Friday, May 17, 2013
Here's the story of Marlene Konkoly, who found creative ways to spend less and save more so she can retire at 50. This story is the first in our series about Extreme Savers.
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Friday, May 17
Americans may be living longer, but our retirement plans aren’t keeping up. Which means people are living longer with smaller bank accounts. But Marlene Konkoly will retire at age 50. How did she do it? She contributes a whopping 45 percent of the gross annual income she earns as a procurement officer for an automotive finance company to her retirement—all while owning a home and remaining debt-free. Konkoly is actually well ahead of the retirement savings curve compared to many of her fellow Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, fewer than half of Americans even know how much money they would need to retire. And nearly a third of employees who had access to a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) did not participate …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
As part of our new Smart Spending series, Patch wants to uncover the true going rate for various goods and services in town, so you'll know exactly how much you should pay for what you need. Help us out by replying in the comments.
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Wednesday, May 15
This week: How much do lawn services cost? How much do you pay for your lawn service? And what does that cover - just mowing, or does it cover weeding, pruning, planting? Please share in the comments below - we promise we won't judge you! And if you've got a lawn service you love, tell us that too. This is the first of an ongoing series, "What's the Going Rate for..." where Patch seeks to uncover how much things cost so you never have to ask again.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Share your favorite pictures from the community; click the green “Upload Photos and Videos” button.
Construction was underway on the new Chase Bank being built at 1555 Lee St., on the northwest corner at E. Oakton Street in Des Plaines on Nov. 19. The Chase Bank will be across from KFC, 1195 E. Oakton St., and across from a Pace bus stop and Bank of America, 1300 E. Oakton St. Find Patch on Facebook and click the like button. Related: Check out all the photos of the day. The last one was of the Hurricane Sandy relief effort in Des Plaines.
Laura Wagner
2:55 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
There are a lot of things missing in this article. How does she own a home--does she have mortage payments or is it paid off, and how much did the home cost? How much does she pay for her high-speed Internet service (when I tried to pay less by cancelling cable TV and just getting Internet, the company gave me both for a dollar more than the Internet alone cost)? And the big one: How did she get … more ›