10 top mobile apps for spending, saving and investing on the go

From keeping tabs on your spending to setting savings goals, take advantage of smartphone apps and online tools to maximise your savings

There has never been an easier time to get on top of your finances, with thousands of specialist websites and mobile apps now available to help.

Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, believes technological developments are changing how consumers engage with their money.

“Ideally, we’d all put aside time to track spending and check bank statements but most of us are far too busy, so these tasks get pushed down the to-do list,” she says.

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This is where apps come into their own. You don’t need to build a gap in your schedule to sort out your finances – as long as you have a smartphone.

“Whether you are on the bus, waiting in a queue or tolerating an ad break, you can open the right app and get everything done in a matter of seconds,” says Ms Coles.

Here is our lowdown on some of the latest apps to boost your savings and investments, and keep tabs on your spending.

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Track your spending

Get to grips with where your money is going, and it’s much easier to see where savings can be made.

Personal finance app Wally helps you to keep track of your income and outgoings, as well as enabling you to scan receipts for your records. It’s clear, easy to use and free.

Another free app to consider is Money Dashboard, which links your accounts to give a more detailed picture of your financial health.

However, giving your log-in details to third-party providers may contravene your bank’s terms and conditions, so you’ll need to check. On that point, banks such as Barclays and HSBC – through the Connected Money app – allow you to link accounts from other providers.

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Earn while you shop

CheckoutSmart is a free app that gives you cashback on trips to the supermarket both online and in store. You log on to browse the deals and if you buy any of the products listed on the app, you then take a photo of your receipt. Once this is uploaded to the app, the cash reward will be credited to your account, which can be paid into your bank or via PayPal.

“With the right app, you can sort out your money in seconds”

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Manage your money

Squirrel works like a second bank account that helps you to budget and save your income – before it even reaches your main current account.

Once your salary gets paid into the app each month, the amount that is allocated to savings is ring-fenced, while money for bills is released to your bank account the day before they are due.

Your spending money, meanwhile, goes into your account as normal and you can request to break this down into weekly amounts if you wish. The principal benefit of this app is that it prevents you from spending money earmarked for bills or savings.

On the downside, it costs £9.99 a month and the savings you squirrel away via the app won’t earn any interest. However, it could help those who struggle to budget.

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Take care of the pennies

As the old saying goes: “Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.” This is the idea behind microsavings apps, such as Chip, which tuck a little bit of money away without you even noticing.

Chip uses artificial intelligence to analyse your spending. It works out what you can afford to put away and takes out small sums from your current account every few days. These are deposited into the Chip account, which is hosted by Barclays Bank and is free. If you refer a friend to the app, you’ll be given a bonus of 1% on your savings – and you can earn up to 5% if you refer enough people.

Invest your spare change

Moneybox adopts a similar approach to Chip but invests the savings you make via the app. It allows you to effectively save your ‘spare change’ by rounding up purchases made to the nearest pound. The developers suggest that users make around 30 transactions each week, with an average round-up of 28p. This equates to £8.41 of savings each week.

The app invests the money into a range of global assets via three index tracker funds aimed at cautious, balanced and adventurous investors.

Moneybox charges two fees: a fixed subscription of £1 a month (free for the first three months) and an annual platform fee, equating to 0.45% of the value of your investments.

In addition, you will also pay the annual management charges levied by the index tracker fund providers.These are charged monthly and Moneybox says they average out at 0.23%.

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Set a savings goal

Savings Goals Pro allows you to set a target – whether it’s a new car, holiday or another big ticket item – and then track your progress. Once you set a date for each savings goal, the app will calculate the amount you need to save each week or month to hit the target. It can also show you how long you’d take to save a certain amount, based on the money you’re putting away each week. It’s clear and straightforward, and at a one-off fee of £3.99 won’t break the bank.

Become a virtual investor to assess your trading strategies

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Practise building a portfolio

Apps such as the Best Brokers Stock Market Game allow you to run a virtual investment portfolio that won’t leave you out of pocket. They can let you try out investing without risking a fall in the value of your own savings. You can also test different trading strategies that you wouldn’t want to use with real cash.

The Best Brokers Stock Market Game features more than 60,000 stocks, as well as funds, exchange-traded funds, bonds and cryptocurrencies.

You start with a notional £25,000, building your investment portfolio over time, or you can test different trading strategies. Users can also compete with friends or other users, and assess performance on weekly, monthly or annual charts.

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Plan your retirement

There is no longer-term savings than your pension fund, so tools to help you stay on top of your retirement pot can prove very useful. Winning Moneywise’s best pensions education initiative in our Pensions Awards 2018, Aviva offers tools and calculators on its website (Aviva.co.uk/retirement/tools-and-calculators/). These are available for anyone – not just its own customers.

Look out for its ‘Shape My Future’ and ‘My Retirement Planner’ tools. The first builds up your lifestyle choices in retirement and how much they would cost, while the other uses your pension details to calculate how much you’re likely to receive.

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Investment Doctor: Are our Stocks and Shares Isa fund choices still OK?

A married couple want to check if they should switch any of the funds held across their Isas

My husband and I each invest £250 a month and would like to know if the fund choices we made after asking for advice from Investment Doctor last year are still suitable.

In my Stocks and Shares Isa, I invest £50 each into Fundsmith Equity, HSBC American, Jupiter European and Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity. I also invest £25 each in Vanguard Global Small-Cap Index and Stewart Asia Pacific Leaders within this Isa.

My husband has a Lifetime Isa (Lisa), in which he invests £25 each into Legal & General International Index Trust and Vanguard Global Small-Cap Index.

• 10 top mobile apps for spending, saving and investing on the go

In addition, he allocates £50 each into JPMorgan Emerging Markets, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Newton Global Income, plus £25 each into Jupiter India and Man GLG Japan CoreAlpha within his Stocks and Shares Isa.

Initial diagnosis

Jason Hollands, managing director for business development at Tilney Group, thinks your combined exposure to the US is too high.

“Each month, around 40% of your cash is going into US-listed companies,” he says. “That is too high for a UK-based investor and should be reined back to around 20%.”

A lack of UK exposure is another concern.

“You have just 8% in the UK, where it should be 30% to 40% of a sterling-based investor’s portfolio for currency-risk reasons,” he adds.

Treatment plan for you

Mr Hollands suggests swapping HSBC American for a UK equity fund, such as Liontrust Special Situations or Lindsell Train UK Equity.

Juliet Schooling Latter, research director at fund ratings agency FundCalibre, agrees that the equity bias in the portfolio makes sense.

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“When you have a long-term time horizon, it becomes viable to take on greater levels of risk in a bid for higher returns,” she says.

However, she is also concerned about the lack of UK exposure. She suggests swapping Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity for a UK equity fund.

“A UK small-cap fund might be a good idea because they tend to outperform larger companies over the long term,” she says. “My favoured fund is Unicorn UK Smaller Companies.”

Treatment plan for your husband

Ms Schooling Latter suggests substituting one of the index trackers in your husband’s portfolio for a global actively managed fund. A lot of markets have performed well, so if things get trickier it could make sense to back an active manager.

“He could consider swapping the Legal and General fund for Guinness Global Equity Income, whose managers have a very long-term time horizon,” she says.

Peter Sleep, senior investment manager at Seven Investment Management, praises your husband’s Lifetime Isa for its simplicity. He points out that the funds are large, low-cost and broadly diversified.

“Over the longer term I’d expect emerging market equities to outperform, so he could put 20% into Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index tracker, but this is not essential,” he says.

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Mr Sleep believes your husband’s Stocks and Shares Isa, meanwhile, is rather adventurous.

He suggests a fund such as T Rowe Price Frontier Markets Equity fund, which has exposure to countries such as Vietnam, Argentina and Nigeria, could improve diversification.

