My 2nd Stock - Apple, AAPL

Hey, I bought more stock! Did you know that on June 6th Apple, .AAPL split its stock 7-1. What was once a stock that was super out of my financial reach at $635/share  is now totally affordable at $91.98/share. I bought 31 shares on June 6th for $92.12 each. I have a lot of faith in this stock as it one of the most traded stocks in the market, and with the iphone 6 about to release, I am confident that it will go up.
You know what else is cool about Apple, AAPL? It offers a quarterly dividend of $0.47. $1.88/year times my 31 shares is $58.28. Just for owning the stock! Sure, I'll take it!

What are you investing in? 

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Steps to Financial Freedom Recap

I'm so happy that it's Friday and I wanted to take a minute to recap what steps I have taken so far to get me on the path to financial freedom! I'm giving myself a little pat on the back here because I think I deserve it!

Step 1. I decided that I wanted to get out of debt. Big step! So I made a list of my debts, corresponding interest rates, balances due and ordered them from the highest to lowest interest rate. The credit card is at the very top of the list with a 19% APR. I moved the balance from that card to a card that has a 0% APR for the first 12 months,  making my monthly payment $300. That's doable. Then I automated this payment so I don't have to watch the $300 payment leaving my bank account every month. It just happens which is way less painful.

Step 2. I took a look at my savings account. If i'm paying them then I want to pay myself too. So I spoke to my payroll dept at work and changed my direct deposit to put all but $100 of every paycheck in my checking account and put that other $100 into a savings account. The savings account is a high yield savings account, it is not connected to my regular bank, lessening the temptation to dip into it, AND I automated the action. It's a small amount but it's better then nothing and it adds up.

Step 3. I took control of my 401k and feel like I really know what is happening there. I know how much i'm investing through every paycheck, what i'm investing in, and how to check my YTD earnings and my progress.

Step 4. I did my research and started investing an old 401(k), that I rolled into an IRA through Sharebuilder, in the stock market. My first stock purchase was only 5 shares. This keeps my potential loss and risk low and at the same time i'm learning so much by being an active participant. It's really exciting!

Future steps:
Continue getting out of debt. After the credit card is paid off, move on to the student loan debt.
Continue to save. Increase this amount after the credit card is paid off.
Continue to invest in the 401(k). Increase this amount after the credit card is paid off too.
Continue to invest in the stock market. Alway research new stocks and sectors.
Work on my passive income streams. Blogging, clothing line, new products. (More to come on this topic!)

What are the steps that you have taken so far towards financial freedom? What will your next steps be?

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Top 3 401(k) Considerations

Back to my 401(k). Sorry to go back to this, but I really want to understand what is happening with that money! I want to be sure that I am making the right decisions as far as how much i'm contributing and what my contributions are being invested in. With that in mind, today I sat down and went through the whole thing. I took the time to log on to the account that holds my investments and shows me the growth thus far. If you haven't set this up yet, I suggest you do it. I hadn't looked at it for 6 months and it has really started to add up! $$$ in the bank, now that's what I like to see!

What are you investing in?
Most 401(k) plans have a few specific funds that you can invest in. You can put 100% into one fund or spread it around into a few different funds. My 401(k) has bond funds, growth funds and value funds, as well as funds that are specifically tailored to your needs based on the year you plan to retire. This for me was the easiest way to go and was what I started out with. But recently I decided to switch it up a bit and put my money into a few of the other funds. I'm spreading it around a bit to see what happens. By keeping tabs on my YTD return percentage I can track my progress and see if I was better off letting the professionals handle it when it was in the retirement year specified fund.

401k vs. Roth 401k
Some companies, like mine will also give you the option of a regular 401(k) and a Roth 401(k). You should conduct your own research on these two terms but i'm going to break it down very simply here.
A regular 401(k) comes out of your paycheck pre-tax. This means that your taxable income is lowered and thus less taxes to pay. At the time of retirement, you will pay taxes when you withdraw the money according to your tax rate at that time.
In a Roth 401(k) you pay taxes on your contributions upfront, which means that you don't lessen your present tax burden. However, at the age of retirement you won't pay taxes on your withdrawals.
Its like a now or later sort of situation.

