- The Finance Gourmet

SquareTrade Review Save Money on Warranties

September 14, 2023April 26, 2023 by Finance Gourmet

Is SquareTrade legit or is SquareTrade a scam? It gets complicated so SquareTrade reviews are a good place to start to see if it fits your needs. Our Square Trade review is based on experience and reading the fine print. Warranty Scam History The economy is a little shaky, but you still have needs and wants. Everyone else is in the same boat, including businesses who still have to sell products if they want to make a profit. If you have a good cash reserve and the opportunity arises, now could be a good time to get a great deal on things like electronics, washers and dryers, televisions, kitchen appliances and so on. Last century, big box electronics shops like Circuit City began competing against the lower prices and better deals found online by offering prices that were just as good. However, that meant they didn’t make very much profit because of the overhead of running a store. They countered by aggressively selling extended warranties to their customers. Soon, virtually all of the profit from some electronics chains was from warranties. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for everyone else, customers soon caught on and came prepared for the warranty hard …

What Is The Difference Between FSA and HSA?

April 28, 2021February 26, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

There is a lot of confusion around the difference between an HSA and a FSA. HSA stands for Health Savings Account. FSA stands for Flexible Spending Account, or sometimes, Flexible Spending Arrangement. Both types of medical savings accounts are tax-advantaged ways to save and pay for various medical expenses, but there are some very big differences. These accounts are very important for tax planning because otherwise, there is a very high threshold before you can deduct any medical expenses you might have. For many people, an HSA will be better than a Flexible Spending Account, but only if your health insurance plan qualifies. What Is a Flexible Spending Account or FSA? The FSA has been around longer, and so most people are more familiar with it. A flexible spending account is a benefit offered by your employer. You defer a certain amount of your paycheck into the FSA. Any funds contributed to an FSA are pre-tax contributions, just like a 401(k) contribution, which means you not only don’t pay taxes on that money, it doesn’t count as income for things like IRA contribution thresholds, or the child tax credit, or deducting student loan interest. That makes these contributions a very …

Is SquareTrade a Good Deal

August 22, 2022August 10, 2020 by Finance Gourmet

SquareTrade has been bought by Allstate. Allstate is an insurance company that does auto, home, and life insurance. They now do item protection plans like SquareTrade used to do. I first wrote about SquareTrade back in 2009. At the time, I was overjoyed at the concept of warranties from Square Trade. If you don’t remember, 2009 was the era of incredibly overpriced extended warranties from electronics stores. It turns out that companies like Circuit City were selling merchandise at a tiny profit, and making all of their money by having their salespeople push high cost extended warranties on anything. Even worse, when you tried to collect on that coverage, it turned out that your warranty wasn’t actually from the company you bought it from, but some business you never heard of, and that didn’t really care what you thought about them, their service, or their coverage. Is SquareTrade a Scam? First off, SquareTrade is a legitimate company. It is now part of Allstate and they seem to be doing away with the name in favor of Allstate Protection plans. They’ve been in business for a long time now and have plenty of satisfied customers. However, there are some complaints about …

Investing For Hurricanes

September 11, 2018 by Finance Gourmet

I usually wouldn’t write an article like this, but I’m trying something new, so let’s do this. Do hurricanes affect the stock market, and the overall U.S. economy? How Hurricanes Affect The Stock Market Like the vast majority of stock market moves caused by news items, the actual impact on the stock market tends to be negligible when measured over any period of more than a week or two. In other words, investors love to freak out about the news, only to forget what the story was a short time later. Weather, like hurricanes, is no different. Check out my Ebates review. Consider that an upcoming hurricane, no matter how large, has a relatively small area of impact compared to the country overall. While a hurricane might completely decimate, say, South Carolina, that impact won’t be felt in Ohio, Texas, or pretty much any other state you can name. And, if we are being really honest, the biggest of hurricanes don’t really do much long-term damage unless accompanied by flooding. Whether it’s Hurricane Katrina, or Hurricane Sandy, the damage beyond some power failures, damaged roofs, and fallen tree branches was all done by the flooding. So, if you want to …

Understanding How Beneficiaries Work

July 18, 2017July 18, 2017 by Finance Gourmet

As a financial advisor, I used to review client’s paperwork when they came in for an appointment. Among many other things, I always made sure to go over was to review beneficiaries of my client’s accounts. Or, more to the point, I TRIED to review the beneficiaries on my client’s accounts. All too often, they had no idea who the beneficiaries were, or how to find out. Even worse, they often just decided to assume that they knew the beneficiaries on their accounts. Out of date beneficiaries is one of the most common financial problems people have when they start financial planning. What Are Beneficiaries When someone dies, there are a series of laws that determine exactly how your assets get dispersed among the living. These laws are long and complex. They are collectively referred to as estate law, and it is complicated enough to be an entire specialty for attorneys. The primary instrument for distributing your assets as you see fit, rather than as how the law dictates, is your will. However, there are several kinds of accounts that do not fall under this process, unless you do not properly designate your beneficiaries. In this context, a beneficiary is the …

Should I Invest Money in My HSA Account?

