10 Financial Choices You’ll Regret in 10 Years

“All I had to do was turn in the form to my HR department.”

It was a simple task but one that was shoved to the side to deal with most important things throw at us.

The form was a 401k enrollment firm and I my client was left wondering what could have been had she enrolled when it first became available to her.

We’ve all faced similar decisions.

Some we get right.  Some we are left wondering the possibilities of what could and should have been.

Let’s take a look at some financial decisions that you’d kick yourself for in 10 years. Don’t do them!

1. Starting your budget way too late

I’ll be first to admit that I hate budgeting. Nonetheless, my wife and I both recognize the importance of having a budget.

Most people view budgeting as not being able to spend money on the things that you want to but the reality is sitting down and making out a budget is a freeing exercise. It frees you because you can recognize the areas of your life of where you are wasting money on things that aren’t important to you.

An easy example could be spending money on a cell phone package when you might not need all of the minutes with the data that it provides. Could you put that extra money toward a vacation fund or help pay for your kid’s college education? Using that money for something that is more desirable instead of an expense that you could care less about will put your money to better use.

If you have been putting off beginning to budget, it’s time to start. Forget that you should have started yesterday, start today and discover the amazing benefits of budgeting. Some of those benefits will extend to other areas of your life besides your finances . . . .

For example, you might find that having a budget improves your relationship with your partner. If you’re married, you probably know how difficult money fights can be to overcome. You know what?

A budget helps reduce those money fights because you’re making an agreement before you spend the money. No surprises, no fights.

2. Not paying off your credit cards each month

This was something that my father struggled with and I initially struggled with when I was graduating college. I was picking up credit cards left and right and kept telling myself that I could just make a payment later.

Well, for me, later became never and my credit card debt started piling on and suffocating me. I eventually figured it out only after paying hundreds of dollars of unnecessary interest. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t take the time to figure out how much interest are paying. However, if they found out, they’d probably want to pay off their credit cards pretty quickly.

Make an effort to pay off your credit cards quickly. The beauty of doing this is that it will ensure you keep more money in your wallet instead of giving it over to some large credit card company.

Some people can’t control their credit card spending. If that’s you, it’s best to stay away from credit cards altogether. While you might be missing out on the rewards, you’ll be better off.

3. Blindly buying a financial product without investigating first

It amazes me that with the ability to do a quick search online that many investors are still putting their money into investment products and they don’t understand how they work. I talked to dozens of investors who have invested a large chunk of their life savings into something that they couldn’t explain to a friend or neighbor.

Do your homework, get a second opinion, and make sure that you understand how this investment works. How much is it going to cost you? Are there any surrender charges? These are the types of answers that you need to know.

I know a woman who paid over $3,500 in variable annuity fees and didn’t even know it. Don’t think it can’t happen to you.

If someone is selling you an investment or an insurance product, make sure that you do your homework before you invest your money.

4. Putting your emergency fund on the back burner

Emergency funds help protect you from the inevitable. The thing is, everyone has a big financial emergency at some point. That’s why you need to prepare.

It’s a fantastic idea to have many months worth of expenses in your fund. Some people have three months, others have 12. I think you should have eight months, but choose an amount that makes sense for your situation.

For example, if you’re single and have one job, you will probably want more money in your emergency fund. If you’re married and both you and your spouse are employed, you can probably get away with less money in your emergency fund.

There are a number of places to put your emergency fund money. Remember, you should only place your emergency fund money somewhere that you can retrieve it pretty quickly without much risk to your capital.

One such place is an online savings account. There are a number of great online savings accounts that deliver quite a bit more interest than you’d find at a physical bank or credit union. Plus, there are usually no penalties associated with taking money out of a standard online savings account (if there are, look elsewhere).

That’s just one idea of where you can keep your emergency fund money. I recommend that you read The 11 Best Short-Term Investments For Your Money at GoodFinancialCents.com to learn about some more places you can keep your emergency fund money. But don’t just stop there – act on what you learn and get your emergency fund moving in the right direction!