“They tend to be higher growth countries and their stock markets tend to behave in an independent fashion to big, developed and emerging markets,” he says.

Mr Hollands describes Man GLG Japan Core Alpha fund as erratic and suggests it could be replaced by LF Morant Wright Nippon Yield fund.

“It has been a much more consistent performer and provides greater exposure to small and medium sized Japanese companies,” he says.

Rob Griffin writes for The Independent, Sunday Telegraph and Daily Express

Do you have a question for the Investment Doctor?
Email editor@moneywise.co.uk

 

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How to Invest in Your 20s

If you’re in your 20s, you’re reading this article, and are serious about investing, you rock.

If you actually set out to invest money while you’re in your 20s, and you do it on a regular basis, do you know what your retirement will look like?

In one word: awesome!

Over years, I’ve made some great investments, and some poor ones. Learn from me. I’ve been there done that.

But here’s the scary thing…..

I majored in finance and, even still, upon graduation I knew little about investing.

If it wasn’t for me stumbling into becoming a financial advisor I’m not confident I would have started investing in my 20s.

In fact, many of my friends didn’t.

I kept hearing the same lame excuses “I’ll wait till later” or “I don’t have enough to invest right now” or “I don’t know where to start”. Well check out some of our great reviews for tips on investing such as our Motif Investing Review or our Lending Club Review.

If you’re reading this post, you can no longer hide behind any of these excuses.

It’s time to get started before regret sucker punches you in the financial gut.

Let’s take a look at how to invest in your 20s, shall we?

Before You Invest in Your 20s

If you’re in your 20s, and you’re wanting to invest, you’re thinking in the right direction.

However, you may have some other financial obstacles to overcome before you start investing. That is, you should overcome certain financial obstacles before you start investing!

I went into some detail regarding my financial planning steps here. But let’s summarize some of the key goals you should accomplish before you start investing your dough.

And hey, if you haven’t accomplished these goals yet, don’t fret. You’re not alone. You’re in your 20s! What do you expect?

Your Freedom Fund

Common financial advice suggests you have an “emergency fund” or a “rainy day fund”.

A freedom fund is essentially the same thing I just want to think of it differently.

Why call it a freedom fund?

Because having cash reserves gives you the freedom to take a much-needed vacation if you’re overworked and stressed from your job.

It gives you the freedom to look for a new job if you have a horrible boss that doesn’t treat you with respect or value your contributions.

It gives you the freedom to move if you hate your home or city and want to press the reset button and try living somewhere.

There’s power in freedom and that’s exactly what a freedom fund offers.

Listen, if you have an emergency, one of the last places you want to take money from to pay for emergency expenses is your investment accounts – especially if they’re in a slump.

When you invest, you should invest for the long-term. Think years. Don’t assume you won’t need money in the next month or two for an emergency.

You know, often emergencies don’t warn folks of their arrival dates. They just happen – and they can happen at the worst possible times.

So, before you begin, get your freedom fund in place. Shoot for eight months worth of expenses.

Debt

This is a biggie. Do you have car loans? Student loans? Homing pigeon loans? Pay them off!

Debt, in many ways, is like the anti-investment with a twist. It’s designed so that you will pay.

It’s not that you might pay. You will pay. Investments go up and down, but debt always digs a hole (at the very least what you owe, and many times with interest).

The good news is that paying off student loans, or car loans or whatever kind of loan you have is a lot like making an investment with a guaranteed return. You can rest assured that when you pay off some debt, you won’t have to pay interest on that money anymore. Isn’t that beautiful?

Student loans are a big topic lately.  I met with a college grad who got all his student loans with cosigner parents. He was amazingly worried, but when we looked at his overall debt he got his plan in action and paid them off.

Hint: There are some tips later in this article to help you find the cash to accomplish these goals. But if you can’t wait, take a look at our SoFi review.

Now’s the Time to Invest (No, Really Do)

Once you accomplished the above goals, you have some sound money management skills in place, and you have some money to invest, it’s time to invest, my friend!

And, I ask that you really do. Don’t just read this article and go, “Oh, that’s nice. I’ll get to it someday.” No! Actually, invest.

Imagine for a moment you see a shadowy figure on the horizon. They’re making their way to you. You squint. You do a double take. It’s you at age 65.

“Don’t be stupid,” says your future self. “Invest now, while you have time on your hands.”

You see the look of regret written on your wrinkly face. You don’t want to be that person.

Listen to your future self. You need to save for the future. Thankfully, I’m going to show you how.

How to Invest in Your 20s

If you’re just starting out investing, you may not have enough money to invest with an investment advisor face to face. That’s okay. I’m going to show you what to do.

Objective 1: Determine How Much You Need for Retirement

The first objective is to determine how much you need to invest for retirement. There are a variety of factors that go into this equation, including but not limited to:

• Expected income over time
• Expected contributions over time
• Expected tax rates over time
• Expected market returns
• Expected expenses in retirement

The list goes on and on, my friend. If you can afford it, sit down with a financial planner or financial advisor and ask them what they think you should invest on a regular basis. It’s worth it to pay someone to figure out this figure for you.

Objective 2: Figure Out How You Can Save for Retirement

The second objective is to figure out how you can actually save for retirement. It seems obvious, but unless you have some money rolling in, you’re not going to get anywhere when it comes to saving for retirement – unless you land an inheritance or win the lottery, but let’s not place our bets there.

When you’re in your 20s, you’re probably not making much money. Perhaps you have a minimum wage job and you’re working on developing your skills for a career. Maybe you’re in your late 20s and have already started your career, but you’re awfully busy and your responsibilities have you living paycheck to paycheck.

Where in the world are you going to find this money for saving for retirement?

Well, there are really only two realistic options: cutting your expenses or raising your income. Let’s explore both.

Cutting Your Expenses

If you’re not on a budget, you’re probably wasting a lot of money. Listen, only millionaires and the like can afford to forgo a budget, and even then they are probably wasting a ton of dough.

So, if you don’t have a budget in place yet, let me give you a few recommendations . . . .

• First, take a look at some of the best (and free) online budgeting tools. Experiment with some of them. See what works for you.
• Second, take a look at some of the reasons some budgets suck. As you work your newfound budget, make sure you avoid some of these characteristics that make for horrible budgets. You don’t have to learn the hard way if you do a little research to get this right in the first place.
• Third, consider doing some tactical budgeting. This is extreme budgeting, and it will help you be more strategic when it comes to cutting expenses and analyzing your situation.

If you have cut your expenses down to the essentials, it’s time to look at raising your income.

Raising Your Income

In order to invest more money for retirement, you might have to raise your income. The beauty about investing in your 20s is that you don’t have to shovel a lot of money toward the future, because of a wonderful thing called “compound interest.”

So remember, earning even just a few hundred dollars extra every month and turning around and investing the money can result in a healthy retirement portfolio down the road.

Here are a few recommendations for raising your income . . . .

First, take a look at some side hobbies that can actually make you money. Many of these can be accomplished in your spare time, and if you already enjoy these hobbies, why not do them and make a little side money at the same time?

Second, discover some passive income ideas to put your earnings on autopilot. Passive investing is a fantastic idea. Why? Because it means you work once and earn forever – well, at least for a long period of time. Many jobs require you to work and get paid, work and get paid. Passive income means work and get paid, get paid, and get paid again.

Third, check out my slew of ideas to make money fast. You know, if you’re in a pinch, you’re going to need to make a lot of money very quickly to start building the foundation you need to invest in your 20s. That’s why I recommend trying out some methods to make money very quickly. Some of them might not be sustainable in the long-term, but they’ll help you get the immediate job done.

Objective 3: Choose a method for actually investing.

