5 Things to Know Before Moving to Cambridge

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I just moved back to Cambridge, MA and, while I already miss NYC and hope to live there again someday, there are many great things about living in Cambridge!

Cambridge is a very green city and also very close to Boston, in case you want the downtown city sort of feeling! There are many different squares in Cambridge - Harvard, Central, Kendall, and more - and each one has its own character and is complete with its own cute cafes, boutiques, and neighborhood quirks! For someone who doesn't have a car (me) it also has green public transit and lots of bike paths.

If you have decided to move to Cambridge, too, read on for five handy things to know before your move!

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Weekday Wisdom from the Ec Expert: Retirement Investments For Dummies!

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I'm interested in a lot of things - writing, acting, blogging, social media, biology, research, travel, politics, international relations, business, fashion, etc.

Finance isn't one of them.

Unfortunately for me, and everyone else who isn't a finance whiz, it's very important to make smart financial decisions. Making smart financial decisions can mean the difference between a golden age retirement, full of travel and gardening, and not being able to retire at all. Yikes!

Don't let that be you.

Retirement seems far away, especially for those of us who are fresh out of college, but now is the time to start saving for retirement.

Don't believe me? Read on for a straight-forward explanation of why you should worry about your retirement funds now!

***

Imagine two people trying to save for retirement. 

Alice invests $5,000 each year from ages 20 to 29 and then proceeds to not contribute a cent more (not what I would recommend). 

Bob socks away $5,000 every year starting at age 30 but keeps contributing right up until retirement. 

Who has more money in the bank when both retire at age 65, assuming a (reasonable) 7% rate of return? No peeking!

Believe it or not (and I know a lot of people who didn’t until I showed them), Alice is ahead of Bob for retirement!

For everyone who isn't Ben and doesn't love Excel - just focus on the highlighted fields. Alice ends up with more!

Alice contributed only $50,000, but ends up with almost $800,000. Bob contributed $180,000, but retired with a little under $750,000. What happened here?

The key effect here was compounding interest. 

By the time Bob started contributing to his retirement account, Alice’s nest egg was already earning thousands of dollars per year in investment returns. Even though he contributed over three times as much in total, he couldn’t catch up to her early start. 

(Bob’s contributions might weigh more, but his nest egg doesn’t).

In this case, the tortoise and the hare isn’t quite right. 

Alice’s hare fell asleep on the track at age 30 and still won the race! Slow and steady is fine, but it works best if you start early. Every bit counts, and the earlier bits count the most. In fact, by the time Alice retires, the $5,000 she saved at age 20 is now worth over $100,000! 

The $5,000 Bob saved at age 65 is worth, well, $5,000. I bet he wished now that he’d picked her plan!

So get saving, and get your money working for you! It may seem silly to be worried about retirement at age 20, but whatever age you’re at is a great time to start if you want to avoid worries further down the road. 

Your future self will thank you, and be happy that you were so clever when you were younger.  

And, just for those who’d like to see the answer to my question, here are the trajectories of our two guinea pigs’ nest eggs:

In my next columns I’ll cover useful tools for budgeting and how to invest your retirement savings for the long haul (the only way to do it!). 

***

^{Ben Cohen was born in Washington, D.C. and majored in economics at Harvard University. He now works full-time in risk analysis and does academic research on the side. He loves science fiction, sushi, and efficient long-term investing.} 

^{How are you preparing for your retirement?}

^{What finance strategy do you not understand?} 

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Weekend Wisdom from the Ec Expert: Financial Planning

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There are many harsh realities that you're hit with once you graduate:

You can't 'game' your work schedule like you could your class schedule - bye-bye, 10am day starts.

You can't stay up to all hours of the night and be fine (see above).

If you forgot to go grocery shopping, there will be no food in your kitchen. This isn't a magically self-replenishing dining hall, like you had at school.

The food mentioned above? It's expensive. Especially if you live in a major city where the supply-demand trade-off is working against you.

It doesn't have to be that dramatic, however, if you're smart about your money! Since we could probably all use some lessons in basic personal finance, I've enlisted a finance guy to teach us the basics!

Ben Cohen was born in Washington, D.C. and majored in economics at Harvard University. He now works full-time in risk analysis and does academic research on the side. He loves science fiction, sushi, and efficient long-term investing. 