Remember: If you let your emergency fund slip into the abyss, you might find yourself down the road with more debt than you can handle. Make sure to replenish it!

5. Buying a brand new car that you can’t afford

Vehicles are important for many, but remember that they can quickly turn into a discretionary purchase. Don’t buy all the bells and whistles when you can’t afford them.

The ramifications of a car payment well exceed the financial hit of the price of the car, and you can end up spending your retirement away without realizing it.

Listen, I know what it’s like to drive around an old car. I used to have a ’98 Chevy Lumina Sedan that was something a grandmother would drive. Now, I probably could have purchased something fancier or sold the car before I did, but instead, I decided that not having a car payment was awesome. But I certainly didn’t always think that way.

I remember my professor in a finance class pointing out that he would take a bunch of vacations whenever he wanted to because he didn’t have a car payment. And you know what? He was right. That one little point from my finance professor made a difference in my life, and it taught me the value of owning stuff outright. You can learn this lesson too and see tremendous results.

And please, please don’t tell me that you’re thinking about buying a brand new car for your kid in college because they need “reliable transportation.”

There are plenty of reliable, used cars available for purchase that are much more affordable than brand new cars. And you know what the differences are between a car that’s three to five years old and a brand new car? There aren’t many in most cases. So why spend the extra money?

6. Trying to be a DIY investor when you have no clue what you’re doing

If you’re not a financial professional or haven’t been exposed to financial education, you really shouldn’t be investing unless you’re doing so with the help of a financial advisor.

I think the biggest harm in this comes when an older couple is retired and the husband has been mostly in charge of the couple’s investments. All too often, the wife is clueless in what they’re actually invested into and if something unexpectedly happens to the husband, she doesn’t even know where to begin. Hire a financial advisor who can meet with the both of you. Then, the wife has someone to rely on in case something happens and is super important.

Financial advisors can also save you a great deal of time and money ensuring your investing strategy is relevant for your situation. Don’t go without this valuable service.

7. Viewing important insurance polices as being lame

If you were to die right now, would your family be financially okay? If not, you need life insurance.

And, that’s just one example. There are a number of important insurance policies you shouldn’t delay in putting in place: disability insurance, perhaps long-term care insurance if you’re over 60 years old, and perhaps umbrella insurance.

“I’ll get around to doing it.” Those were the tragic last words of a husband that left behind his wife and two kids. What he was going to getting around to doing was taking out a life insurance policy. In fact, he had begun the process but never signed the application and never sent in a payment so the policy wasn’t active.

In any other situation that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but in this case, the husband took his motorcycle out for a weekend spin and was involved in a collision that left his spouse a widow. What could have been a financial relief (a life insurance policy) is now added stress and worry to a grieving widow (the absence of funds when the family needs it most). She also has to deal with the fact that she lost her husband and the father of her two kids.

Insurance protects you from financial liability you wouldn’t be able to cover with your emergency fund alone. Don’t neglect it.

8. Treating your retirement like a distant second cousin

One of the first meetings I had as a financial advisor was when I was meeting with a couple that was almost two and a half times my age. They were hoping to retire soon and they sought me out to be their retirement hope.

When I started poring through their financial documents, I quickly learned that retiring early wasn’t even close to being an option for them. In fact, retiring at all might not be a possibility. They put off saving and planning for retirement way too long.

They had little savings and no pension and the only thing they could really fall back on was Social Security. Note: their savings was roughly about $60,000. Don’t procrastinate any longer. Even if you get started investing only $100 a month, do it.

Saving for retirement is critical. If you’re trusting Social Security to be your sole source of income, think again. It’s not likely that you’ll be able to maintain your lifestyle with Social Security benefits alone. If you would be able to, congratulations, you’re living pretty frugally!

Invest today with a financial professional you trust.

9. Neglecting important money conversations with your spouse

Want to crash and burn financially?  Try taking on all of your financial goals without getting on the same page of your spouse.

Marriage means you do life together as one unit.  All decisions, especially money decisions, should be discussed and agreed up.

