5 Major Money Mistakes To Avoid Once You Turn 60
.5 Major Money Mistakes To Avoid Once You Turn 60
Laura Woods Mon, February 15, 2021
You’ve been working hard your entire adult life and you’re finally nearing retirement. The prospect of having more time to relax and enjoy yourself is exciting, but you’ll need money to do that. As you wrap up your peak earning years and prepare to step away from the workforce, it’s important to make smart money moves that will protect your nest egg. All it takes is one poor financial choice to throw a wrench in your plans — and financial stability — so take the time to make informed decisions.
When faced with a large amount of cash, it can be tempting to share it with loved ones — i.e., your children — or indulge yourself with luxury items. However, this money needs to last your entire retirement, which could span decades. Here’s a look at common financial blunders you don’t want to make as you get older if you want to avoid a major financial setback.
5 Major Money Mistakes To Avoid Once You Turn 60
Laura Woods Mon, February 15, 2021
You’ve been working hard your entire adult life and you’re finally nearing retirement. The prospect of having more time to relax and enjoy yourself is exciting, but you’ll need money to do that. As you wrap up your peak earning years and prepare to step away from the workforce, it’s important to make smart money moves that will protect your nest egg. All it takes is one poor financial choice to throw a wrench in your plans — and financial stability — so take the time to make informed decisions.
When faced with a large amount of cash, it can be tempting to share it with loved ones — i.e., your children — or indulge yourself with luxury items. However, this money needs to last your entire retirement, which could span decades. Here’s a look at common financial blunders you don’t want to make as you get older if you want to avoid a major financial setback.
Collecting Social Security Benefits Too Soon
Many people make the mistake of taking Social Security income as soon as they can because it’s available. Others start early because they’re afraid the system will run out of money. Neither approach is the best way to maximize benefits.
“You receive more each month if you wait until your full retirement age, and you can even get increases after that — amounting to roughly 8% per year until you’re 70,” said Justin Pritchard, CFP, founder of Approach Financial, Inc. in Montrose, Colorado.
Having patience can literally pay off.
“Instead of claiming as soon as possible, run some numbers to determine how much you’ll earn if you wait,” he said. “Remember that a surviving spouse who takes over your benefit will be affected by your decision, so choose carefully.”
Cashing Out a Retirement Account
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-major-money-mistakes-avoid-170054937.html
7 Millennial Money Struggles — And How To Start Dealing With Them
.7 Millennial Money Struggles — And How To Start Dealing With Them
Serah Louis Sat, February 13, 2021
Americans are carrying about $1.7 trillion in student debt and millennials hold a large portion of that figure. As President Biden touts plans and priomises for student loan forgiveness, millennials wait with bated breath for much-needed relief. Student loans play a huge part, but there are more financial worries that plague millennials. These struggles have been made considerably worse as COVID-19 continues to decimate several industries.
But, whether it’s the student loans or mortgage payments, there are plenty of ways to start getting your financial problems under control while starting to save for the future. Here are seven common millennial money hardships — and what you can do about them.
7 Millennial Money Struggles — And How To Start Dealing With Them
Serah Louis Sat, February 13, 2021
Americans are carrying about $1.7 trillion in student debt and millennials hold a large portion of that figure. As President Biden touts plans and priomises for student loan forgiveness, millennials wait with bated breath for much-needed relief. Student loans play a huge part, but there are more financial worries that plague millennials. These struggles have been made considerably worse as COVID-19 continues to decimate several industries.
But, whether it’s the student loans or mortgage payments, there are plenty of ways to start getting your financial problems under control while starting to save for the future. Here are seven common millennial money hardships — and what you can do about them.
1. Financial crises and fallen wages
Millennials have experienced not one, but two financial crises – the Great Recession of 2008 and the economic downturn prompted by COVID-19.
With an unprecedented number of business closures and layoffs in 2020, plenty of millennials are out of work, or employed with lower wages and poor job security. The 2008 financial crisis has also made it more difficult for the generation as a whole to amass a decent amount of savings.
If you need a side-gig to support your current job, try using an online marketplace where you can post your services to cater to businesses around the world. You can also make money on the side by renting out unused space in your home, or earn rewards when you do your groceries and shop online.
