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Ready, set, ADULT!

Welcome back everyone! And happy April! As I type this, it's actually dumping snow in New York today, further proof that I have no idea what season it really is. So let's christen this "Sprinter" and just call it a day.

In other news, this past week, I've been in get shit done mode. It started first with my taxes. And then it just snowballed from there. And it's felt really nice to cross some things off my list that have been daunting me for the past few weeks. Namely because I just felt like I was "too busy" to do my research -- a convenient excuse for anyone who's just plain avoiding things. In the spirit of hopefully encouraging you to kick butt this Monday, here are 2 very adult things I've done this past week that I highly encourage you to look into as well (if you haven't already!). There are lots of adult things we know to do - whether that's looking for the best credit cards for no credit or making a new savings account - but other things aren't that well known so I thought I would just let you know about 2 things I recently found out about.

Renter's Insurance: On numerous occasions, I've looked into renters insurance. On numerous occasions, I got distracted and left my application half-filled out, vowing to myself that I would finish it another day. Fast forward to today, and oddly enough, I've had three people in my life, either close friends or loosely connected, who have lost EVERYTHING in apartment fires very recently, including one of my guy's coworkers just the other week -- her GoFund me page can be found here. And in a city like New York, where you're kind of at the mercy of lots of other people living in either the same building or nearby buildings, I can't help but feel nervous about those odds. I mean, I'm one of those people who worries if the stove is off or if I unplugged the curling iron after I've left, even though I checked both twice before leaving the apartment, but that doesn't mean everyone else in my building is that way. I did a bunch of researching, until eventually I stumbled upon this write up that explained everything pretty well in laymen's terms, in regard to renter's insurance just here in NYC (so those in other areas should find similar comparisons for their city/state). State Farm won by a close nose and since I've gotten car insurance with them in the past, I decided to go this route, but I have heard AMAZING things about Lemonade too.

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SEP IRA: Since going the self-employed route, I've ignored my 401k the past few years, putting my "retirement" money aside into my savings instead. Of course, the thing about retirement money is that it shouldn't really be accessible for those "rainy" day moments, which is why I eventually started looking into self-employed retirement fund options, namely a SEP IRA at the recommendation of my accountant. SEP standing for Simplified Employee Pension. Added bonus: whatever amount you decide to contribute each year (which can be up to the maximum for whatever account you open or nothing, if you happen to have a slim year), it's taken out of your taxable income amount, which means, hello tax break! I bank at Bank of America, so to keep things simple and easy, I opened my SEP IRA at Merrill Edge (powered by BofA), contributing for the tax year of 2017. If you decide to do the same for this filed tax year, make sure you note that when opening the account -- you have until Tax Day (April 17th) to receive the tax break! This breakdown on CNN Money was extremely helpful if you're deciding between SEP IRAs or individual 401K plans (again, both are meant for the self-employed), so if you're at a company, I would definitely look into what you're currently contributing to your 4o1K plan, and when you get the chance, you may want to look at the difference between ira vs 401k and how it may be able to benefit you during your retirement.

OUTFIT POST: Self Portrait dress (sold out, but this style would layer really well!) // Intermix top (sold out, similar style here) // Zara boots (similar style here) // Vintage Lewis bag (similar style here) // Lisi Lerch earrings + & Other Stories earrings

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Photos by Nora Varcho