Why not align your financial goals? Talk through your differences, learn to compromise, and get on the same page together. It will be worth it – especially down the road.

10. Being blind to your recurring expenses

Recurring expenses can eat a hole in your wallet. And you know what? Many people don’t even know that’s happening to them.

Take a look at the recurring expenses – large and small – and determine which ones you absolutely need and which ones look more like discretionary splurges. It’s okay to splurge every once in a while, but don’t go overboard.

When you are working on your budget, many of these expenses might come to your mind. Don’t just forget about them – do something about them! If you have a high cable bill, see if you can get a discount. If you have a gym membership that you’re not using, consider exercising at home instead. There are many ways to save money on recurring expenses.

Follow this advice, and you’ll be much less likely to kick yourself in the future. Aim for no regrets!

This post originally appeared on Forbes.

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Loan Money to Family? Sure, If It’s Uncle Sam

You’ve gathered all the paperwork, and you’ve gone through all the TurboTax prompts (not to mention three cups of coffee). With one final click, here comes the moment you’ve been waiting for — the part that makes blowing a whole Saturday doing your taxes totally worth it: the official amount of your tax refund.

Maybe it’s enough to pay off the last of your Christmas credit card bills. Maybe you’ll use it to fix up the house, or to fund your family’s summer vacation, or pay down a big chunk of student loan debt. Awesome, right?

Well, a lot of personal finance experts will tell you that’s foolish — that you basically gave the government an interest-free loan for the past 12 months.

If you had invested that money instead, the logic goes, you’d have earned some interest or even some investing gains from it.

And yes, that’s true… in theory. But for most of us, it’s a total crock. You and I both know you that, if you’re anything like the average American, you weren’t about to invest that extra $20 a paycheck.

Two thirds of Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month. More than half don’t have enough cash to cover an unexpected $500 expense. And even a third of Americans earning more than $75,000 a year live paycheck to paycheck.

If there’s one thing most of us desperately need, it’s someone to force us to save our money — even if it’s our cranky old Uncle Sam. “In MY day, we saved up for a car and bought it in cash!” he bellows. And he’s right.

We often lament the disappearance of pension plans, but they were essentially just forced savings vehicles, siphoning away a pretty hefty chunk of an employee’s salary in exchange for a defined monthly payout in retirement. Meanwhile, the transition to “letting us invest that money ourselves instead” — the age of the 401(k) and IRA — has led to a nationwide retirement crisis. The median retirement savings of 55- to 64-year-old Americans was just $14,500 in 2013, according to Bloomberg.

It’s okay to loan money to your old Uncle Sam – he’s good for it. Photo: Dan Ramirez

The lesson is clear: Most of us can’t be trusted to sock away our money responsibly, or are simply unable to do so when faced with stagnant wages and fast-growing expenses such as college, health care, and big monthly bills that didn’t even exist 25 years ago, like smartphone and Internet plans.

So don’t let anyone tell you that getting a big refund check from your old Uncle Sam is a bad financial move. Forcing yourself to save is almost always a good idea.

• Related: 10 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Saving Money

And with interest rates so low, even if you had been diligent enough to put that money into a high-yield savings account, you’d have earned all of $15 in interest on an average $2,800 refund.

However, you’re not entirely off the hook. What matters most of all is what you do with that money now.

What to Do With Your Tax Refund

It can be excruciatingly tempting to treat yourself to a splurge when you find yourself holding a check for a thousand dollars or more — and, OK, one nice dinner out isn’t going to derail your retirement plans. But make sure you do something productive with the bulk of that big check, instead of wasting it fleeting purchases you won’t remember in a month’s time.

Here are some great ways to put your tax refund to use:

Pay Off Debt

If you’re swimming in high-interest credit card debt or student loans, paying down a huge chunk of it in once fell swoop will feel like a major victory that can inspire you to keep attacking it. Plus, it will give you some immediate breathing room by lowering the amount of interest you owe each month.

