Be Prepared for These 7 Financial Disasters

Emergency Fund Examples – Be Prepared for These 7 Financial Disasters

May 1, 2019 By Andrew

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard the conventional wisdom that you need an emergency fund.

And of course it makes sense to save for a rainy day. Yet life gets in the way, the normal bills continue to pile up, and emergency savings gets pushed to the back burner. In fact, according to a recent survey, only 39% of Americans could cover a $1,000 emergency expense without dipping into credit cards or some other form of debt.

It makes sense – we tend to prioritize expenses right in front of us instead of the unknown ones of the future. But when the future unknown collides with present reality, it can create a lot of undue stress if you aren’t prepared.

Emergency Fund Examples

So what are some examples of situations where an emergency fund is a necessity?

Lucky for you, I am one of those people that worries unnecessarily about future uncertainty and hyperventilates when there is less than $10k in the bank account. As such, I have pre-worried about all the possible emergency fund examples so you don’t have to. You’re welcome!

1. Car Expenses

This is the probably the most common “emergency” that is always right around the corner. Whether you get in a wreck and have to pay for expensive repairs (or a $500 or $1,000 insurance deductible), or get a flat tire, almost everyone has to deal with unexpected car expenses a some point.

Having a healthy emergency fund can help you weather the storm and not have to run up your credit card and deal with the stress of paying off the debt for months.

2. Surprise Medical Emergencies

When my daughter was 2, she was running around the house with a wooden spoon in her mouth (don’t ask me why). She ran face-first into the wall and jabbed the spoon into the back of her throat in the soft palate. While it sounds like a ridiculous situation now, in the moment it was extremely scary as she was choking on blood and crying in pain.

We rushed to the emergency room, and it took 3 different doctors before they were satisfied she did not need emergency surgery. Fortunately, they sent her home with some painkillers and a follow-up with a pediatric ENT, and she made a full recovery.

When a medical emergency happens, the last thing you think about is how you’re going to pay for it. Even if you have amazing insurance, most policies these days make you cover several thousands of dollars in expenses out of pocket before you hit the deductible.

We ended up getting a bill for around $1,500 just for the emergency room visit, which was under our deductible so it all had to come out of pocket. Fortunately we save in both an emergency fund and an HSA (Health Savings Account) specifically designed to cover medical expenses like this.

3. Major Home Repairs

Owning a home is great, but when it comes time to replace the roof or the HVAC, I often wish I was still a renter. Even if the major systems are in good shape, it seems like every few months some unexpected expense comes up that costs us a few hundred (or few thousand) dollars to fix.

Technically, saving for large capital expenses like a new roof or water heater should be a part of your regular budget, not your emergency fund. If your water heater is 23 years old and develops and leak, was that really unexpected? We have a separate fund set up to save money for the large, irregular (but expected) home maintenance items. That’s just part of homeownership.

But then there are the unexpected emergencies that come up. The most recent one for us came during a big storm a few weeks ago. A tree right next to the house split in the high winds and was precariously hanging over the roof. We had to get a tree service out right away to remove the tree before it completely collapsed and took out the roof.

Let me tell you, removing a tree is not cheap. Especially one so close to the house. They have to take extra precautions to take it down in small pieces so as not to damage the roof.

That one tree ended up costing us over $1,000! And since we don’t budget for our regularly scheduled “tree collapsing in storm”, that came straight out of the emergency fund.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://wealthynickel.com/emergency-fund-examples/

How To Never Worry About Money Again

How To Never Worry About Money Again

The No-Sweat Way to Protect Yourself From Financial Disaster

lauragoldstein2014

Building a bigger rainy-day fund may feel daunting. Start by breaking it down into manageable chunks.

That nagging feeling that a bit of bad luck—a medical emergency or a layoff—could derail your finances is widely shared. A new survey from the American Psychological Association found that 54% of people rated paying for unexpected expenses a very or somewhat significant source of stress.

And people across the income spectrum tend to be underprepared. A Pew Charitable Trusts analysis finds middle-income households typically have the equivalent of 20 days of income to tap, and even high earners have just 52 days. Building a bigger rainy-day fund may feel like a daunting task, given all your expenses and savings goals, but you can start by breaking it down into manageable chunks.