In a few moments, you’ll read about where to invest your money in your 20s. But before we get to that, let’s take a look at a few methods you can use to invest.

There are three main methods . . . .

Method 1: Invest a lump sum.

 

If you have a bunch of money saved up already, you might want to simply invest a lump sum. That’s cool! Some people simply invest their stash of cash all at one time. Others decide to take that lump sum and spread it out a bit over a few months or years.

The latter option is smart because it will allow you to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging (so you buy at more of an average price per share rather than a potentially high price).

Method 2: Invest automatically.

 

This is probably the best and most doable method for most in their 20s. Once you’ve figured out how much you should and can invest, you can simply have that amount go directly from your bank account to your investment institution of choice. Set it up and don’t worry about it!  Many times you can increase this amount over time as you get new jobs and pay raises. Before you know it, you could be investing 5000 dollars or more a year without even feeling it.

Method 3: Invest manually.

 

This method is nice for those who want to throw most of their extra dough into investments. Say, for example, most months you can invest around $100, but this month you can invest $250. Manual investing allows you to adjust your investing based on your actual circumstances.

Where to Invest in Your 20s

Next, you’re going to have to determine where you’re actually going to invest your money.

Roth IRA Options

I recommend using a Roth IRA. I love the Roth IRA. Why? Because if you expect to pay a higher tax rate in the future than you do now, the Roth IRA can help you pay taxes on your investments now so you don’t have to pay taxes when it comes time to withdraw from your investment account.

Seriously, consider the Roth IRA.

Now, there are a few ways you can invest using a Roth IRA (or a personal investment account if you already have retirement covered). Let’s take a look at some of your options . . . .

Betterment

 

Betterment is a great choice if you want to automate the investment process.

Betterment uses ETFs, known for their low fees and flexibility, to invest your money. Betterment helps you diversify your investments and professionally manages your portfolio using preprogrammed software designed to help you reach your investment goals.

One of the nice things about Betterment is their low fees. And, the more you invest, the more you save in fees. You can start out with fees as low as 0.35% annually and work your way down to paying as little as 0.15% annually (see Betterment’s pricing for details).

Learn more about Betterment at our review of Betterment.com Page.

Lending Club

 

If you want to try something unique, give Lending Club a shot. Instead of investing your money in stocks and bonds, with Lending Club, you’ll be investing in notes.

That’s right, you’ll be lending money to others who need it – and making a profit. You can find quality borrowers through Lending Club and make some solid returns.

Best of all? You can use a Roth IRA with Lending Club. Didn’t expect that, did you?

If you want to learn more about Lending Club, read my Lending Club review for investors.

Wealthfront

 

Wealthfront is another asset management service that aims to grow your dough.

Like Betterment, Wealthfront uses ETFs to ensure low fees and flexibility. You can automate your investing process with Wealthfront and get on the right track to increase your chances of reaching your goals – retirement or otherwise.

One feature that differentiates Wealthfront from Betterment is that they will manage your first $10,000 free of charge. That’s huge, especially when you’re in your 20s and are just starting out investing. After that, you’ll pay a low 0.25% annual advisory fee (see Wealthfront’s pricing for details).

Congratulations!

If you’re in your 20s and finished reading this article, bravo!

But it’s not enough to have read this article, follow the advice. Don’t become one of those 65-year-olds who regret not investing in their 20s. Now go and invest!

Please note this article may contain affiliate links that, when clicked, result in me earning a commission.

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Realty Mogul Review | Accredited Real Estate Investing

If you’re aching to invest in real estate but aren’t sure you want to deal with physical property or the hassle of being a landlord, opening an account with Realty Mogul could be a good idea.

This online real estate investment company was founded in 2013 with the goal of simplifying real estate investing through the use of technology.

With Realty Mogul, you can get started as a real estate investor with as little as $1,000 and watch as your cash is invested in pre-vetted real estate investments chosen by real estate professionals. 

Keep in mind, however, you need to be an accredited investor to access all of this platforms’ offerings.

According to Realty Mogul, their securities are offered exclusively by a FINRA registered Broker Dealer. 

The company offers investments in properties that return a solid cash flow for their clients, but they never offer high-risk investments such as “ground up construction or raw land.”

If you want to invest in real estate without direct property ownership, keep reading to learn more.

My Realty Mogul Review: Key Takeaways First

Before I unpack all Realty Mogul has to offer, here is a quick rundown of their services.

• Realty Mogul offers crowdfunded real estate investment opportunities to individuals who open an account with as little as $1,000.
• Most of Realty Mogul’s investment opportunities are only available to accredited investors.
• Realty Mogul invests in a wide range of properties that could include multi-family dwellings, self-storage, retail, medical buildings, medical buildings, office buildings, and more.
• Create a diverse real estate portfolio without the hassles of owning physical property.
• There are fees involved with using this platform, but they vary widely depending on your individual investment choices.

Hands-Off Real Estate Investing

Investing in Realty Mogul can make sense if you’re someone who is eager to get into the real estate game without having to get your hands dirty. Through the Realty Mogul platform, investors have the potential to invest in real estate online through a secure website.

After creating an account, investors can browse investment options, read through important materials and disclosures, and sign legal documents online.

Realty Mogul clients also have access to an investor dashboard that lets them monitor how their investments are doing 24 hours per day.

Realty Mogul offers accredited investors access to private placements. 

To qualify as an accredited investor, you must meet a few requirements:

• Earnings: at least $200,000 per year (or $300,000 per year for a couple) and have an expectation to continue earning that income
• Net worth: a net worth of over $1 million not counting your primary residence
• Other requirements: for accredited investors as specified by the  Securities and Exchange Commission under rule 501 of Regulation D. 

When you open an account and invest through this platform, you usually do so by purchasing shares in a Realty Mogul LLC that invests into a third-party LLC or Limited Partnership that manages and holds title to the property on your behalf.

However, Realty Mogul also lets investors invest in real estate loans or debt. When you invest in real estate loans, you will either invest into the entire loan or a part of the loan known as a platform note.

Also, notice that Realty Mogul offers a few REIT products known as MogulREIT I and MogulREIT II.

These REITs are available to non-accredited investors or anyone who opens an account with Realty Mogul “subject to some legal limitations,” notes the platform.

It’s also important to consider that the timeline of various investment opportunities offered through Realty Mogul is variable.

As an example, loan investments typically last between six to twelve months. Equity investments, on the other hand, can last up to ten years.

Also note that the ongoing distribution payouts are never guaranteed but follow different schedules based on what you invest in. Debt investments pay quarterly while equity investments pay distributions monthly instead.

Benefits of Real Estate Investing with Realty Mogul

While investing in real estate without dealing with property may sound ideal, there are additional benefits that come with this option:

• Low minimum investment: You only need a $1,000 minimum investment to open an account with Realty Mogul.
• Ease of choosing investments: Choose among real estate investment options online and from the comfort of your own home.
• Professional real estate investment selection: Each investment is pre-vetted by professional real estate investors.
• Receive distributions on a regular basis. While not guaranteed, Realty Mogul distributions are paid out on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the type of investment you choose.
• Monitor your account online: Realty Mogul makes it easy to monitor your account progress with their online dashboard.

Downsides You Should Be Aware Of

Before you jump in to open an account with Realty Mogul, there are some limitations to be aware of. For starters, most Realty Mogul investors need to be accredited investors with a net worth over $1 million excluding the value of their primary residence.

However, it’s important to note that non-accredited investors are able to invest in both the MogulREIT I and Mogul REIT II.

Second, make sure you understand that there is no secondary market for Realty Mogul investments. As a result, you will have to hold your Realty Mogul investments until they mature.

Since some investments offered through this platform last for up to ten years, the funds you invest could be illiquid for some time.

