| Mint and/or Personal Capital to monitor transactions and balances. Capital One Money Market for Emergency Fund and Capital One Checking for checking. M1 Finance for taxable and tax-advantaged market accounts. Amazon Prime Credit Card (through Chase). My approach started with Dave Ramsey, but has evolved a little based on "I will teach you to be rich" and some others. In general, I see my finances as a funnel - income comes in and flows to fixed expenses, then to retirement savings and kids education, then to short term savings. * Tell incoming money where to go, don't live paycheck to paycheck. Doing this better is probably an area I could improve. * Ensure a 1000 emergency fund in a savings account if you have none already. This is "lost my job" money. * Ensure income > expenses. So much could be said about this, but it's simple math in the end. You won't get ahead if expenses > income. If this is not the case, focus first on income (ask for raise, look for second or better job, do side gigs), then on expenses (cut spending, get out of vehicle/credit card debt). * Periodically review spending and see how you can spend less or increase income. I do much of my own car work (~3k this year) and work on some side gigs. * Don't go into debt except for house. Pay credit card off each cycle. It is there ONLY to get the 1-10% reduction in spending via cash-back rewards. I don't personally feel chasing reward cards is worth it, just pick one that does cash back with minimal fuss. For us this was Amazon Prime's chase card. * Ensure 3-6 months expenses in an emergency fund (Capital One Money Market). Example, if you average spending 3000/mo, you need 9000-18000. Now you have that long to look for a new job or float a huge emergency, etc. * As long as that is maxed out, put as much as possible each month in tax-advantaged accounts. Max out IRAs/401ks/education savings/health savings/etc. Max out matched retirement accounts (401k, etc) first. Lest I sound rich, I'm not where I can do this every month yet. * For IRA, use M1 because it's fee-free. Research a simple blend of ETFs in proportions relative to your risk profile. If you have a while before retirement, something like %90 Stock (VT,VTI), 10% Bonds (BND) * Save any remaining in taxable stock account at M1 for short term savings (car/vacation/large projects/etc). Research a simple blend of ETFs in a lower-risk config. (ie 10% stocks, 90% bonds) |