2. Still paying off student loans
The rewards of holding a degree don’t always offset the tuition and board fees (they’ve been upped by over 25% in the past decade) and some graduates are regretting the expenses.
An EducationData.org report shows that student loan debt hit almost $1.6 trillion in 2020. And over a quarter of millennials say college “definitely” wasn’t worth the debt, according to a Morning Consult survey.
Make sure to check whether you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan or public service loan forgiveness. If not, consider refinancing or rolling all your debts into a consolidation loan.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-millennial-money-struggles-start-200000765.html
7 Thought-Provoking Lessons From Socrates
.7 Thought-Provoking Lessons From Socrates, That Will Show You A Better Way Of Living
A better way to improve your life if you follow these lessons from Socrates. Socrates was a Greek philosopher, an enigmatic genius- A genius who gave a whole new norm to the Western philosophy.
The standard set by him, his critical reasoning, his view on life and surrounding made him an admirable inspiration to many who came across his teachings, and also had accusers who eventually put him to trial and execution.
Socrates lived an impoverished life. Despite being such a significant figure in philosophy, he never left a word about himself. Although we know little about his life except for the information recorded by his students, including Plato, what we do know makes it clear that he had a unique and powerful philosophy and personality.
Although we live in a world that is different from Socrates time and may be the life we live is much different now but he had to say then still applies on our conquest to get a peaceful and happier life.
7 Thought-Provoking Lessons From Socrates, That Will Show You A Better Way Of Living
A better way to improve your life if you follow these lessons from Socrates. Socrates was a Greek philosopher, an enigmatic genius- A genius who gave a whole new norm to the Western philosophy.
The standard set by him, his critical reasoning, his view on life and surrounding made him an admirable inspiration to many who came across his teachings, and also had accusers who eventually put him to trial and execution.
Socrates lived an impoverished life. Despite being such a significant figure in philosophy, he never left a word about himself. Although we know little about his life except for the information recorded by his students, including Plato, what we do know makes it clear that he had a unique and powerful philosophy and personality.
Although we live in a world that is different from Socrates time and may be the life we live is much different now but he had to say then still applies on our conquest to get a peaceful and happier life.
1. The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing.
You can’t learn anything if you think you know it already if you believe you are an expert already and there is nothing more left to learn then you really will have nothing to learn.
Open your mind, realize that you might be wrong or mistaken, and you may be ready to learn. Additionally, no matter how much you know, there is a nearly infinite amount of stuff that you don’t know.
You will come across various people in your life with different experience and knowledge sets, you will meet an industrialist and a beggar on the same day, and you must be curious to learn from both and try and understand the problems of both the people and solve their problems accordingly.
2. Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.
Gossiping and engaging in small talk which is not productive and leads you nowhere are works of smaller minds, stronger minds discuss ideas which hold power to introduce change for the betterment of one and all.
My favorite quote from ‘V for Vendetta’ sums it up perfectly.
“Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason, and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgotten… But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like?
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://themindsjournal.com/lessons-from-socrates/2/
The ‘Cash on Hand’ Dilemma: How Much Is Too Much?
.The ‘Cash on Hand’ Dilemma: How Much Is Too Much?
Trent Hamm
The idea of having “cash under the mattress” has a lot of appeal to many people. After all, cash is king and having some cash around in a quick pinch can solve a lot of problems.
An older friend of mine used to have a coffee can full of cash that he kept hidden away somewhere in his house. I’m not sure where he kept it, but I saw it produced a time or two and I couldn’t help but notice that it contained a large quantity of cash. He used it to take advantage of opportunities and to take care of things in emergencies.
A professor at the college I attended kept a false bookend in his office. It had a removable bottom and he kept about $1,500 in cash in there in $100 bills – I kid you not. He trusted me enough once to dig into it right in front of me and give me some cash to help me out in a desperate moment, an act that I still appreciate to this day because of the unquestioning generosity behind it. (I was almost completely broke and couldn’t afford the book for his class; I showed up to his first two office hours and he produced a $100 bill for me to buy the class textbook with. That’s just extraordinary generosity.)
The ‘Cash on Hand’ Dilemma: How Much Is Too Much?
Trent Hamm
The idea of having “cash under the mattress” has a lot of appeal to many people. After all, cash is king and having some cash around in a quick pinch can solve a lot of problems.