Do It One Essential Expense at a Time

 Aim to cover three months of one regular bill, like your mortgage, suggests RBC Wealth Management financial adviser Darla Kashian. Then move on to three months of utilities, then car payments, and so on.

This approach gives you the satisfaction of crossing one more potential problem off your list. Once you’ve hit three months of all essentials, make your new goal doubling your account to get to six months.

Why so long? “When things get rough, your emergency fund enables you to make good choices, where you don’t have to rush into a job you don’t want or dip into a credit card,” says Certified Financial Planner Board consumer advocate Eleanor Blayney.

Get It Out of Your Hands

Looking at your budget may help you find places to trim, but for big savings goals it may be easier and more sustainable to simply stash money away with each pay-check, just as you do with your 401(k), and live on what’s left. Set up automatic deposits to a separate account just for your emergency money.

Any employer that offers direct paycheck deposit can allow you to split the money between multiple accounts. Many banks will also allow you to give your accounts a nickname to match your goal—make this one “emergency” or even “Don’t touch this!” as a little extra reminder of how important this fund is for you.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

http://money.com/money/collection-post/3938823/save-money-emergency-fund/

Preparing for The Coming Economic Slowdown

Preparing for The Coming Economic Slowdown

How to Prepare Your Money for the Coming Economic Slowdown

By Denise Hill

Predicting an economic downturn can seem as mystical and convoluted as reading tea leaves. However, the economic tea-leaf readers — financial experts — are warning that the economic winds are changing.

Even though unemployment is still low, there are other economic indicators causing financial analysts to predict lean financial seasons. First, economic growth has all but stalled. The rate of wage increase has stagnated.

The Constant Maturity Treasury (CMT) rates, which are used to measure and predict future interest rates, economic growth, and output, are near flatlining — and threatening inversion. This means that as the economy continues to slow down, consumer interest rates will rise and investment earnings will lose momentum, possibly even losing money.

Preparing for a recession is similar to preparing for a tropical storm: There's no way to predict just how bad things will get, but burying your head in the sand and hoping for the best is a horrible idea. Here are a few things you can do to stormproof your finances against the coming economic slow down.

Beef Up Your Emergency Fund

The first thing you do when prepping for a storm is prepare your home for the onslaught. People in coastal areas board up windows and surround their homes with sandbags. An emergency fund does the same thing financially. It's the added installation and protection that can assist you when the economy dips.

 It can't stop the winds, or prevent the rain, and it may not stave off all damage, but it does provide an added layer of protection. And it provides you a fighting chance to preserve what you've worked so hard to build.

The traditional emergency fund is anywhere from three to six months' worth of daily living expenses — and even larger for people with high expenses, large salaries, or a job that would be difficult to replace. During lean economic times, you want to save more than the standard recommended amount.

Under normal circumstances, the average bout of unemployment lasts roughly three to six months. However, experts believe that number is slowly creeping up and could double in a sluggish economy. It has been suggested that you plan to be unemployed at least one month per every $10,000 you earn.

So if you earn $70,000 a year, you should plan for an unemployment that lasts at least seven months. This formula is a great gauge in helping you determine how much you need in your emergency fund. (See also: 7 Easy Ways to Build an Emergency Fund From $0)

To continue reading, please go to the original article here: 

https://www.wisebread.com/how-to-prepare-your-money-for-the-coming-economic-slowdown?ref=relatedbox

This Secret Hiding In Your $1 Bills Could Make It Worth Thousands

This Secret Hiding In Your $1 Bills Could Make It Worth Thousands If You Look Closely

Everyone dreams about getting rich overnight, but this almost impossible. You need to be very lucky and win the Powerball or Lotto in order to do that. However, there’s another way to get super rich that might surprise you.

There are some dollar bills that are worth thousands of dollars and you might be carrying one in your pocket right now. You better stick around for #15 in order to find out if you own one of these special dollar bills.

