30 Essential Money Habits
.30 Essential Money Habits
By Elyssa Kirkham March 19, 2021
These money habits will help you grow your bank account.
What are you doing every day that can help you grow your bank account? If you can't answer that question, it's time to develop some new money habits. Just like with your physical health, your financial health depends on the daily decisions you make every day. While healthy habits such as eating better and exercising keep you fit, certain money habits can keep you financially comfortable and help you establish wealth.
1. Spend Less Than You Earn
This habit is Personal Finance 101. It's always going to be true that you'll never get ahead financially if you always have more money going out than coming in. The great news is there are two ways you can work on this habit: Focus both on growing your income and controlling your spending to live within your means.
30 Essential Money Habits
By Elyssa Kirkham March 19, 2021
These money habits will help you grow your bank account.
What are you doing every day that can help you grow your bank account? If you can't answer that question, it's time to develop some new money habits. Just like with your physical health, your financial health depends on the daily decisions you make every day. While healthy habits such as eating better and exercising keep you fit, certain money habits can keep you financially comfortable and help you establish wealth.
1. Spend Less Than You Earn
This habit is Personal Finance 101. It's always going to be true that you'll never get ahead financially if you always have more money going out than coming in. The great news is there are two ways you can work on this habit: Focus both on growing your income and controlling your spending to live within your means.
2. Keep Looking for New Earning Opportunities
As much as controlling spending is an essential habits, earning more money can be just as important. Look for ways to increase your income.
It could be something small, like babysitting once a week or bigger like selling crafts online.
3. Grow and Invest Your Money
In addition to looking for ways to earn money, financially savvy people also look for ways to grow the money they have. That can be as simple as finding a high-yield savings account where you can stash your funds and earn more than you would with a lower interest savings or checking account.
4. Continuously Pay Down Debt
Interest and debt can hold you back financially. It’s nearly impossible to get ahead and create a financially secure future when you’re always paying off yesterday’s purchases.
Whatever your debt repayment plan is, you need to stick to it and ideally pay more than the minimum every month to make a bigger impact.
5. Pay Yourself First
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/budgeting/essential-money-habits/
27 Things You Should Never Do With Your Money
.27 Things You Should Never Do With Your Money
By Roger Wohlner June 1, 2021
Avoid these big money mistakes and keep more of your cash.
There is possibly an endless list of things you shouldn't do with your money. But from bad habits to decisions based on wishful thinking, some of the bigger missteps can really cost you. To find out the biggest money mistakes you should avoid, GOBankingRates asked financial experts for their best advice.
Never Cash Your Paycheck Right Away
If you cash your paycheck right away, you might burn through it too quickly.
"You will most certainly spend it all if you cash your paycheck rather than have your employer directly deposit it into your bank account," said Barbara Friedberg, a personal finance consultant. "Even better is to automatically transfer a percent of your paycheck into a retirement investment account and direct-deposit the remainder into a bank account."
27 Things You Should Never Do With Your Money
By Roger Wohlner June 1, 2021
Avoid these big money mistakes and keep more of your cash.
There is possibly an endless list of things you shouldn't do with your money. But from bad habits to decisions based on wishful thinking, some of the bigger missteps can really cost you. To find out the biggest money mistakes you should avoid, GOBankingRates asked financial experts for their best advice.
Never Cash Your Paycheck Right Away
If you cash your paycheck right away, you might burn through it too quickly.
"You will most certainly spend it all if you cash your paycheck rather than have your employer directly deposit it into your bank account," said Barbara Friedberg, a personal finance consultant. "Even better is to automatically transfer a percent of your paycheck into a retirement investment account and direct-deposit the remainder into a bank account."
One advantage of having a workplace retirement plan, such as a 401(k), is that money is automatically deducted from your pay and invested. You don't see it, so you won't spend it. You can use a budgeting template to get the most mileage out of your paycheck.
Never Fall For 'Special' Finance Deals You Can’t Afford
Promotional finance offers that provide zero or low interest rates on a big purchase might sound like a great deal -- until you wind up paying more than you expected. That's what happened to Grayson Bell, founder of personal finance website Debt Roundup.