An older friend of mine used to have a coffee can full of cash that he kept hidden away somewhere in his house. I’m not sure where he kept it, but I saw it produced a time or two and I couldn’t help but notice that it contained a large quantity of cash. He used it to take advantage of opportunities and to take care of things in emergencies.
A professor at the college I attended kept a false bookend in his office. It had a removable bottom and he kept about $1,500 in cash in there in $100 bills – I kid you not. He trusted me enough once to dig into it right in front of me and give me some cash to help me out in a desperate moment, an act that I still appreciate to this day because of the unquestioning generosity behind it. (I was almost completely broke and couldn’t afford the book for his class; I showed up to his first two office hours and he produced a $100 bill for me to buy the class textbook with. That’s just extraordinary generosity.)
Simply having a pool of cash around to tap into at a moment’s notice when a great opportunity appears or when disaster strikes is very worthwhile. Cash is king, after all – it solves problems.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the downside of a practice like this. Cash is untraceable, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. If you lose that cash, it’s gone. If someone steals it from you, it’s gone. If your home or apartment or car is broken into and the cash is taken, it’s gone. If your home or apartment or car burns to the ground, the money is gone.
So, there’s some risk and reward when it comes to holding onto cash. The risk is that risk of losing the money and, theoretically, the small amount of financial gain that might come from investing it elsewhere. The reward is the flexibility and opportunity that comes from having cash on hand at a moment’s notice.
Where’s the tipping point between those factors?
For me, the tipping point is enough cash to make sure my family is fine for three days during a complete natural disaster. I want enough cash to ensure that I can get my family at least 100 miles from home, feed them for three days, and house them for three days and nights. I might tap that cash for other purposes in the heat of the moment, but I replenish back up to that point.
I decided that I wanted to have enough cash available to simply handle this kind of major emergency with no questions asked. I simply produce the cash and we’re on our way.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.thesimpledollar.com/financial-wellness/the-cash-on-hand-dilemma-how-much-is-too-much/
Unfortunate Investing Traits
.Unfortunate Investing Traits
Feb 4, 2021 by Morgan Housel
Napoleon’s definition of a military genius was “The man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind.”
What he meant, I think, is that most wars are lost rather than won. The final outcome is driven more by one side’s blunder than the other’s brilliance. One screw up can overwhelm a dozen smart decisions that preceded it, so even if strategy is crucial the expert is rarely preoccupied asking, “How can I be great?” The obsession is, “How can I ensure I’m at least average and never a disaster during the most important moments?”
And isn’t investing the same?
Most of this industry is devoted to finding greatness, which is inevitable because it’s what captures attention. But an occasional great decision can quickly become irrelevant unless you consistently avoid the blunders that move the needle even more. It’s not exciting, but we should spend more effort on ensuring we’re capable of doing the average thing all the time before we spend a moment trying to do a great thing some of the time.
Unfortunate Investing Traits
Feb 4, 2021 by Morgan Housel
Napoleon’s definition of a military genius was “The man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind.”
What he meant, I think, is that most wars are lost rather than won. The final outcome is driven more by one side’s blunder than the other’s brilliance. One screw up can overwhelm a dozen smart decisions that preceded it, so even if strategy is crucial the expert is rarely preoccupied asking, “How can I be great?” The obsession is, “How can I ensure I’m at least average and never a disaster during the most important moments?”
And isn’t investing the same?
Most of this industry is devoted to finding greatness, which is inevitable because it’s what captures attention. But an occasional great decision can quickly become irrelevant unless you consistently avoid the blunders that move the needle even more. It’s not exciting, but we should spend more effort on ensuring we’re capable of doing the average thing all the time before we spend a moment trying to do a great thing some of the time.
A few unfortunate traits that commonly prevent investors from doing the average thing:
1. Personalizing wins and externalizing losses.
If you write a piece of computer code and it works, you can take credit for it. It works because you did the right thing. If it doesn’t work, you did the wrong thing. Black and white.
Investing isn’t like that. So many forces collide at once – economics, politics, business, markets, psychology – that there’s more leeway to create a narrative about why something did or didn’t happen. The most common narrative is that wins are caused by your decisions and losses are the consequence of some external force, usually policymakers.
