Unless you were raised by personal finance ninjas, the thought of investing your hard-earned money can be a scary thought. Constant predictions of market crashes and mysterious bubbles bursting doesn’t help either. My wife and I kept 99% of our money in cash and very little of it was invested in our retirement accounts, let…

If you haven’t already, check out Part 1. Otherwise, let’s plow forward into how you can prepare for the next recession 5. Invest your money regularly Regularly investing in your retirement accounts will get you used to weathering stock market pullbacks. It will build your tolerance for ignoring the noise when the next recession happens….

I have learned that recessions are as natural as the change of seasons. Except that they don’t come as predictably, but they do come in a cyclical pattern. When the economy expands, it will also need to contract at some point. This is why they call it the boom-bust cycle. So, when is this recession…

Leaves are falling, sweaters are out, and pumpkin spice – beloved or bemoaned – has made its seasonal appearance. And while the best parts of summer have become little more than memories, many Americans are still feeling the financial effects of the warmer months. According to a LendEDU seasonal spending survey, summer, as it turns…

While taking our personal finance onto another level, a few small changes led to larger transformations that both simplified and elevated our lives. Transformation #1: The Personal Finance Ninja I’d like to credit this term to Stephanie, from poorerthanyou.com. Becoming a personal finance ninja is exactly how I would describe our transformation. We became more…

By the end of the year, I’ll be 31 years old. My 20’s are long gone and there is nothing I can do to rewind the clock, but if I were to ever go back in time, I’d be prepared with this handy letter to give to my 20-year-old self. Where I was in my…

My car’s hood is peeling, the driver’s side mirror is screwed in and taped on, I can only open the trunk from a latch inside the car, and I just broke my interior door handle. Last weekend, I had lunch with my best friends. They asked when I was planning to get rid of my…

Credit cards are an incredibly powerful piece of plastic that nearly everyone has in their back pocket. Purchasing power & convenience: They allow you to purchase things without needing to carry around cash, especially for big-ticket items. Builds credit history: The more responsible you are with your revolving debt, the better your credit history and…

When I talk to my co-workers, friends, and family about investing, we usually talk about where we can place our money to maximize growth that aligns with our financial goals and risk tolerance. But today, let’s talk about investing in the most important asset you own, YOURSELF! 1. Take time off work One of the…

I started this series to reflect on our goals and share some things I learned each month. For now, I’ll primarily be tracking our progress to financial independence. I hope you get some value from this and if you haven’t already, join the Flexcents community as it continues to grow! Our Progress to Financial Independence…

The majority of people aren’t born as mathematicians. Luckily, it doesn’t take a genius to understand how important it is to save your money and calculating your savings rate can be just as easy. Why should you know your savings rate? If you’re reading this article, you already know the answer to this question, but…

If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m pretty conscious when it comes to money and consumerism. Being careful with my spending allows me to build a cash cushion. I generally don’t have to worry about bills and small discretionary expenses during the month. My habit of saving also allows me to make an investment whenever…

I started this series to reflect on our goals, summarize blog developments and share some things I learned this month. I hope you get some value and enjoy following our journey. If you haven’t already, join the Flexcents community as it continues to grow! Financial Goals We discovered the financial independence retire early (FIRE) movement…

The idea is to create a list of the top 10 things that you enjoy doing most on a weekly basis and compare that list with the top 10 things that you spend money on each month. The goal of this exercise is to determine if your spending habits align with your most valued activities….