"Don't finance a new vehicle, or watercraft in my case, based on the low promotional monthly payment," he said. "I financed a new $10,000 Jet Ski with no money down and no real way to pay for it based on a radio ad promoting a super low $69 per month payment. What I didn't read was the rate was only for two years, then it changes to include retroactive interest based on the loan amount."
"Those financing deals can ruin you if you're only looking at the monthly payment," he continued. "Go through the math and read all of the fine print. They get you in with the low monthly payments, but keep you paying for much longer than you anticipated."
Never Miss Out on Making Money With Your Money
When you pick out a checking account to use, you want to make sure you’re making the most of your options. The average checking account comes with an interest rate1 of 0.03%, if it has any at all, so you’ll want to shop around for the best options.
Depending on your daily balance, with PenFed’s Access America Checking account2, you can earn up to 0.35% APY3 with a monthly direct deposit of $500 or more. By using this account, you’ll be earning up to 11 times the average, which means your money will be doing more for you here than with other average checking accounts.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
One advantage of having a workplace retirement plan, such as a 401(k), is that money is automatically deducted from your pay and invested. You don't see it, so you won't spend it. You can use a budgeting template to get the most mileage out of your paycheck.
Never Fall For 'Special' Finance Deals You Can’t Afford
Promotional finance offers that provide zero or low interest rates on a big purchase might sound like a great deal -- until you wind up paying more than you expected. That's what happened to Grayson Bell, founder of personal finance website Debt Roundup.
"Don't finance a new vehicle, or watercraft in my case, based on the low promotional monthly payment," he said. "I financed a new $10,000 Jet Ski with no money down and no real way to pay for it based on a radio ad promoting a super low $69 per month payment. What I didn't read was the rate was only for two years, then it changes to include retroactive interest based on the loan amount."
"Those financing deals can ruin you if you're only looking at the monthly payment," he continued. "Go through the math and read all of the fine print. They get you in with the low monthly payments, but keep you paying for much longer than you anticipated."
Never Miss Out on Making Money With Your Money
When you pick out a checking account to use, you want to make sure you’re making the most of your options. The average checking account comes with an interest rate1 of 0.03%, if it has any at all, so you’ll want to shop around for the best options.
Depending on your daily balance, with PenFed’s Access America Checking account2, you can earn up to 0.35% APY3 with a monthly direct deposit of $500 or more. By using this account, you’ll be earning up to 11 times the average, which means your money will be doing more for you here than with other average checking accounts.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
10 Powerful Quotes That Made Me A Millionaire
.From Recaps Archives
10 Powerful Quotes That Made Me A Millionaire
By Dale-Partridge
Make Your Passion Your Profession
With an overwhelming access to knowledge, this generation often finds itself ten feet wide and one inch deep. Knowing a little about everything but never enough about one thing to matter. We have no shortage of words; rather, we have a shortage of the right words.
Poetry has been defined as the best words in the best order. But I believe it goes beyond a poem.
The right words listed in concert and color can articulate a comprehensive and deep meaning in just a few characters. A meaning that can fasten your fears to the floor and allow you to step into progress.
Anchors that keep us straight and hold us tight – almost like an injection of clarity and control for our most uncertain of times.
From Recaps Archives
10 Powerful Quotes That Made Me A Millionaire
By Dale-Partridge
Make Your Passion Your Profession
With an overwhelming access to knowledge, this generation often finds itself ten feet wide and one inch deep. Knowing a little about everything but never enough about one thing to matter. We have no shortage of words; rather, we have a shortage of the right words.
Poetry has been defined as the best words in the best order. But I believe it goes beyond a poem.
The right words listed in concert and color can articulate a comprehensive and deep meaning in just a few characters. A meaning that can fasten your fears to the floor and allow you to step into progress.
Anchors that keep us straight and hold us tight – almost like an injection of clarity and control for our most uncertain of times.
Ultimately, words are the stones that bridge the gap to our furthest destinations. From incomprehension and overcoming indifference to closing a sale and believing in God.