It’s the most comfortable mindset. But it’s a bonanza for overconfidence on one end and ignorance on the other. One reason the financial industry mints so many extraordinary egos is because it’s easy to take personal credit for what works and claim to be a victim of what doesn’t. Industrial engineers can’t simply be in the right place at the right time, or blame their failures on the Federal Reserve. But investors can, and do.
An iron rule of investing is that almost nothing is certain and the best we can do is put the odds of success in our favor. Since we’re working with odds – not certainties – it’s possible to make good decisions that don’t work, bad decisions that work beautifully, and random decisions that may go either way. Few industries are like that, so it’s easy to ignore. But it’s a central feature of markets.
Unless you’ve enjoyed a period of success that you realize you had nothing to do with, or can admit that a long period of loss was due to your own mistake, you’ll have a hard time grasping reality in a way that lets you do at least the average thing when everyone else is losing their minds.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
The 3 Most Important Words in Finance
.The 3 Most Important Words in Finance
November 22, 2020 by Ben Carlson
There are generally 3 stages of growth for a successful investor:
Stage 1. I know everything (when you’re first starting out)
Stage 2. I know nothing (after you learn a bit about markets)
Stage 3. I know what I don’t know (after you realize how hard markets are)
That last stage is difficult for many people in the world of finance to figure out. Or even if they admit it to themselves it’s difficult to let clients in on the fact that even the masters of the universe don’t know what’s going to happen next when it comes to the markets.
The 3 Most Important Words in Finance
November 22, 2020 by Ben Carlson
There are generally 3 stages of growth for a successful investor:
Stage 1. I know everything (when you’re first starting out)
Stage 2. I know nothing (after you learn a bit about markets)
Stage 3. I know what I don’t know (after you realize how hard markets are)
That last stage is difficult for many people in the world of finance to figure out. Or even if they admit it to themselves it’s difficult to let clients in on the fact that even the masters of the universe don’t know what’s going to happen next when it comes to the markets.
A number of years ago Jason Zweig interviewed the late Peter Bernstein and asked him some of the most important things he had to unlearn over the course of his career:
Q. Over the course of your career, what are the most important things you’d say you had to unlearn?
A. That I knew what the future held, I guess. That you can figure this thing out. I mean, I’ve become increasingly humble about it over time and comfortable with that. You have to understand that being wrong is part of the process. And I try to shut up at cocktail parties. You have to keep learning that you don’t know, because you find models that work, ways to make money, and then they blow sky-high.
There’s always somebody around who looks smart. I’ve learned that the ones who are the most smart aren’t going to make it. I don’t know anybody who left investing to become an engineer, but I know a lot of engineers who left engineering to become investors. It’s just so infinitely challenging.
When I first started out in the investment business I was always overly impressed with the smartest people in the room who seemed to have it all figured out about what was going to happen with certain stocks or the markets in general.
It took a while but I eventually discovered it was those investors who had enough self-awareness to admit they didn’t know what was going to happen next and they didn’t have all of the answers who were truly intelligent.
The 3 most important words in finance are ………
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2020/11/the-3-most-important-words-in-finance/
How One Man Saved $1 Million in 5 Years
.How One Man Saved $1 Million in 5 Years
Cameron Huddleston Life and Money Columnist
Save $1 million with these tips.
If you’re graduating from college this spring, saving for retirement probably isn’t high on your list of priorities. In fact, GOBankingRates found that saving for retirement isn’t a priority for a large number of Americans. It certainly wasn’t at the top of Grant Sabatier’s to-do list when he graduated from the University of Chicago in 2007.
As a philosophy major entering the job market on the brink of the Great Recession, Sabatier was lucky to find work at a call center for an analytics company. The pay was pretty good, too: $42,000 a year. It was certainly enough to cover living expenses and leave him with some cash to stash in a retirement account. But Sabatier didn’t save a dime.
“I spent it all,” he said. “I had an opportunity to save when I was 22, but I didn’t. I tried to live the life.”
How One Man Saved $1 Million in 5 Years
Cameron Huddleston Life and Money Columnist
Save $1 million with these tips.
If you’re graduating from college this spring, saving for retirement probably isn’t high on your list of priorities. In fact, GOBankingRates found that saving for retirement isn’t a priority for a large number of Americans. It certainly wasn’t at the top of Grant Sabatier’s to-do list when he graduated from the University of Chicago in 2007.
