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There are many reasons to look for a larger home – feeling cramped in your current space, family changes (marriage, kids, family moving in), increased work from home, and desire to spend more time with loved ones. My lovely wife and I, and our 5 kids, had several of these squarely on our minds when we started our home upgrade journey in 2019.

When we meet with retirement plan participants, an almost universal recommendation is to try to increase savings each year by one percent. But in order to get to that extra one percent, you have to be maintaining a positive cash flow. And the best way to establish and maintain savings is to prepare a budget.

Kids are expensive. At least, that’s what I hear.

Have you ever wondered how much wealth is enough?

With pre-approval in hand and a game plan for what elements we were looking for in our first house, my wife and I set out to find our dream home.

During the pandemic, my fiancé (now wife) and I arrived at the conclusion that a one bedroom, 750 square-foot apartment is not ideal for two people and a dog to share 24-7 for an extended period of time.

You may have started hearing about “base effects” in the business news media, when analysts are talking about inflation or other financial topics.

Last summer, my daughter wanted her own car, to get to work and show rehearsals. But I didn’t feel like we needed to buy another car, specifically for someone who was going off to school soon. So, I was left with the task of figuring out how to provide transportation, without creating unnecessary long-term costs. This led me to the question: When should you buy a car, versus lease? It’s complicated and, like a lot of financial decisions, depends on a number of circumstances.

As an independent young adult, soon after I brought home my first puppy, I found myself in the vet’s office. He had apparently ingested a piece of metal, making him throw up repeatedly.

In this, the first in our series of blog posts around paying for college, we take a look at the Morningstar report regarding the top 529 College Savings Plans.