When investing for a specific event in the future that will occur in a specific year, you may want to consider investing in a Target Date Fund. A Target Date Fund is the epitome of “set it and forget it” in the investment world. These Funds are designed to balance just the right amount of risk and reward as you move along your investment timeline. If you are in the early phases of your timeline, the Fund will be a mix of mostly equity and higher growth securities. As time moves on, the Fund will change your asset mix to be a little less risky without you having to do anything at all! For examp ..read more

If you don’t think you have enough money to set aside for investing to make it worth your time and energy, please read on. Today’s lesson is on the benefit of compound interest, this is an important one, it’s how your money can go to work for you. Compound interest is the return you earn on your return. If invested over time, small amounts of money can grow even more thanks to the concept of compounding. If you are a visual person like me, here is an easy table that shows exactly how even a small dollar amount invested can exponentially grow. In the below example, let’s pretend that you start ..read more

For some, investing can seem scary and overwhelming. To help ease the anxiety a bit, I came up with a quick list of 5 Do’s and Don’ts to consider during your investing lifetime. (In no particular order.) Do’s Educate yourself. The more you know, the more comfortable you are with tackling anything in your life. Take the time, learn a little before you dive in. Ahem…start with Average Jane Investing ; ) Determine your investment goal. What are you saving for? What is your timeline for investing? Diversify and manage risk according to your long term goal. Analyze Fees, watching out for hidden ex ..read more

Within the financial industry, there is a lot of buzz right now about “ESG” and “Impact” investing. But, what do those terms actually mean? ESG stands for ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE. For some, investing is about more than growing their money, it’s also about making sure they are investing in and supporting companies that are diligent about practices that preserve our beautiful planet, are doing their part to create a better workplace and community, and are operating their business ethically and fairly. Here are a few examples of practices in each category that you may want to research b ..read more

It doesn’t matter what types of securities you are investing in, there is risk involved, period. Risk that the stock price drops within a day, risk that a government backed bank goes bankrupt, risk that the real estate market crashes, again. You are not guaranteed a positive return on your investment. Let me say it again loud and clear…you may not get your money back at the exact time you need it! I’m not trying to scare with you doom’s day tactics…after all, I’m actually encouraging you to invest! I just want you to understand that there are different levels of risk associated with each type ..read more

I’m a mama of 4, the thought of my “not so little anymore” babies going off to college is downright terrifying for me. But here is the thing, I can either live in denial (which I definitely do most days) or I can do my very best to help them prepare financially for college if that is the route they so choose. The cost of college is rising, like at exponential rates. So how in the world do you plan and save for a such a big financial expense that seems to be approaching much faster than you would like? Introducing the 529 College Savings Plan. A 529 plan is a savings account that provides tax b ..read more

What an exciting time it is to be a female, am I right?!? We are in an era where #personaldevelopment is at the forefront of so many conversations, so many blogs, articles, instagram posts, facebook groups, etc. We are putting our health first, both physical and emotional. We are intentionally encouraging and uplifting other women, sharing all of the motivational quotes with our tribe. Everyday, I read a new article about a female entrepreneur changing an industry that might still be thought of as male dominated. So much is happening around the globe to promote the development of young girls s ..read more

All of the experts will tell you to #diversify your portfolio. (Portfolio is just a fancy term for all of your investments looked at holistically.) But what exactly does diversification mean? Diversification is the process of choosing different asset classes and securities that involve different levels of risk to achieve your long term investing goal responsibly. Average Jane would just say “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. You need to invest in different asset classes to avoid a large negative return in the event one asset class goes down big time. If you instead diversify, and inves ..read more

So for the average Jane investor like you and me, (unless you are a multi millionaire and in which case this blog probably isn’t for you) the main vehicle you’ll most likely use to get exposure to the stock and bond markets is called a mutual fund. A mutual fund is a pool of money from many investors that an investment manager then invests on behalf of all of the collective shareholders of the mutual fund. Think of it like this…Jane and her friends pool their money together to rent or buy a vacation home. The vacation home is too expensive for Jane to buy or rent on her own, but since Jane is ..read more

Here we are, quarantined to our homes, most of us spending time reading the latest on COVID-19 and about ready to start our 15th game of Yahtzee for the day. Have you been paying attention to the stock markets since the outbreak began? If so, I’m sure you have a million and one questions. Should I continue to invest? Should I sell off my investments and wait for things to calm down? Why is the market down one day and up the next? Should I be investing in companies that stock toilet paper?!? Here is the thing…markets are going to be volatile for at least the next few months. There is too much s ..read more