***

Saving is important, right? I think everyone can agree that putting a bit away for the future is a good idea. But where do you start? IRA? 401k? Stocks? CDs? There are a lot of odd combinations of letters and numbers flying around, but there’s one thing you probably need to pay attention to first. And it’s got a pretty simple name, too.

The EMERGENCY FUND. Some prefer to call it a “rainy day” fund.

Sounds pretty dramatic, right? But it’s pretty straightforward: unexpected things do happen!

First, your income might drop.  Workers are changing jobs more often, and companies just aren’t made the way they once were. On the upside, we get to try new things! On the downside, sometimes we have to whether we want to or not…

And if that happens, it might take a little while to find your place in the working world again. Here’s where an emergency fund is handy. Your emergency fund will keep the rent or mortgage paid up, the lights on, and food on the table.

For those of us who are visual learners, an emergency fund is the financial equivalent of this guy's gymnastic skills.

On the other hand, your expenses might be higher than usual. Medical costs are a common culprit here. Unfortunately, even the “invincible millennials,” as the media likes to call the 20-somethings who opt out of all the insurance options, can still definitely run into trouble. So, you might suddenly find yourself spending a lot more money than you expected while your income has stayed the same (also really not so fun). 

Speaking of which, joining your company’s insurance plan (or an outside one from an established Fortune 500 company like Aflac), can really help protect your financial future.

Insurance can dramatically reduce the cost of healthcare and helps set up a line of defense even before you get to the emergency fund. Aflac offers additional voluntary insurance to help policyholders focus on recovery not the state of their finances (and has built a stellar reputation doing so over nearly six decades). Plus, the company's policies can also provide cash benefits to cover living expenses during covered events, giving you additional flexibility in your spending.

While it might feel a nice now to have those extra few bucks a month, you’ll be really unhappy if you end up needing that insurance after all. Talk about adding (financial) insult to injury!

Not cool, man.

As a result, experts recommend putting together an emergency fund of at least three to six months of living expenses.

The first step, of course, is to figure out how much you spend in a month!  You can do this a variety of ways, from checking the spending from your accounts to using an app like Mint (which I’ll cover in detail in a later post).  

Figure out what part of this you need to spend and what part you can cut out to reduce your spending if you have to. I’m not saying you should stick to rice and beans for three months, but it might be helpful to cut back a bit on the eating out!

Once you’ve got your target number, start putting money away! Nothing fancy here, please. A simple savings account will do just fine.

The whole point is that you probably won’t know when you’ll need to use it, so you’ll want to be able to access the money on short notice.  Get your emergency fund started and in my next post I’ll discuss another big tool in financial planning: investing for retirement.

***

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Recipe Review: New York Cheesecake

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I visited home for a long weekend at the beginning of the month (guys, how is it already August?) and my mom really likes cheesecake, so I decided to make a cheesecake for my AWESOME mom!

We didn't have any graham crackers in the house, so I used Sandy's recipe for a New York Cheesecake that doesn't have a graham cracker crust!

Of course, I made some alterations. Following recipes to the letter? Generally not my thing, I like mixing things up! Here's my version of her recipe:

New York Cheesecake

Makes 1 10-inch springform pan

The throwback Harvard 'H' is unnecessary, unless you're as ridiculous as me

* 1.5 c. all-purpose flour

* 1/3 c. sugar

* 1 egg

* 1/2 c. margarine

* 2.5 lb cream cheese, softened (5 8oz cream cheese packets)

* 1.75 c. white sugar

* 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

 * 5 eggs

* 2 egg yolks

* 0.25 c. heavy whipping cream

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a 10" springform pan. 

2) Combine the first four ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Spread to the edges of the springform pan. Prick all over with a fork.

3) Bake the crust for 15 minutes at 400F. Allow to cool while you make the filling.

4) Increase the oven temperature to 475F.

5) Make the filling by combining all remaining ingredients except the cream in a large bowl and mixing thoroughly.

6) Add the cream and mix only enough to combine.

7) Pour evenly over the crust.

8) Bake at 475F for 10 minutes. 

9) Reduce temperature to 225F and continue to bake for 70-75 minutes, until set. 

