Author: FinFit

The Bible, Shakespeare and even Popeye cartoons caution us against borrowing money. We’ll lose friends, become an outcast to those around us. This may be accurate in some cases, but – and this is a big “but” – borrowing money, with a solid strategy to pay it back, is almost core to our daily lives and keeps our economy humming along. There are three main reasons why people borrow money. While businesses – and governments – borrow regularly, personal borrowing is often considered...

Joseph – Joseph comes from a family who never had a bank account. He recently started his first full-time job without a bank account of his own. He quickly discovers the inconvenience and added expense of finding locations where his paycheck can be cashed after work. Joseph and his family are not alone. Based on a 2017 FDIC survey1, an estimated 8.4 million households are unbanked. Bill – Bill appreciates the fact that he’s able to have a bank account, but it seems like the fees are...

For many, the post-holiday financial hangover is about to set in with the arrival of January credit card bills. Ouch. The National Retail Federation estimated the average consumer planned to spend more than $1,000 on their holiday celebrations1. If the average American doesn’t even have $1,000 set aside for an emergency2, and 41% of all households carry some sort of credit card debt3, you can bet, for many, the holidays were funded with plastic. Why is it particularly impactful to act now? The...

Consider the impact of seemingly inconsequential events. The prolific sci-fi author, Isaac Asimov, wrote a short story chronicling a time traveler who, back in the age of dinosaurs, stepped off the path and inadvertently killed an insect. When the traveler returned to the present time, language and the environment had changed. The insect was food for another creature, which consequently starved, and so on cascading through the eons. The eventual impact was catastrophic. Allen looks...