How much?
My company has a 4% match so i'm contributing that much. I can't see passing up free money! Since i'm trying to get out of debt, I only contribute that much but once I free up more of my monthly income I plan to increase that %.

As always, always do your research and consult with a tax professional before you make any major decisions about your retirement and finances.

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Tips for Finding More Money in Your pocket This Month!

One way to find more money in your pocket and tackle that debt! is to first take look at your expenses to see what you are spending your hard earned cash on. You might be surprised at what you find.
Once you have your list, decide if there are any expenses that you can eliminate. My list looks like this:

Rent

Utilities

Cell phone

Internet

Student loans

Credit card payments

Netflix

Gym

Groceries

Metro Card

My list is pretty pared down, however, I could still make some changes. I could find a less expensive cell phone plan. I could cut that payment in half and have $50 extra/mo in my pocket. I could look for an apt with less expensive rent, something that I am seriously considering. (The rent is too damn high!) I am all about health and fitness and I am a regular at my gym, but do I need a gym membership in the warm months when I can run outside? Or maybe I could find a less expensive gym.
Just a few small changes here and I could have another potential $200-$400 extra in my pocket every month.
It's worth taking a look. Don't let your expenses weigh you down.

Have you tracked your expenses? Where will you cut some corners?

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Investing - My First Trade!

So I've finally pulled the trigger and traded my first stock! One of the first things that I learned about investing in the stock market, as a complete novice, is that when you buy or sell a stock it's called trading. Minor detail. Anyway..
I signed up for an online brokerage through Sharebuilder. I really like the interface and find it very easy to navigate, especially for a beginner. I'm using money from an old 401(k) that was rolled into IRA to trade with. is another online brokerage that I recently found. They offer cheaper fees, $4.95/trade compared to $6.95/trade with Sharebuilder and they're running a promotion right now. If you switch over they will give you up to $150 bonus. Not a bad way to start investing for someone on a tight budget with not a lot of cash to spare!
What ever you choose to do, check it out thoroughly and always do your research.
My first stock trade was Hewlett-Packard Co, HPQ. I purchased 5 shares for $33.14/share, a total purchase price of $165.70 + $6.95 in fees. This isn't a huge investment and I am comfortable if I lose a few bucks on this. HPQ is currently trading at $34.52. I've had it for about a month and I think i'll keep watching it for another month. If it doesn't do much i'll put it on the sell list. Ideally, I want to make my purchase price + fees back at the very least, but we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted on this one and my future trades too!

Are you trading? What was or will be your first trade?

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Emergency Fund and How Much to Have

It's a good idea to have a few things in place before you begin to invest and reach out for those passive streams of income and eventually wealth. I have talked in previous posts about a few of these things. We talked about 401(k) and how its a good idea to participate so you can take advantage of that employer match. I also talked about getting out of debt which is something that I am currently working on. I will have much more money to work with once I do this.

The emergency fund

Another good idea is to have an emergency fund in place. In the event that something terrible should happen to you or your family, like losing your job or needing an unexpected operation etc. you will be happy that you have this safety net of a fund in place.

How much is enough?

There are some different schools of thought on the amount that should be in your fund. Some people say the amount should be able to cover 3 months of expenses, others say that it should cover 6 months. My fund (yes, I do have a fund ) will cover me for just about 3 months. This makes me feel pretty secure.

Do you have an emergency fund? Do you feel safer knowing that you have a financial safety net? 

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Asset Classes - Diversification Or Bet It All On Black?

3 Asset classes
The 3 main asset classes are stocks or equities, bonds or fixed income, and money markets or cash equivalents. These are terms that I have seen over and over again in my research on investing in the stock market and at first was totally confused by them. What are they and whats the difference?

