Protect Your Financial Future Archives – Page 3 of 6

How to Avoid Financial Disasters in Your Divorce

02/19/2018
Getting Divorced?, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA

Getting divorced can be like taking a crash course in emergency finances – one you have to take whether you want to or not. And when kids are part of the mix, and you’re a newly single mom – you need to master that class right away. The first lesson – and one of the hardest to swallow – is this: Just because it’s written into your divorce agreement doesn’t mean it will actually happen. I’ve seen many cases where women – including me – counted on the financial arrangements laid out in their divorce settlements only to end up…

Getting Divorced? Cut ALL Financial Ties

02/19/2018
Getting Divorced?, Kids and Money, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA

It’s sounds drastic: Sever all of your financial ties in the divorce. After all, you were married to this person, you have kids together. And keeping some kind of connection doesn’t seem risky…but it is. No matter how good your relationship is, no matter how well you communicate, you can’t predict the future. Except for this: Things will change. Keeping even a small financial connection – like a joint emergency credit card or an old joint savings account – could end up doing significant damage to your financial future. And so many things could happen with your ex: Health issues…

6 Things to Look for When You’re Choosing a Mutual Fund

01/12/2018
Protect Your Financial Future, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA

As a single mom, your time is tight. You don’t have tons of free time to spend on research – and that can be a big stumbling block that turns you off investing. That’s why mutual funds are a great way to get started: they offer access to hundreds of stocks or bonds in every single share, letting you own a much broader mix of investments than you could put together on you own. But there are literally thousands of mutual funds out there, and to figure out which ones are right for you, turn to your financial action plan.…

Why Your Kid Needs a Roth IRA

01/09/2018
Kids and Money, Protect Your Financial Future, Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA

If your child earns income from a job – even if it’s working for you – it’s time to open a Roth IRA. Better than a regular savings account, all the money invested through a Roth IRA grows tax-free. And since your child almost certainly qualifies for the lowest possible tax rate (if income taxes kick in at all) now, he or she will end up paying less in taxes – keeping more of their own money – overall. And unlike other types of retirement accounts, the money your child contributes is accessible without any tax penalties. That means he…

How to Escape the Single Mom Student Loan Debt Trap

12/22/2017
Making Ends Meet, Managing Debt, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA

As single moms, we face the highest student loan burdens. Our loans are bigger…our salaries are lower…our monthly budgets are tighter. According to Deeper in Debt by the American Academy of University Women, student loan debt has become a women’s issue as more of us go to college. And it’s an especially tricky situation for single mom-students who often face childcare challenges as they struggle to achieve their education goals. Here are just a few of the ways the system is tilted against single moms… Women owe $800 billion, about 67% of the total student debt in the U.S. Women earn…