Credit scores are important. They can be our ticket to getting a good rate on a mortgage, a car loan, or refinancing your home. Your credit score also can make or break a rental application, or prevent you from accessing affordable housing programs. And while I do think that a lot of people tend to freak out a little too much about their credit scores, having a healthy one is a reasonable concern.

So what can you do if you want to raise your credit score? First, you’ll need to to find your credit score, which you can do by using a site like Credit Karma. Then, you’ll want to know a little more about how they work.

Everyone is worried about their credit score, but credit scores are calculated using the information on your credit reports. So, if you want to work on improving your score, your credit reports are a great place to start.

The three credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—gather information from creditors and create your reports, which they then sell when an inquiry is made. There are two types of inquiries: hard and soft. A hard inquiry is typically made by a lender when you apply for a line of credit. The institution is checking your history to help them make a decision on whether to lend, how much, and your interest rate.

Cell phones: we all need them, but how much do we really have to pay for them? Depending on the number of lines and extras, the bill can easily cost between $150-$300 per month. That’s a solid chunk of change, especially if you are trying to find more room in your budget to save or pay down debt. Luckily, there are a number of ways to reduce your cell phone bill.

Cell phone providers change their offerings all of the time. If it’s been a while since you’ve looked into your provider’s current plans, take the time to review them online or speak to a customer service representative. You might be able to save on your monthly bill and keep your current level of service.

At long last, the federal student loan debt relief application is open! The application is still in beta (testing) mode and it will be available off and on until the official launch later this month, so if it’s not available when you first check, try again later.

The application requires basic information including your name, social security number, date of birth, phone number, and email address. It also requires you to certify that you are within the income limits required to receive the debt relief. To qualify, your adjusted gross income (AGI) must be less than $125,000 if you are a single tax filer or married filing separately.

For the past two and a half years, most borrowers with federal student loans have not needed to make any payments. And a lot has changed over that time: people have moved across the country, started families, bought houses, and changed careers. Resuming payments in January 2022 will be an unwelcome headache, especially for those who have not reserved space in their budgets for a student loan payment.

There is a good chance that at least some of your employees will be affected by this: about 20% of Americans have student loans.

A common refrain we trainers are hearing right now as we work with our clients on their financial goals is that the reopening of the world is expensive. With so many things off limits for so long, having the freedom to get out and resume something like a normal life has created a rupture in a lot of people’s financial plans and savings rates. We’re often asked for advice on how not to spend money, or how to stick to a budget when there is so much going on that just a few weeks ago seemed impossible.

The Roth IRA began in 1998 as a way to encourage middle-class Americans to save for retirement without reducing revenue (i.e.taxes) to the federal government in the short term. Although Roth IRAs have income limits aimed at excluding higher-income people, major loopholes still allow just about anyone to stash cash now that they can withdraw tax-free in retirement. One of those loopholes is known as the “backdoor” Roth IRA contribution. Here are four signs that a backdoor Roth might be for you.

It’s appalling—but unsurprising—that after hundreds of years of stripping Native communities of their land and natural resources, Native Americans still face tough economic challenges. To recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we rounded up news articles, reports, and stats to know about the current state of Native Americans’ financial outlook. A recent poll found that more than two-thirds of Native Americans have experienced “significant financial problems” due to inflation.

If you have ever struggled or are currently struggling with money, it can feel like you are alone. That could not be further from the truth. Many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and no one is born financially literate. A 3-6 month emergency fund can look daunting when making ends meet is difficult enough.

Personal finance is personal and it is important to talk to a professional if you need help with your finances. The Financial Gym is a great place to start.

Bankruptcy is often held up as the worst thing that can happen to us financially. We are taught to fear it. Creditors have an incentive to make us scared of bankruptcy because it’s the only way to legally wipe away our debts (and their potential profits). Unfortunately, this fear-mongering keeps us trapped in debt and prevents us from building the kind of financial life we want.

Myth # 1: I’ll lose my home or car if I file for bankruptcy

In most cases, people who file for bankruptcy are able to keep their home and vehicle.