• Related: 11 Ways to Get Out of Debt Faster

Start an Emergency Fund

We can’t stress this enough: You need an emergency fund. On the baseball diamond of life, the pitcher likes throwing curveballs, from busted mufflers to sudden illnesses. These can create serious financial and emotional stress, but a good-sized emergency fund — enough to cover three to six months of expenses — can relieve some of that stress.

Kickstart your emergency fund with $1,000 of tax refund money, and then automatically add a few bucks to it each week.

Open or Fund a Roth IRA

One of the best ways to save for retirement is through a Roth IRA, if your income falls under the acceptable limits (which start at $116,000 for single filers and $184,000 for married couples in 2016).

That’s because with a Roth, unlike a 401(k) or traditional IRA, you’re able to withdraw your contributions as well as any investment gains completely tax-free in retirement. You pay taxes on the front end with a Roth, investing after-tax dollars — such as your tax refund, or any of your take-home pay.

• Related: Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA

Plan a Vacation

The average American family planned to spend about $1,000 per person on their summer vacation last year, according to American Express. Depending on the size of your refund – and your family – see if you can plan your entire summer vacation for less than you received back from the IRS. (Don’t worry, you don’t need to take Uncle Sam along with you.)

While we’ll never feel bad about our vacation spending, there are plenty of ways to trim the cost of a trip so your tax refund will cover it. Try camping part of the time, visiting national parks or other frugal destinations, or cashing in credit card rewards points. Buy Something That Will Save You Money

While we don’t advocate throwing your refund check at a new flatscreen TV or a trip to the mall, there are lots of purchases that may actually save you more money than they cost in the long run. A slow cooker can pay itself off quickly if it means you cook at home more often. A bike for commuting to work can save you money on gas, parking, and expensive wear and tear on your vehicle.

• Related: 12 Items That Pay for Themselves Tenfold or More

Start Investing

Whether it’s in an IRA or a traditional brokerage account, most mutual funds (even low-cost index funds) require a $1,000 or $3,000 initial deposit, but then allow you to contribute smaller amounts in the future, such as $100 a month. When it comes to investing, it’s always best to start early, and the average tax refund can get you up and running.

Tackle a Home Improvement Project

Spring and summer are the ideal seasons to take on home repairs you’ve neglected or a big remodeling project, and making smart upgrades to your home is usually a pretty sound investment if you’re not overextending yourself to do it.

• Related: What Common Home Repairs Cost (and How to Budget for Them)

Start a Down Payment Fund for Your Next Car or House

When it comes to buying a car or a house, the larger the down payment you can make, the less you’ll have to borrow — which means lower monthly payments and, often, better loan terms. If you’re planning to make a major purchase in the next couple of years, get started with a specially designated down payment fund.

Did you get a tax refund this year? What are you planning to do with it? 

Related Articles:

• Best Tax Software for 2016
• A Retirement Tax Trick You May Not Know About
• Don’t Waste Your Tax Refund: Four Better Ways to Use It

The post Loan Money to Family? Sure, If It’s Uncle Sam appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Who Knew You Could Make $250 Selling Monopoly Pieces on eBay?

When my husband and I moved across the country last year, he had a job lined up — but I didn’t.  

Living in a new state without a full-time job, I tried to think of ways to bring in some income. My love for bargain hunting really got me thinking…

Thrift stores and garage sales are amazing places to find a needle in the haystack, a lost Picasso or a first edition Hemingway.  

While we hear stories of those lucky few who hit it big on “Antiques Roadshow,” I decided to focus on more common items people tend to throw away.

Specifically: board games.  

And not even complete games, but the tossed-aside, falling-apart, missing-pieces games which most people pass up.

Not me. I saw them as potential moneymakers!

In fact, I ended up making $250 from these board games in just six months.

How I Make Money With Board Games

Have you ever started to set up a board game and wondered where the heck a certain piece(s) went?!  

It happens to everyone at some point — especially with those tiny little houses in Monopoly!  

Sometimes it isn’t a big deal. You just use a bottle cap to replace a checker piece, or use a die from another game to replace a missing one.

