Banking

New Year Finance Checklist

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annual personal finance checklist

It’s a new year. Contrary to popular opinion, for the most part, when it comes to money, finances, banking and investing, it doesn’t really matter if the year is new or not. That being said, plenty of people take the opportunity of a fresh calendar to take a fresh look at things like personal finance and their financial plans. So, here is a checklist of things to start thinking about to make sure you personal finances are lined up for 2016. 2016 Personal Finance Checklist Don’t get overwhelmed. Not all of this stuff needs to be done at once. Put a section on your calendar each week or two, and by the end of the first quarter, your finances will be reviewed, tuned-up, and ready for the year ahead. Banking Checklist Review your checking account statements and make sure your bank isn’t charging you fees just for having a checking or savings account. If you are paying monthly fees, or minimum balance fees, find a new account. Check with your current bank first, you might just be signed up for the wrong account. Remember, at today’s interest rates, there is no way having a higher rate compensates for having to …

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Money Investing and Personal Finance End of Year

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end of year december finance money

Here comes the end of 2015, are you ready? Are your finances and investments ready? On the one hand, the end of the year means absolutely nothing to your money. Those twenties in your wallet don’t care what year it is, and your bank accounts don’t either. The stock market goes up and down before December 31st, just like it will after January 1st. That being said, there are some end of year tax issues to be aware of, as well as some smart money moves to make before the end of the year. What To Do With Money Before Year Ends Step One: Don’t Panic. Seriously. Too many people get all wrapped up in the end of the year and the start of a new year. I think that some of that comes from the added stress of the holidays, or the vacuum left behind when they end. The reality is that you and your money are probably fine, even if you don’t do anything at all before the year ends. Yes, tax deductions matter, but probably not as much as you might think. And, yes, there are deadlines, but many of them may not apply to you. With that …

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Use Accounts to Save and Budget

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I talk a lot about the psychology of money. The reality is that no matter how much something makes sense mathematically, it just may not work for most people because money isn’t just something we move around on a spreadsheet. One of the most common questions I see are in the form of “What should I do with $5,000,” or “How should I invest $3,000?” The answer is to put it in your savings unless you currently have enough money saved for your emergency fund and short-term goals, otherwise, put it in one of your investment accounts. People don’t like this answer. Why? Money psychology. Use More Accounts to Save One of the problems with money on a personal financial level is that it comes and goes so easily, often without really noticing or appreciating it. Consider a man (or woman) age 35. He earns $120,000 per year, has a mortgage, a car payment, some nice hobbies and he puts money away for his kid’s college and his own retirement. Honestly, that’s pretty great and he should be (and is) pretty happy. Financially speaking, this means that each month he earns $10,000. His company takes out $5,000 for taxes, insurance premiums, …

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Credit Sesame Safe, Scam or Legit?

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Credit Sesame is another online financial utility that lets you check “your credit score for free.” Of course, there are always more than a few caveats with these kinds of websites. So, let’s take a look at CreditSesame.com and see how it stands up. Credit Sesame Review Any reviews of Credit Sesame need to start with how much does Credit Sesame cost, and is Credit Sesame legit, or is it an online scam? One catch comes during the signup process where you are asked to “do more” with your credit score by adding “goals”. Some clicks there and you’ll get targeted ads, and maybe more. There isn’t a way to skip this step, so choose something you don’t mind hearing about, and as always use your “store email” or “email list” email address. (You should have a separate email address that you never use for anything “real” that helps avoid hacking attempts and keeps your real inbox clean. If you don’t have one, get a free email from Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, or other service before signing up.) I chose rewards cards when I signed up and the first thing at the very top of my screen every time I log in is …

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PayPal Debit Card Worth It?

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paypal debit card

PayPal is a popular way to pay people online and also a useful resource for freelancers to get paid electronically. Funds can be transferred electronically from your PayPal account to your linked bank account at anytime. However, there can be a significant delay between when you initiate a PayPal transfer and when it shows up in your account. To help alleviate this issue, PayPal offers a debit card linked to your PayPal account. I recently got my own PayPal debit card and have had a chance to use it and see how all the little tricks work. Technically, I got a PayPal Business Debit Card, but I don’t see any differences from the regular one. Is a PayPal MasterCard Debit Card a Good Deal? PayPal is no different than any other for-profit company, they want to make money. They take a commission on certain types of payments and charge fees for things like receiving international currency in your PayPal account and for letting customers or clients pay you via credit card. The PayPal debit card is another way for PayPal to make money while giving you more ways to access the funds in your PayPal account, which the company hopes …