10) Cool, then refrigerate overnight. Open the springform before you cut and serve!

 

What's your favorite dessert?

Do you like plain or flavored (ie: cappucino, peppermint, chocolate, etc.) cheesecake better?

Do you follow recipes or alter them?

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I GRADUATED FROM HARVARD!

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This is a bit over-due, but here's a photo dump post (courtesy of my smartphone) of my graduation from Harvard.

Graduating from Harvard #letmetakeaselfie 

I now have an A.B. Degree in Human Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University (in a nice frame and everything) and am officially a real life grown up working a real life full time (and then some) awesome job as Chief City Writer at a tech startup in SoHo!

At lunch with my parents

Our Class Day speaker was Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and our Commencement Speaker was Michael Bloomberg (and let's be honest - his name is his brand) but the real standouts were our two honorary degree recipients.



President George H W Bush received an honorary doctorate of law!

18-time Grammy winner Aretha Franklin (aka, the Queen of Soul) received a doctorate of arts!



And President Faust of Harvard was her usual cool self.

Congratulations, class of 2014!

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The Emotional Stages of Graduation

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Congratulations to all 2014 grads! The 2014 World Cup might be pretty darn exciting, but it has nothing on the fact that ****WE'RE DONE******!

1) Disbelief

Like wait, what? Wasn't freshman initiation yesterday?

Don't I have some paper that I have to turn in or some exam that I need to take or some something that I have to do? It can't just be over, just like that, can it?

2) Sheer Bliss

It'strueit'strueit'strue NO. MORE. STUDYING.

Semester notes, meet recycling bin. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

This is the definition of happiness, dears.

3) Hyperventilation

There's the overwhelming fact that you're about to enter the real world. There's the fact that you're moving away from friends you've loved for four years and starting over somewhere new. There's the fear of failure or missing the bus and being the unsuccessful one. There's the realization you're fully responsible for your rent, need to learn about savings, need to buy your food, need to pay your bills, need to get your own cell phone, need to - DOES ANYONE HAVE A PAPER BAG I CAN BREATHE INTO?

4) Excitement

Eventually the panic passes and you realize that you can do it. You've made it through college, you're intelligent, educated, hard working, and ready to do life!!

There are few better feelings than the excitement of a promising new beginning.

5) Pride


Just go with it.

Are you celebrating anyone's graduation this year? 

Who are you rooting for in the 2014 World Cup?

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Top Ten Tips for a Successful Move

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Since I'm graduating (can I say that enough times? I'mgraduatingI'mgraduatingI'mgraduating) I'm moving cities - to NEW YORK CITY! Still, a move is a move. Here are my tips, hopefully I can take some of my own advice next week.

Don't count on it.

1) Give yourself enough time.

I'm guilty of breaking this cardinal rule, but I blame it on Manhattan rent - I'm moving into my new apartment on Sunday, June 1 in the evening and beginning work on Monday, June 2 in the morning.

Nobody talk to me. I'm going to be grouch-r-us.

Suffice it to say that I will be living out of boxes. #hobostyle4life

2) Take breaks. Have sleep. Eat food. Drink beverages.

The general point here is that you need to take care of your physical and emotional well-being or moving will closely approximate the seventh circle of hell.



3) Enlist help.

Trade cookies, beer, hugs, or your fabulous company for the assistance of some friends to keep you sane speed things up.

But don't go as far as Budget suggests. Then just hire a moving company.

4) DJ it. 

Music makes 89% of things better, including chores and moving.

Might have bulls***ted that statistic...#disclaimer

5) Don't take it so seriously.

You don't have to go from an empty apartment full of cardboard boxes to something Home & Garden worthy in one or two days. It's fine if you just get it livable at first and work on interior decorating and organization as you go.

Seems reasonable.

This is real life, not an exam. There's a spectrum of acceptable outcomes.

6) Realize that starter apartments are just starter apartments.

So maybe it isn't your dream place and the the shower looks a little dingier than it did in the photos. Maybe three or four roomies isn't what you wanted from your young 20s professional life.

Still, spending 78% of your salary on rent isn't an option and a starter apartment is just that - a start. It's impermanent.

7) Count your blessings.

