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  • I have two-year-old twins who have gotten some birthday money and I'm wondering what to do with it. For their first few monetary gifts we just tucked it in an envelope, but now it's accumulating and I'm wondering what to do with it. When is it a good time to get them a savings account (we are saving separately for a college fund)?

  • Good evening… Online, I see a lot of different viewpoints on the soundness of dipping into my 401k to purchase my first home. I would like to hear what the Marketplace Money opinions are on this action given my specific economic situation. I am a 29 year old male 1 year out of business school. I have a solid job as a trading analyst on an electric trading floor for the major utility here in CO. I make a base salary of ~80k a year with an option to land another 7-10k in bonus season if its a good year for the company. Last year, I was especially lucky and was given an additional bonus that allowed me pay off all my student debt, which was roughly $15k. So with no outstanding long-term debt, I am debating on purchasing a house for the first time. I have $5k tucked away in a money market fund that is earning zilch but I am using that as my emergency fund so dont want to touch it. Other than that I have roughly $3k in savings rights now and accumulate about $1500 in savings each month after accounting for my rent and living expenses. the denver real estate market is a little bonkers right now but i think it will cool down in 6 to 12 months and want to be ready to strike when opportunities presents itself. To throw another wrench in the equation my sister wants to go in on this as well with me. She has roughly $20k tucked away and is already a home owner. To make things more complicated, I am in the middle of the CFA program and would be looking at the high possibility of relocating in 2-3 years if I were to land a job promotion at another firm. So I dont know if it would be best to sell the property, hold on to it and rent it out while living out of state, or just not buying in the first place. Not sure on what all the tax implications are w/ and w/out the 401k loan thrown into the mix. Any thoughts? Thanks.

  • I've just completed my graduate program studies and landed a job. I'd like to reevaluate my budget, now that I'm not longer a student, but I want to find competitive, user-friendly budget software that is compatible with Mac and allows me to manage all accounts in one place (checking/credit/money market/ira). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  • I am thinking of selling my home to move to a new home in a better school district. I expect we will make a healthy profit off our existing home, but when we buy a new home, I don't know if we will be able to buy a home for the same amount we will sell our current home for. Does it make sense to sell now?

  • This is going to be my first interview and it is tomorrow! I need some advice to calm my nerves, anything will be greatly appreciated. The company is Ocean Spray and it is for a junior engineering position.

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    A new investigative report reveals that many popular charities Americans give to generously actually don't help the causes they claim to raise money for.

  • Is spending to give your kids a leg-up worth it? How much would you be willing to sacrifice?

  • Helping your kids to stand out in the eyes a college admissions officer takes a lot — usually that means a lot of money. But before you spend beaucoup bucks on private tutors and athletic coaching, do a quick cost-benefit analysis of whether those investments will really pay off.

  • Are you a dollar store deal hunter? Turns out, even though the products are only a buck, they're not always good buys.

  • Mindful consumers put their money where their morals are, but it's not an easy task for those with limited financial resources as two of our listeners reveal.

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