Author Archives: JD

Big Goals are Never Too Big

My husband and I have started planning to grow our family, and the biggest ticket item I’m worried about is our children’s college educations. In 2020, it costs ~$13,000 per year – just in tuition – to attend my alma mater UCLA. So that’s $52,000 per child for a four-year period in 2020 dollars, whichContinue reading “Big Goals are Never Too Big”

How to Budget as A Couple

There are two main ways that I see couples work with their money: joint everything, or some joint accounts and individual accounts. No way is the right way, so it’s entirely up to the couple how they want to do this. Either way, how do you pull off a budget as a couple? No matterContinue reading “How to Budget as A Couple”

How to Rollover an Old Retirement Account to an IRA

I switched jobs a lot in my early professional years. If I no longer enjoyed the job, whether the work itself or the environment changed for the worse, my wandering eye looked elsewhere. A natural consequence to switching jobs a lot was having plenty of opportunities to rollover an old retirement account into an IRAContinue reading “How to Rollover an Old Retirement Account to an IRA”

The 50/30/20 Budgeting Rule

I. Love. Budgeting. When I discovered its power during my post-college/student loan repayment phase (What can I say?? I’m a late budget bloomer!), I became obsessed. On my non-profit salary, I didn’t have a lot of room to play with the $700 student debt bill I had each month. Plus, I graduated college in 2010Continue reading “The 50/30/20 Budgeting Rule”

Student Loan Debt Soap Box

I’m no longer ashamed to admit this, but I’m 32 and I’m still paying off my student loan debt. That’s because I borrowed way too much money. It is insane to me that lenders allow teenagers to borrow money without ensuring adequate financial education in our schools first. I’m not normally a conspiracy theorist, butContinue reading “Student Loan Debt Soap Box”