As a philosophy major entering the job market on the brink of the Great Recession, Sabatier was lucky to find work at a call center for an analytics company. The pay was pretty good, too: $42,000 a year. It was certainly enough to cover living expenses and leave him with some cash to stash in a retirement account. But Sabatier didn’t save a dime.
“I spent it all,” he said. “I had an opportunity to save when I was 22, but I didn’t. I tried to live the life.”
But he got a wake-up call two years later. After bouncing from job to job, Sabatier found himself living at home with his parents with just $2.26 in his bank account. He decided to make saving a priority.
Five years later, Sabatier had $1 million in the bank. Today, at age 32, he has about $1.35 million.
Have a Plan
Whether you want to retire early or retire with riches, you need to have a plan in place. You can’t just set aside an arbitrary amount in a retirement account each month and hope it works out.
When he was 24 and living at home, Sabatier decided he wanted to reach financial independence by age 30 — a tall order for someone with just a couple bucks in the bank. To figure out how much he would need to save, he used a retirement calculator.
Sabatier estimated his annual expenses would be $50,000 and found he would need to save 25 times that sum — $1.25 million — in order to live off the interest in retirement. He then calculated that he would need to save $50 a day and earn 5 percent annually to have $1.25 million in 30 years.
However, Sabatier didn’t want to wait that long; he wanted to save the amount he needed in just five years.
“When you get clear on your numbers, what it costs to have the lifestyle you want, you really are in control,” he said.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/savings-advice/how-to-save-million-dollars-5-years/
The Blind Men and the Elephant
.The Blind Men and the Elephant
Emailed To Dinar Recaps
Please entertain yourself while being very enlightened with this story that is a parallel to the Dinar - the Dinar Community and Dinar Intel Providers - It was very well thought out and put together - Thank you Rhino!
Once there were three blind men who were given the task of describing an elephant. Each was led into an elephant pen by way of a different gate.
The first man approached the elephant from the front and groped around the elephant’s trunk. The second encountered the elephant from the rear and grabbed the tail. The last man walked into a leg and felt around that part of the elephant. Then the men were led out of the pen and asked to describe the appearance of an elephant.
The Blind Men and the Elephant
Emailed To Dinar Recaps
Please entertain yourself while being very enlightened with this story that is a parallel to the Dinar - the Dinar Community and Dinar Intel Providers - It was very well thought out and put together - Thank you Rhino!
Once there were three blind men who were given the task of describing an elephant. Each was led into an elephant pen by way of a different gate.
The first man approached the elephant from the front and groped around the elephant’s trunk. The second encountered the elephant from the rear and grabbed the tail. The last man walked into a leg and felt around that part of the elephant. Then the men were led out of the pen and asked to describe the appearance of an elephant.
![blind-men-elephan-3-1[1].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d5222a44813620001d89582/1613024949361-ZUNWNXK6Y6LZ7DCLHYIE/blind-men-elephan-3-1%5B1%5D.jpg)
Well, being blind, none of them had ever actually seen an elephant, but each of them did have a very real perspective from which to share; and share they did.
Then the men were led out of the pen and asked to describe the appearance of an elephant. Well, being blind, none of them had ever actually seen an elephant, but each of them did have a very real perspective from which to share; and share they did.
They all agreed that an elephant is round. After all, the trunk, tail, and leg are all basically round in shape. But that is where the similarities ended. Before long, the discussion turned ugly.
Each man knew that he was correct. After all, he had touched the elephant! You can’t get much closer to a source that than that.
Two of the men, each armed with unequivocal, undeniable, unimpeachable information, felt compelled to argue their cases. They felt it was their duty to convince all other blind people the “truth” about the elephant. These two men looked for every opportunity to pursue their duty, sharing elephant truths.
And other blind people appreciated their efforts and began to ask questions. Some members of the blind community liked hearing about the “trunk” description. Others thought that the “tail” description was closer to the truth. And these two men enjoyed their new-found popularity greatly.
In order to have more things to talk about, one of these same two men, researched Braille articles about elephants.
Unfortunately, some of the articles were written by folks with ulterior motives—ivory hunters, ruthless poachers, who cared only about the monetary value of elephants.