Words make up how we think, what we know, and who we become.
But the right words change your life. They can change your story.
Here are the words that have changed mine.
1. "Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life."
Who Said It?: My Grandmother
How It Has Helped Me:
Getting lost in something you love often results in getting lost in general. We live in a culture that measures our success by how much money we make rather than the fullness of our lives.
Over the 13 years I've spent building businesses, I've learned the months that feel weighted to one side typically follow a season spent living in the absence of this quote.
2. "Speak to people how they need to hear it, not how you want to say it."
Who Said It?: My Mentor
How It Has Helped Me:
Empathy is a difficult virtue to master. As an entrepreneur, the best marketing is performed by those who can step into the customer's pain. To put words to their emotions and to create products that solve their most trying problems. As leaders, we must not forget that thoughtfulness is the most effective form of communication.
3. "Your greatest weakness is often the overextension of your greatest strength."
Who Said It?: Jason Benham
How It Has Helped Me:
I'm a natural teacher. Speaking, selling, and convincing others is almost instinctive to me. But far too many times I've been kicked in the leg by my wife for not shutting my mouth.
As I've matured, I'm learning that the overuse of our inherent gifting can backfire. The secret is learning to take it to the very edge, and stop.
4. "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
Who Said It?: Antoine de Saint-Exupery
How It Has Helped Me:
A designer is someone who can make something more beautiful than someone else with the same tools at the same cost. Beauty is my secret weapon. But the more I practice design, the more I realize its purpose is not to draw our eyes to many things, but one thing.
So whenever I dislike the aesthetics of something I'm working on, whether it's landscaping my backyard or designing a new website, my first step is to take something away.
5. "The goal of an argument is to win their heart, not just their mind."
Who Said It?: Matthew L. Jacobson
How It Has Helped Me:
I used to HATE arguments. For a season, I was even passive. But arguments, debate, and marketing are all important pieces of the persuasion family. In my experience, the secret to removing a fear of confrontation is to re-establish your respect for others.
It's to realize our thoughts are directly connected to our hearts. Winning an argument and losing their heart is a cause for hurt. But winning both is a cause for respect. Remember, people don't care what you know until they know that you care.
6. "It's impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature."
Who Said It?: Peter Scazzero
How It Has Helped Me:
Nothing is independent. Over the years I've learned my relationship with God can only go as far as my capacity to connect with His people.
Too often, I find myself trying to simplify my spirituality to a one-dimensional experience – as if I can compartmentalize my faith absent of others. But I can't. Because maturity in any area requires maturity in all areas.
7. "We change when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing."
Who Said It?: Dr. Henry Cloud
How It Has Helped Me:
The old saying, "if there's no pain, there's no gain" reigns true. But in life, pain doesn't always equal bad. I've learned to re-associate pain with growth or new or beginning.
It's helped me not to spend my life avoiding pain but instead identifying pain that is good for me. The pain that grows me. The pain that changes me. The pain that forms me into the person I was intended to be.
8. "Who we listen to will determine who we will become
Who Said It?: Unknown
How It Has Helped Me:
I don't give my eyes and ears to many. Because my history tells me those I give permission to speak into my life will determine the direction of my actions.
It decides the life that I’ll end up creating. It calls for a change in behaviors that will ultimately adjust my current state of existence. Be cautious with whom you lend your ears. If we let the wrong person in, we could find ourselves far from who we want to become.
9. "Success occurs when we shift our efforts from making a million dollars to helping a million people."
Who Said It?: Dharmesh Shah
How It Has Helped Me:
I spent many years trying to make money to make money. It felt hollow and empty. And surprisingly I didn't make much money either. It wasn't until I had a genuine heart for helping others that I saw a significant jump in my income. Success is often counterintuitive.
What looks like the answer to many is often the path to mediocrity. Instead, the harder path is typically the right path. The path to a more sincere prosperity.
10. "If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs."