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Budgeting Extra Money vs Extra Income

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As a former financial planner in Denver, I get involved in a lot of interesting personal finance discussions. Recently, a writing colleague was remarking on the difference between getting money one time, and having a new stream of money. In particular, he noticed that while the latter should be better, the former is actually the more fun of the two. Psychology of Money One of the interesting things about money is that it is so concrete a mathematical concept, and yet, so nebulous as an actual artifact in our lives. On the first hand, money is easily understood as an exact match of mathematical numbers. For any decision, a spreadsheet-type answer is easily obtained. Higher interest rates are better for savings, worse for borrowing. Saving more is better than spending more, and so on. However, the reality is that the higher interest rate from an online bank that is less convenient and useful might not actually be better. And, is having an extra $5,000 in the bank really better than having spent a week seeing the great museums in Italy? Which brings us to the freelance writer‘s incongruous concept of steady income versus unreliable, extra income. Most people have a steady …

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Do Young People Invest in the Stock Market?

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Do Millenials Have Money To Invest? A recent Bankrate survey shows that just 26 percent of Millenials say they own any stock. That sounds about right to me. As a former financial advisor, I never conducted any official, statistically valid surveys, of course, but I did talk to a lot of people, many of them younger. Younger people, like Millenials, almost never became my clients. The feeling was mutual. You see, most younger people don’t HAVE any money, even if they are currently making it. If you graduate from college at say 22, and you get a job paying $75,000 per year, then you are doing pretty well. But, you may have student loans; you probably would like to buy a house; you might be getting married and saving for a wedding. Of course, you might also be enjoying your freedom and taking trips, buying cars, and so on. The thing is, even if you were saving 10 percent of your income that still means you only have $7,500 of investable assets after a year. $15,000 the next, and so on and so on. By the time you had even the minimum of $100,000 that makes it worth even a …

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Your First Basic Financial Plan

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As a former Certified Financial Planner, or CFP, I tend, like many other financial experts, to think (and write) in terms of the tricky, the convoluted, and the complex. The truth is that money and personal finance can be very intricate and complex. However, it is also true that the biggest bang for the buck financial planning wise comes from doing the most basic things. Too often, we get caught up in things that actually end up being tiny details of your overall financial life. For example, many people shop endlessly for higher savings account interest rates. Whether you have a high-yield savings account, a regular savings account, or even a kids savings account, the interest rate matters far less than how much money  you put in it. If you have $10,000 and you put it in a regular savings account earning 0.5 percent, your interest for the year will be approximately, $50. If you got double that rate, 1.0%, then you’d have $100 in interest. In either case, you would still basically just have $10,000 at the end of the year, $10,050 or $10,100, respectively. Neither has a meaningful impact on your overall financial status. On the other hand, if …

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Youth Accounts at Banks

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Banks have long offered various types of checking accounts and savings accounts. Some of these accounts are actually fully developed products that are different from other offerings. Others are merely gimmicks, and some bank account types lie in between. Youth Accounts Banking One such niche account offered at many banks is a youth account. These accounts are typically broken up into youth savings accounts and youth checking accounts. Just what each account is, and how it differs from other accounts depends on the bank. For the most part, special bank accounts for young people are joint accounts with limited access for one person. For most purposes, a person under the age of 18 cannot legally enter into a contract. No contract, or banking agreement, then no account, not even a kid bank account. Instead, in order to open a kid savings account or student checking account, the bank will require an adult’s signature. No matter what it gets called on the statement, what you have really just opened is a joint account with the child. So, then what is the point of a youth accounts? As an adult, you might not like the idea of joint account with your child. …

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Debit Card Fraud Protection Gets Better

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One growing method of card fraud and theft is stealing credit card or debit cards and their PIN numbers. Unlike swiping a credit card, not all financial institutions that issue debit or credit cards offer a zero-liability guarantee to users who enter a PIN number. The idea is that the PIN number itself offers security. Unfortunately, that is becoming less true. Today, sophisticated reader devices are attached by thieves to ATM machines, gas pumps, or other devices that accept cards. These attachments do not impede the ability for the real machine to read the card. That way, you have no idea that your transaction did not go as planned. However, your card information has been copied, and coupled with a small camera that watches you enter your PIN, the thieves have everything they need to empty your account. Although it was eventually revealed that the recent breach at Target did not compromise PIN numbers, no one was very sure of that fact in the beginning. In other words, having your card information and PIN stolen is a real risk. MasterCard Steps Up MasterCard announced on May 28, that it will offer (and by extension everyone who issues MasterCards) the same zero-liability …

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