But what about those pieces that are especially important to the game? Or, if you’re like me, the ones that just drive you crazy if they’re missing? Like cards from that special edition Uno or the dog (my fave!) from Monopoly?  

After buying a missing card for a Snorta game from eBay, I decided to try reselling this type of game piece myself.  

Since I knew there was a customer base, I saw an opportunity to make some extra money. Now I’m hooked!

What Board Games to Buy

It’s a relatively inexpensive venture — you can buy games for bargain prices at garage sales or thrift stores.

The concept is simple, but trying to determine which games are worth buying can get overwhelming.

Having a bunch of generic black and red plastic checker pieces doesn’t do you much good. But if you had vintage clay checker pieces, it might be a different story.   

A great way to start feeling out the replacement game piece market is to type in “replacement game pieces” in eBay and sort through sold items.  

You’ll see pieces for games new and old, and you can get an idea of what people are willing to pay for them.

Speaking of old… Keep in mind: Vintage doesn’t always mean valuable. Do your research! Sometimes it does, but never assume a game’s worth something just because it’s old.

Monopoly is a great example. Yes, a few vintage Monopoly games are worth a fortune, but many more are barely worth anything.  

On the flip side, almost every component of certain special edition Monopoly games can be considered valuable.  

For example, I recently bought the “Lord of the Rings” Monopoly game at a thrift store for $1.99. I took a quick glance inside and saw pieces and money scattered everywhere.

But all the tokens and the “ring” were in the box — and that was all I needed to know to make the purchase.  

A lot of the play money and most of the houses and hotels weren’t included, but what was left made for a nice little profit. Here’s what I earned selling these pieces:

Tokens: $9.50

Instructions: $1.50

Ring: $9.99

Die: $1.50

Chess is another wonderful opportunity, especially if the game is a special edition or themed set.

I once found an incomplete Harry Potter chess set, but there were plenty of pieces left to make a nice profit. I made $4.50 per queen and $1.75 for a pawn.

The $3.99 investment definitely paid off.

Once you find the games, all it takes is a quick online search to see whether the pieces are selling, and for how much. I just check eBay’s app while I’m shopping.

How to Sell Board Games

Keen to try it for yourself?

An easy way to start out is to go “shopping” in your own game closet.

It’s a simple way to test the waters and get a true sense of the selling process, while committing nothing but a few minutes of your time.  

Who’s Buying?

There’s a wider customer base than you may think!

You’re targeting resellers who need a component of the game to sell theirs as complete, crafty folks who need pieces for art projects or jewelry, and people who need to replace a missing piece.

Where to Sell

Since I already had a highly rated eBay account, I started there.

But there are other avenues for selling and even repurposing game pieces. Etsy and Bonanza also are great options. I’ve seen mystery boxes of game pieces on Etsy for $12!  

Prepare Your Listings

It’s very important to take clear pictures of the items and write a detailed, honest description.  

Even if the items aren’t in the best condition, be honest! They could still sell — I’ve sold Clue score pads with missing pages.

Shipping

While some sellers include shipping into their purchase prices, I prefer to charge shipping separately.

You never know where someone will be buying from and what the true shipping cost will be.

Also, when someone sees an item listed for $1, they’re more likely to click on it than if it’s listed for $4.99.

When the shipping charge is rolled into the total, it can deter those who wouldn’t have to pay much for shipping, anyway.  

Bundling

Try to determine whether it’s more beneficial to sell pieces individually or in a bundle.

If you’ve posted a bundle but it isn’t selling, break it up and try to sell pieces individually. If your individual pieces aren’t moving, bundle them. Play with it and see what works.

Selling game pieces is relatively low risk, since prices are so low. It’s an easy and fun way to make some extra cash!

Your Turn: Will you go through your old games and see if the pieces are worth selling?

Laura Niebauer Palmer is a coupon-aholic who works in Human Resources. Her goal is to find fun and creative ways to make and save money. Some of her faves include mystery shopping, teaching writing and being a contestant on Wheel of Fortune!

The post Who Knew You Could Make $250 Selling Monopoly Pieces on eBay? appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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