25.  One Dollar

Today we are going to share with you some amazing information that might make you rich. Therefore, open your wallet and take out all the cash that you have because you will need to search for some special markers.

24.  Rare Bills

There are some one dollar bills that sell for as much as $2,500! Can you believe this? If you do have one of these special bills in your wallet, then you are going to make some easy money.

23.  Getting Rich Overnight

With that being said, get out a magnifier glass or the zoom camera on your smartphone because you will need to pay close attention to the serial numbers of your dollar bills. You might even end up selling the lucky bill for thousands of dollars!

22.  Collector Items

The reason why dollar bills with specific serial numbers are selling for so much is because they are seen as collector items. Who would even buy a dollar bill for so much money? You might have seen them in this famous show…

21.  The Famous Show

Everyone who has watched at least on episode of the famous Pawn Shop show knows that people are willing to pay top dollar for items that they want to add to their collection. We’ve seen many items selling for tens of thousands of dollars!

20.  Serial Numbers

Even though dollar bills might mean nothing more than this week’s groceries for your, some people are more than happy to pay you a fortune for them if they have the right serial number. Keep reading to find out why collectors are desperately searching for rare items.

19.  The Collectors

The reason why collectors are willing to pay so much money for a single dollar bill is because it will help them complete their collection. Check out the picture at #7 to see which are the rare serial numbers that can make you rich.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.obsev.com/g/secret-hiding-1-bills-make-worth-thousands-look-closely/699904?utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=TestYAH-AS-CT-Yuri-Mihai-DollarBills-US&utm_medium=HOMEPAGE_US&utm_term=prezna

10 Things You Didn't Know About Millionaires

10 Things You Didn't Know About Millionaires

egstark  Kara Brandeisky    

 When you think "millionaire," John D. Rockefeller might spring to mind. But most American millionaires look more like your neighbor.

The seven-figure club is chock-full of surprises

Thanks to rebounding real estate prices and a bull market in stocks, millionaires have been staging a comeback since the financial crisis. The number of American households with more than a million in assets has hit 9.6 million, according to the Spectrem Group, finally surpassing the pre-recession high of 9.2 million. (And that’s a million bucks without counting your primary residence.)

If you want to join their ranks, take this quiz to figure out your best path, then adopt one of these seven strategies to get there. But first, get to know your future peers.

1. Millionaires Are Most At Home In Maryland

Maryland has more millionaires per capita than any other state—7.7% of all households—according to the Phoenix Global Wealth Monitor. New Jersey, Connecticut, and Hawaii are also packed with millionaires, and oil-rich North Dakota is gaining fast, jumping from No. 43 to No. 29 in the 50-state ranking in one year.

2. One In 21 New Yorkers Is A Millionaire

Walk down New York City’s Fifth Avenue, and you’re bound to brush past a few millionaires. Some 4.6% of the city’s residents are worth $1 million or more, according to another take on the millionaire population by Spear’s. Monaco, Zurich, and Geneva are the only cities that can claim more rich folks per capita.

3. For The First Time, A Majority Of Members Of Congress Are Millionaires

Congress has more millionaires than ever, according to an analysis of financial disclosure reports by the Center for Responsive Politics. At least 268 members of the House and Senate are worth $1 million or more. The richest is former businessman turned legislator Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has an estimated net worth of $464 million, the Center found.

4. Millionaires Fret About Retirement Too

Almost a third of millionaires worth $5 to $25 million worry about being able to retire when they want to, the Spectrem Group found. And 44% of those with $1 million and $5 million in assets have the same concern.

5. Millionaires Are Not Necessarily Super Savers

You don’t have to sock away 30%, 40%, or 50% of your income to amass $1 million (though that would help get you there faster). In an analysis of 401(k) savers who made less than $150,000 a year and still had more than $1 million in their plans, Fidelity found that those millionaires saved only 14% a year on average.

Their secrets?

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

http://money.com/money/3067682/millionaires-10-surprising-things-traits/ 

How To Manage A Cash Windfall

How To Manage A Cash Windfall

By Roger Wohlner     AAA | 

Many of us fantasize about winning a big lottery jackpot. Let’s say that actually happened? What would you do with the money? How would you manage it? 

