Article: If you're still in the process of paying off your house, make eliminating your mortgage a priority. For most people, their mortgage is the biggest expense they have. Getting it off the books will free up a significant amount of money, which you'll then be able to put towards other things. If possible, pay a little extra with each mortgage payment. When you do, more of your subsequent payments will be used to decrease your principal balance. Another option is to switch to biweekly payments. Instead of making a full payment each month, you'll pay half the amount every 2 weeks. Depending on your loan's interest rates, this could take up to 8 years off of a 30-year mortgage. Make sure your school or business loans have been paid in full, along with your vehicle, credit cards, and any major purchases. If you still owe money to lenders or creditors when you begin nearing your ideal retirement age, you could end up saying goodbye to a significant part of your savings. Start putting as much expendable income you can towards paying back your debts. Outstanding debt can severely hamper your ability to save. You won't be able to accumulate any significant amount of money until you've gotten rid of (or at least shrunk) your debt. Reserve your credit card for cases of emergency, like when your vehicle needs a brand new transmission or a relative dies unexpectedly and you're left to foot the bill for the funeral. Credit cards make it all too easy to fall into the trap of debt. The more debt you rack up, the more of your savings you'll lose to fees and interest. It's always a good idea to pay cash for as much as you can. The cost will be the same, but there won't be any interest to come back and bite you. When you do use your credit card, make sure you pay off the full balance on time. Delayed interest and default fees can be devastating. Having kids doesn't make it impossible to retire early, but it can make it a lot harder. You'll be less likely to generate enough funds to retire early if you have mouths to feed at the time when it's most important to begin saving and investing. If you're not careful, you could even end up owing money. Families with a combined annual income of around $60,000 spend an average of $11,000 per year on each child under the age of 18. By establishing responsible saving and investing practices before you take on the commitment of having kids, you're more likely to have more money left over by the time they strike out on their own.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Pay down your mortgage. Clear up any existing debt. Use credit cards only as a last resort. Hold off on starting a family until you've started planning for retirement.
Article: There's a huge correlation between mental health and bodily health, so maintaining your body's health and exercising it, will help you maintain your mental health and improve your memory. Walk every day for about 30 minutes. It's a gentle way to get some exercise (and you can do some exploring too!). The benefits of exercise on your mental health will last for a long time. It's not just walking, there are lots of different ways to exercise and have fun! Try doing yoga, or put on some music and dance. Working the mind can help prevent memory loss and can help improve your overall memory. Things that work your brain are the things that make you tired after you've done them, and make you need to take a break. These include: solving math problems, learning to knit, reading dense material. Change things up. You want your brain to keep from getting complacent, so keep learning and trying new things. This will force your brain to keep from going stagnant and will help improve your memory.For example: You could learn a new word everyday, or learn about your countries history. These improve memory and make you more intelligent. You can also memorize a poem every couple of weeks. It makes for a good (if nerdy) party trick and it will help improve your memory. So get memorizing Beowulf! Sleep is incredibly important to improving and maintaining your memory. It's why you shouldn't stay up all night studying for a big test, but do a chunk of studying in the afternoon and then get enough sleep that your brain can process all the information you just shoved into it. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night, so that your brain can go through all the important stages of sleep and you feel well-rested. Shut down any electronic devices at least 30 minutes before you go to bed, so that you give your brain time to calm down and prepare for sleep. This means all electronic devices: phone, computer, kindle, etc. Saying things aloud that you're trying to remember will help you remember them. If you tend to forget things like whether you've turned the oven off, when you do turn the oven off say out loud "I turned the oven off." You'll find that later you'll be better able to remember that you turned the oven off. Repeat a person's name after you've been introduced to them (although do it in a natural manner). Say "Hi Anna, it's great to meet you." This will solidify the connection between the person and their name so it's easier for you to recall later. You can also do this to remember dates and times and places. For example, if you're invited to something repeat the invitation back to the person who gave it, like "The Blue Mouse Theater at 6? I can't wait!" Of course, even with work, you're not going to be Sherlock Holmes, but training your observational skills will help you a lot in remembering things (people, faces, names, where you put your car keys). It takes to time to build this skill, but it's well worth it in the long run. Practice this skill by looking closely at a scene (you can do this anywhere: your home, on the bus, at work) and, closing your eyes, trying to recall as many details about the scene as you can. You can also do this with a photograph, as long as it's an unfamiliar one. Look at it for a for a second or two and then flip it over. try to recall as many of the details as you can remember. Repeat the exercise with a different photograph. There are foods that can help boost your memory in the long term. You should be eating them anyway as a part of a healthy diet, but you should definitely be eating them if you want to keep and maintain your memory. You want to go for foods that containing antioxidants (like broccoli, blueberries, or spinach), as well as those with Omega-3 fatty acid (like salmon or almonds). Try to eat 5-6 small meals during the day, instead of three big meals. This will help you avoid dips in blood sugar, which make your brain not function as well. Make sure that you're eating healthy foods.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Exercise your body. Exercise your mind. Get enough sleep. Say things aloud. Be observant. Eat the right foods.