Finally, Realty Mogul comes with fees that vary from .30% to .50% depending on the type of investment you choose.

While these fees are lower than the 1% charged by competing online real estate platform Fundrise, they are still worth considering.

How to Open an Account

If you are an accredited investor who wants to invest in private real estate placements or anyone who wants to invest in a REIT, opening an account with Realty Mogul could make sense.

To get started, you’ll need to supply some basic personal information such as your name, address, and email address.

If you plan to invest in private placements, you’ll also need to provide information that proves you’re an accredited investor.

From there, you can connect a bank account with your Realty Mogul account and choose among pre-vetted real estate or loan investments offered on the platform.

You can start your account with as little as $1,000, and you can monitor your progress online via the Realty Mogul dashboard at any time.

Is Realty Mogul for You?

Accredited investors who are eager to invest in real estate will find plenty of options to choose from with Realty Mogul.

They can invest in private real estate investments or loans, and they can do so on timelines that last for up to ten years.

Non-accredited investors can also use the platform provided they want to invest in Realty Mogul’s REITs.

If you’re someone who wants to invest in real estate without managing private property on your own, this platform can make a lot of sense.

Fees may be relatively low compared to some comparable companies offering online real estate investments, and you can dive into real estate from the comfort of your own home.

Before you get started, however, make sure to compare other online real estate platforms, fees, and offerings. With enough research, you could become an online real estate investor in no time.

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Blooom Review: Fix Your 401(k)

While many robo-advisors aim to work with investors who have taxable investment accounts or retirement accounts for the self-employed, Blooom focuses its efforts on an entirely different segment of the retirement economy — work-sponsored retirement plans and those who work for traditional employers.

Blooom manages defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457s, 401(a)s, and thrift savings plans to provide much-needed account management to a population who has largely gone without retirement planning services until now.

By overseeing your 401(k), the company says they can help you earn greater returns, find the right asset allocation, and reduce or eliminate fees you may not even know you’re paying.

In this analysis, I’ll go over the company’s strengths, costs involved in letting the company manage your 401(k), and the advantages of signing up.

If you have a work-sponsored retirement plan but feel you could benefit from individualized help and advice, keep reading to learn more.

My Blooom Review

Before we dive into reviewing the service you’ll get with Blooom, here are a few key considerations about working with them:

• Blooom focuses on the management of defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457s, 401(a)s, and thrift savings plans.
• There’s no account minimum to get started.
• Plans cost a flat fee of $10 per month.
• Your employer doesn’t need to partner with Blooom for you to use the service.
• Anyone can register for a free 401(k) analysis.

How Blooom Helps with Your 401(k)

You may be wondering why you would need help with a 401(k) or defined contribution plan that is already administered by your employer.

After all, it’s easy to assume your workplace retirement plan is already optimized on your behalf. Interestingly, Blooom offers a wide range of services that can help you garner a greater return in your retirement account.

For example, they promise to help you uncover the biggest 401(k) mistakes you could be making — missteps such as not receiving your 401(k) match, having the wrong stock to bond ratio, not having all your 401(k) funds invested, forgetting to rebalance, and not knowing about hidden fees.

Since most financial advisors focus on taxable investment accounts, Blooom steps in to offer help to customers who have largely been ignored until now.

One big benefit of using Blooom is the fact that your employer doesn’t need to get involved for you to use the service.

Once you open an account and begin paying the flat $10 monthly fee, Blooom can begin overseeing your 401(k) or other workplace retirement account on your behalf.  Also, note that there are no account minimums to get started.

If you are thinking of using Bloom or want to get an idea of how they operate, you can start by creating an account and registering for a free 401(k) analysis.

With your retirement account linked to Blooom, the company can assess your existing allocation to see if it fits with your retirement goals and timeline.

Benefits of Blooom

Through Blooom’s free analysis, you will receive recommended changes to your retirement account that you can initiate on your own. However, you can also sign up for a monthly plan and let Blooom begin making changes for you.

With a paid account from Blooom, the company goes the extra mile to rebalance your account at least every 90 days.

As the core of its work, the company claims goes above and beyond to make sure your investments are properly allocated according to your goals. Other services Blooom offers with a paid membership include:

• Reducing hidden fees: Blooom claims to have helped its clients save over $600 million in hidden fees until now. They do this by exposing hidden investment management fees, eliminating managed account services, and choosing the lowest cost investments that fit with your desired asset allocation.
• Suspicious activity alerts: Once you open an account with Blooom, the company begins monitoring your account for suspicious activity or large withdrawals. If something wonky is going on with your investments, they will let you know about it right away.
• Market guidance: Blooom wants to be the “Tonto” in your retirement journey — as in, they want to supply you with advice and guidance while you supply the power (money). As a result, they offer market guidance and tools that can help you learn more about your investments.
• Access to financial advisors: Even though Bloom uses technology to rebalance and manage your retirement accounts, you will have access to real, live financial advisors that can help you strategize for retirement. With a paid account, you can speak with a financial advisor almost any time via live chat or email.

When it comes to cost, we already mentioned how Blooom charges a flat $10 monthly fee no matter what. However, you can save 10% off your fees if you pay for an entire year of 401(k) management upfront.

Also note that you can get access to a handful of recommendations for free, including advice on how to reduce or eliminate hidden fees and how to find the right stock and bond mix to meet your unique goals.

Where Blooom Falls Flat

The biggest problem with Blooom is the fact that it is only geared to individuals who invest in workplace retirement accounts. If you invest your money in taxable investment accounts or self-employed retirement accounts, you’ll have to work with a different robo-advisor or financial advisor.

Another potential downside is the notable lack of questions Blooom asks when you sign up for a free 401(k) analysis and open an account. Other than your birthdate and target retirement age, Blooom doesn’t dive very deep.

If you have a wide range of financial goals to achieve such as paying for college tuition, a child’s wedding, or traveling the world, Blooom isn’t set up to think outside of the box to help you come up with a plan.

The company only focuses on helping you use your 401(k) to hit your retirement number. That’s perfectly okay, but investors with broader goals may need more comprehensive advice.

The final downside that comes with using Bloom is the fact that the $10 monthly fee can be high if your retirement account balance is relatively small.

While $10 per month only represents 0.12% of a $100,000 portfolio, it adds up to 1.2% of a $10,000 retirement account balance.

Should You Use Blooom to Manage Your 401(k)?

While Blooom offers free advice you can implement on your own, it could also be worth it to pay the $10 per month to have Blooom oversee your retirement account and make important changes on your behalf.

The reality is, too many people blindly trust their workplace 401(k) without really knowing what they’re invested in or how the fees they’re paying can impact their returns over the long haul.

Further, many people who invest in a 401(k) never take the time to rebalance their accounts or make sure their portfolio of stocks and bonds still aligns with their goals.

If you focus most of your retirement savings in a defined contribution plan through your employer, it never hurts to sign up for a free analysis from Blooom to see how your plan is doing.

After all, you may find that you have hidden fees you don’t know about or an asset allocation that is outdated or out of whack for your goals.

Since finding out is free, you have nothing to lose.

On the flipside, it’s possible you may need more comprehensive financial advice if you have taxable investment accounts, self-employment retirement accounts, or complex goals that require tailored advice.

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H&R Block Review | Is H&R Block Your Best Bet For Taxes?

Ask 10 random people to name a tax service and I bet you’ll hear the name H&R Block six or seven times.

And for good reason: The company has about 10,000 offices located along well-traveled retail strips across the country.

Come tax season H&R Block’s ads seem ubiquitous.

Now the company even has special product placement deals with Walmart and Amazon.

But ever-presence doesn’t always equal excellent service, so let’s take a closer look at what H&R Block’s online tax services could do for you.