While winning the lottery is a real longshot, cash windfalls are not that uncommon. People inherit money or receive a life insurance payout when someone dies, they sell businesses or professional practices, they win a judgment in a lawsuit, receive a sizable divorce settlement, or take a 401(k) rollover or lump-sum distribution from a pension account all of which can result in a sizable windfall.

The number 70% seems to be a common one in terms of the percentage of lottery winners and retired NFL and NBA players who end up in financial difficulty. If you're the recipient of a cash windfall what should you do, how should you manage it?

Take A Step Back

There is no rule saying that you have to do something with the money right away. In fact many financial advisers would counsel you take some time and do some financial planning. This is especially true in the case of a large and possibly unexpected windfall.

Don’t succumb to pressure from family, friends, or pushy financial sales types. It’s your money and your life. Get the financial guidance you need, take the time to plan out what you want to do with the money, and then move forward. Refrain from making rash spending decisions.

Hire Help

Depending upon the size and the nature of the windfall you will want to assemble a team of experts that might include a financial adviser, a tax professional, and perhaps an attorney for any estate planning issues created by the windfall.

If the windfall was an expected one, such as a large retirement plan rollover or proceeds from the sale of a business, you quite likely have been working with a financial adviser or tax professional or both already.  Lean on these trusted advisers for help in managing this windfall.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here: 

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/121714/how-manage-cash-windfall.asp?utm_source=basics&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Basics-12/19/2014-old

10 Questions to Ask Yourself as an Aspiring Millionaire

10 Questions to Ask Yourself as an Aspiring Millionaire

By  Anum Yoon

Most accomplished individuals and millionaires often find the best way to navigate to success is by questioning the status quo.

This isn’t just about asking numerous, random questions or simply being contradictory. This will only waste time and energy, which are valuable assets that could be better served elsewhere in your business and life.

Instead, remember the key to success is knowing the right questions to ask. These are instrumental in developing positive daily habits that reinforce your goals and objectives.

 10 Questions to Ask Yourself As An Aspiring Millionaire

Formulate the questions so you can revisit them periodically as you grow and change. Reviewing and regrouping will help you develop a positive habit of self-evaluation – a key characteristic for growth, development and advancement.

Here is a list of 10 questions you can use as a daily, weekly or monthly checklist:

 1) Why Do I Want to Be a Millionaire?

This may seem like a silly question, but wanting to be a millionaire and really understanding the why of it are extremely different. In order to achieve something, you must really understand the reason you want to achieve it.

Wanting to be a millionaire just to have a lot of money probably won’t provide you with the necessary drive to achieve it. Sorry.

Instead, really work through the why behind your goals:

Do you want to be a millionaire for financial stability?

To travel more?

To have more freedom?

To give back to society?

Simon Sinek gives a great TED talk about the importance of a well-defined why in successful business, and the difference it makes. It may help you sort out your own.

 2) Will I Be Given Room to Grow on This Path?

Now that you’ve figured out exactly why you are working toward millionaire status, it’s important to recognize whether or not the path you’ve chosen leaves room for self-growth.

A path that is too rigid keeps an individual in their comfort zone. If you aren’t free to grow, you aren’t learning and discovering new ways to move forward, and risk stagnating yourself and your goals.

 3) Will This Contribute Value to My Own Life and the Lives of Others?

Having a successful business isn’t just about numbers.

It’s also about having a mission and objective that feeds you and your employees both professionally and emotionally, believe it or not. A thorough understanding of your why will help you address this as well, adding value to your brand and those associated with it.

 4) Have I Made a Strategic Game Plan to Achieve These Objectives?

You’ve figured out why you want to become a millionaire, and how that will add value to you and those around you.

Now, you need to have a clear plan and strategy on how to achieve this. There are lots of examples out there if you’re looking for help on how to start developing your own business strategy.