Who Said It?: Unknown
How It Has Helped Me:
This quote is a bit like of a backhanded encouragement. It's harsh, but it's true. You can either use your resources (time, energy, passion, etc.) to build the life you want or you will be used as a resource to build the life someone else wants. For me, this quote has been the motivation I needed to become a creator instead of a supporter.
Getting Schooled on Becoming More Financially Literate
.Getting Schooled on Becoming More Financially Literate
Dennis Friedman November 5, 2019 Humble Dollar
MANY BELIEVE we’ve raised a bunch of financial illiterates. If people were better educated about personal finance, the argument goes, they’d make smarter money decisions. North Carolina this year became the 20th state to require high schoolers to take a financial literacy class. Its Lieutenant Governor, Dan Forest, said the new law would “ensure future students, prior to graduating high school, will be more financially literate and economically sound in their decision making as adults.”
But many aren’t sold on the idea that a personal finance class in high school is going to make much of a difference. According to the Huffington Post, “The way we make financial decisions has more to do with our money personality, our math skills, logical thinking, the ability to investigate, the confidence to ask questions and spot BS answers, and recognizing the unconscious influences in ourselves that have long been studied by behavioral scientists.”
Getting Schooled on Becoming More Financially Literate
Dennis Friedman November 5, 2019 Humble Dollar
MANY BELIEVE we’ve raised a bunch of financial illiterates. If people were better educated about personal finance, the argument goes, they’d make smarter money decisions. North Carolina this year became the 20th state to require high schoolers to take a financial literacy class. Its Lieutenant Governor, Dan Forest, said the new law would “ensure future students, prior to graduating high school, will be more financially literate and economically sound in their decision making as adults.”
But many aren’t sold on the idea that a personal finance class in high school is going to make much of a difference. According to the Huffington Post, “The way we make financial decisions has more to do with our money personality, our math skills, logical thinking, the ability to investigate, the confidence to ask questions and spot BS answers, and recognizing the unconscious influences in ourselves that have long been studied by behavioral scientists.”
There are many studies that show that teaching financial literacy in high school has little effect on how people handle money. For example, a 2014 paper for the journal Management Science looked at the results from nearly 170 papers covering more than 200 scientific studies on financial literacy. It found that financial education did little to improve subsequent financial behavior.
According to Timothy Ogden, managing director of the Financial Access Initiative, a research center, “It’s easy to boost financial knowledge: Lots of programs show positive outcomes when you ask people a few questions before and after a financial-ed course. Unfortunately, the impact disappears when you measure what people who take the courses actually do (not just what they say they do, which is a problem with a lot of studies that claim to find an impact).”
What these studies may be telling us is that we need to change the way we teach financial literacy. Financial education can have more of an impact if it’s based on the students’ short-term needs and delivered in a timely manner. For example, teaching high schoolers about college loans and credit card debt could make a difference in the debt load of students going to college.
Personal finance classes also need to deal with economic realities. How to find the lowest interest rate on a car loan is more important than how to calculate interest on that loan.
We should keep in mind that just because you know more about personal finance doesn’t mean you’re going to behave better. We all have emotions and biases that can keep us from making rational decisions.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
What to Worry About and Four Things You Can Do
.What to Worry About and Four Things You Can Do
Adam M. Grossman | July 19, 2020 Humble Dollar
IN RECENT WEEKS, I’ve focused on some of the growing risks in the financial system. In the stock market, there are day trading enthusiasts and their obliging brokers. In Washington, there’s a Federal Reserve that has served up a seemingly bottomless punch bowl of new money.
Result: Despite the current recession and 11% unemployment, the stock market is close to its pre-coronavirus all-time high, fueled in part by the Fed’s policies, which have driven income-starved investors to take greater risk. Meanwhile, the federal budget deficit has gone into the stratosphere—in June alone the deficit was $863 billion, up from $8 billion last year—and the Fed has printed about three trillion new dollars.
What to Worry About and Four Things You Can Do
Adam M. Grossman | July 19, 2020 Humble Dollar
IN RECENT WEEKS, I’ve focused on some of the growing risks in the financial system. In the stock market, there are day trading enthusiasts and their obliging brokers. In Washington, there’s a Federal Reserve that has served up a seemingly bottomless punch bowl of new money.
