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10 Questions to Dig Deeper
Download my guide “10 Questions to Dig Deeper” by signing up for my email list. You can use this guide to reflect on your own money values or as a conversation starter with others!
HSA
You can open a free HSA that can be invested for long-term growth. Click the image below to sign up.
Calculators
Retirement and Saving
Compound Interest Calculator – Shows the power of compounding interest by giving you a graph of your contributions vs. the future value of your savings.
Retirement Calculator – Gives a good idea of how much you need to be saving to reach retirement (I prefer the word financial independence). It also gives you other options to meet your goal, such as how much to increase your contributions, delaying retirement, or reducing your income requirement. This one is the most comprehensive.
Retirement Total Calculator – Estimates the total amount in assets you will need to retire.
Retirement Income Calculator – Estimates how much income in retirement you will have based on your savings.
Debt
Student Loan Calculator – Calculate your monthly payment, total interest paid, and use the amortization schedule to estimate your balance in any future month.
Credit Card Calculator – Calculate how long it will take to pay off your balance and the total interest paid.
Home and Rent
Home Affordability Calculator – Input your income, down payment, and other details to determine how much home you can afford. Please keep in mind that most calculators assume you can spend up to 28% of your gross income on your mortgage payment and up to 36% on total debt payments. The closer you get to the 28% figure, the less flexibility you have in your life if something goes wrong. Other conservative models suggest limiting your mortgage payment to 25% of your net pay.
Mortgage Calculator – Calculate monthly payment and see an amortization graph to understand most of your early payments are going towards interest.
Refinance Calculator – Compare remaining interest, total payments, payoff date, and monthly payment between your current mortgage and refinancing.
Rent vs. Buy Calculator – Comprehensive look at whether renting or buying is better with the ability to adjust many assumptions
Cost of Living Calculator – Compare the cost of living in two cities.
Car
Auto Loan Calculator – Determine your monthly payment, total interest, and total amount paid over the life of the loan.
5-Year Cost to Own Car Calculator – Compare ownership cost for five different cars.
Tax
1040 Tax Calculator – Estimate your total taxes, how much of your long-term capital gains are taxable, and taxable Social Security benefits.
Books
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen – Provides a step-by-step guide to navigate challenging conversations.
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Abrams – A wonderful book about joy, happiness, and compassion. It helps put life in perspective and provides tools to improve your life.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman – Fascinating book about how we think and how to spot cognitive biases. For anybody interested in behavioral finance, you will likely love this book.
