Phillip Ochoa

Knowing how much money you have in the bank is just the start to early retirement planning.

A Checklist for Retiring Early Retiring early is a great idea if you can afford it. Unfortunately, few people plan for retirement a...

State-sponsored 529 accounts are a tax-free way to pay for a child's college education.

Getting the Most Out of Your Child's 529 Plan to Pay for College State-sponsored 529 accounts are a tax-free way to pay for a child’s college education. Opening an i...

Want a home with cleaner air? Try one of these air-filtering plants!

Dual Purpose Plants: Cleansing and Decorating A good-looking houseplant adds pizzazz to your home. It can also be the next best thing to a live-in...

Shopping for homeowners insurance? Here's what you need to know.

How to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance You’ve probably seen thousands of ads for Geico or Aflac on television talking about the latest savi...

Establish goals and habits now to prepare.

5 Financial Tips for First-Time Parents So a babe is on the way? Congrats! Along with the chaos of, well, everything that is to come, your f...

Here's how to protect yourself from being pressured into buying an extended warranty.

When to Buy Extended Warranty? Usually Never You just bought a new dishwasher, TV, tablet, refrigerator or other big-ticket item you’ve been want...

How out-of-date is your kitchen? These seven trends are yesterday's news.

Kitchen Trends That Are Going Out of Fashion Most of us spend a lot of time in the kitchen, preparing meals and cleaning up. In many cases, we sp...

Have kids? It's never too early to start preparing for college, and student loans aren't the only way to fund their education.

Alternative Ways to Fund a College Education The average student loan debt for a college graduate in 2016 was $37,172, according to Forbes. That’...

Have you tried any of these unique home accents?

Unique Home Accents to Make Your Home More Fun Are you looking for out-of-the-box decorating ideas for your space? Below are a handful of interesti...

With no interest charged for a year or so, medical credit cards may be able to help pay your medical bills.

How Medical Credit Cards Work When it comes to paying an unexpected medical bill, there’s often no easy way to do it. Unless you h...

Heated flooring sounds like a dream come true, but are they realistic for your home?

The Pros and Cons of Heated Flooring While you might be considering adding heated flooring to your new home, there are a lot of questions...

Taking a driver safety course can reduce your premiums by 5 - 15. Find other great money-saving ideas here.

How Seniors Can Save on Car Insurance Auto insurance rates typically rise for senior citizens, who can be more accident-prone than they we...

Looking to slay your coffee habit? While it won't be easy, these three tips will get you started.

3 Tips for Ditching Coffee Looking to kick the caffeine? While a moderate amount of the buzzy stuff has been shown to have hear...

Which do you prefer to use? Keep in mind, credit cards have a lot more protections than debit cards do.

How Credit Cards Differ From Debit Cards A debit card is a smart way to shop if you want to avoid using a credit card that will charge you in...

This report found that email reminders from your bank help credit card users cut spending by 2 percent.

Small Reminders Can Reduce Credit Card Debt No one wants to be reminded by their bank that using a credit card too much is a bad idea. It’s a ru...

Check out these quick tips for paying down debt. What do you think?

3 Ways to Pay Down Your Debt Faster When we think about lottery winners, we likely imagine new cars and mega-mansions. But according to ...

Looking to paint your walls with a trendy shade? Check out millennial pink.

Make Your Home Stand Out With Millennial Pink Like the generation it’s named for, millennial pink is all around us. It’s a fun, daring, sophistica...

Flooding may be inevitable, but costs of damages incurred may not have to be.

Do You Need Flood Insurance? Flooding can occur anywhere and at any time of the year. Even if you do not live near a body of wate...

Feeling stressed or unproductive? Try out these mantras to boost your mood.

4 Mantras to Make You Happy Some days, keeping a smile on your face can be a struggle. Whether you’re dealing with a stressful c...

Looking to keep your computer files safe? Take this precautionary step.

Using Encryption to Protect Your Computer No matter how complex your computer password is, it isn’t enough to stop a thief from using other me...

Know the facts before signing up

What to Do If a Bank Offers You Credit Card Protection A common phone call that new credit cardholders get from their bank is an offer for credit card add-...

Say goodbye to your couch potato tendencies with these three alternatives.

3 Things to Do Instead of Watching TV Is your evening couch potato routine with your partner growing stale? It can be hard to find the ene...

How often do you give out your birthday information? An 'unbirthday' can keep your identity safe.

Protecting Your Identification With a Fake Birthday Other than your Social Security number, birthdays are one of the worst things to share online when r...

Is your children's artwork taking over your home? Here's how you can save their creative projects without creating clutter.

Family-Friendly Artwork Apps In the age of apps, there’s more to preserving the masterpieces your children create than just stick...

FYI...improved credit scores could just now be coming to fruition for many consumers.

How FICO 9 May Increase Credit Scores How medical debt and other collection items are tallied in a credit score is changing, potentially i...

You could be holding yourself back from saving. Here's how to get your head in the game.

Mind Games Are Preventing You from Saving Money Saving money can be difficult, and sometimes your frame of mind can hold you back. Here are some neg...

Are you aware of the benefits your credit card offers?

Best Ways to Use Credit Card Concierge Somewhere on your credit card statement—or maybe even on the back of the card—is contact information...

Getting your credit report hacked can lead to identity theft. Have you taken the necessary precautions?

3 Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft Checking your credit report consistently for fraudulent activity may not be enough to protect your p...

Short answer: a lot. What preventative measures are you taking?

Your Credit Card: What's in it for Thieves Online security breaches where retailers are hacked and customers’ credit card information is stolen...

Your household items could be more valuable than you think. Here are some tips for repurposing to save.

New Tricks for Old Throwaway Items For many of us, mom’s ‘use-it-up, make-it-last, wear-it-out’ mantra was our introduction to thriftin...