Money Musings 💭 A lifelong learner 🤩
Earlier this month I got to attend my mom’s PhD graduation ceremony 🎓 where she received her doctoral hood.
I watched her walk and receive her diploma, we celebrated with her classmates and most importantly I got to witness her achieve a lifelong dream to become Dr. Feinstein.
So inspiring right?! 🤩
Something my mom taught us growing up and has always embodied (her new PhD is proof!) is how important it is to be a lifelong learner.
That we’re never done learning and that there’s always room to grow and be better, in whatever we do.
This manifests itself in a lot of ways but here are some wonderful things that come from the lifelong learner mindset:
CURIOSITY. Someone who is curious follows their interests, asks questions to solve problems and is generally curious about the people and world around them. It makes everything much more interesting!
HUMILITY. No matter how much we know, there’s always more to learn and room to be wrong. It’s okay to not know everything.
IT'S OKAY TO MAKE MISTAKES. Because we can always grow and improve, it’s okay to make mistakes. We take what we can from the mistake and try something different next time.
FUN. When we approach learning and getting better with this mindset, it can be so much fun.
This mindset is beneficial for every area of our lives, no matter what you are interested in, personal finance included.
"Financial adulting" isn’t about arriving at any amount of knowledge or achieving specific financial goals, it’s about taking consistent steps and continuing to learn and improve week after week.
The same goes for our careers, our physical and mental health, our relationships, our parenting, etc.
Are you a lifelong learner? Let me know what you’re focusing on next.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
MONEY SAVVY TRAVEL SERIES - #1 - MAP OUT YOUR TRAVEL.
In a recent survey on the Fiscal Femme Instagram, we learned that 59% of you are planning a longer vacation, 11% a weekend trip, and 20% want to travel.
Over the next four weeks we're going to talk about budgeting for travel.
This first step is really fun. Studies show that planning (and dreaming up) our vacation actually provides the biggest boost to our happiness (even more so than the vacation itself!).
Map out 🗺️ your travel. What do you have planned (or want to have planned) over the next twelve months?
If you have a more expensive (bucket-list type trip) in the next couple of years, you might want to add that to the list to start saving sooner rather than later.
Don’t forget to include weddings or bachelorette parties (when you will be traveling) as well as weekend getaways. I like to include the month the trip is happening as well.
As you’re making your list, let yourself dream 💭 a little. What do you envision for each trip? ✈️ We’ll dig into that more in step #2.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
BIG NEWS 📣 IN 529 PLANS.
ICYMI, I shared all about 529 plans and how they work, here. And while you might not expect to hear the words “exciting” and “529 plans” in the same sentence 😆, I have some exciting 529 news to share.
Starting in 2024, a new policy will allow 529 plan beneficiaries to roll over up to $35,000 to a Roth IRA tax and penalty-free over their lifetime. 🤩
This is a game-changer for families who may have leftover funds in their 529 plan. This can be helpful if a child receives scholarships or decides not to attend school, for example.
Get all the details here.
MY TRAVEL JOURNEY
DON’T FORGET TO GET THOSE PASSPORTS RENEWED.
When I was out with friends, one of them mentioned that her friends were having a hard time getting an expired passport renewed. They couldn't get a local appointment so they they ended up flying to a different (faraway) state so they didn’t have to miss their vacation.
I was inspired to check our passport expiration dates as soon as I got home. Low and behold, E needed a new one before our trip. Not only that, young kids can’t just renew their passports without a photo (they change SO much over 5 years) so it can’t just be done online.
You might have seen the headlines but passport times are delayed more than usual. We were told his passport could take 9-12 weeks which was too long for us.
We ended up having to expedite for a $60 fee. 💰 Sharing about it here so maybe you don’t have to!
your weekly money wins
Here are all the amazing money moves you made this week 👏👏👏
Niki C: Utilized $$ from home sale proceeds to fully fund my Roth IRA!
Andrea J: Getting ready for a new job with a pension and 401K with 5% match!!! 😭😭😭
Ashley K: After saving enough for a down payment, I upped my HSA and 401K contributions to max out
Torr: Started looking into a side hustle!
Melinda J: Moved high interest CC debt to a 0% balance transfer card; plan to pay it off in 18 months.
Shel: Paid cash for new tires and inspection! All from my "car" sinking fund 😄
Amanda M: Met w/ financial advisors to see where I can maximize my $$$. Moving toward small steps now
Noelle: Returned unnecessary purchases totaling $120, asked Apple for $20 refund
Paige B: We have an emergency fund big enough to not stress about a major car repair this week