The blind man either didn’t know that some of the articles were intentionally deceptive, or perhaps he didn’t care. After all, the articles did provide talking points, which in turn increased his popularity.
The second argumentative blind man was content simply to argue. The louder he argued the more attention he got. Healthy, informed debate is good and productive.
Too bad this one fellow would occasionally resort to name calling, all the while claiming to be the only source of real elephant truth.
Nevertheless, he maintained a substantial following among the blind community and, to a large degree, that was all that mattered; much more so than the elephant.
What about the third blind man? Well, he was out there all the time. He too shared his perspective of the elephant, his own brand of elephant truth. His perspective was limited too, but he shared what he knew to be true.
The difference is, this man stayed true to his mission—sharing truth about elephants. He didn’t rail against the tail perspective. He didn’t throw a tantrum when new trunk information got released. He merely shared what he knew and let members of the blind community do with it what they will.
As you can see, not all the blind men behaved the same way. They did however, have several things in common. They all had great connections (which explains why they were selected as elephant describers in the first place).
These connections afforded them a certain measure of special status within the blind community. Additionally, all three blind men had valid perspectives. After all, their descriptions of the trunk, tail and leg were all accurate.
And let’s not forget the last thing they had in common—they were all blind! Special status or not, they were all members of the blind community.
Thus, while all of them had real information regarding a portion of the elephant, none of them understood the whole elephant.
Ultimately, the complete truth about the elephant resides with one Person—the Creator of the elephant.
If only the blind men knew this. I believe they did. Perhaps all that talk about the elephant created a temporary blind spot.
Go Elephant!
10 Simple Habits of Money-Smart Individuals
.10 Simple Habits of Money-Smart Individuals
Master these successful money habits to boost your wealth.
By Tracie Fobes January 22, 2021
Mark Cuban. Warren Buffett. Michael Bloomberg. Most people will never be as rich as the world’s wealthiest billionaires, but you can still learn from their smart money habits. From ditching debt to paying bills on time, fiscally savvy folks have developed good habits and plans that keep them in financial shape. And with a little effort, you too can master their tricks for managing money. If you’re looking to break bad money habits and get on more solid financial footing, follow these fiscal tips from the pros.
Have a Written Budget
Many people have a budget — sort of. They know who they have to pay each month and how much. However, they don’t have anything in writing. When you have a written budget, you see exactly where your money is going. Best of all, you can direct your money where you want it to go. Your budget is your roadmap to financial success, so make sure you include every single expense. Don’t forget about that coffee you grab on the way to work or the money you spend on parking every day.
10 Simple Habits of Money-Smart Individuals
Master these successful money habits to boost your wealth.
By Tracie Fobes January 22, 2021
Mark Cuban. Warren Buffett. Michael Bloomberg. Most people will never be as rich as the world’s wealthiest billionaires, but you can still learn from their smart money habits. From ditching debt to paying bills on time, fiscally savvy folks have developed good habits and plans that keep them in financial shape. And with a little effort, you too can master their tricks for managing money. If you’re looking to break bad money habits and get on more solid financial footing, follow these fiscal tips from the pros.
Have a Written Budget
Many people have a budget — sort of. They know who they have to pay each month and how much. However, they don’t have anything in writing. When you have a written budget, you see exactly where your money is going. Best of all, you can direct your money where you want it to go. Your budget is your roadmap to financial success, so make sure you include every single expense. Don’t forget about that coffee you grab on the way to work or the money you spend on parking every day.
Pay Down Debt
Take the steps necessary to pay off your debts. You will need to create a debt payoff plan to make it happen. Start by assessing the types of debt you carry and determining what might be paid off first. Your credit card debt should be the first thing you look at. In addition to possibly carrying a high interest rate, it typically has variable rates. Because credit cards are revolving debt, if you only make the minimum payment required each month, you may not be able to pin down an end date for your debt.
Consolidating revolving debt into a personal loan lets you lock in a repayment term. In other words, you define an end date to that debt. Plus, by consolidating higher-rate debt you may save money on interest. A Discover® personal loan offers annual percentage rates between 6.99% and 24.99%. And with a fixed rate Discover personal loan, you won’t have to worry about increasing interest rates.
