested in reading additional materials.

401k direct rollover

With a direct rollover, the funds are transferred directly from your 401(k) plan to your IRA custodian (or brokerage) and you will not pay an early withdrawal penalty or taxes. The check for the funds is made out to your IRA custodian, not you. For this reason, when you’re ready to do a 401(k) rollover, be sure you’ve already set up a traditional IRA account with the custodian of your choice. Then, when you speak with your previous employer and/or 401(k) plan administrator, be sure to let them know you’re doing a direct rollover and that the check won’t be made out to your name. If the check does get made out to your name, you might have to face taxes consequences immediately. Although you’ll be getting that money back after you filed your tax return (provided you’ve done the rollover correctly and remember to do your tax return correctly), the extra paperwork and hassle are unnecessary. Avoid this while you can. In my case, the check was made “payable to (my brokerage), For the Benefit Of (FBO) of Nina”.

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Financial Freedom, Financial Journey, Financial Planning, Investment, Lifestyle, Retirement Planning

March 2017 Non-W2 Income Report and First Quarter Recap

You can go here to read about why we’re sharing our non-W2 incomes on the blog. And you can visit this link to see our past non-W2 income reports.

As anticipated, March was a very great month for us. We received a total of $5,249.31 in non-W2 income. Our international stocks (many of which pay out dividends in larger amounts once a quarter) were responsible for the big jump.

march 2017 non-w2 income report

This month’s number plus the January 2017 and February 2017 numbers have brought our first quarter non-W2 income total to $8,906.89. The monthly average is $2,968.96. With our monthly expenses being around $4,000, this monthly average covers about 74% of our expenses.

We anticipate this percentage will be a little higher by the end of the calendar year. Some of our investments have large dividends/interest payouts bi-annually or annually. Additionally, we continue to make new contributions to most of our accounts. We’ll see as we continue to track these numbers.

April’s chart will look slightly different as I recently did a 401(k) rollover.

We use Personal Capital, a free financial tool, to track our net worth, view our investment performance, analyze our asset allocations and project our retirement goals. I wrote a comprehensive review of Personal Capital in another post. I encourage you to check it out.

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Financial Freedom, Financial Journey, Financial Planning, Investment, Lifestyle, Retirement Planning

Money Makes Money: February 2017 Non-W2 Income Report

It’s already April and I just got around to sharing our February non-W2 incomes report. A lot has happened in my family in the past month. Some of the changes and adventures included giving my resignation letter to my previous employer and possibly forever saying goodbye to W-2 employment and taking a road trip across the country.

february 2017 non-w2 income

There are two great things I’ve came to love about non-W2 incomes; one being having incomes coming in to cover my expenses while on vacation and that, two, these incomes are location independent (e.g., I can be anywhere in the world and still continue to receive dividend/interest payments.).

You’ve probably noticed the few “$0”s on the table above. First, I was surprised we didn’t receive any dividends/interest payments on either one of our Roth accounts. Second, there was no financial coaching income for February. We were busy preparing for taxes and for the adventure across the country.

All things considered, the total for February was only couple hundred dollars lower than that of January. We are optimistic that the March total will be much higher. Many of our investments either pay dividends/interests quarterly or pay out higher amounts on the quarter mark. Come back to the blog to see the March report soon. You can view my previous non-W2 income reports here.

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Money Psychology, On Investing, Women and Financial Literacy

My First Stock Purchases (at the Bottom of the Great Recession)

For those of you who are familiar with the stock market, do you remember the time when you first got introduced to it? What were some of your early associations with the stock market? At the time, were you anxious to get into it? Was the market something you swore to avoid?

first stock purchases

My Dad’s Warning Message (to me) on the Stock Market

My first impression of the stock market occurred right at the start of the Great Recession. One day, in November 2008, I was having dinner with my family. The news was on the television. I recall my dad telling my brother and I to never ever “gamble” in the stock market.

Yes, to him, participating in the stock market was a form of gamble, not a form of investment. This was coming from someone who had very limited exposure to the stock market other than what he saw and heard on television. However, not knowing any more of the stock market than my dad did at the time, I took his words to heart. The stock market was something to avoid.

In the following weeks, the messages and images that kept showing up on mass media (covering the beginning of the Great Recession) just confirmed my dad’s belief of the stock market. Seeing and hearing stories of people jumping off buildings, losing their marriages, going into jail, becoming depressed and/or losing their children’s college savings and/or their own retirement savings—all due to steep drops in the stock market—just “proved” the evil side of “gambling”. Yes, the stock market was evil, I concluded.

The Man I was About to Meet and What He Taught Me About the Stock Market

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