5 Reasons Not to Use Debit Cards When You Shop Online
.5 Reasons Not to Use Debit Cards When You Shop Online
By Holly Johnson. Last updated 7 November 2020.
Many consumers use their debit cards for everything they buy. Using debit instead of paying with a credit card can help you avoid the potential for debt. The money is taken out of your bank account directly and immediately, so there’s little chance to spend more than you have, unlike using a credit card. But when shopping online, there are reasons to consider using a credit card instead.
Using a debit card for online purchases can mean enduring greater losses if you're a victim of fraud. Plus, you're giving up valuable consumer protections and rewards each time you make a purchase with debit in a store or online.
Here are all the reasons you may want to stop using debit and use a credit card instead.
Get ready for the “Work From Home” Tax
.Get ready for the “Work From Home” Tax
Notes From The Field By Simon Black - November 16, 2020 Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile
Once upon a time, long long ago in a dream world far, far away, banks actually used to be capitalists. They were wealth creators. They wanted to do business with their customers. They facilitated important trade and commerce. They acted responsibly and conservatively with other people’s money.
Now it’s a totally different story.
Banks seem to routinely steal from their customers. They gamble our savings away on ridiculous investment fads, treat us like criminal suspects, bury us in an absurd bureaucracy, and then charge us fees for the privilege of working with them. And to add insult to injury, many banks seem to have become full-blown Marxists.
9 Bizarre Money Superstitions People Actually Believe
.9 Bizarre Money Superstitions People Actually Believe
By Emily Guy Birken
When I was about eight years old, my grandmother gave me a purse. Inside the purse was a dollar bill, which I tried to give back to her. I thought she had left it in there by mistake. "No, no. That must stay in there," she told me. "You can't give a purse with no money in it, or else it will never have money in it. Money attracts money!"
That was my first introduction to the odd world of money superstitions. Grandma's belief that purses and wallets should always have at least a little money in them, especially if they are given as gifts, had been passed down to her from her Russian grandmother — although it is a superstition that can be found in many countries around the world. I have since met many people who follow this custom, including a small retail business owner who would place a penny in every wallet and purse she sold.
9 Lessons to Take From Millionaires Who Are Really Good With Money
.9 Lessons to Take From Millionaires Who Are Really Good With Money
By The Penny Hoarder Staff
Life would be a whole lot easier if someone would just Venmo us $1 million, but unfortunately the chance of that happening is, well, probably zero. (Venmo doesn’t allow transactions that large anyway.)
But even though our chances of becoming a millionaire are slim, we can still manage our money like one. No, we’re not going to tell you how to buy hundreds of shares of Apple stock. Or how to pick out the perfect yacht.
These are simple money moves any normal, non-millionaire person can make today. Each tip can get you closer to achieving your big goals.
How A Single Pivotal Person Taught Me What Real Wealth Looks Like
.How A Single Pivotal Person Taught Me What Real Wealth Looks Like
Mad Money Monster May 13, 2019
Pivotal moments come around only so many times in life. The same can be said for pivotal people. It wasn’t until I was 18 years old that I met one such pivotal person. When I was 18 I thought real wealth meant a big house and flashy car. After meeting that person, I quickly realized that I was wrong. Over the course of a few months, my thoughts about money were completely reshaped and my financial outlook changed forever.
Up until that point in my short life, I had a very limited and distorted view of money and wealth. I was the youngest of four children in a poor family. Ironically, our trailer home was on the right side of the tracks which meant I was fortunate enough to attend a good school from kindergarten all the way up through high school.
What Should You Do With a Life Insurance Benefit?
.What Should You Do With a Life Insurance Benefit?
By Melanie Lockert The Fabric Blog
We’ve all dreamed of coming into a large sum of money. You imagine all the ways you’d spend a million dollars and think how much better your life would be. But what if you did get a large sum of money but it came at a great cost? This is what life insurance is all about.