Around the 35th paper cut and when you've tripped over the same disassembled Ikea table leg for the umpteenth time, your mood can get pretty low. This is around when a cheery reminder of all that's going right in your life is absolutely called for - you have a place to move to! You have things to move into it! YAY!

8) Put up a personal touch or two early on.

It's easy to focus on just what's necessary and, in a way, that's what I've been encouraging you to do thus far. It's equally important to have something that makes it feel like yours and like home, though. Whether it's a poster, a painting, a photograph, or a fuzzy pink bean bag chair, get it up pretty earlier and it'll make your place (and the moving process) much less austere.

Speaking of bean bag chairs, do those still exist, or am I dating myself? #fossilproblems

Don't even care, I want one just like that.

9) Be appreciative of your helpers.

This goes back to #2. It's important to stay friendly, because your helpers don't have to help you. They could make up a million and one excuses not to be there, but they are there, so be grateful.

It's really nice of them to do it and they don't deserve your hangry pouting. If you're getting too snarky for your own good, take a froyo break and start again when you're ready to be a nice person again.

10) Don't be scared to leave a few boxes for next weekend.

Once you have the basics out and the bulk of the work done, it's fine to call it a day and leave the rest for when you have more energy, time, and enthusiasm again.

What are your moving tips?

What's your funniest moving story?

What are your favorite songs to unpack to?

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Ten Things to Do Before Graduation

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Since I'm about to ****GRADUATE**** I thought I'd put together a list of pre-graduation to-dos for those with a semester or more left!

1) Take a class for fun. 

Twelve years of education plus four years of higher education can sometimes lead to a little burnout - it's a lot! And getting bogged down with trying to make the grade can be a bummer, too.

But when it comes down to it, learning is fun. Take a class purely for fun to remember that you actually do enjoy learning. If you didn't you probably wouldn't have chosen college!

2) Appreciate your meal plan.

In the real world, you generally can't just show up to a big room any day of the week between the hours of x and y to have as much free food, buffet style, as you want.

There's a reason people love buffets and it probably has to do with the fact that food acquisition generally takes more time, money, and effort than that.

4) Go to a professor's office hours.

Building professional relationships now can really help your career in the future. Students tend to take access to top professionals in their fields (aka: the professors) for granted, but that nonstop access dries up as soon as you graduate.

College is a golden opportunity to secure recommendations for jobs, grad school, etc. And some of your professors are bound to be just plain interesting!

5) Go to a college party.

Social relationships are important!

And it's just fun! But try not to be the person puking in the rose bushes, because then I have to feel bad for you/worry about your poor, poor liver.

6) Go to the library just to explore the stacks.

A lot of schools have super cool libraries (shout to Harvard's Widener library!) but we rarely take the time to appreciate them when we're studying or collecting books for papers.



Do it!

7) Learn about alumni organizations.

Jobs. Friends. Barbecues. 'Nuff said.

8) Knock off somethings on your school's bucket list.

Every school has their traditions, whether it's a particular to-do list or some must attend parties or just a general culture.

I'm not suggesting that you entirely assimilate to your school's stereotype, but do partake in at least a bit of the culture. It's a fun, social activity that allows you to get closer to your peers!

9) Pull an all-nighter.

I'm in no way condoning getting into the habit of no sleep, but I think it's something that's pretty universal to the college student experience and everyone should do it at least once. It will be a strugglebus towards the end, but hang in there!

Bonus if you make it a really productive and/or fun night!

10) Do what YOU want to do.

College is to life what the Enlightenment was to literature - it's a time to learn how to think critically, question what you're told, and determine independently whether or not something sounds advisable/plausible/ethical.

We're bombarded with advice about what we should do, but the ultimate goal of a college education is to be able to figure that out for yourself. As in life, sometimes you'll probably stumble a bit - but as longs as you keep trying, that's the best you can do!

What's on your top ten list?

What advice would you give a younger you?

Do you regret what you do more or what you don't?

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Breaking Up Isn't Hard to Do—When You're Smart

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This might sound really morbid, but there are only two options for a relationship when it comes down to it.