Revisit this question often to make sure you and your employees remain on task to achieve your long-term objectives, and reorganize where necessary.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://wealthygorilla.com/10-questions-ask-aspiring-millionaire/

How To Teach Your Kids About Money… Let Them Fail

How To Teach Your Kids About Money… Let Them Fail

Personal Finance - Millionaire Mob - May 2, 2019

Every parent’s goal is to save money for their kids future. There are a few effective ways to save money for kids. One of the most effective money management tips might be allowing them to make mistakes… Here’s how to teach your kids about money.

When it comes to parenting, every parent wants their kids to be better off than they were (at least the good ones!).

Whether this means encouraging them to work hard and apply themselves in school, or giving them the life opportunities and experiences they never had growing up, the ultimate goal is to raise a healthy, happy, well-adjusted young adult who’s ready to leave the nest at an appropriate age (read: before they’re 35 and have lived in your basement for 15 years).

When it comes to giving their kids a solid financial foundation, most parents often don’t know where to start. Maybe they take their kids to open a bank account when they’re teenagers.

Perhaps they encourage them to start a paper route or get a job so they have some spending money.

Or maybe it’s the old standby allowance routine of giving their kiddo a lump sum of money, occasionally tied to some sort of work around the home, that they can spend on whatever their heart desires.

And that’s usually where the financial education ends. Junior applies to college, takes on the anchor of a student loan, and after 4 years gets a job in order to pay off the debt he’s just incurred.

A little while later, he gets married, takes on another massive debt load (a mortgage) when he buys a house and spends the better part of the next 40 years trying to climb out of the hole he’s dug for himself.

Depressing? Yes, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Parents are in an incredibly powerful and unique position to set their kids up to have the type of financial success that most people only experience in their dreams.

But how can you as a parent give your kiddo the skills and tools they’ll need to be money rockstars? Well, oddly enough, it all comes down to striking a fine balance between letting them fail and being there to support them (notice I didn’t say SAVE them) when they do.

The Foundation of Money Management for Kids

Your child needs you to give them the basic tools to have financial success. No, I’m not talking about showing them how to set up a Roth IRA or open their own brokerage account.

They don’t need to know about all the finer points of investing, interest rates, or inverted yield curves (not sure what that is or why it’s important? Don’t worry about it, and neither should your kid).

No, all your child needs to learn in order to master their money are 5 simple Pillars of Money which will have them light-years ahead of their peers.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://millionairemob.com/how-to-teach-your-kids-about-money/

10 Lies About Money You Probably Still Believe

10 Lies About Money You Probably Still Believe

By  Maria Nedeva

There are many lies about money you probably still believe.

Don’t blame you – I did believe many of these money lies as well before I put my brain into gear and did some sums. You don’t even need complex maths, or any maths for that matter, to see that some of the money ‘wisdom’ in circulation is as washed out as you granny’s bloomers. Some critical and questioning thinking would do! Tonight, I’d like to share with you the top ten lies about money on my lists.

Now let me tell you why I believe these ten regularly recycled money statements are, if not complete fabrication, very highly misleading. These are lies about money that not only will hurt your bank account but also believing in them makes you look as ridiculous as a husky wearing a coat on a mild autumn day. (Yes, I’ve seen this one and felt profoundly sorry for the husky.)

Finally… What are the lies about money you can think about?

#1   You Need A Budget

No, you don’t and if you continue defining your problems wrongly there isn’t hope for you; in life and money. See, when you say that you need a budget, you are saying that not ‘a budget’ is your problem. In fact, your problem most likely is that you are over-spending.

There are many ways to deal with over-spending.

One is to make a budget and try to fit your life in it. This is a bit like buying a pair of jeans that are two sizes small and trying to fit in them. Have you tried this one? (I did when I way fifteen and it isn’t great, trust me.)

Another one is to change your life and learn to want less. Now this one is more like going to a slimming club and loosing enough weight to buy jeans two sizes smaller than the ones wearing now. Makes sense, yes?

Do me a favour and forget that you need a budget. Instead learn to stop wanting things and never look at another budget again.

#2   Ownership Trumps Hire

Not always. Whether you own things or hire them depends on many things including how much you move around (stage of life), how much is your monthly income, how secure is this income, how you cope with uncertainty, do you relish being custodian of all your possessions etc.