What’s in a Name: A Brief History of H&R Block

Brothers Henry and Richard Bloch started H&R Block in Kansas City back in 1955 to offer accounting services for small businesses in the growing post-war economy.

Business was good — so good the brothers, who’d altered the spelling of their last name for marketing purposes, decided to expand into New York City.

Neither brother wanted to move to the Big Apple, so they opted for the franchising model, spawning an expansive network of branches that now includes about 70,000 advisors.

Over the decades, H&R Block has continued to expand its offerings, which now even include lending in some markets. We’ll stick to the company’s tax services for the purposes of this review, focusing specifically on its online products.

Should H&R Block Handle Your Return?

In 1986 H&R Block worked with the Internal Revenue Service to develop electronic filing. Since then, the number of taxpayers who file electronically has grown steadily.

In 2018, 91 percent of taxpayers filed electronically.  

While H&R Block pioneered the growing business of electronic filing, it is now part of a crowded field of online and software-based tax preparers vying for your attention each spring.

H&R Block has remained among the industry leaders, along with companies such as TurboTax and TaxAct.com, by excelling at:

Ease of Use

In the online (and software-based) tax game, ease of use matters a lot. Even the most accurate and well-developed services have trouble gaining traction if users can’t figure them out.

H&R Block has stayed on top of its game here.

Over the years, electronic tax services have learned it’s no longer enough to save taxpayers a trip to the post office (and a hand cramp or two from those old-fashioned paper forms).

Services have to offer intuitive user experiences, such as questionnaires and other forms of guided data entry.

The computer then performs the calculations, decides which forms you need, and then creates filled-out, IRS-ready forms that need only your electronic signature.

H&R Block has pushed this process a step further recently with its photo-based input for W2 forms, eliminating even the need to type in your earnings. Just snap a picture of your W2 with your smartphone and the system will input the digits itself.

Free vs. Paid Transparency

After Christmas, when tax season heats up, you’ll start seeing ads about free tax preparation services online. Some lucky people actually can do their taxes for free.

For example, taxpayers with one wage-earning job and few (or no) exemptions, no write-offs or rebates, and no capital gains or losses can do their taxes for free with just about any tax service.

If your life is more complicated, though, you’ll need more processing power, which requires an upgrade from a free service. Trouble is, you may not know how much you’ll be paying until you’ve started doing your taxes.

Here’s how it often works: You enter your data and start to feel pretty confident about the whole thing. Then, when you try to claim the rebate you earned by getting an energy-efficient dishwasher, your online tax service throws a paywall in front of you.

You have to decide whether to pay your $40 (or whatever the fee may be) or to pull the plug and start over with another, less-expensive service, or to forget about the rebate you’d hoped to claim

One thing I like about H&R Block is that you can find out what’s free before you get started. Watch out, though:

What falls within H&R Block’s (and other services’) free offerings changes every year. Sometimes it changes within the same tax season.

Early H&R Block filers last year, for example, could file a 1040 (the more complex standard tax form) for free.

A few weeks later, the 1040 went back behind the paywall.

A Tiered Approach to Services

Part of the transparency I applauded above becomes more evident with H&R Block’s tiers of services. They help filers know up front what they’ll be paying:

• Free edition: Filers of the simplest returns can get the job done with H&R Block’s free version, which usually includes 1040-EZ (the simplest) and 1040-A (the next-to-simplest) forms. If you need a regular 1040 form, keep looking. Also, if you’d like to save your tax forms within the system from year to year, you’ll have to upgrade.
• Deluxe edition: The first step up the pay ladder, the Deluxe edition gives you the power to file a basic 1040 form. If you have a lot of side hustles and need to itemize expenses, you may need a higher tier.
• Premium: Investors dealing with capital gains or losses will need this package to file the appropriate Schedule forms.
• Self-employed: H&R Block recently added this tier especially for small business owners and independent contractors. As an added bonus, the system will import tax data directly from Uber.

As I mentioned above, what falls beneath H&R Block’s free services can change from year to year. Check the company’s site for the most up-to-date offerings and prices I haven’t included here since they are subject to change.

Human Help When You Need It

Almost all tax services have humans available to help when you need them. You can usually chat online or call a customer service rep.

H&R Block has an added advantage: It has more than 60 years experience in preparing taxes.

If you get into a bind, you can stop by one of H&R Block’s 10,000 or so locations nationwide to ask a question.

More likely, though, you’d just chat online with a representative, which is free when you’re using a paid plan. This is a separate resource from H&R Block’s brick-and-mortar staff, but the company still trains its online reps with tax, technical, and customer service related skills.

Another reason I like H&R Block’s online customer service: It does not simply link you to the IRS documentation when you have a question. I’ve noticed some companies take that shortcut as if online customers couldn’t find their own way to IRS.gov!

Support After Filing

Q: What’s worse than getting audited by the IRS?

A: Having no support from your tax preparer when that happens.

H&R Block prides itself on accuracy, but more than 60 years in the business of preparing other people’s taxes has taught the company something about the IRS (and your state’s revenue department): Audits happen.

For about $20 you can buy H&R Block’s “Worry-Free Audit Support” package if you get audited. You’ll be assigned a one-on-one advisor to help guide you through the process.

H&R Block: Same Services, New Delivery Methods

The digital revolution has humbled a lot of iconic companies in the American business landscape:

• Kodak and Fuji: Once the kings of photography, they have not developed much success in the digital age.
• Newspapers: Though great at creating content, newspapers have struggled to find reliable revenue streams online.
• Cable TV companies: Even they are shedding subscribers who favor online streaming services.

How, then, has H&R Block done so well in the online era?

By delivering its classic product — tax advice — in new ways online and through its retail software products.

As a result, tax filers can have the best of both worlds: a legacy of knowledge and experience combined with convenience.

For more help with filing your taxes, take a look at my 2018 federal income tax guide.

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Trump's North America Trade Triumph

For those on the left and right who were certain that Donald Trump's presidency meant the end of global free trade...think again.

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Acorns App Review | Micro-Investing Made Easy

When investing app Acorns was conceived in 2012, it was lauded as a smart way to invest your spare change.

“Anyone can grow wealth,” Acorns asserts on its website. And due to the way the mobile app operates, it really does practice what it preaches.

With the Acorns mobile app, anyone can build wealth by saving tiny sums of money — sometimes just $.10 or $.25 — at a time. 

Acorns also promises to help it users grow wealth by charging low fees and investing their dollars into diversified portfolios which are tailored to each person’s penchant for risk.

The catch? Acorns fees can add up to significant sums if you don’t spend enough for the rounding up of your purchases to count for much.

Also, Acorns investing options are somewhat limited.

How Does The Acorns AppsWork?

As we mentioned already, the Acorns mobile app helps you grow wealth by rounding up all your purchases and investing the difference.

If you use the Acorns app and purchase a coffee for $2.75, for example, Acorns will round the purchase up to $3.00 on your behalf.

While investing $.25 here and $.37 there may not make you feel like you’re building anything meaningful, keep in mind that rounding up these small purchases can add up over time.

If you make two purchases per day for thirty days and round each bill up an average of $.50, that’s $30 you’re investing every month.

It’s not a lot, but it’s certainly better than nothing, and it helps that Acorns takes care of each transaction on your behalf.

Where Is Your Money Invested?

According to Acorns, they’ll invest all your spare change into exchange-traded funds, also known as ETFs.

ETFs consist of stocks and bonds and are made to model an asset class or indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average or S&P 500.

Through this process, the money you invest is instantly diversified across 7,000 stocks and bonds. According to the Acorns app, this is a possibility because of Fractional Share Ownership in their portfolio ETFs.

When it comes to the portfolio you wind up in, Acorns does the heavy lifting for you.