Result: Despite the current recession and 11% unemployment, the stock market is close to its pre-coronavirus all-time high, fueled in part by the Fed’s policies, which have driven income-starved investors to take greater risk. Meanwhile, the federal budget deficit has gone into the stratosphere—in June alone the deficit was $863 billion, up from $8 billion last year—and the Fed has printed about three trillion new dollars.
A reader asked which posed a bigger risk, an overeager stock market or an overspending government. My response: These risks aren’t the only risks. In fact, the worst risks are the ones we aren’t currently paying attention to. Risks that catch us by surprise are, by definition, the ones we’re least prepared for. Below are just a few examples. Some of these represent risks to the entire system, while others may impact us individually.
Cybersecurity. Talk to folks who work for financial institutions, and they’ll tell you that their computer systems are attacked every day. Fortunately, most attacks are unsuccessful. But I worry about a situation where a major bank’s systems are compromised. The result would be chaos, even if the problems were eventually sorted out.
Identity theft and other types of fraud. In the past, I’ve mentioned Peter Willmott, the former chief executive of Federal Express, whose own bookkeeper stole nearly $10 million from him. Ulysses S. Grant, a former president, found himself bankrupted by a Ponzi scheme late in life. Fortunately, these are the exception rather than the rule, but they illustrate that fraud can affect anyone.
Litigation. Travel down a highway in many states, and you’ll see billboards blanketed with ads for attorneys. “Injured? Call us!” If you’re a physician or a small business owner, litigation is a perennial risk. But the fact is, it can impact anyone who owns a home or drives a car.
Political risk. Ever since the 2000 election got hung up in litigation, I get a little nervous in election years. The reality is that financial markets are mostly agnostic to political parties, but they hate uncertainty. To have the Oval Office hanging in the balance may be the worst kind of uncertainty.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
Watch Your Wallet
.Watch Your Wallet
Joe Kesler | March 13, 2021 Humble Wallet
AS A BANKER, I got a ringside seat from which to watch the many ways that people are separated from their hard-earned money. Some are illegal. Some are legal, but unethical. And many, while legal and ethical, would be unnecessary with a little more knowledge about managing money. For me, the most disturbing experiences were when scammers extracted money from the naïve and innocent. I’ve seen the pain of customers who found out that their elderly mother had given her life savings to a manipulative TV preacher. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot that can be done in such situations.
Even sadder are the lonely people who develop an online romance with someone overseas. To come to the U.S., somebody convinced one of my customers to wire funds, so he could get a passport and airline ticket. But that wasn’t enough. Just send a little more, he told her numerous times. Finally, the lightbulb came on that this might be a scam.
Watch Your Wallet
Joe Kesler | March 13, 2021 Humble Wallet
AS A BANKER, I got a ringside seat from which to watch the many ways that people are separated from their hard-earned money. Some are illegal. Some are legal, but unethical. And many, while legal and ethical, would be unnecessary with a little more knowledge about managing money. For me, the most disturbing experiences were when scammers extracted money from the naïve and innocent. I’ve seen the pain of customers who found out that their elderly mother had given her life savings to a manipulative TV preacher. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot that can be done in such situations.
Even sadder are the lonely people who develop an online romance with someone overseas. To come to the U.S., somebody convinced one of my customers to wire funds, so he could get a passport and airline ticket. But that wasn’t enough. Just send a little more, he told her numerous times. Finally, the lightbulb came on that this might be a scam.
Have you heard of the Nigerian prince scam? I didn’t believe any sophisticated person would fall for such a crazy scheme. But a customer of mine got a fax from a “prince” trapped in Nigeria. The fax promised that if my customer, an accountant no less, would wire $20,000, it would allow the prince to wire my customer millions. Unfortunately, my customer bought it and lost not only his money, but also his reputation.
Rather than absorb the loss and move on, my customer decided to fly to Nigeria to “get his money back.” He didn’t get his money back, but at least he came back alive.
