Should You Take Money Out of a 529 Account While the Market is Down?

Should You Take Money Out of a 529 Account While the Market is Down?

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When the market is down, it’s worth reviewing everything in your portfolio. Even your child’s 529 plan. Are you comfortable with your allocation of funds? How does your risk tolerance feel given the bear market? Is tax loss harvesting worth it for you?  But I have another more unique strategy to consider: taking money out of your kid’s 529 plan. That’s right. I’m suggesting selling off the college savings fund for your precious child. And not just at any time, but when the market is down! Hear me out. Perhaps you’ve been investing diligently in your son or daughter’s 529 account for the past few years.  Let’s assume you already have invested $30,000 in the account. But due to market timing and the downturn, you now have just $33,000 in…
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Is Tax Loss Harvesting Worth It? 9 Things to Know

Is Tax Loss Harvesting Worth It? 9 Things to Know

Saving & Investing
When the market it down -- like it is now -- it's a good time to be thinking about tax loss harvesting. What is tax loss harvesting? And is tax loss harvesting even worth it? Here are 9 things to know. Tax Loss Harvesting is a Great Technique to Save on Taxes Tax loss harvesting may sound like something you only need if you’re uber wealthy or a day-trader. But anyone with a non-retirement investment account can benefit. During down times of the market, or if you have any individual stock or fund that you’ve lost money on (regardless of the market) you can benefit from tax loss harvesting. It’s much simpler than it sounds. As I’ll detail further, it’s a great way to save on taxes.  Tax Loss Harvesting…
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How to Buy I Bonds for Kids

How to Buy I Bonds for Kids

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With inflation extraordinarily high, and interest rates on general accounts quite low, you may be asking yourself “how can I buy more I-Bonds?”  I-bond rates right now are over 9%. Unfortunately, the amount you can purchase is capped at $10,000/individual. So you can only purchase $10,000/year in I-Bonds. If you’re married, your spouse can also purchase $10,000. We use I-bonds as part of our cash management/long-term emergency savings fund.  Since you can cash the bonds in at any time after holding for 12 months, and have to just pay a 3-month interest penalty on them (when held for under 5 years); it’s a great way to keep long-term emergency savings. Side note, I wouldn’t recommend putting all of your emergency savings into I-bonds though as if you need some cash…
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Wimbledon’s Best Kept Secret: How to Get Cheap Tickets without Queuing

Wimbledon’s Best Kept Secret: How to Get Cheap Tickets without Queuing

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I’m a lifelong tennis player and have always dreamed of going to Wimbledon; so when we had flights booked to London during the tennis tournament, I had to go, right? Absolutely. The only problem? No ticket. I spent easily 50+ hours over the months leading up to Wimbledon trying to figure out how to get tickets to the event. I read hundreds of articles, websites, blog posts, forums on TripAdvisor. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to cough up the $1000+ to spend on a ticket for the famous Grand Slam tennis tournament. I wanted to bring my son, if not my whole family, and the value just didn’t seem worth it for a single day of tennis.  Stubhub Tickets and Amex Tickets to Wimbledon Were Too Expensive When I…
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How Find More Time Each Day: 7 Tips

How Find More Time Each Day: 7 Tips

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I can't find a scientific survey to back me up on this, but I'm fairly certain that women have less time than men in their lives to do the things they want to do. Or at least they think and feel that they do. Why is this? Women tend to do more of the household upkeep than men do - whether it's cleaning the house or taking a larger share of parenting responsibilities. In the last few years, the struggle women have to do it all has been further underscored with COVID, and increasingly, women have been leaving their jobs. Then there are stories about women in corporate America who seem to actually be doing it all. Maybe you know them; or maybe you read about them.  When you read…
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How to Make Money Recycling Your Electronics

How to Make Money Recycling Your Electronics

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How many old cell phones or laptops do you have sitting around your house right now? What about Apple Watches, AirPods, cameras, eReaders, bluetooth speakers, or even GPS systems? Letting these sit is like burning money. You can literally lose money overnight the longer they stay stashed in a drawer or hidden away under an old couch in the attic. So, in preparation for the summer season (where chances are high that you'll accumulate some new electronic) this week's action is about recycling your electronics to earn money. Why You Should Recycle Electronics It's Better for the Environment You don't want to get to a point where you are so tired of having old electronics laying around your house that you just throw them out. Putting electronics in the trash…
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How (and Why) to Find a Second Job

How (and Why) to Find a Second Job

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May is make more money month at Women's Money. The first post in the series, Decide How You'll Make More Money, is a must read before this post. The second post in the series was about making more money at work. And last week's post was about How to Make Money on the Side About This Week's Action This week’s post is about how to get a second job. A second job is a much better option than freelancing for many people because you earn a regular amount of money without having to put forth a lot of extra stress. (Yes, there is a lot of time required with a second job, but because of the stability of work it’s not as stressful as freelancing.) Why Make More Money on…
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Speaking Up on Gun Violence

Speaking Up on Gun Violence

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Where I live, it’s cloudy and rainy today. Yesterday, when I was looking at the weather forecast, the cold rainy weather seemed appropriate - we had planned to put our dog to sleep today. Why shouldn’t the weather reflect my emotions? And yet, I had no idea the amount of grief I would face today in confronting yet another school shooting. The tragedy of it is so indescribable and it comes to me at a particularly challenging time. You see, I have been reflecting quite a bit on death lately given some news in our family as well as the death of our 13-year-old beloved pet. We have been talking with our kids about the certainty of death. We all die.  In the best of ways, confronting the absoluteness of…
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How to Make Money on the Side

How to Make Money on the Side

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May is make more money month at Women's Money Week. The first post in the series, Decide How You'll Make More Money, is a must read before this post. The second post in the series was about making more money at work. About How to Make Money on the Side This week is all about making more money on the side. On the side of what? Work, parenting, school, fitness - name what you're currently doing and this week is about how to make money on the side of that. What does this mean? It means going above and beyond now, so that you have more later. That's right, later you'll have more money, more flexibility, more time for: work, parenting, school, fitness - whatever it is that you want to…
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How to Make More Money at Work: Negotiate a Raise, Vacation, Overtime, and Promotions

How to Make More Money at Work: Negotiate a Raise, Vacation, Overtime, and Promotions

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May is make more money month at Women's Money. The first post in the series, Decide How You'll Make More Money, is a must read before this post. About This Week's Action If you completed the analysis of your current income as part of last week's post, you most likely found that most (or possibly all) of your income comes from your current job. Based on the premise that when you have success in an area, you should do more of that, this week's action is to make more money at your current job (before you go looking to make money on the side). Why Make More Money at Your Work It's The Fastest Way to Earn More If you currently have no other streams of income, you'll find that…
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