Take Your Retirement Savings From “How? to Wow!”

We all know that there are certain evergreen financial moves we can make to increase our retirement savings. We can put more money away into our retirement accounts, work longer to delay depleting these accounts, and maximize employer matches by contributing more to our 401Ks. But is that really enough? Or is this old tried and true advice quickly becoming outpaced by inflation, rising tax rates and lowered investment growth? … Continue Reading

Matthew Sapaula Talks Personal Credit on Crain’s Chicago Business Blog

Are you wondering about your credit report and how often you should check it for accuracy? Well Matthew recently discussed this topic with SCORE Chicago and he offers some great, affordable tips for protecting your credit by monitoring it consistently. You can watch the video here.

Some of the points highlighted during the interview include:

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Don’t Underestimate the Impact of Saving While You’re Young

Another great guest post here by Yolander Prinzel to compliment one of our videos about a student who has gone through our wealth building and financial coaching process.  What a great writer she is!  I really appreciate her work as I continue to stay focused on my book deadline…

Enter Yolander Prinzel:

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3 Steps to Building Money Smart Kid Character

It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you today’s guest blogger, LaRon Carter.  He is a former U.S. Marine (OOORAAAH!) and has a HUGE heart for kids.  We’ve become acquainted over social media, Twitter and Facebook, and he brings a very powerful message today for tomorrow’s leaders.  I LOVE how he integrated “Money Smart” into this post…awesome LaRon! Semper Fi, brother!!

Enter LaRon Carter:

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What Goes Up Doesn’t Have to Come Down

Did you hear the news about yesterday’s Dow Jones Index losing 900 points in a 20-minute period?  It even has the SEC regulatory authorities looking into it.  There is speculation that a trader may have mistakenly made an error in typing in the wrong numbers.  Instead of million, a trader may have accidentally entered a billion shares to sell.

I sure hope that the current success of the Dow Jones Index, S&P 500 Index and other stock market indicators do not fool anybody in thinking that we are out of the woods, yet.  It caused some stocks to go from $40/share to pennies, then come back up again.  How stressful is that?  I mean, if you are a nurse, firefighter or entrepreneur, do you really have time to babysit the stock market?

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SCORE TV: Personal Credit and How it Impacts You – pt 1

Mark Goodman, a SCORE mentor and part of the Small Business Administration, hosts SCORE TV in Chicago, IL.  In light of people losing their jobs, businesses downsizing, banks cutting lines of credit reluctant to extend any type of credit brings an attack on consumers personal credit.  Personal credit and your credit score is one of the most confusing areas in managing money yet affects a big chunk of our financial decision and choices.

Any time a crisis comes, it is a great time to review the basics.  SCORE TV and their editors broke down this 30 minute show into great bite size pieces on helping you all understand personal credit much more. There are a few, great quick videos to review.

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Money Smart Week 2010 Begins Today!

If you’ve ever made a mistake with money, have challenges with money, want to make more money and want to find ways to make money work for you…then this is YOUR week!  The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago leads us to Money Smart Week Chicago 2010!  It runs from April 17th-24th. 2010.

For the past three years, MatthewSapaula, Inc. has been a proud Money Smart Week Partner of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s movement to promote financial education and literacy.

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How to Adjust Your Income Tax Return to Save More Towards Your Financial Goals During the Year

I’ve had plenty of people contact me this week about getting “chunky” tax refunds.  Barring the fact that they may have taken advantage of the Home Buyer Tax Credit and/or qualify for Earned Income Credit, most people should recognize that getting a large federal income tax refund is not a great financial strategy.  In fact, it is the opposite.  This is another factor that keeps the rich, richer…the poor, poorer and the middle class, middle class.  Why?  The Urban Dictionary calls this financial phenomenon…

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Six Money Mistakes with Annuities

Another pleasure to have a Twitter friend turn into a real valuable conversation.  Jay Peroni and I share similar beliefs when it comes to money, faith and personal finance!  The subject of annuities have come up as another financial vehicle to be used for financial and retirement planning.  Annuities have often gotten negative press and media coverage so it is my pleasure to have Jay Peroni, Certified Financial Planner, to break through some of the myths and misconceptions people may have about annuities.  Just like any financial vehicle you look to place your hard-earned dollars in, is worth increasing your financial education and knowledge so you can make a better decision for you and your family’s future.

Enter Jay Peroni, CFP:

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Unlocking Secrets to Saving and Spending-Matthew Sapaula and Alex Mysko featured in Chicago’s Red Eye

A few weeks ago, we were honored to have journalist Kyra Kyles drop by the office one day and interview our team.  Earlier this week, our interview was released in the Chicago’s Red Eye.  Below is a reprint (or repost) of the original online version located on her blog.  Needless to say, we were FIRED UP!  Do you have wealth building secrets or money smart lessons that life has taught you, that you’d like to also share?  Please post them below in the comments section!

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