Today, many scams are high tech. It’s become common for computer hackers to demand ransom in return for unlocking vital computer systems. I’ve talked to businesses that have had to pay the ransom in bitcoin—or risk seeing their business fail.
Selling fear. One of the earliest books I read on investing was How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years, published in 1979. It scared me that we were on the brink of destruction. I didn’t have much money, but I bought goldmining stocks in countries I couldn’t even find on a map. I later learned that fear sells books and newsletters. But it doesn’t lead to clear thinking or prosperity.
Today’s marketers still seek to get your money through fear tactics. I recently saw an economist’s newsletter that included an impressive array of charts, all showing how the stock market is in a bubble. His pitch? The future doesn’t belong to passive low-cost index investors like me. Rather, I should turn my money over to him, because he’s going to be an expert stock picker as the markets crash.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
How Much House Can I Afford?
.How Much House Can I Afford?
Jason Lee May 21, 2021 The Simple Dollar
To understand how much house you can afford, you need to take into account two important factors — what lenders will approve you for and what fits within your budget. The good news is that these budgetary guidelines typically line up. Even so, you will need to make sure you don’t take on more house than you can afford just because the lender is willing to approve a loan for that amount.
How much home can I afford?
Lenders look at a long list of criteria to determine the amount of house they’re willing to approve you for. The list includes things like your current monthly debt payments, your total debt, your income, your credit score, your current assets, how much of a down payment you can make and the current status of the economy.
How Much House Can I Afford?
Jason Lee May 21, 2021 The Simple Dollar
To understand how much house you can afford, you need to take into account two important factors — what lenders will approve you for and what fits within your budget. The good news is that these budgetary guidelines typically line up. Even so, you will need to make sure you don’t take on more house than you can afford just because the lender is willing to approve a loan for that amount.
How much home can I afford?
Lenders look at a long list of criteria to determine the amount of house they’re willing to approve you for. The list includes things like your current monthly debt payments, your total debt, your income, your credit score, your current assets, how much of a down payment you can make and the current status of the economy.
1. The 5 Cs of lending
According to Wells Fargo, lender approval can be summarized as the five Cs — credit history, capacity, collateral, capital and conditions.
Credit history is your credit score and your past borrowing history can be found in your credit report. Capacity refers to what you can afford. Often, this is a look at your debt-to-income ratio — how much you are paying in debt monthly versus how much income you are bringing in.
Collateral in a home purchase will be the physical home you are buying, which becomes collateral the bank or lender can seize when you don’t repay your loan. Capital deals with what other assets you might have to help with repayment of the loan, and conditions are the purpose of the loan, the market environment and the status of the economy.
2. The rule of 20
A rule that may be somewhat antiquated — but is still widely cited as important — is the rule of 20. According to this rule, homebuyers should not purchase a home unless they are prepared to make a 20% down payment on top of the additional costs associated with purchasing the home. For example, if you are looking to buy a $300,000 home, under this rule, you should be prepared to make a down payment of $60,000.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.thesimpledollar.com/mortgage/how-much-house-can-i-afford/
The Official Steps to Do After You Win the Lottery
.The Official Steps to Do After You Win the Lottery
Find out about all the proper steps to take if you hit a huge jackpot in this video!
166,112 views• Mar 27, 2021
9 - The Big Decision Sometimes a little bit of self discipline can go a long long way. That’s especially true for people who win the lottery. I mean, let’s say you win a lot of money, such as 100 million dollars. That easily qualifies as a life changing event.
8 - Stay Anonymous The easiest way to save yourself from a lot of trouble after winning a giant lottery is to tell as few people as possible. If you’re able to, don’t tell anyone that you won the lottery!
The Official Steps to Do After You Win the Lottery
Find out about all the proper steps to take if you hit a huge jackpot in this video!
166,112 views• Mar 27, 2021
9 - The Big Decision Sometimes a little bit of self discipline can go a long long way. That’s especially true for people who win the lottery. I mean, let’s say you win a lot of money, such as 100 million dollars. That easily qualifies as a life changing event.