How does each one perform differently?
Each one performs differently depending on what the market is doing and how it is changing.
Equities or stocks have historically outperformed the other classes, however they tend to be more volatile and bring more risk.
Fixed income or bonds are investments that are set up to pay out at a set interest rate over a set period of time. They are safe but the potential return is less than that of equities.
Money markets or cash equivalents are the lowest returning of the 3 asset classes but the safest. They provide a minimum return on investment.

Diversifying across these three main classes can help to lower your risk and improve chances of steady gains. Mixing very safe with a little bit of risky has proved to be a better method than betting it all on black! I guess it depends on what kind of a gambler you are.

Are you diversifying your investments across asset classes?

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2014 Midway Point - Goal Reflection

It occurred to me today, that we are just days from the midway point of 2014. Wow, already!? This year, a year that was supposed to be THE YEAR for me, has I have to admit been pretty good. I started out 2014 with a slew of goals as I always do, making sure to keep them high enough but still attainable. No one likes failure! Below are 4 of the most important goals that I made for 2014.

Credit card debt: This was the first goal that I had on my list. I feel pretty good about this one, even though my cc debt won't be paid off completely until early next year. Not only do I have my system in place for paying this down, but it's also automated, requiring no work from me. It's just happening!

Saving: Next, I had a goal to save $200/mo. It is really hard to have debt and also a 401k that gets contributed to every month, but to also be saving money in a savings account? Guess what people, i'm doing just that! And again, it's automated! $100 comes out of every paycheck and gets directly deposited into my high interest yielding savings account. Check!

Financially free plan: The 3rd goal was to put a plan in place to become financially free. This one is a little less measurable but I think I can say that i'm at least on the path to getting there. I believe that if I continue to educate myself about investing, debt reduction, passive income, and entrepreneurship, I will get there.

Career: The final thing on my list of goals is to work on my career. Whether it be getting a promotion at my day job (which did happen this year, btw) or by getting my entrepreneurial side of things up and moving. This goal needs more focus over the course of this 2nd half. The focus needs to be shifted on what I want and what will make me happy.

Overall, I think it's been a pretty successful 6 months. So congratulations and lets celebrate our midway 2014 successes and work hard on accomplishing more over the next 6 months!

How will you make your 2nd half of 2014 as sucessful as it can possibly be?

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My Debt Spreadsheet

I want to talk about my debt in specifics. I'm prepared to get very real and open about my debt. In the hopes that it will keep me on track (because I really don't want to fail publicly) I have prepared a spreadsheet listing all of my current debt, the monthly payments, interest rates, as well as the balance still owed. I'm not going to lie. I had been hiding from the truth, a bit, and got a little sad when I saw the actual number presented before me of what I owe in the balance column. Gulp!

Liabilities	Amt/mo	Balance	Interest Rate
Credit Card 1	$190.00	$380.00	15.24%
Credit Card 2	$300.00	$4,335.00	0%
Student Loan 1	$174.65	$22,898.00	2.36% / 6.8%
Student Loan 2	$82.50	$6,792.00	5.25%
Student Loan 3	$87.92	$9,695.00	3.25%
Student Loan 4	$72.55	$2,939.00	2.36%
	$907.62	$47,039.00

The good news is that i'm only 2 months away from paying off credit card #1! Yay!!

Whats your debt look like? How close are you to paying it off and 

celebrating your new financial freedom?

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Paper Trading.. for the Gun-shy

The stock market has always fascinated me. I've always wanted to get into investing in the markets but never knew quite where to begin. It seemed like such an intimidating world and way out of my reach but recently I decided to take control (that's kind of my new thing if you haven't picked up on that already), and dive in! I'm reading everything I can get my hands on, scanning all of the stock market websites that I come across, and keeping my ears open for any tips on specific stocks that are "going up". I think i'm finally ready to give it a shot! But if you're feeling gun-shy and want to practice first, you can try out one of the paper trading sites like Investopedia or Trademonster. Both sites allow you to sign up with them and let you place real trades on real stocks with fake money. You can track your gains and losses against real-time stock quotes and see how you stack up against the pros before placing your bets with your hard earned cash.