December 13, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

A Health Savings Account, or HSA, is a tax-advantaged way to save money for health care costs. An HSA account is different from a Flexible Savings Account, or FSA, that many people are more familiar with. For most people with qualifying health insurance plans, an HSA is better than an FSA. HSA Investing One of the advantages of a Health Savings Account is that the money does not have to be spent in a single year. Instead, those funds can be left in an HSA for years. In fact, that money can be invested, just like with a 401k plan, or a 529 plan, in order to grow for future medical costs. But, does it make sense for YOU to invest money in your Health Savings Account? Money that is invested in an HSA grows tax-differed, just like in an IRA or 401k. That many can also be withdrawn tax-free, if and only if, it is used to pay for medical expenses. There are several factors that determine whether it is a good idea to invest your HSA funds, or whether you are better off leaving them in the cash, or money market account. How You Use Your HSA Determines …

When Do I Need Umbrella Insurance?

October 17, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

What is umbrella insurance exactly? I overheard someone saying that umbrella insurance covers everything. That isn’t entirely true. What umbrella insurance covers is personal liability. It does cover most all personal liability, so I suppose in a way it covers, “everything.” Liability Insurance Most people already have some liability insurance. Your car insurance, for example, has liability insurance for anything you become liable for while driving a car. Most auto insurance coverage is specified by three numbers like 100/300/100. The first number is your liability coverage limit per person per accident. The second number is the total liability coverage per accident for all persons. The third number is the liability limit for property damage for each accident. Of course, this liability coverage only involves things that happen while you are operating a covered vehicle. Homeowners typically have some liability coverage through their homeowners insurance policy. This liability covers a lot more ground (but NOT when you are driving a car). Anything that happens on your property is covered. So, if someone trips and hurts themselves on your driveway, that liability would be covered. This coverage is also limited to a specific dollar amount depending upon your policy. An amount like …

Health Savings Accounts State Taxes

July 6, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

We’ve discussed before how much of a benefit a Health Savings Account, or HSA, can be for saving money on your taxes. Contributions to an HSA are tax deductible for federal income tax purposes, or in the case of pre-tax contributions, they are simply not part of your income for federal income tax purposes. In addition, all interest, or capital gains earned within an HSA are tax-free, assuming all withdrawals are made to pay qualified medical expenses.But, what about state taxes on Health Savings Accounts? State Taxes on HSA Accounts The Federal Government can’t force states to do things, although there are ways around that, such as make your drinking age 21, or you get less federal highway funds. So, the various states don’t necessarily have to go along with the Feds when it comes to what is and is not tax deductible. In some states, however, that just happens by default. For example, in Colorado, the state income tax form is based upon the taxable income that you calculate for your federal income taxes. In other words, if you deducted it on your U.S. income taxes, it is already deducted when you start doing your state income taxes. That …

Which Is Better HSA or FSA?

May 11, 2016 by Finance Gourmet

Which is better a flexible spending account or a health savings account? The answer to which is better between a health savings account or flexible spending account depends, unfortunately, on the specifics in which they are setup. However, it is relatively simple to determine which is better an FSA or an HSA. First, you’ll want to understand what an FSA vs an HSA looks like. When FSA Is Better Than HSA An flexible spending account, or FSA has many advantages over paying for medical expenses out of your own pocket. However, it has only one real advantage over a health savings account, or HSA. The only eligibility requirement for having and using an FSA is that your employer offers one. It doesn’t matter what kind of health insurance plan you choose, or whether that plan has a high deductible. In order to have an HSA, you must have a qualifying high-deductible health insurance plan. The reality is that the deductibles aren’t necessarily that high, and in fact, may be close to the deductibles on other health plans. But, if you don’t qualify for an HSA, then a FSA is better than an HSA. The only other advantage of an FSA …