8 - Stay Anonymous The easiest way to save yourself from a lot of trouble after winning a giant lottery is to tell as few people as possible. If you’re able to, don’t tell anyone that you won the lottery!
7 - Resist the Urge Here’s where your self control and discipline will REALLY be tested. If you win the lottery, don’t make any major purchases that you wouldn’t normally make for a while. You have to get used to having that money first!
6 - Debt Free If you have any debt, the first spending you should do with the money is to start paying off all your debts. Credit card bills, student loans, and yep, even paying off your mortgage. Some people advocate not paying a mortgage off if your interest rate is low because it’s lower than the return you’d earn in another investment.
5 - The Help Biggie wasn’t lying when he said the more money you get the more problems you have. You definitely will want to have a good team of professionals to help with all the things associated with a lottery win.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
How to Help Loved Ones Financially
.How to Help Loved Ones Financially
Lending a hand without breaking your bank.
Christine Benz: Hi, I'm Christine Benz for Morningstar. Many financially stable people may wish to help loved ones who are struggling financially. Joining me to discuss what can often be a sticky situation is Michelle Singletary. She's a Washington Post columnist, and she's also the author of a new book called What to Do With Your Money When Crisis Hits. Michelle, thank you so much for being here.
Michelle Singletary: Thank you so much for having me.
Benz: Let's start with something that you emphasize in the book. And you do cover this topic about how to help loved ones who are struggling financially. One thing you say is to just start with a self-assessment, if you want to help someone else, take a look at your own financial situation and make sure that you are actually equipped to do so. Can you talk about that?
How to Help Loved Ones Financially
Lending a hand without breaking your bank.
Christine Benz: Hi, I'm Christine Benz for Morningstar. Many financially stable people may wish to help loved ones who are struggling financially. Joining me to discuss what can often be a sticky situation is Michelle Singletary. She's a Washington Post columnist, and she's also the author of a new book called What to Do With Your Money When Crisis Hits. Michelle, thank you so much for being here.
Michelle Singletary: Thank you so much for having me.
Benz: Let's start with something that you emphasize in the book. And you do cover this topic about how to help loved ones who are struggling financially. One thing you say is to just start with a self-assessment, if you want to help someone else, take a look at your own financial situation and make sure that you are actually equipped to do so. Can you talk about that?
Singletary: I'm a big believer in "to whom much is given, much is required." But you've got to make sure that your financial house is stable. And the more you have, you might sort of feel like, "Well, of course, I have this extra money, I've got this retirement account..." But you really need to look at what your needs are first.
Make sure that you're secure before you give out of your extra. And so it means that you got to know your numbers, you have to understand, for example, if you're older, how much you have allocated for healthcare, long-term care.
If you don't have long-term-care insurance, you got to make sure that pot of money is there. And then when you do that, when you've assessed it, and say, "Yeah, I've got some extra," then you start to think about: How can I help my adult children, my grandchildren, extended relatives, siblings?
I know for myself and my family, I've got the good job. And so there is a lot of demand on my salaries and savings from family members. And my husband and I have set up a system by which we help folks. And it is very, I have to say, it's pretty intense. And for a reason. There is a practical reason behind that.
Because once your relatives and friends and adult children know that you've got a system in place, they're not going to just come to you with willy-nilly stuff, right? They're going to come with when they really need the money. And that's what you want to hope for.
Benz: Let's talk about this system. You wrote in the book that it is important to have a conversation about the person you want to help's financial situation. So you need to get, as you call it, a little bit in their business. Let's talk about that. Because you want to be sure that, actually, you can help and that you're not just putting a band-aid on what is an ER-type situation. Let's talk about how you go through that assessment.
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https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1032992/how-to-help-loved-ones-financially
45 of the Top Finance Quotes to Boost Your Money Mindset
.45 of the Top Finance Quotes to Boost Your Money Mindset
Todd Kunsman Invested Wallet in Financial Independence
Looking for finance quotes and quotes about money that can inspire you to take charge of your financial life?
