Fun and Finance

College education is getting more and more expensive. How can you save enough money for children’s college education? There are many ways to do that. In this article, we will talk about one way to do it: using a 529 plan. Summary How much will college cost when you kids go to college What is the 529 plan? Benefits of the 529 plan The contribution limit How to use 529 to fund for your kids’ college Other ways to afford college How much will college cost when you kids go to college For every saving plan, we should have an end goal. So the first thing we will do is to figure out how much the college is going to cost by the time your kids are going there. Vanguard provides this free College cost projector . You can enter the following info, then calculate the projected college cost: Years until college Years in college Rate of annual cost increase Current annual college cost For the current annual cost, by clicking the “look up cost” button, you can then enter the state, then either choose...

I wish someone had told me earlier about this:  You can invest in real estate without purchasing properties! You can do so through REITs, crowdfunding or investing in real estate focused businesses. I have been investing in REITs for a while now. In this article, I will talk about what are REITs, the benefits of REITs, the performance of REITs, its correlation to stocks, how to invest in REITs and tax considerations. Summary What are REITs The benefits of REITs The performance of REITs Dividend yield Fund performance Correlation of REITs and stock How to invest in REITs Tax considerations What are REITs REITs stands for real estate investment trusts. They are companies who own and manage real estate. There are REITs in a lot of different property sectors, like industrial, retail, residential, mortgage, etc. The benefits of REITs The major benefit of REITs is dividend income.  REIT must distribute at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends to its stockholders. So you as an...

In this post, we will talk about what HSA is, the benefits of using HSA and how you can use it to fund your retirement. Summary What is HSA? The benefits of using HSA How to use HSA to fund your retirement Other options What is HSA? HSA is a health saving account. You can use it for medical expenses with some high deductible health plans in the US. You can also use HSA for non-medical expenses before age 65, however, you will need to pay a 20% penalty plu tax if you do so. However, after age 65, you will be able to use money in your HSA account for non-medical expenses without any penalty. The benefits of using HSA The main benefits of HSA is due to its tax treatment. HSA is: Pre-tax when you are contribution to it, meaning that you are not paying tax for the money you contributed to it; Growth is tax free, meaning that you don’t need to pay tax for the growth of the funds; Tax-free when you withdraw it. How to use HSA to fund your retirement HSA is a great way for you to lower income ...

Salem is the capital city of Oregon. It is a scenic city located one hour away from the ocean, and one hour away from the mountains. This blog will walk you through a two day itinerary in Salem, Oregon for your weekend trip. Summary Day 1 Silver Falls State Park South falls Lower south falls Fossil hunting at sweet home Marco polo restaurant Day 2 Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge Shopping Day 1 Silver Falls State Park This is a state park with 10 beautiful waterfalls. It is 20 miles away from Salem. There is a 7.9 mile loop with 600 feet elevation gain called trail of ten falls. It takes you to all the ten waterfalls. You can also shorten the hike by turning back at any point. South falls This is the most famous waterfall in Silver falls state park. It is also the first one you will see along the trail of ten falls. It is about a 0.45 mile walk from the south falls trailhead to the south fall. Lower south falls Keep walking for another 0.8 miles, you will see another waterfall c...

In this article, we will talk about why you need to rebalance your portfolio, how often you should do it and how to rebalance your portfolio for accounts that you are regularly investing in vs. accounts that you are no longer investing in. Summary Why you should rebalance your portfolio How often should you rebalance your portfolio? How to rebalance your portfolio For accounts that you are no longer investing in For accounts that you are regularly investing in Why you should rebalance your portfolio Because different assets change in value over time, your portfolio can drift out of your intended allocation. By rebalancing assets, you are trading value out of strong-performing assets into weaker assets, which is a form of “buy low, sell high” that boosts long-term results. How often should you rebalance your portfolio? You can balance your portfolio when the percentage of a certain fund has shifted more than a certain percentage or at a certain time frequency. For example, you can rebal...

  Hawaii is a beautiful place to go to. The islands are all beautiful in different ways. You won't go wrong going to any of them. In this article, I will talk about what I like about each island, and I will give my personal suggestion on which island you should go as a first timer.  Note: I will only mention the islands with direct flights from the mainland. Summary Oahu Maui Kauai Big island My thoughts Oahu Overall, even though Oahu is the most developed of all the islands, it still offers a lot of opportunities for hiking and snorkeling. The Waikiki area is very well developed. There are many nice hotels, restaurants and shops in that area.  If you love music and want to learn more about the culture in different Polynesian islands, you would love visiting Polynesian culture center. They also offer a Lūʻau and wonderful shows.  There are also lots of good snorkeling places, hiking places, waterfalls, etc on this island. If you are into the history of World War II, ...