Every portfolio Acorns invests your money in is structured with ETFs from popular investment brokers like Vanguard and BlackRock.

When it comes to choosing your investments, all you need to do is choose from five different set portfolio options:

• Conservative
• Moderately conservative
• Moderate
• Moderately aggressive
• Aggressive

Each of these portfolios is set up to satisfy investors’ various desires for risk.

If you’re a young investor and have plenty of time to ride the ups and downs of the stock market, you may be more inclined to invest aggressively, for example.

If you’re nearing retirement and using Acorns to beef up your retirement portfolio, on the other hand, you may want to go with a conservative or moderately conservative portfolio option. At the end of the day, it’s totally up to you.

How Much Does Acorns Cost?

While Acorns can make it easy to invest small sums daily, this service isn’t free.

Acorns charges a monthly fee that varies based on how much you have in your Acorns account — a fee structure that broadly favors those who have been using the app for the longest.

When you sign up for Acorns, you can expect to pay the following for their three tiers of service:

	Acorns Core	Acorns Core + Acorns Later	Acorns Core + Acorns Later + Acorns Spend
Fees	$1 per month	$2 per month	$3 per month
Services Included	•Automated investing •Smart portfolio options •Grow Magazine •Found Money feature that lets brands reward you when you shop •Customer support	•All the features of Acorns Core •IRA and portfolio recommendation •Automatic updates •Recurring contributions option •Additional savings features •Assisted rollovers	•All the features of Acorns Core and Acorns Later •Real-time roundups, automatic retirement savings, spending strategies, and more •Digital direct deposit, mobile check deposit and check sending, free bank-to-bank transfers, unlimited free or fee-reimbursed ATMs nationwide, and more •Found Money feature •Spending strategies •No overdraft or minimum balance fees and unlimited free ATM use nationwide •FDIC protection up to $250,000

While Acorns Later and Acorns Spend seem like they could be valuable for a select number of consumers, the majority of people who use Acorns opt for the $1 per month plan.

According to Acorns, over 4 million people have used the app to invest, but only 250,000 people pay for the Acorns Later plan.

Also note that, if you’re a college student, you can access the basic Acorns app and investing plan for free.

Pros and Cons of Using Acorns

While rounding up all your purchases and throwing your spare change into an ETF sounds like a smart concept (and it is), this app isn’t perfect for every consumer.

Here are some of the pros and cons you should be aware of before you sign up:

Advantages of Using Acorns

• The basic Acorns app is free for college students and as cheap as $1 per month for everyone else.
• Your purchases are rounded up automatically so you invest with each purchase you make.
• Acorns invests your spare change into diversified portfolios made up of ETFs from major brokerage firms.
• You can choose from five different portfolio options based on your desired level of risk.
• You can earn additional “found money” when you shop with participating brands

Disadvantages of Using Acorns

• Fees can add up if you don’t make a lot of purchases every month and the “rounding up” doesn’t accumulate very much cash.
• You only have five portfolio options to choose from, which could be a big downer if you’re someone who likes to choose your investments yourself.
• It can take a long time to save up considerable sums of money if you don’t make many purchases each month.

Who Should Sign Up for Acorns?

While Acorns investment options are limited and there is a monthly cost involved, this app is still perfect for a select number of consumers.

If you are struggling to save and invest for the future and like the idea of someone doing the heavy lifting for you, for example, Acorns could be exactly what you need.

And even though there aren’t a ton of investment options available, many consumers probably prefer it that way.

Not everyone is especially knowledgeable about stocks and bonds, so many consumers may not mind selecting a portfolio of ETFs aimed at their desired level of risk.

Paying just $1 per month to have your purchases rounded up and the money invested on your behalf is also a good deal — especially if you make a ton of purchases each month.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking for a way to save more money and need some help pulling the trigger, the Acorns app can help.

Signing up is easy and the basic version of the app costs just $1 per month. You have a lot to gain if you use the app frequently and let your investments accrue until you’re ready to cash them in or retire.

On the flip side, the Acorns app can be pricey — even at $1 per month — if you don’t make a lot of purchases. 

Let’s say you make ten purchases per month and each purchase is rounded up an average of $.50.

In that case, you would only rack up $5 in monthly savings but would pay a $1 fee — or 20% of your total investments.

Is Acorns right for you? Run the numbers and figure out how much you’ll be able to invest each month before you decide.

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Rocket Mortgage Review: Rocket Fast Mortgages by Quicken Loans

Successful products normally get easier to use as time passes. The first cars, for example, broke down so often only a mechanic was qualified to drive.

At first, only a computer scientist could operate a computer. Now we use them every day.

What about mortgages? Is it easier to get a mortgage now than a decade ago?

Rocket Mortgage thinks so.

The company, which Detroit-based Quicken Loans launched in 2016 as an online-only mortgage lender, seeks to give borrowers more control over the lending process.

Mortgage lending remains complicated, but Rocket Mortgage’s innovations have been popular among borrowers.

They’ve also been popular for other lenders, many of whom are adopting Rocket Mortgage’s borrower-centric approach.

My Rocket Mortgage Review: Taming the Mortgage Process

A mortgage is the most complex — and the biggest — loan many of us will ever need.

The median home price in 2017 was $188,900. Collectively, Americans hold close to $10 trillion in mortgage debt.

That’s trillion with a T. It’s hard for me to comprehend such a large figure.

Mortgages also offer a lot of variations:

• Fixed vs. adjustable interest rates.
• Short- vs. long-term loans.
• Conventional vs. subsidized loans.
• Second mortgages vs. reverse mortgages.

And to get into the mortgage market in the first place, borrowers usually need to meet a minimum credit score, which varies depending on the kind of loan.

With so many moving parts and so much money changing hands, it’s understandable when lenders still control the borrowing process.

So how has Rocket Mortgage changed this process?

Rocket Mortgage: Giving Consumers Access to the Ignition

All the complications in the mortgage industry exist for a reason. Some homebuyers need an adjustable rate mortgage, for instance.

Others have low credit scores and need subsidized loans.

Had Rocket Mortgage tried to simplify the borrowing process by limiting loan options, it wouldn’t have had much impact on the marketplace.

The beauty of Rocket Mortgage lies in its focus on what can be changed.

Rather than changing the rules of mortgage lending, which would take Congressional action in some cases, Rocket Mortgage has changed the way borrowers access loans, giving users:

The Ability to Navigate Freely

I like to explore my options when making a big purchase. I’m sure others do, too. Sometimes, it’s fun to consider options without having a conversation with a loan officer.

Rocket Mortgage has made this easier through its online-only approach, which seems simple even if you do not know much mortgage vocabulary.

For example, you start the borrowing process by choosing from two simple options, “Buy a Home” or “Refinance.”

Then you answer a series of questions about your goals and the kinds of property you’re thinking about buying. Your answers will help Rocket Mortgage match you with the best kind of loan.

Since it’s all online, you can explore your options whenever you want — at home when you can’t sleep, in line at the DMV, or wherever you have an Internet connection.

A Seat Behind the Wheel

Choosing a 10-year mortgage over a 30-year mortgage (or something in between) will have a huge impact on your interest charges and your monthly payment.

Rocket Mortgage will show you the dollar-for-dollar consequences of your choices before you decide. (You can accomplish the same thing with an online mortgage calculator, but it is nice to have this option built into the process of loan shopping.)

You can also see the direct impact of variables such as a bigger down payment, a lower interest rate, a subsidized loan, or an adjustable rate mortgage.

In other words, you can sit in the mortgage cockpit pulling the levers and turning the switches that control your loan.

Transparency Throughout the Process

Some of the most stressful moments in the entire process of buying a home come when you’ve applied for a mortgage and don’t yet know whether the bank will underwrite your loan.

