Ms. Financial Literacy

Does the Social Security Wage Cap Apply to You? Are You Taking Advantage of the Law?

Social Security Taxes are Boring

Do you know how much Social Security taxes you’ve paid in 2016? Do you even pay attention to this number? Naturally, I wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t through my husband. In general, Social Security taxes are boring. As long you’re earning wages or self-employment income, you’ve no way to minimize these taxes. The money you’re putting into tax-deferred accounts (such as 401(k), 403(b) or HSA) are still subject Social Security taxes. My attitude used to be, “why bother?”.

Then, in 2012, my husband and I started earning wages in California. And my husband’s wage was high enough that this line on one of his paychecks caught his attention.

The Social Security Wage Cap

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Purchase Decisions, Social Comparison

Caught Myself Going Down the Slippery Slope: Social Comparison

When in France

When my husband and I visited Southern France this past May, I purchased a Chanel Small Classic Double Flap. As a birthday present, my husband bought me a Miu Miu Madras (size small). At the time, I said to myself that I was going to take a break from collecting more designer bags. In more specifics, I challenged myself to wait and buy my next designer bag sometime five years later (when I’ll be 35-years-old). This challenge has been going well in the past seven months until last night.

The Celine

Last night, I caught myself going down the slippery slope. I follow several fashion and lifestyle bloggers on Instagram. Every evening, I sign on to the Instagram app to see these bloggers’ updates. One of the bloggers was visiting France. She posted a picture carrying a Celine Classic Box Flap, a beautiful bag that I’ve been desiring for at least three years now. This bag is almost always sold out across the U.S. It’s even hard to find in Europe. I love everything about this bag. It’s classic, beautiful and so me.

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Financial Planning, Purchase Decisions

Five Things We Decided to Wait For but Would Love to Have Now (November 2016 Edition)

In the previous article, I shared Five Things We Splurged on this past November. In this one, I’m sharing five things we decided to wait for but would love to have now. Yes, we (mostly, I) absolutely want them! Most certainly, my life would be better (right???). Yet, we are waiting to make the purchases.

Sony MDR7506 Professional Headphone

On an average day, I listen to about two to three hours of podcast/audio/Youtube on my phone. This has been going on for seven months, and during all this time I’ve been using a set of standard headphones that came with my Samsung Galaxy phone. These headphones serve their purpose for occasional use but are terrible for heavy use. Every few days my ears would hurt from overusing (over-abusing) them. I’ve been telling myself for over four months that I was going to treat myself to a pair of comfortable headphones. I even know which one I want to get, yet, I’ve been procrastinating. And each time my ears hurt, I swore to myself that I was going to take action (such as when I’m home and in front of a computer). This has been going on for months, and I still have no new headphones.

Spending $70 on a set of headphone seems excessive. If I just wait out for few more months, the price might come down (so I’ve said to myself many times). When our investment portfolio does well, I’ll treat myself to the headphones (so I’ve said to myself many times). Maybe the pain in my ears hadn’t got bad enough. I’d love to have cushiony headphones against my ears as I listen to my favorite audio books and shows.

Nikkon Camera Lens: 18mm to 55mm

When my family and I travelled to Vancouver, Canada, this past September, our tripod fell during one of the photo sessions. The camera came down with it and the lens broke. One part on the lens came loose, but it’s still functional if we’re being careful (not recommended for outside use due to dust potentially going inside the camera, as we were told). Once we were back in the States, we looked up the price for a new lens and it was around $100. My husband and I convinced ourselves that we don’t need the lens for a while. We have the 50mm lens we can use. If we just wait out for few more months, the price might come down (so we’ve told ourselves). I’ve been missing using the lens while out and about.

IPad Stand

The current iPad stand we have is heavy-duty, hard to use and not serving the purpose we want. Once again, we’ve been putting off this purchase. We use the iPad once or twice a day. I suppose the stand is not a high priority, however, it’d be nice to have a stand that actually works well for the purpose we need.