There is something about fall that makes it feel like a good time for a refresh. Maybe it’s the changing of the leaves and that crisp fall air—or maybe it’s looking at your credit card statement after all of that summer fun. Either way, it’s worth taking every chance you can get for a reset. Here are four tips to make the most of the time we have left this year.

With only three months left in the year, you can more easily anticipate upcoming large financial expenses. Do you have any travel planned? What will the holiday season look like for you? Are you planning any major home updates?

Starting a family can be an exciting—but also stressful. This is especially true for individuals and couples who have to deal with additional costs to conceive a child, including LGBTQIA+ couples, single parents by choice, and hetero couples facing fertility challenges. One of the frustrating aspects of starting a family when you’ll need medical intervention is that you have no way of knowing the final cost when you’re just starting out. The total depends on a number of factors including what medical interventions you need, what your insurance covers, and which clinic you use.

According to data released just last year, 83% of financial planners are white and 77% are male. Financial advisory firms will argue that this is where the wealth is held in the U.S., so they’re hiring to serve this population. I argue that a paradigm shift needs to happen in the wealth management industry. Instead of continuing to help white men and their families grow and preserve wealth, why not coach people and help them to build wealth?

Financial Gym has coached thousands of people from negative net worths to positive net worths in a relatively short period of time.

With all of the excitement around federal student loan cancellation, we don’t want other federal student loan benefits to be overlooked. In particular, the deadline for the limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver is quickly approaching. Borrowers who believe they may qualify under the waiver have until October 31, 2022 to consolidate their loans (if necessary) and submit their employment for certification. The limited PSLF waiver offers a temporary path to counting certain payments towards PSLF that previously did not count.

A century ago, women still didn’t have the right to vote. But 102 years ago that all changed with the 19th amendment. The 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote was signed into law on August 26, 1920, allowing women to use their voice and vote. As of 1973, in honor of this, Congress marked August 26th as Women’s Equality Day.

Though on this day, women achieved equality through having the right to vote, we know that there is still inequality that women face, especially when it comes to earning.

A lot of us love to travel. I know this because I’ve worked with hundreds of clients on hundreds of financial plans, and once we work through the hard numbers like assets and liabilities and expenses, we talk through the fun stuff, like goals and non-negotiables. Like me, a lot of my clients’ primary goal is to travel, and it’s a non-negotiable part of living the life we want.

Also like me, they like to travel more than they can afford to. Luckily, there’s a tool for that, and it’s called Travel Hacking. Travel Hacking is the art of using airline and hotel loyalty programs to their full potential, often by using points and miles credit cards strategically.

Many companies and organizations struggle with how to assist employees in building short-term financial stability. While newer options like employer-sponsored emergency funds can certainly help, most companies already offer their employees an extremely effective savings tool: the ability to split their direct deposits. This tool is underutilized: only 19 percent of employees who use direct deposit split that into multiple accounts. But when employees do split their direct deposit, the overwhelming majority do so to stash cash in savings; nearly three-quarters of employees who split their direct deposit did so to save money.

At The Financial Gym, we are often asked by current and future parents how to best save for their child’s future and education. A common vehicle for this is the 529 account, but you may have also heard of an UTMA. Let’s dive into both.

First things first: there are 51 separate 529 plans—one for each state plus the District of Columbia. 529s are also known as Qualified Tuition Programs (QTP). Each 529 has slightly different features or rules as it relates to their respective states, but their purpose is the same.

Besides housing, eating out is one of the biggest line items we see in a client's budget. From fast food to fine dining, eating out can quickly add up and prevent you from meeting your savings goals on time. While we can’t stop eating, planning ahead and having meals at home is the quickest way to cut back on your eating out/ordering in spend.

We’ve collected four tips to help ease the pain of meal planning without sacrificing flavor.

There are a few critical choices we make about our retirement accounts including how much to contribute and what to invest in. Due to the rise in popularity of Roth 401ks, you might have one other important decision: should you contribute pre-tax money to your traditional 401k, post-tax money to your Roth 401(k), or have a mix of both?

Spoiler alert: everyone’s situation is different and there may not be a clear best choice. To decide, you’ll need to make some educated guesses about your answers to the following questions.