.When Is an Emergency Loan a Good Option?

Trent Hamm, Jun 9, 2020 Founder of The Simple Dollar

Sometimes emergencies happen in life, and the best advice I have for everyone is to plan as though an emergency will happen sooner rather than later. Start building an emergency fund now, so that you have cash when things go awry and you really need it.

That’s great advice, of course, but it’s not helpful for someone facing an emergency right this moment before they even have the opportunity to start building their own emergency fund. The reality is that we live in a time with high unemployment, and even before that, four out of five Americans lived paycheck to paycheck.

The best long term solution is to prepare for emergencies, but what are the options in the short term?

.3 Things You Should Consider Before Selling Your House for Cash

By Toni Husbands on 20 February 20190 comments

In August of 2017, an investor called us and offered to buy our condo for cash. We didn't have it listed for sale. The condo was in great condition, the rent we charged covered expenses, and it was in a very nice area that consistently attracted stable tenants. My husband and I took about five minutes to confer before deciding to accept the offer.

The offer was cash. We estimated it was about $10,000 less than we might have made through a traditional sale. After accounting for realtor commissions, taxes, and the time required to sell our condo; we felt the convenience of an as-is cash sale was worth it. The closing took less than two weeks. By the end of August, we had an extra $35,000 in the bank.

Selling your house for cash can be a dream come true. In these cases, investors are looking for a quick transaction. They aren't generally concerned with repairs. Real estate agents are not involved, so the cost of a broker's commission is waived. In my case, the inspection walkthrough was merely a formality.

.How Becoming the Breadwinner Changed My Perspective on Money

By Sarah Li Cain — Apr 14, 2020

My marriage has always been equal with regard to decision-making. That’s why it pains me to admit how much I relied on my husband to handle the paperwork for our finances a few years ago.

Maybe it’s because I was a Canadian living in the States. Perhaps it was impostor syndrome.

Whatever the reason, I thought as long as my husband had a sizable life insurance policy, that was all that mattered. (What is life insurance?)

I’d quit my job as a teacher when we moved and wasn’t exactly contributing to the household finances. I thought life insurance was for those who were earning a regular salary (like my husband) and there were others who would need the payout (like me).

Sure, I was earning a bit of side hustle income as a freelance writer, but at that point it was barely enough to pay for childcare.

Then my career as a freelancer took off and I surpassed my husband’s income, making more than twice his take home pay! My earnings flowed toward the mortgage, extra house payments, retirement savings and our son’s future college expenses.

.How Unpaid Debt Is Handled When A Person Dies

May 28 2020 Sarah O’Brien@SARAHTGOBRIEN

Key Points

*Creditors generally try to collect what’s owed to them by going after the decedent’s estate during a process called probate.

*There are instances, however, where the surviving spouse, or another heir, may be legally responsible.

*Some assets don’t count as part of a person’s estate for probate purposes.

It’s not unusual for a person to pass away and leave behind some unpaid debt.

For the heirs — typically the surviving spouse or children — the question often is what, exactly, happens to those obligations. The answer: It depends on both the type of debt and the laws of the state.

A person’s assets — no matter how meager or massive — become their “estate” at death. That includes their financial accounts, possessions and real estate. And, generally speaking, it’s the estate that creditors go after when they try to collect money that they’re owed.

.How Fast Can You Become a Millionaire?

Play the best online investing game — CASHFLOW® Classic — to begin your exit from the Rat Race… for free! CASHFLOW Classic is the free online investing game that makes learning to invest fun.

We believe the best way to learn isn’t done reading textbooks or listening to lectures. We believe the best learning is accomplished by doing the real thing.

For example, if you want to learn how to ride a bike, reading a book or listening to a lecture won’t help very much. Sure, you can learn some high-level theory about balance, stability, and the structural integrity of the bike… but it won’t help you overcome your fears of falling down. The only way to learn how to ride a bike is to go outside, hop on a bike and start to pedal. Investing works the same way.

.12 Money Tips for the Newly Single

By Mr Ssc June 9, 2020

Even if it’s for the best, ending a relationship can hurt in so many different ways. While most people are discussing the emotional fallout, which alone can be bad enough, conversations around the financial repercussions when ending a relationship aren’t as popular. Hopefully these money tips for the newly single will help you find your footing as you step into this new stage of life.

My Best Money Tips for the Newly Single

The challenges someone who’s newly single faces depends on the financial entanglement they had with their ex partner. Whether or not they lost money separating from them or took on any extra debt in the process also has a big effect on their immediate finances. For example, a couple who’s dating might just go their separate ways and be done with each other, but a married couple will have a lot more to split up.

If you’re leaving a long term relationship or marriage, and especially if there’s kids involved, it can be financially complex when you become newly single. Here’s some tips and things to keep in mind as you navigate your money post break up.

.How to Cope With Being Broke, Angry, and Ashamed

My Two Cents May 29, 2020 By Charlotte Cowles

Before Amanda Clayman became a therapist, she grappled with serious debt in her 20s. When she got her degree in social work in 2005, she decided to help people understand how money is tied to their emotional needs. “I wanted to say to as many people as possible, ‘Hey, it doesn’t have to be like this,’” she told me.

While the field of financial therapy is still relatively new, Clayman says a lot of therapists ask how they can address their clients’ financial anxieties. Her answer is simple: “’Talk more about money!’ I’m not offering financial advice.” Today, as the entire world grapples with the financial fallout of the pandemic — layered on top of the devastating toll of human loss — her work is more in demand than ever. In addition to treating patients, she recently partnered with the podcast Death, Sex & Money to launch a three-part series, Financial Therapy. We talked about how she overcame her own struggles with money and what she’s telling her clients who feel overwhelmed by financial stress and uncertainty.

How did you get into financial therapy in the first place?

.Money Advice for the Extremely Broke and Deeply Screwed (Thanks COVID-19!)

By Katie Way Apr 17 2020,

If you're laid off and panicking about how to eat AND pay rent, personal finance experts have some practical options and advice for you.

It is almost too much to have to think, in the midst of all the chaos and fear surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, about finding a new job. But, for at least 22 million Americans who’ve been laid off as a result of widespread business closures and shelter-in-place mandates, that’s reality right now.

And the layoffs don’t seem like they’re going to stop anytime soon, either. According to a report from Data For Progress, 52 percent of workers under the age of 45 have had their income negatively impacted as a result of this crisis, and some economists predict our current rate of joblessness could actually surpass the unemployment rate during the Great Depression.

So, yes, we may be living in a crisis that rivals a period in American history when people were eating dust (?) to survive, but at least we’re doing it together. Awesome!