It might take some time, but you can pay off debt if you’re diligent.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
16 Real People Affected By the Coronavirus Give Their Best Financial Advice
.16 Real People Affected By the Coronavirus Give Their Best Financial Advice
Learn how you can get through the pandemic. By Erica Corbin July 17, 2020
The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has taken over the world. As of March 30, 2020, there were more than 770,000 cases and nearly 37,000 deaths reported worldwide. It has affected the young and old alike and turned daily life in nearly every country into a surreal nightmare.
From a financial point of view alone, it’s an extremely uncertain and stressful time. Millions of people are unable to work and yet still must pay rent, car payments, student loan debt and more. Buying groceries and other essentials has become a challenge for many, too, and not just because there isn’t enough toilet paper to go around. However, this doesn’t mean there aren’t ways of getting through this pandemic. GOBankingRates spoke with 16 people around the world who have been affected by the coronavirus, from job losses to life-threatening health concerns, and asked them for their best financial advice. Learn what you can do to manage your money during the outbreak.
16 Real People Affected By the Coronavirus Give Their Best Financial Advice
Learn how you can get through the pandemic. By Erica Corbin July 17, 2020
The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has taken over the world. As of March 30, 2020, there were more than 770,000 cases and nearly 37,000 deaths reported worldwide. It has affected the young and old alike and turned daily life in nearly every country into a surreal nightmare.
From a financial point of view alone, it’s an extremely uncertain and stressful time. Millions of people are unable to work and yet still must pay rent, car payments, student loan debt and more. Buying groceries and other essentials has become a challenge for many, too, and not just because there isn’t enough toilet paper to go around. However, this doesn’t mean there aren’t ways of getting through this pandemic. GOBankingRates spoke with 16 people around the world who have been affected by the coronavirus, from job losses to life-threatening health concerns, and asked them for their best financial advice. Learn what you can do to manage your money during the outbreak.
1. They Nearly Got Stranded Abroad and Had To Buy an Emergency Flight Home
Nicole Diaz and her husband were in Ireland celebrating her 30th birthday when the coronavirus really started taking over. In the days leading up to their trip, more and more tours had been postponed and the country’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, which drew 500,000 people last year, was canceled.
They had been in the country for less than 48 hours when they learned that they needed to fly home to California immediately. “We had to buy an emergency flight back to the U.S. once we saw that Ireland got added to the travel ban list,” Diaz said. “We ended up shelling out a little over $2,000 on the emergency flight back to Los Angeles.” Fortunately, they were able to get home and enter self-isolation immediately.
Advice: Save 20% of Your Paycheck
“If I could give others advice, it would be to make sure you always have a cushion for emergencies like this,” Diaz said. “Thankfully, we had that cushion. I’ve been making it a habit to put at least 20% of my paycheck away toward savings and so this extra money helped us a lot.”
Diaz recognizes that this is easier said than done when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. However, there are ways to save 20% more of your paycheck without even trying.
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With Apologies To Drunken Sailors Everywhere. . .
.With Apologies To Drunken Sailors Everywhere. . .
Notes From The Field By Simon Black February 9, 2021 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
The year was 1977. Disco was in. Star Wars was the biggest movie of the year. The world’s first personal computer was announced-- the Commodore PET, which came with 8 kilobytes of memory. And the Gross Domestic Product of the United States reached $1.9 trillion-- more than double what it had been just ten years prior. As you probably know (or possibly remember), though, most of the GDP “growth” during the 1970s wasn’t because the US economy was strong. Quite the opposite, actually.
The 1970s was a period of economic stagnation and inflation. The economy was in such bad shape that, between January 1, 1970 and December 31, 1977, the S&P 500 grew exactly ZERO percent.
With Apologies To Drunken Sailors Everywhere. . .
Notes From The Field By Simon Black February 9, 2021 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
The year was 1977. Disco was in. Star Wars was the biggest movie of the year. The world’s first personal computer was announced-- the Commodore PET, which came with 8 kilobytes of memory. And the Gross Domestic Product of the United States reached $1.9 trillion-- more than double what it had been just ten years prior. As you probably know (or possibly remember), though, most of the GDP “growth” during the 1970s wasn’t because the US economy was strong. Quite the opposite, actually.
The 1970s was a period of economic stagnation and inflation. The economy was in such bad shape that, between January 1, 1970 and December 31, 1977, the S&P 500 grew exactly ZERO percent.