Are you paper trading now? And if so, how is it going?

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5 Easy Tips for Taking Control of Your 401(K)

When my current employer decided that the business was growing at a consistent rate and that she wanted to offer a 401(k) retirement plan to employees, I was stoked. When she decided she would match at 4%, I was even more stoked! A combined 8% of my earnings will be going to my retirement fund instead of taxable income to fill Uncle Sam's pockets at the end of the year. Sounds great to me! But how do I get the most out of my 401(k)? Keep reading for my 5 easy tips for taking control of your 401(k).

1. Roll over old 401(k) - Do you have a 401(k) from a previous employer that's just sitting out there in space? I did for years. At one point I totally forgot about that $2,500 just sitting there in that account! When I remembered my money, floating there in space, I decided to take control and suffer through what I thought would be a really boring and painful process of rolling it over. Turns out, it was quite simple. One short filled-out form later and my new 401(k) was authorized to withdrawal and deposit the $2,500 from my old 401(k). Done!

2. Increase your contributions - Every time I get a raise or a bonus I increase my contribution. It could be as little as a 1% increase. Regardless this is an important step if you want your investment to grow larger and faster. And besides you won't even notice that 1% or more is gone when it comes out of a raise or bonus!

3. Match the match! - What you contribute to your 401(k) is going to depend on a lot of different factors. Are you in debt? Is your job stable or are there layoffs in the works? Could you better use the money to build up your 3-6 month emergency fund? I decided that the best thing for me is to match what my employer is going to match. Until my debt is paid down, I will stay at this comfortable level. I can't see passing up free money!

4. Picking the Investment - There are a lot of choices out there with different 401(k) plans. Bonds, money markets, stock mutual funds, value funds. It's really going to depend on your risk tolerance and years till retirement. You're going to need to do your research on this one. (Stay tuned for a more intense 401(k) investment-picking blog post to follow!)

5. Don't borrow - Leave it alone! The only way it will grow is if you continue to contribute to it and let it grow up to be a be strong pile of cash!

Take control of the management of your assets. If you don't understand something about your investment then ask. But remember, no one cares more about the safety of your money than you do.

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Wise Words from Einstein?

One of the most popular quotes that I have come across on my path to financial freedom is, Compounding interested is the 8th wonder of the world - Albert Einstein. Apparently, there is no evidence to prove that he actually said it, but who cares, it's true!

This is how I understand and define compounding interest. (Disclaimer: Feel free to google the definition and find all kinds of different ways of explaining it, most more technical than my layman version here. This is how it makes sense in my head). There is also a great book called The Power Curve: Smart Investing Using Dividends, Options, and the Magic of Compounding.  In it, he talks about the magic of compounding.
Compounding interest is when you have an investment that gains interest. This interest is then reinvested with the original amount and as a result, the combined amount is now gaining interest. As time goes by and this reinvesting keeps happening, your investment grows exponentially.

Lets look at my current 401k investment. I have a whooping $10,000 currently in my 401k, and i'm getting about a 7% annual return on it. What will I have in 30 years? Not enough, but I plan to fix that, as soon as I get out of debt!
I will have $76,122.
How did I get there? The formula goes like this:
Present Value x (1 + interest rate) to the n-th power (years) = Future Value OR
PV x (1 + r) n = FV

So...

$10,000 x (1+.07) to the 30th power = $76,122

Compounding interest is key to understanding your investment to time relationship. The longer you wait to invest and save the less time you allow for the 8th wonder of the world, compounding interest, to work for you! When I crunched the numbers on my own finances it was a bit hard to swallow some of the financial choices I made in my 20s, but beginning now is better than never starting at all!

Things to think about
*Compounding interest and how it helps you in your investments.
*Run the numbers on my investments. Where will I be in 10, 20, 30 years at the current rate? Where will I be if I make monthly contributions to my current investment in 10, 20, 30 years? Where will I be if I increase my monthly contributions by $100 in 10, 20, 30 years?