For places like the U. S. where healthcare is super expensive, it is understandable for people to opt-out of seeking preventative healthcare services when there isn’t any apparent problem. Even with healthcare insurance coverage, the inconvenience and break in routine may be enough for some people to skip visiting the doctors. But there who are…

I started this series to reflect on our goals, summarize blog developments and share some things I learned. I hope you get some value and enjoy following our journey. If you haven’t already, join the Flexcents community as it continues to grow! We recently returned from our Southeast Asia trip. It was a two-week adventure-packed…

Welcome to my monthly reflections. For those of you who are here for the first time, I started this series to reflect on our goals and share some things I learned. I hope you get some value and enjoy following our journey. If you haven’t already, join the Flexcents community as it continues to grow!…

One of the most powerful things you can do to better your life is to consume (and apply) knowledge from years of data and experience gathered from others. We all know time is your most precious resource, and you can save a lot of it when learning from other’s mistakes and life lessons. This is…

Instead of reflecting on this past month alone, I want to change it up and briefly reflect upon this past year as a whole. 2018 – Our Year of Growth It all started with discovering the concept of financial independence and learning that we could achieve wealth that we never thought was possible, but only…

Hi everyone, Welcome to my first guest post. I have the pleasure of introducing Rob, from gettingcanned.com where he writes about work-life and his experience being unemployed for a couple of years. Rob will be writing about finding fulfillment while being unemployed. Here we go! Finding Fulfillment and Purpose Regardless of your employment status, finding fulfillment…

Hi Everyone, The purpose of these reflections is to give me the opportunity to share more of myself with you. It will allow us to learn more from each other and grow together. I take my daily journal entries and reflect upon common themes in my life, both good and bad. These reflections will be…

Mrs. Flexcents is quite an artist. She carved the pumpkins and made the ghost. She and her co-workers helped to get this great set up. How appropriate, I think this is how most people feel about student loans. Hi Everyone, This is a new series I started last month that gives me the opportunity to…

I paid off my 6-figure debt in October 2016. It was such a huge accomplishment that I immediately downloaded all my payment records and saved them so no one could tell me otherwise. Now that I’m more financially curious, I wanted to find out exactly how much I paid towards my student loans. In doing…

It is easy to get lost when it comes to choosing a repayment plan for your student loans. New graduates may not even know where their loans are held. If you are one of these, feel free to check out this guide.Otherwise, let’s move on to determining the best plan to pay off your student…

Hi everyone, I will be starting a new series that will give me the opportunity to share more of myself with you. This will allow us to learn more from each other and grow together. I have been writing in my journal more frequently to better appreciate all the developments in my life, either good…

I wrote this for my younger sister who is entering the field of speech therapy. However, this applies to anyone working in healthcare. Enjoy! You’re Not Alone Treating your first patient as a healthcare professional could feel a bit intimidating. You might feel like a fish out of water since you no longer have your…

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program is the only program that offers forgiveness on all qualified loans tax-free after 120 qualified monthly payments. Learn More About The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Only Direct loans in good standing are eligible for forgiveness. Federal Family Education Loan (FEEL), private loans and defaulted loans are…

Our careers are very rewarding, but it came at a price. Literally, the years of dedicated study cost us a total of $151,000 in student debt between the two of us. My wife finished her Master’s Degree two years before I finished my Doctorate. By the time I graduated, she had completely paid off her…

Myself and Mrs. Flexcents go to the theaters once or twice a year. Recently, we watched The Avengers: Infinity War on opening weekend. Days later, we found ourselves watching Doctor Strange. I know, It was released in 2016, so we’re late to the game. If you still don’t want any spoilers, go watch it! Then…

Lifestyle Inflation, also known as lifestyle creep, occurs when individuals increase their standard of living as their discretionary income rises. It becomes a problem when people prioritize luxuries instead of paying off debt, building an emergency fund, or saving for retirement. Ultimately, it prevents them from building wealth and makes their lifestyle increasingly expensive to…

According to the data from collegeboard.org, four-year public universities raised their tuition & fees by an average of 5.26% per year during the last 10 years (2007 – 2017). This number increases to 6% when you capture the last 20 years and 7% since the 1970s.  What Does This Mean In Dollars?  Vanguard’s College Cost Projector will…

College is becoming increasingly expensive and is leaving students financially crippled upon graduation. Graduates are figuring out how to pay off student loans and are postponing plans to start a family, purchasing a home, starting a business, or saving for retirement. According to debt.org, the average student loan debt in 2018 was $38,390. The sad…