Lyndsey Monahan

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To improve your financial situation, focus on empowering yourself first. Whether it’s limiting cultural expectations, wage disparities or planning for longer-term care, there are some financial challenges women face that their male counterparts may never experience. And while these can be major roadblocks to financial success on their own, these obstacles can be even more difficult to overcome if you don’t have much experience handling finances or knowledge about the best ways to tackle financial issues. However, according to the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective, the best way to improve your financial situation is to empower yourself through the following six steps. By making each one of these steps a priority, women can take charge of their financial well-being, strengthen their financial literacy and equip themselves with the skills they need to succeed with money now and well into the future.

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It’s never too early to start thinking about your child’s financial future. When you’re a new parent, you have a lot on your plate. Between learning how to care for your child’s physical and emotional needs and adapting your life around your new family member, you’re also trying to consider their future and what you may need to do now to help get them started on the best path to success. One area that may draw your attention is their future financial security. What habits will they need to develop in order to have a healthy relationship with money? What steps can you take while they’re young to prepare them for the expenses of the future? These questions can feel overwhelming, especially while you’re still adjusting to parenthood, but even simple steps can have a big impact. According to the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective, the following seven steps are a good place to start. Below, they outline each one  and why taking each particular step will ensure your child is on the right trajectory for a successful financial future.

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The right professional will help you more than just once a year. As April 15 draws closer and closer, the need to file your taxes on time grows even more urgent. While there are self-filing services and software available, many people still look for the personalized guidance and care a tax professional can provide. But are all tax professionals the same? With so many to choose from, narrowing down the perfect planner or adviser for you can be a complex challenge. To help make the search a little easier, the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective offer their guidance. Below, they outline some of the most important factors you should consider when looking for a tax pro and discuss why making the effort to find the best help now can save you both time and money well into the future.

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If you want to get ahead with money, it’s important to think before you buy. Making the decision to spend your hard-earned cash should be worthy of more than just a passing thought — especially when it comes to big purchases. And yet, people make impulse purchases every day, whether it’s a cute blouse, the latest smartphone or even a new car. Often driven by instant gratification or the subconscious (or conscious) desire to impress others, these purchases can be damaging to your overall financial health if you’re not in the right place to make them. Learning to take a step back and reflect before making a big purchase is essential to getting ahead financially and not saddling yourself with debt or furthering negative patterns of behavior. But how can you go about changing these behaviors, especially if shopping in this way is something you’ve been doing for a long time? To start, ask yourself the following six questions, as recommended by the financial leaders of Kiplinger Advisor Collective. Below, they explain why these particular questions are so vital to ask before making a major purchase and how they can help you make better buying decisions in the future.

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The way you approach these conversations can set the stage for your whole relationship — for better or worse. Money and finances can be a truly divisive topic, and nowhere is this more true than with romantic partners. With differing spending and saving habits, economic backgrounds, values or beliefs around money, couples may find it difficult to get on the same page when it comes to their finances. In some cases, disagreements around money may even lead couples to break up or divorce. In this way, it’s vital couples have conversations about money early on to set a better foundation for their financial future together. However, ensuring you’re having these conversations the right way — without them turning into arguments — is key to your success. To offer their guidance, 10 financial experts from Kiplinger Advisor Collective each share one piece of advice they’d give to a couple about how to approach money conversations in a better way and work together to accomplish their financial goals.

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Could this technology lead you toward financial success? In this current world of artificial intelligence and tech-first solutions, even the financial industry is seeing new advancements in technology. Robo-advisers are just one of those solutions, leveraging financial data and complex algorithms to provide investment suggestions and financial advice — all without a human touch. While this technology is certainly not a recent innovation, increasing interest in convenience, speed and overall ease of use has brought robo-advisers to the forefront of the collective conversation. But is a robo-adviser right for you?  This is just one of the many questions you may have when considering robo-advisers. Here, to offer some clarity, six financial experts from Kiplinger Advisor Collective answer common questions the public may have when it comes to robo-advisers and whether or not they are the right solution for their financial needs.