Good morning, HTM Family!

A quick reminder to start the week…

The grass is greener —> wherever you water it! 🌱🚿

If you want your investments to grow, water them. If you want your relationships to bloom, water them. If you want your laptop to run faster, water it! (ooops no just kidding about that last one… Don’t water your laptop!)

Investing time and energy in things you value most will grow the greenest grass you’ll ever see.

Sooooo… What areas of life will you be watering this week?

Alright, now let’s talk about money stuff! 👇👇👇

TO DO

Join the Do Not Call Registry 📲

Do you receive annoying/unwanted calls or text messages? The Do Not Call Registry is a free service managed by the FTC. You can register your landline or cell number in no time.

It won't block all unwanted calls (political messages, charities, and debt collectors can still get through), but it helps reduce the noise! Sign up at donotcall.gov. Oh, and registrations never expire. 💪

SAVING

It’s All About Your Savings Rate 🔢

Your savings rate is one of the most important numbers in personal finance. It’s not only an indicator of your current financial health, it’s also a tell-tale sign of your overall financial trajectory — how your money situation might look in the coming years and into retirement!

What’s a good savings rate? And how long until you can retire?

Here’s a quick table showing how different savings rates impact how long it takes to reach financial freedom. 👇👇👇

As you can see, saving 15-20% of your income should be standard practice for most folks shooting for a 35-year career. A higher savings rate means you can retire sooner (or with more money) and a lower savings rate means the opposite. 😬

Keep in mind that personal finance and investing are never linear. Life has its ups and downs! If your savings rate is low right now, find ways to boost it! It’s never too late to play catch-up. On the flip side if you’re crushing it right now, keep making hay while the sun shines!

Knowing your savings rate (and continuing to check it regularly) can keep you on track. Never assume you are saving enough, it’s always worth double-checking your savings rate :)

Related stuff:

• 💻 Full HTM Blog: How to calculate your savings rate (and improve it!)

• 🔢 Networthify: When can I retire calculator

• 🥸 Mr Money Mustache: Shockingly simple math behind early retirement

TOGETHER WITH BETTERMENT*

Put your money to work and your mind at ease with automated investing tech and tax-smart tools designed to help maximize your returns. Learn more.

NET WORTH

Household Assets vs. Liabilities 📝

Today’s chart is from Ben Carlson’s blog, A Wealth of Common Sense.

It shows that American household assets over the last 4 years are outpacing overall liabilities. 👇👇👇

There’s a lot of talk about an impending recession. And inflation + high interest rates continue to impact the overall economy and individual’s money and life choices right now…

But even with these challenges, stock prices are high, home equity is through the roof, wages are up in a meaningful way, and people are sitting on a lot of cash right now too. Maybe things aren’t in as bad a shape as they seem!?

Inevitably, there will be a downturn at some point. Nobody knows when it will occur or how bad it will be. But for the average American who is continuing to buy assets and pay off debt, they are growing financially stronger every day. That will make it easier to endure whatever is coming down the pike.

How is your personal balance sheet looking?

Keep paying down those liabilities! And keep squirreling money away into investments. If you're slowly making progress on both ends of the spectrum you’re steadily growing a bigger net worth and consistently edging yourself closer to higher levels of financial independence.

Related:

• 🤷‍♂️ New HTM Blog: Should you pay off debt OR invest spare cash?

• 📈 Book Rec: A Wealth of Common Sense, by Ben Carlson

ICYMI

Noteworthy news…

Charlatans 👎
A great read from Morningstar: No, 401k Funds Do Not Cost 2%. Another good reminder to be careful believing everything you read from “finance gurus” out there. (401k’s are awesome for most people. Stuff as much money as you can in them!!)

SL Forgiveness 🤷‍♀️
Did you know there are over 144 student loan forgiveness programs in the US? If you have student loans and are totally confused, you’re not alone! Here’s a helpful post from CNBC that might help you figure out if (and how) you might qualify for forgiveness.

Helsinki 🇫🇮
Finland just won the “happiest country in the world” award (again)... And if you’re curious to find out why Finnish peeps live so happily, you can apply for a 5-day curated trip to mingle with locals and learn their happiness hacks. (Hurry, the competition ends April 4th!)

$80M gone! 💸
Former NFL star Terrell Owens shares his poor financial decisions that led to losing his entire $80m career earnings. 😳

Estate Planning 📈
The latest survey from Caring.com shows that only 32% of Americans have a Will, a decline of 6% from 2023! If you fall into the no-will camp, check out our quick guide to making one. If you have kids, you need a will.

HOW *YOU* MONEY

AJ, 28y/o from Coralville, Iowa 🏡

Occupation: Customer Service
Salary: $180k (family)

Paycheck deductions: ~$5,400
Housing: Mortgage/taxes/insurance bill is $950
Other Debts: Car payment of $200 - we got a loan at 1.9%!
Living expenses: ~$2,200

Leftover savings each month: ~$5,250

How are you investing your excess savings each month?
We just finished remodeling a second house and are saving for our next car purchase, our next home (hoping to build), and anything additional is being funneled into either investments or a large trip fund.

Biggest “craft beer equivalent” splurge:
My wife and I love to travel and eat out. This past year, we took a 2.5 week trip to Italy!

Best savings hack/advice:
For any younger listeners / readers looking at this - even if it may feel a little painful, start putting any extra money away as early as possible. Einstein said "compounding interest is the 8th wonder of the world", and all it takes is toying with an online calculator to understand why.

For everyone else, my wife and I love to cook. Outside of all other benefits that healthy home food habits have (physical, mental, environmental), cooking at home really does help the budget. Learn a few easy recipes, make them in a bulk amount that makes sense for you, eat the leftovers and enjoy the benefits!

Biggest money challenge right now?
Switching our first home over to our first rental!

Recent money win and how did you celebrate?
We just hit our theoretical CoastFI number and celebrated with a night out!

**How do YOU 🫵 handle your income/savings/investments? We’d love to hear about it & share your story — Fill out this HYM form! (Don’t worry, we won't publish anything without you approving it first)**

Cheers to a great week ahead! Happy April! 🌼

Best friends out! 🍻