All the work you’ve done so far, which may have taken months or even years when you consider how long it can take to find the perfect home, hinges on the bank’s decision.

Sometimes — this happens to a lot of us — when you don’t know exactly what’s going on you start to fear the worst.

Maybe there was a last-minute drop in your credit score because you were late paying the student loan. Maybe your employer made a mistake on your work verification form.

This is the reason some loan applicants call the bank a couple times a day.

Rocket Mortgage offers transparency to ease your mind and give you a head start if you do have a problem. While underwriters look into your application, you’ll have access to a portal that includes a to-do list and an up-to-date status for your application.

Expert Advice When You Need It

Let’s just admit it: We want it all. We want to control what we buy, but sometimes we also want help, preferably from an expert.

Rocket Mortgage knows that, so it has loan officers on standby ready to help when you have a question or need advice.

Even the best drivers take their cars to a mechanic. Even the most experienced computer programmers ask for help sometimes. And loan shoppers can ask an expert for help and still control their borrowing process.

Other Things I Like About Rocket Mortgage

I’ve talked about the ease of use, transparency, and helpful staff. Here are some other things I like about Rocket Mortgage:

• The possibility of putting down only 3 percent of the home’s purchase price. Many lenders require 5 or 10 percent. I’m all for healthy down payments, but a 3 percent down payment can help get more people in the market more quickly.
• The wide variety of loan types, including jumbo loans (for more expensive properties), fixed and adjustable rate loans, and subsidized loans, including VA, FHA, and USDA. (If you’re a veteran, be sure to look into the VA loan program.)
• Easy-to-use refinancing process for existing loans or second mortgages whether you’re seeking a lower payment or access to equity for home improvements. Unfortunately, Rocket Mortgage does not offer a home equity line of credit, which is another good way to finance home improvements.
• The ability to use the site without having to actually apply for a loan; the site’s tools can help you understand how mortgages work before you make the application official.
• The speed at which the site guides users through the application and underwriting processes using financial databases to confirm applicant input. This helps the lender give quick decisions.

Even Convenient Mortgages Are a Big Deal

Yes, Rocket Mortgage is changing the way borrowers access to mortgage loans, but borrowing six-figures to buy property remains a significant transaction.

I mention this because I’ve met a couple home buyers in the past year or two who had narrowed down their home choices and had even called a home inspector, but they hadn’t looked into a mortgage lender yet.

When I asked why they hadn’t thought about lenders, both said something like, “Oh, we’re just going to log onto Rocket Mortgage.”

If you’ve read this far you know I believe Rocket Mortgage is a great choice, but borrowers shouldn’t confuse convenient access to loans with guaranteed loan approval.

Rocket Mortgage holds applicants to the same standards as comparable lenders, so find out where you stand by applying for a pre-approval, whether it’s with Rocket Mortgage or another lender.

And even if you’re a highly qualified borrower, you should take some time to shop around for the best rates and the lowest fees.

A Convenient Option for More and More Homeowners

You can hardly mention home ownership these days without someone saying your home will be your biggest investment.

For some people it will be; for others, it’s just the beginning.

Either way, using $150,000 or $250,000 or maybe even $400,000 of someone else’s money to buy a house takes some time and effort for a lot of people, and understandably so.

Rocket Mortgage has succeeded in reducing that time and effort for a growing number of homeowners.

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'We Are in an Economic Boom': White House Advisor Explains Why Investors Can Still Be Confident

"The economy is in terrific shape. We are in an economic boom." A top White House economic official is encouraging investors to stay the course after last week's severe plunge in the stock market.

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How to “Front Load” Your Financial Decisions to Avoid the Impact of Decision Fatigue

One simple phenomenon I’ve noticed over the years when it comes to my worst spending choices and financial decisions is that my worst decisions always happen late in the day. I’ve discussed this before when describing decision fatigue in the past and yet, even though I generally understand decision fatigue, it’s perhaps the source of my biggest financial mistakes over the past few years.

Having said that, in the last few months, I think I’ve stumbled upon a few techniques that really work well for me and have made a profound impact on my financial life.

Let’s start from the beginning.

What Is Decision Fatigue, and Why Should I Care?

Decision fatigue refers to the well-established fact that people tend to make worse decisions when they’ve made a lot of decisions without rest. In other words, if you’ve had a long day, your decisions in the evening are usually significantly worse than the decisions you make in the morning. Fatigued decisions tend to rely a lot more on impulse and emotion, involve a lot less information gathering and consideration of what information you do have, and often have very little consideration for the long term.

If you think about this phenomenon in your own life, many of your worst choices and personal mistakes have likely happened later in the day. You’ve probably made some professional errors late in your shift or while working overtime. You’ve probably made personal and financial mistakes late in the day or when staying up late. It’s okay – it happens to all of us.

The model I like to use when thinking about decision fatigue is to think of my mental capacity for making decisions as being like a muscle group during exercise. The first dozen or so repetitions of a particular exercise are easy and it’s quite easy to do them with good form. However, when I reach the fiftieth repetition or so, I’m starting to wear out. My form gets sloppy. I might cheat a little. I’m a lot more prone to injury. What I really need to do is rest that muscle group for a while.

My decision making capacity is a lot like a muscle group, and decisions are a lot like exercise. My first decisions are well-executed, but as I do more and more and more of them, they start to get sloppy. I’m a lot more prone to making decisions on an emotional whim, or drawing bad conclusions from a limited amount of information. What I really need to do is rest my faculty for making decisions – in other words, I need a good night of sleep.

The problem is that immediate sleep when I notice decision fatigue setting in (and I usually don’t immediately notice it, to tell the truth) isn’t usually an option. I have additional tasks that need to be completed and additional responsibilities that need to be carried out. I can handle those tasks well enough – they’re usually simple ones – but if they involve significant decisions that aren’t screamingly obvious, it gets more and more likely that I’m going to make a really bad decision.

If you’d like to read more about decision fatigue itself, this article from the New York Times provides a good summary.

Eight Simple Steps for Handling Decision Fatigue

For me, the best solution I’ve found for making sure that decision fatigue doesn’t create adverse effects in my life is what I call “front loading.” In effect, it’s all about making sure that the meaningful decisions I make in a given day, particularly those with financial impact, are done early in the day. Making sure that such “front loading” actually happens is the challenge, though; our natural instinct is to keep making decisions all throughout the day until we roll into bed.

My general principle is this: the decisions I make late in the day should all be ones where the negative consequences are low. Decisions with large consequences should be made earlier in the day or postponed until the next day.

I’ve been striving to do that in my life over the last several months, using a set of eight consistent strategies, and it feels pretty successful, not only for my finances, but for my general quality of life. Here’s what I do.

The Pocket Notebook: I record and postpone all significant decisions that I am faced with after the mid-afternoon (if possible) until the next day by simply writing them down as a list. Once the day starts winding into the middle of the afternoon, I consciously recognize that my decision making abilities are starting to get worse, whether I consciously recognize it or not. At that point, I start trying to postpone every meaningful decision that I can to the next day.

If I’m going to make a financial decision, I instead write it down in my pocket notebook so that I’ll review it the next day. If I’m considering buying something, I write it down in my pocket notebook. In fact, if it’s any kind of decision that has any real importance in my life, I write it down in my pocket notebook.

Going through that pocket notebook and handling all of the decisions that I’ve written down is part of my morning routine, which I’ll discuss in a minute. The key thing to remember here is that by default, I defer all late day decisions by writing them down and handling them the next day.

The Postponement: I intentionally save tasks that require little decision making for the end of the work day and the evening, things such as small household chores, email reading, and meal assembly. This is actually very similar to my strategy of writing down decision-heavy tasks for the next day. Instead, here I postpone tasks that require little or no decision making for the late day – in general, the only decision that these tasks involve are centered around simply doing them at all.