But what is it like getting a life insurance death benefit and how does it actually work? What should you actually do with a life insurance benefit? We chatted with personal finance experts to find some answers.
Receiving a Life Insurance Benefit
Life insurance death benefit amounts can vary depending on the policy. Generally, life insurance payouts aren’t taxable unless you earn interest.
5 Things Your Millionaire Neighbor Isn’t Telling You
.5 Things Your Millionaire Neighbor Isn’t Telling You
Updated: November 11, 2020 By Robert Farrington
At The College Investor, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Learn more here.
It's currently estimated that there are about 3,000,000 millionaires in the United States today. And given that there are about 300,000,000 Americans according to the latest Census data, that means about 1 in 100 are millionaires. Even more startling is that means that you probably know someone who is a millionaire, and you probably live within a stone's throw of other millionaires that you don't know.
The truth is that a lot of millionaires have very specific habits. Traits that make them successful. One of the most interesting aspects of my Better Know a Young Millionaire Investor series is what makes some of these millionaires tick.
What a Financial Trainwreck Can Teach Us
What a Financial Trainwreck Can Teach Us
Six Mistakes to Learn From
Donna Freedman,
A married couple recently confessed to some horrifying money blunders in an interview on the WealthSimple website. In their mid-40s and the parents of three kids, the pseudonymous Kate and Tom bring in $160,000 a year through their day jobs in insurance, with additional funds whenever Tom moonlights as a bartender for private parties.
Yet they have always spent more than they earned, and cannot seem to learn from previous mistakes. A few examples:
After wiping out their credit card balances a decade ago, they charged them back up even higher.
They have postponed paying back Kate’s law-school loans, which are now up to either $120,000 or $140,000 (she isn’t sure – and incidentally, she has never practiced law).
They spend “insane amounts” of money on groceries at places like Whole Foods (where one of their kids likes to snack on $15 sushi).
Good Investment Habits
.Good Investment Habits
By: Sophie Johnson
Unless you hit the lottery, chances are you’ll be working for your money. You can make that money grow by investing it, which, in effect, makes your money work for you. Though some people see investment as a sort of lottery — you pick a good bet on the stock market and get rich — the truth is that successful investing comes down to practicing good habits. The earlier you start using these habits, the more successful you’re likely to be.
Be a Wise Guy
The more information you have, the better your investment decisions will be. Get smart by learning about bank accounts, interest and debit and credit cards, then move on to studying investments. This education should never end. Develop the habit of expanding your investment knowledge regularly.
10 Habits That Financially Successful People Have
.10 Habits That Financially Successful People Have
By: Beverly Bird
Can You Get Ahead Just By Changing Your Habits?
We’ve all done it: ogling massive homes and estates while we’re driving, wondering how the owners achieved all that success and wishing for a little of it ourselves. Or maybe your neighbor just bought a brand new Ferrari. How did he become so financially successful?
Here’s a hint: He might not be. He might just appear to be successful. In fact, the world’s most successful people generally don’t spend wildly. They’ve developed good fiscal habits and they’re exactly that – habits. They’re consistent.
A Penny Saved…
Successful people routinely save. This doesn’t necessarily mean dropping their change into a jar every night before bed, although this is certainly beneficial, too. It means never spending more than they have to.
Future Shock
.Future Shock
Jonathan Clements November 7, 2020
WHY DO WE MAKE spending decisions that we later regret? Yes, we tend to live for today and give scant thought to tomorrow. But it’s more complicated than that—which brings me to four insights from psychology.
I find the insights below fascinating, in part because they describe how I behave with uncanny accuracy. Many readers, I suspect, will also catch a glimpse of their own behavior:
Moral licensing. If we do something good—exercise, give to charity, work late, purchase an eco-friendly product—we often give ourselves permission to do something that’s not so good, such as rewarding ourselves with junk food or a new pair of shoes. In fact, research has found that simply thinking about doing something good, even if we don’t follow through, can prompt not-so-good behavior.