Fast and Finance

I know that I’ve mentioned emergency funds in plenty of my episodes, but I have yet to dedicate a whole episode to it – and I think that’s appropriate. To simply put it, an emergency fund is just a cash reserve, or safety net, if you will, that is set aside for any unplanned expenses or in some cases, emergencies.

I want the purpose of this episode to ignite that spark in your mind, especially the younger generations who feel as if they don’t need to be saving/investing for retirement. The idea is typically, “Well, I’m decades away from retirement so I don’t really have to think about that now.” The earlier the better. And the earlier you start, the easier it is going to be to hit that goal. Regardless of your age, you should ask yourself: How do I envision retirement, and how important is that to me? 

If you’re tuning into this episode because you feel guilty about not budgeting, confused about budgeting, lost, etc... I want you to know you are certainly NOT alone, infact there are thousands and thousands of individuals who are in the same boat as you. Budgeting can be a sensitive topic. In my personal opinion, budgets are kind of like tailored clothes. They should be sculpted precisely to fit you, and only you

I have had some past episodes on credit cards, you guys may remember the episode where I referred to them as tools... Right? Tools for building your CREDIBILITY! It’s not meant to be a safety net to purchase things you wouldn’t normally be able to afford... 

I think we all heard A LOT about interest rates over the past couple years – and even when they’re such a huge part of our life, there are still many people who don’t understand how they work, and how they can be holding them down. Interest rates do make sense for what they are – You need to borrow some money? Of course you can’t borrow that money for free. You’re going to get charged a percentage of the amount you borrowed, until the amount you borrowed is paid off. 

I’m sure you guys have heard the discussion of good vs. Bad debt before... And in my experience, a lot of people are under the impression that any debt, is bad debt. That’s not necessarily true – and having a solid understanding of this will draw that line between good/bad debt within your financial decisions. Good debt can really help you achieve goals. What are some examples of good debt?  

The reason I wanted to dedicate an episode to debt-to-income, is because I’m personally around the age where a lot of my peers, including myself, are starting to make larger purchases, aka LOANS – And I’m mainly referring to buying your first home, but even purchasing a new car these days, DTI matters. To put it simply, debt to income is all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income.

The dollar’s continued climb higher has been predicated on a host of factors — including the rise in geopolitical risk and the dollar’s safe haven status as inflows have picked up markedly, uncertainty with regard to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate move in December, a solid domestic economic landscape with inflation still “sticky,” a weakening euro as expectations suggest the potential for a stronger rate cut, and questions regarding the inflationary implications of the Trump administration’s tariff agenda.

One of the most reoccurring trends that I see is how they view investing... and that rather viewing it as an investment, many of them feel that they’re just spending money that could be spent elsewhere. And understandably so, as the cost of living has risen so high – but remember, I’ve had episodes in the past demonstrate that it’s about consistency over time, even if those investments are on the smaller side.

I wanted to dedicate an episode to a common scenario that most likely hits home for most U.S citizens. With numerous lines of debt piling up, from credit cards to loans.. How does one get out of the hole that they’ve dug for themselves over the years? When will someone invest for retirement if all they can afford is to pay off their debt? Well, there’s a certain process to it – or else individuals may find themselves just opening another line of credit when times get hard.