That’s why, throughout the day, dishes will often pile up in the sink, because doing dishes is a task that I almost always postpone until late in the day. Laundry sits in the basket until the evening. Reorganizing a bookshelf or a closet is another task that will wait until evening, though I don’t make a final decision about throwing anything away until the next day (I just make a big pile of questionable items and add the final cleanup of that pile to the next day’s to-do list).

The ideal evening task for me is one that involves no real decisions of any consequence. Once I start doing it, I’m basically on autopilot until the task is done. I can do things like loading the dishwasher or taking out the trash or chopping vegetables for tomorrow’s dinner without even consciously thinking about it, as long as I have a list of tasks to do.

In fact, I actually have a tag in my task management tool – “low energy” – that I toss on tasks like these. When the evening comes around, I just pull up my list of “low energy” tasks and get to town. Those tasks never involve any real decisions of any kind, so decision fatigue never has a chance to make a negative impact.

The Path of Least Resistance: I put effort in early in the day to clear the runway for decisions and tasks that might go awry late in the day. There are many situations that pop up in life where decision fatigue can really rear its ugly head in the evening. Our weeknight family dinner is a great example of this.

If I haven’t really done anything to prepare for our family dinner earlier in the day and it’s suddenly time to start preparing supper, my decision fatigued brain evaluates the situation and will almost always go for the “path of least resistance,” which often involves just grabbing food from a restaurant because that seems like the least amount of energy I can spend.

However, if I “clear the runway” earlier in the day by deciding what we’re going to have for dinner in the morning and actually taking action to finish that dinner easily in the early evening, then it becomes a much easier decision. I’ll put supper in the slow cooker or do a lot of the initial prep work while my kids are finishing breakfast and heading for the bus, so that my decision is already somewhat pre-loaded for me. There’s much less resistance to making dinner, so that’s what I’ll choose in my decision fatigued head later in the day. “Hey, dinner’s in the slow cooker, so we don’t have to go out to eat” or “Hey, the casserole is already assembled in the fridge so we don’t have to grab takeout” or “Hey, all of the stir fry vegetables are cut up in the fridge, so we don’t have to order delivery.”

The Commitment: Rather than allowing myself to make late day decisions, I try to make specific commitments to others. Often, I’ll simply tell Sarah that I will take care of specific things in the evening, or I’ll tell my child that I’ll do so, and then I just write down those tasks.

At that point, I’ve even eliminated the decision of whether or not to actually do those tasks. I’ve made the commitment already, so it’s just a matter of actually doing the task in the evening.

If the task involves a decision, I make that decision early. I might send my wife a text like this: “Hey, Sarah, I’ll prep the vegetables for tomorrow’s stir fry and clear out the dishes when we’re back from the school band concert this evening.” At that point, I’ve committed to two tasks that will fill up a chunk of my late evening – that commitment means I’m going to do them, so I don’t even have the decision late in the day to skip out on them.

This is easier to do if you have a spouse, kids, or a roommate as they’re good targets for your commitment.

The Checklist: I rely heavily on checklists throughout the day so I don’t have to over-exert my decision “muscle.” I am a huge, huge believer in checklists. If you’d like to read an amazing argument on behalf of using checklists in your daily life, read Atul Gawande’s excellent book The Checklist Manifesto.

In a nutshell, the purpose of a checklist is to offload the thinking about how to best execute routine tasks. You spend some time very carefully thinking about how to do certain things as well as you possibly can, then you write up a checklist that covers each step, then when you need to do that task, you don’t think about what’s next. Instead, you just follow the checklist and focus instead on the task at hand.

I use checklists constantly. I have a “startup routine” checklist (which I’ll talk more about in a bit). I have a “kids home from school” checklist. I have a “evening cleanup” checklist. I have a bunch of checklists related to my professional work, including a master checklist that covers all tasks needed for a week of writing.

These checklists all center around offloading actual decision making for the routine tasks of my day, so that I can focus my decision making on important things. I’d rather be super careful in thinking through a daily routine just once or twice a year rather than having to mentally go through all of those decisions each day.

The Startup Routine: A big part of my daily startup routine (both personal and professional) involves going through a lengthy checklist, part of which involves processing decisions left behind from yesterday. Perhaps my most important checklist is my “startup routine,” which is basically a mix of a morning routine that I do every day along with a workday startup routine that I do on normal work days. It’s a surprisingly long checklist that usually takes me two to three hours to work through (remember, though, that it includes parts of what everyone does normally in the morning, like taking a shower and making the bed among other things).

The reason this list stands out is that many of the items are decision prompts so that I can set things in place for the rest of the day. For example, one item is “What’s for dinner? Do things to make it easy.” Another is “What are the three most important things you’ll do today? Schedule them early.” Another is “Go through and take any needed action on everything not crossed off in my pocket notebook and Evernote inbox.”

In other words, I incorporate a lot of the strategies in this article directly into my morning checklist. By doing those things all in the morning, when I don’t have decision fatigue, I’m very likely to make good responsible choices for those tasks. So, my morning routine involves a lot of the decisions I know I’ll make during the day, as well as prompts to address other decisions I need to make today.

The Big Sleep: I go to bed early enough so that I essentially don’t need an alarm to wake up. Decision fatigue goes away after a good night of rest. Good rest takes care of all kinds of fatigue – you just feel better about everything, make better decisions, handle focused tasks better… it goes on and on.

My goal most nights is to go to bed early enough that I don’t need an alarm to wake me up when I want to wake up. Yes, this makes me into one of those “early to bed, early to rise” types, but when I get up from my slumber, I’m usually ready to tackle the day with enthusiasm and energy and a clear mind.

In the same vein, staying up later almost never achieves anything worthwhile. The one exception is when I stay up late purely for face-to-face social purposes – we have friends over for a dinner party or game night that runs late, an old friend or a relative is staying at our house and we stay up late talking, and so on. Online conversation is not a substitute for this – turn off those devices an hour before bed, at least. The only device I like to use anytime close to my bedtime is my Kindle, which is basically just a book.

The Big Buy: I try to make every single decision that involves spending money within the first few hours of waking. This is my general policy, and it’s one that’s backed up with my morning routine and by choosing high-priority tasks for the day.

If I’m going to shop, I want to do it in the morning. If I’m going to pay bills, I want to do it in the morning. If I’m going to make an investment decision, I want to do it in the morning. Doing those things in the afternoon or the evening means that decision fatigue is at work and I’m virtually guaranteed to make a worse decision.

Thus, each day, part of my morning routine is to make a list of key tasks that need to be done for the day, and any tasks that involve money are designated as “morning” tasks, things to be done first. Often, those are done on Saturday mornings so that I don’t have any professional tasks interfering with it. If it’s a financial decision, I do it early.

Final Thoughts

These eight strategies essentially make up a system that helps me to avoid making financial decisions or other potentially costly decisions late in the day when my decision fatigue is weakest. The big “kicker” for me in putting this all together was the realization that I could really incorporate a lot of decisions for a given day into my morning routine by actually directly including them or by reminding myself to intentionally move tasks that require a lot of decisions and focus to the early part of the day, and then to simply write down tasks and decisions late in the day to be handled the next morning.

Having done this for the last several months, I can truthfully say that it’s helped greatly in terms of helping me make more rational decisions about my money. I basically don’t make money decisions after the mid afternoon any more, and that means that I don’t find myself standing in the grocery store feeling tired and throwing a bunch of stupid stuff in my cart. I don’t find myself clicking “buy buy buy” at ecommerce sites because I just write down anything I was thinking about buying and reconsider it the next day.

Move your decisions to the early part of the day, and bookend it with some good sleep. You’ll be glad you did – and so will your wallet.

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