Wallet

My wallet is about four years old. It’s functional but dirty. This wallet no longer brings me joy each time I pull it out of my purse. I’ve been wanting to buy a wallet that makes me smile each time I take it out. But, I don’t want to be wasteful. Should I spend $169 on a new wallet? Whichever new wallet I purchase will get dirty over time and lose its charm. Why get a new one only to have it get dirty soon? Then what? Buy another one? I might as well just keep using the one I have. Would I love the look and feel of a new wallet? You bet!

Hunter Rain Boots

I own a pair of nice looking rain boots since Winter 2012. I like everything about it except its weight. They’re heavy for my feet for long distance walking (and I take long walks even in the rain). Taking them out on a hike when the ground is wet is out of the question. I’m also reluctant to pack them in my suitcase when I travel. The boots take up both weight and space in my suitcase.

When I learned about the Hunter ‘Tour’ Packable Rain Boots couple years ago, I was all for it and wanted a pair for myself. These boots are much lighter in weight and they are bendable, making them the perfect rain boot for travel! I couldn’t decide on the black, green or red. Two years later since then, and I am still using my heavy rain boots. I can’t justify buying a new pair of rain boots when the pair I have is totally functional. They’re good enough to keep my feet dry while walking the car or to the bus stop or to the grocery store several blacks away, when it’s raining outside. I’d still love to have a pair of the ‘Tour’ though! My feet would be happy.

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Purchase Decisions

Five Things We Splurged On (November 2016 Edition)

Our Frugal Ways

When I published the article on our savings rate over the past seven years, some of your reactions were that my husband and I have been living a very frugal life. And I can understand how you might’ve jumped to such conclusion. Even our closest family (including our parents) and friends asserted that we live a frugal lifestyle. My husband and I can spend hours trying to prove them wrong (btw, we are super proud of our frugal ways; frugal does not equal cheap), but most people believe what they want/choose to believe.

We’re willing to share our strategies with those who are willing to take the time to read (the articles published on this blog) and/or listen. We have no room for doubters and skeptics. We’re not trying to convince anyone that our way of life is better. Our goal is to show you another way of life and what can be financially possible for you. The choice is yours.

New Series

With all that being said, I’ve decided to start a series where every month I share five things/experiences that we splurged on and five things we’ve decided to wait (which will wait for a later post). Each article will include our thought and decision-making processes, too. My hope is that this series will give you another peek into how my husband and I structure our financial life. Our lifestyle is conventional in some ways, but not so much so in other ways (I shared a little bit about this in an older article).

Five Things We Splurged On

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Financial Planning, Investment, Personal Finance, Retirement Planning

Personal Capital Review – My Choice of Financial Software for Tracking and Financial Planning

I convinced my husband to use Personal Capital! In the past five months, I have both subtly and verbally tried to get my husband onboard. This past weekend, he finally gave me the ‘go’ signal. What’s even better? We have been hooked by this financial software the last several days (okay, maybe a bit obsessed). Personal Capital is amazing, beautiful and provides me everything I need (when it comes to understanding my financial life).

personal capital My Choice of Financial Software for Tracking and Financial Planning

I first learned about Personal Capital when I started reading personal finance blogs early this year. Most of my daily reads have written a review about this. Many of them used Personal Capital to track their financial numbers. My eyes were drawn to the colorful and beautiful charts and graphs these bloggers were sharing on their sites. Several of my money savvy friends also started telling me about Personal Capital. I was ready to give it a try.

When I approached my husband with this idea, he blatantly rejected it. He was concerned about the software’s security. He already doesn’t like the fact that we have to login to so many financial accounts to track and manage our finances. He didn’t want another to gain access to our financial data. What if someone would to get hold of our logins and mess with our investment holdings and transactions? What if that were to happen while we’re traveling outside of the country and might not have access to secure Internet? His concerns sounded totally legit to me. After that conversation, I was ready to move on. I accepted the fact that Personal Capital and I weren’t meant to be.

My Obsession

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