Yet food and fuel prices kept spiraling out of control. This is a big reason why GDP kept rising in the 1970s despite such a weak economy.
We’ll come back to 1970s inflation in a moment; for now, I’ll point out the coincidence that the latest COVID stimulus bill which Congress seems ready to pass, is also $1.9 trillion.
In other words, the amount of money they want to spend in a SINGLE legislative package is the same as the size of the entire US economy in 1977. And 1977 is still fairly recent history.
Even today, $1.9 trillion is nearly 10% of the size of the US economy, and roughly 50% of expected federal tax revenue this fiscal year.
Before this COVID spending plan was announced, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in early January that the budget deficit this year in the Land of the Free would be $2.3 trillion (up from their $1.8 trillion estimate a few months before.)
Now they’ll have to add another $1.9 trillion to the total, tentatively bringing this year’s budget deficit to $4.2 trillion.
It’s important to note, of course, that the politicians and public health officials keep moving the goalposts on when life will go back to ‘normal’.
Their latest estimate is that, after hundreds of millions of people are vaccinated, then possibly by late fall there will be “a degree of normality”.
But naturally if there’s the slightest hint of anyone getting the sniffles this fall, they’ll likely slap everyone back down into stay-at-home orders and quarantines. And this means MORE stimulus.
Stay home. Be afraid. Dehumanize yourself and others. Believe what you’re told. Obey. Collect your free government money.
Among the countless, obvious problems with their plan is that they only have one way to pay for it: debt.
The national debt in the United States is nearly $28 trillion right now (up from $23 trillion pre-COVID). And the debt will sprint past $29 trillion soon and reach $30 trillion within the next few months.
At $30 trillion, the national debt will be roughly 1.5x the size of the entire US economy. That will also be a record high-- even higher than when the US was fighting the Nazis in World War II.
The challenges with this approach, of course, are that
(a) someone actually has to have trillions of dollars lying around; and
(b) be willing to lend such prodigious sums to the US federal government.
That’s a pretty tall order.
Most foreign countries don’t have that sort of money. Europe and Japan, for example, are flat broke. And those who do have the money (China) don’t have any interest in financing US government deficits.
You can see this in the data: foreign ownership of US government debt has actually been declining over the past few years, giving a very strong indication that they’re unwilling and/or unable to loan more money to Uncle Sam.
So, with foreign lenders off the table, the Treasury Department will have to look to other sources.
Social Security’s trust funds have long been a source of plunder. But with the program having already turned cashflow negative (and set to run out of money possibly by the end of this decade), this isn’t a viable option any longer.
That leaves the Federal Reserve-- America’s central bank. The Fed has the ridiculous authority of being able to conjure unlimited quantities of money out of thin air in its sole discretion. And as a result, they’ve been buying up the vast majority of US government debt for most of the past decade.
Prior to the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, the Fed’s balance sheet was around $850 billion. Since then, they’ve created so much money that their balance sheet has ballooned to $7.4 trillion.
This takes me back to the 1970s.
Starting in around 1970, the Federal Reserve began heavily slashing interest rates and pumping more money into the economy in an effort to boost GDP.
The plan was successful; like I wrote earlier, the US economy ‘grew’. But so did inflation and unemployment.
Inflation in particular was miserable during the 70s, reaching 14% by its peak in 1980. And most of this happened because they borrowed too much and created too much money.
I wrote about this recently-- economic prosperity isn’t rocket science. All that’s required is some basic fiscal restraint, economic freedom, and a stable currency. The free market takes care of the rest.
History shows that bad things tend to happen when politicians and bureaucrats try to engineer prosperity by debasing the currency.
Yet these people continue to print and spend money like drunken sailors… which is frankly an insult to drunken sailors everywhere. Even drunken sailors eventually realize when they’ve run out of money.
It’s entirely possible that such unprecedented debt and money expansion could cause serious problems with the currency-- including 1970s style inflation.
Don’t fall into a logical trap and believe that inflation will never be a problem, simply because it hasn’t been a problem yet. Rather, acknowledge that the US was extremely lucky for inflation to have been relatively benign over the last decade. But after the year we just had, it would be foolish to assume that the next decade will be as tame as the previous one.
To your freedom and prosperity, Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/with-apologies-to-drunken-sailors-everywhere-30789/