Either you can (a) live happily ever after with the ring and the white dress and the church bells and all that jazz - and let's be real, most relationships probably don't lead to marriage, since most people don't marry their first boyfriend, or (b) you break up. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, it may not even be this year. But chances are that it'll happen and, when it does, there will be heartbreak, tears, woe, and lots of Simple Plan/Good Charlotte/The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus/other angsty music.

Yes, I've had a kicka** breakup playlist since before I even had a boyfriend. Don't hate. I'm prepared.

What's the longest it has ever taken you to get over a breakup?

What's your number one breakup tip?

What's on your breakup playlist?

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Recipe: Classic Rice Pudding

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Spring is here!

I'm a little surprised that it's already April, especially since that means graduation and the real world are less than two months away.

Whoa.

Anyway, spring in Boston doesn't mean that it's all sunshine and rainbows. In addition to midterms after midterms after midterms, there's also a lot of rain. When the weather is the pits, a bowl of comforting rice pudding (great served warm or cold) can be really nice!

It also makes your house smell really good while you make it and it's super easy to make.

Classic Rice Pudding

Serves 4

* 3/4 c. uncooked sushi rice
* 1.5 c. water
* 2 c. milk
* 1/3 c. white sugar
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 Tbsp. butter
* 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
* Optional - Cinnamon Sugar, to top

1) Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.

2) Add sushi rice, reduce heat to low/medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes (stirring occasionally), until water is all soaked into the rice.

3) Add 1.5 c. of the milk (that's not all of it!), the sugar, and the salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick and creamy (~15 to 20 minutes again).

Stirring regularly prevents it from burning, bubbling over, or forming an unpleasant skin over the top of the milk.

4) Stir in the rest of the milk and the beaten egg, stirring constantly to make sure that the egg mixes into the pudding and doesn't become a scrambled egg in your pudding. Not texturally attractive...



5) Cook for another 3-5 minutes, remove from the heat, and stir in the butter and vanilla. Stir in well, so that it's all combined.



*Optional* - top with cinnamon sugar!

Great served hot or cold!

What is your favorite way to eat rice pudding?

How often do you bake/cook from scratch vs. from packages or eating out/ordering in?

What would you like next?

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The Second Wave of Midterms

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Spring break is over and it's time for the second wave of midterms.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I empathize 100% with whatever that poor thing. I'm feeling exactly what he/she/it is.

Do you have exams right after break?

Do you prefer exams and assignments due right before or right after break?

Where did you go/are you going for spring break?

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Rant of the Day: (Don't) Stop Bossy

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Sheryl Sandberg of LeanIn (okay, okay - and COO of Facebook, so that might ring a few more bells) has been all over the news lately with her anti-bossy campaign.

And oh, look - the Girl Scouts are behind it! As a 12-year Girl Scout (twelve awesome years) I'm going to sit here, tying slip knots and eating Girl Scout cookies (the biggest takeaways from all of that, no?), and beg to differ.

And yes, I was called bossy. And yes, I don't think that's a bad thing.

Bossy = Like a boss. Done. Everyone's talking about it now like it's this revolutionary new thing that bossy kids are just exhibiting leadership skills.

Um, no. It's built into the word.

And why is this becoming a female empowerment thing? I was right there on that playground and there were some bossy little boys, too!

I don't disagree that we should encourage development of leadership skills, but banning bossy is ridiculous. All I could think when I read about this is those women who've banned 'the F word.' 

Oh, okay, then. So when you want me to help your kid with their health class homework and they get to nutrition, I should just say that the three major macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, and thatbadword. 

There's nothing wrong with any of these words. They're just words and are neither inherently negative nor inherently positive. Frankly, if you asked me (which you didn't, but this is my blog so I'll talk anyway), being called bossy sounds like a pretty positive thing.

Bosses:

* Make more money

* Have more work-life satisfaction

* Love their bosses (assuming it's a traditional one boss model and not some sort of nested boss hierarchy)

* Set their schedules

* Have nicer houses

* Can afford more glitter gel pens things 

Maybe we should just focus on trying to make it more okay for girls to be leaders? That makes a lot more sense to me than demonizing words. I like writing. Don't take my words away!

I mean, yeah, there are over a million words in the English language. But I want them!

Have you ever been called bossy?

What's your opinion of the anti-bossy campaign?

Would you promote censorship of language in the above specified ways?

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