Top Finance Quotes
Even if you aren’t in search currently, these quotes will keep you motivated and make you think differently about finances and money. For me, besides these personal finance books, reading these particular quotes about money helped me get in the right financial mindset. I’d recommend even keeping some of these financial quotes at your desk as a healthy reminder or for motivation.
45 of the Top Finance Quotes to Boost Your Money Mindset
Todd Kunsman Invested Wallet in Financial Independence
Looking for finance quotes and quotes about money that can inspire you to take charge of your financial life?
Top Finance Quotes
Even if you aren’t in search currently, these quotes will keep you motivated and make you think differently about finances and money. For me, besides these personal finance books, reading these particular quotes about money helped me get in the right financial mindset. I’d recommend even keeping some of these financial quotes at your desk as a healthy reminder or for motivation.
45 Top Finance Quotes
While there are thousands of finance, money, and investing quotes out there, I only chose a small portion of them to keep this simple, yet informative. These are the quotes that I really like, resonated with me a lot during my financial journey, or made me laugh a bit. Step your money game up with these interesting, inspiring, humorous and wise quotes.
1. “Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.” – Zig Ziglar
2. “Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don’t want..to impress people that they don’t like.” – Will Rogers
3. “It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.” – Robert Kiyosaki
4. “Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.” – Paul Samuelson
5. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
6. “Time is more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn
7. “I will tell you the secret to getting rich on Wall Street. You try to be greedy when others are fearful. And you try to be fearful when others are greedy.” – Warren Buffett
8. “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.”- Benjamin Franklin
9. “Friendship is like money, easier made than kept.” – Samuel Butler
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Why Money Is Important and The Role It Plays in Our Lives
.Why Money Is Important and The Role It Plays in Our Lives
By Todd Kunsman Invested Wallet
At some point, you may wonder why money is important and start to analyze the role it plays in your own life. And our society has plenty of different viewpoints when it comes to money and happiness, how much money is truly enough, and how to better with money. I’m sure you have heard many of the different sayings about money too, whether funny or to hit a particular point to make you think.
You know the ones, like:
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” – Proverb
“Money is the root of all evil.” – 1 Timothy 6:10
“Having money isn’t everything, not having it is.” – Kanye West
But you’ve probably heard many proverbs, famous quotes, or other sayings from people around you. And while there may be some truth to not let money dictate your entire life and choices, money IS important.
Why Money Is Important and The Role It Plays in Our Lives
By Todd Kunsman Invested Wallet
At some point, you may wonder why money is important and start to analyze the role it plays in your own life. And our society has plenty of different viewpoints when it comes to money and happiness, how much money is truly enough, and how to better with money. I’m sure you have heard many of the different sayings about money too, whether funny or to hit a particular point to make you think.
You know the ones, like:
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” – Proverb
“Money is the root of all evil.” – 1 Timothy 6:10
“Having money isn’t everything, not having it is.” – Kanye West
But you’ve probably heard many proverbs, famous quotes, or other sayings from people around you. And while there may be some truth to not let money dictate your entire life and choices, money IS important.
Why Is Money So Important?
The reason money is so important is that it provides options for you to live a better life that you choose and puts you in control. Having money and being comfortable with finances also gives you freedom and options to decide how you want to live and support the things you care most about in your life.
And yes, it’s true that money cannot necessarily buy you complete happiness forever and greed can make people do terrible things. Look what the hunger for more wealth and money did to Bernie Madoff and how he ruined the many families who invested with him.
But while there is truth to some of the negative connotations to money, ultimately you have the strength to dictate how you use money and if you let it control you.
Money is not everything in this world, but it can be powerful in helping you achieve your goals and let you make the best of the short life we all have.
The Real Benefits of Money
While your whole life does not need to focus on money and accumulating wealth, it is still important to dedicate your time to understanding it and building a strategy.
Look, we all know that more money means you can generally afford a fancier lifestyle, bigger homes, better vacations, and flashier cars. But those material items are not the real benefits of having money and the temporary excitement from those items quickly wanes. So why is money important?
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