Did you know that last year renting accommodation was cheaper than buying in half UK cities? (And please don’t tell yourselves that buying a house is an investment; it isn’t. Now that we are clear on this one…)

#3   Frugality Will Save The Day (And Your Bank Account)

No, it won’t.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.themoneyprinciple.co.uk/lies-about-money/

What’s Your Whetstone?

What’s Your Whetstone?

Post From Rich Habits  By Thomas C. Corley

 “Give me six hours to cut down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening my axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

What sharpens your axe?

It’s an important question because it gets to the core of what is required in order to become rich and successful.

I have spent over a decade studying self-made millionaires. The one common denominator they all seemed to have were daily habits or daily routines that enabled them to sharpen their axe by consistent daily self-improvement.

Most of that improvement was related to their business, careers or vocation. But many of those self-improvement habits also included keeping fit and healthy and little secrets they deployed to build relationships with other rich, successful people.

Because I had a front row seat that allowed me to peer into the minutia of the daily lives of the rich and poor, I learned that those who were constantly sharpening their ax happened to also be the richest and most successful individuals.

So, in an effort to become rich, I took a page out of the book of these self-made millionaires and decided to create my own whetstone to sharpen my own axe.

For me, my whetstone is a proven process that has become my morning routine, or set of habits:

I wake at 5am each day (Habit) – 25% of the time I wake up at 4am. 25% of the time I wake up at 5:30 am.

I get my coffee (Habit) and go down to my “Hole” (basement office).

I review my Word List for 15 minutes (Habit) – My Word List is a list of words I am committing to memory.

I review my Facts Summary or Study Summary for 15 minutes (Habit). My Facts Summary are important facts I feel it is important to know. My Study Summary is a summary of the thousands of studies I’ve poured through over the years that make their way into media articles and my books.

I read for 45 minutes – Reading material = studies, specifically selected articles, latest non-fiction book, etc.

I write for 45 minutes.

I spend about 30 minutes reviewing my work – articles, TV interviews, Internet media interviews, speaking engagements, radio interviews, podcast interviews, etc.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

http://richhabits.net/whats-your-whetstone/#more-12103

The 1% Will Always Control the Wealth

The 1% Will Always Control the Wealth

Post From Rich Habits  By Tom Corley

The 1% Will Always Control the Wealth – And Here’s How They Do It

I just finished reading a recent article complaining about the rich. The author was upset at the fact that 1% controlled 82% of the wealth in the world. In the author’s mind, there was something inherently unfair about this.

The author, like many who are not in the 1%, felt that the wealth the 1% created didn’t necessarily belong to them and offered government solutions to cap or redistribute the wealth of the rich.

It’s true. One percent do control 82% of the wealth. And the top 1% will always control most of the wealth until the other 99% figure out how the 1% go about cultivating wealth.

So, how do the 1% cultivate wealth?

The top 1% cultivate wealth by doing certain things:

Read to Learn Every Day – 88% of the rich in my Rich Habits Study read 30 minutes or more every day to learn. Reading is work. But it’s work that is necessary if you want to become rich.

 Rich people read because they know that knowledge can be leveraged to gain wealth. The more you know about your field, career or industry, the more valuable you are to those you service or sell to in your field, career or industry.

Deliberate Practice – 69% of the rich in my study practiced some specific skill for two or more hours every day. Deliberate practice requires conscious practice as opposed to unconscious practice.

Conscious practice is practice in which you study everything you do that goes into the skill you have. It’s about studying the intricate details that enable you to become a virtuoso at what you do.

Pursue Long-Term Goals or a Dream- 70% of the rich in my study pursued some long-term goal or some dream. This is what really drives the disparity between the 1% and the other 99%.

Pursuing big goals or dreams creates the opportunity for good luck to happen. The majority of the 1% are beneficiaries of good luck – but good luck they put themselves in a position to receive.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

http://richhabits.net/the-1-will-always-control-the-wealth-and-heres-how-they-do-it/#more-11953