Here's the latest email from a reader asking for some suggestions on a financial situation. Please read below and give him your thoughts... My daughter is about to head off for her first semester in college. About 16 years ago, my wife and I started her 529 fund and contributed $800/mo. during this time. We stopped adding to it about a year ago as I semi-retired from the … [Read more...]
Help a Reader: Dealing with Disability
As you might imagine, I get a lot of emails asking for financial advice. In fact, I get so many that I have a standard response to them: I don't give out specific advice because 1) if I did that's all I'd spend my time doing :) and 2) there's no way to really get to know someone's complete financial picture and give great advice via email. If you like, I'd be willing … [Read more...]
Help a Reader: Is Travel Hacking Worth It?
Here's an issue a reader needs help with. In this case, the "reader" is me. :) Now that we are close to 1) having both kids far away from where we live (we are in CO and will have one kid each in VA and LA) and 2) once we have no kids at home, we're going to travel a bit more, I've started to think about travel hacking. Between the four of us we'll be frequently jetting … [Read more...]
Help a Reader: Can I Retire?
I will officially be announcing my "Help a Reader" category in a couple weeks, but here's one to get us started. This reader wrote to me suggesting I offer a way for those who are considering retiring to share their information and ask questions of ESI Money readers. I thought it was a great suggestion and wanted to post it ASAP. I sent him some questions to get us … [Read more...]
Help ESI Money Move to the Caribbean
That headline got you, didn't it? :) Well, the truth is I do need some advice and thought you would be the perfect ones to ask. Here's our situation: The cold gets to us every winter. It's just too cold for too long. We used to take cruises for 7-10 days in the winter when we lived in Michigan. But with our kids' crazy work schedules, that was not realistic this … [Read more...]
Help a Reader with Housing Advice
I recently had a reader email me and ask about buying a house. I suggested he write something up, I'd post it, and we'd let the ESI Money community weigh in on the subject. Here's his background/questions: I know home ownership is more than an investment but I am trying to ensure my first time purchase in the near future is not a money pit and something that can … [Read more...]
Reader Question: How to Invest
I recently received an email from a reader asking for some thoughts from the ESI Money community. Here is her note: My husband and I are 32 years old, and currently both have employer and individual retirement accounts. I have based my asset allocation largely from this article back in 2008 (ancient history!). We currently have $130K in our combined Vanguard accounts … [Read more...]