Have you done the math on your investments yet? Are you contributing enough to get to your investment goals?

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Get Lost, Debt! - My Goals

After a lot of research, it is clear to me that you cannot get to wealth and financial freedom without getting out of debt first. This has been the common thread of all of the books and financial websites that I have read and podcasts that I have listened to and it has become my own personal mission. Yes, I have debt. It is time to stop ignoring the student loan statements and making excuses. Free me from the shackles of debt!
My debt consists of 1 credit card and 4 student loans. I went to college at a very affordable school. Great idea. But I took out the max on the loans that they would give me so that I could continue to live on my own, in an apt, and not work while studying. Bad idea. This is your money and your life so be careful with it. Think twice before purchasing something on credit. Do you really need it? Wouldn't it be better to wait and buy it outright with cash?

My get out of debt goals:
*Pay off the credit card first since it has the highest (19%) interest rate. Vow never to let my credit card spending get out of hand again..no matter how many travel points i'm earning.

*Triple the minimum payment amount on credit card. In my case it's $100, so i'll make $300 payments.

*Automate this payment every month so that I don't even see it come out of the bank. This is key to staying on top of debt and not letting it get you down.

*Pay off student loans with the highest interest rate first next.

*Once credit card is paid off, use the credit card payment of $300 and put it towards my student loan on top of the $85 minimum payment that i'm currently making on the one with the highest interest rate.

*Once student loan numero uno is paid off, transfer the amount that was being paid to the credit card AND the amount of the student loan payment, $385, to the 2nd student loan on top of the $75 minimum payment on that loan. See how it's a snowball effect?

*Continue till no more of my hard-earned cash is owed to anyone else.

Paying off debt becomes really fun when you start making final payments, checking the debt off the list, and watching it vanish into thin air, never to return.. hopefully. No, definitely.
I'll keep you posted on my progress.

How are you going to begin to get yourself out of debt?

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How Can I Make My Money Work for Me?

People often ask me why I got so interested in the topic of financial freedom and the means of getting there. Well, first of all the topic is money. That's a pretty interesting topic, especially if you're a young girl like me, living in one of the biggest most exciting cities in the world... and you are broke. But the light bulb really went off when I was introduced to a book called, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki a few years ago. It was a quick read, I flew through it in a weekend. A real page-turner.
One of the biggest tips I took from that book was that I should work my 9-5 but I should also work on MY BUSINESS. My business? What did that mean? It meant that I should be making my money work for me by building my assets. This was eyeopening for me. I was raised to think that you work hard, you get a job, you stay at that job, and you're grateful for it. No one ever told me that I could be working on MY BUSINESS and creating wealth at the same time! 
So what does it mean to build your assets and make your money work for you? Assets are things, both tangible and intangible, that you own that have value and can produce wealth. An example of a tangible asset is real estate. A great idea for someone who has cash to throw down on some property and then rent all or some of it out. 

Things to think about: 
*Work on MY BUSINESS. 
*How can I attain assets and build wealth?
*What types of assets could I own that could put me on the path to wealth?

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Financial Freedom - The Journey

Financial freedom is a phrase that I heard over a year ago and immediately had to learn more about. It was like I was struck by lighting. Stunned, I sat there and thought, what the hell is this financial freedom and how do I get it?? You mean there is an alternate path in life to wealth that does not necessarily include a 9-5 job for the next 30 years? You mean I can have more than one stream of income coming in at a time? It was truly eye-opening.
I listen to podcasts daily on investing, entrepreneurship, and automation. I read books about stocks, options, dividends, and getting out of debt. I scour the web for articles on passive income and how to get it. The list goes on and on! The more I dig, the more I find. There is so much information out there and i'm here to share it with you!
This blog is a documentation of my financial discoveries and how I implement everything that I learn on my journey. This is A Girl's Journey to Financial Freedom.

-Girl Finance