Taxpayers in the U.S. were accustomed to taking a personal deduction off their taxes for themselves and their dependents. But the tax reform laws have eliminated that. So, will their taxes go up or down?
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2JyzuxY
الثلاثاء، 19 مارس 2019
What Happened to the Income Tax Personal Exemption?
Taxpayers in the U.S. were accustomed to taking a personal deduction off their taxes for themselves and their dependents. But the tax reform laws have eliminated that. So, will their taxes go up or down?
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2JyzuxY
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2JyzuxY
Spring Cleaning for Your Budget: 9 Strategies for Organizing Your Finances
I want to like spring cleaning. I go nuts for the New Year and Lent, because I’m all about self-improvement. Similarly, spring cleaning is a time to reorganize and start over in many areas.
But I despise it. I hate any cleaning, really. Folding laundry is about the only thing I do that qualifies as housework.
Lately, however, I’ve been seeing posts about “financial spring cleaning.” Applying spring cleaning to money? This idea is perfect for me! I can work toward self-betterment without having to pick up a sponge.
How to Spring Clean Your Finances and Organize Your Personal Budget
Here are a few ways you can scrub the dirt off your finances this spring.
By the way, you don’t have to take on all nine of these goals. Actually, please don’t! When I read lists like this one, my perfectionism kicks in and I get overwhelmed by how many changes I think I should make.
Just choose one way to clean your financial home this spring. Maybe two ways, if you’re feeling adventurous. Remember, your goal is progress, not perfection.
Start with one small, measurable goal. The sense of empowerment you will experience from being successful in that area can give you the confidence to take on the next small challenge.
1. Reevaluate Your New Year’s Resolutions
Maybe you set financial New Year’s resolutions for 2019. But considering the success rate for resolutions (how’s that exercise program going?), there’s a good chance you’ve let at least one of those goals fall by the wayside.
Resist the urge to see yourself as weak; instead, consider yourself older and wiser. Spring is the perfect time to modify resolutions that weren’t realistic.
So you didn’t make any resolutions? That’s OK. Peruse the rest of the ideas on this list and choose one or two personal spring cleaning goals that feel manageable.
2. Start an Emergency Fund
It’s a common opinion that people should have at least three months’ expenses in savings at any given time. Then if you lose your job or your car breaks down, your life doesn’t suddenly fall apart.
Guess how much money I have in my emergency fund? A whopping $0. Yeah, starting an emergency fund has earned its place at the top of my spring cleaning list.
To start your emergency fund, calculate your expenses for one month. Consider the cost of rent, utilities, transportation, insurance and debt. Don’t forget sneaky expenses such as personal hygiene products.
Then multiply that number by three. That’s how much money you should aim to have in your emergency fund.
Where should you open an account? The key is that you want your money to be accessible in case of an emergency, but not so accessible that you’re tempted to withdraw it when you want to go on a weekend trip with your friends.
I recommend opening a separate savings account with your bank or a money market account. Money market accounts typically require a higher minimum balance, but the interest rate can be higher — which means more money for you!
3. Keep Track of Your Debts
For six months, I was aware that I had debts to repay. I knew that I owed my in-laws money, that my husband had some vague amount to repay on his student loans, and that I had a little credit card debt (although precisely how much was on each of my three cards was a bit fuzzy).
I finally took 30 minutes to create a spreadsheet in Excel listing all our debts, including the grand total. I update that document every Monday.
Seeing everything in print gives me a better idea of where we are financially. And every time that grand total gets smaller, I do a little dance in my chair!
Looking at those numbers every Monday, especially the total, gives me the momentum to keep chipping away at our debt.
4. Sort Out Your Credit Cards
Everyone’s credit card situation is different.
If you have eight credit cards and little willpower, consider canceling a few of those cards. (But first, check how canceling your credit card could affect your credit score. Canceling isn’t always the best idea.)
If you have a low credit score but high willpower, maybe you should get a card and use it responsibly to establish good credit.
I (incorrectly) held the belief that credit cards were pure evil for years. But some credit cards pay you for signing up, hook you up with travel points, or give you extended warranties on certain purchases.
Do your research and find out how you can make credit cards work for you rather than against you. I recently paid off the last of my credit cards that carried a balance. Yay, me! Now I’m trying to decide on my next step.
5. Act to Improve Your Credit
First of all, if you don’t already know your credit score, get a free credit report. If you don’t like what you see, don’t freak out; there are plenty of ways to boost that number!
Simply paying off your debts and paying your bills on time can improve your score. If you’re not sure what’s keeping your credit score so low, check out Credit Sesame. The free site lays out exactly what factors are affecting your credit score and offers advice on how to change them.
A few years ago, I had good credit, but I wanted excellent credit. So I set up a loan with my bank. They gave me $2,000 to pay back over two years. I immediately put that money in a separate account, set up automatic withdrawals and never had to worry about it. (Except when I had to take out money a couple times for emergencies. See why I’m motivated to set up an emergency fund?)
That was the easiest way I could have imagined to improve my credit score. I got it all set up in just one trip to the bank and ended up raising my credit score to 787.
6. Set Short Term Goals for Your Side Hustle
Whether you’re a freelance writer, Uber driver or Etsy shop owner, it’s always good to set clear objectives.
Setting concrete goals has helped me understand my long-term vision for my freelance writing side gig. I created a list of aims, and that document acts as a source of accountability. I look at that list whenever I decide whether to take on a new project.
I ask myself, “Is this decision in line with my goals? Is it helping me move toward my long-term vision?” Setting goals has motivated me to take action.
I now have a couple of steady gigs, so I’ve started setting monthly and weekly financial goals, as well. With fewer surprises, I can plan for how much of this extra money I want to channel toward paying off my debts.
7. Contribute More to Your Retirement Account
If you’re contributing anything to your retirement account, high five!
But if the very thought of doing financial spring cleaning depresses you, make your “one thing” to bump up your 401(k) or IRA contributions a tad. If you currently contribute 4% of your income, try bumping it up to 5% or 6%. Chances are, your wallet won’t feel the difference. If you find out your budget can’t handle the financial strain, you can decrease your contribution later.
Increasing your contribution by such a small amount may not seem worth it. But don’t forget the power of compound interest!
If you haven’t opened a retirement account yet and don’t know what all these letters mean, don’t panic. Read this simple explanation of a 401(k) and IRA. It’s never too late to start. My mom is kicking herself for putting off contributing to a 401(k) until 10 years ago, but hey, at least she started!
8. Begin Investing
Making your first investment is daunting. Especially if you’re like me and know nothing about the subject.
I urge you to take that leap, though. When you invest, your money makes you more money. There are several ways to take your first step.
My husband and I chose to pass the torch to our financial advisor. We set up automatic withdrawals with his company to put money into our IRAs. Since we are still in the early stages of saving for retirement, once we hit a certain balance in those accounts, our advisor will start making investments from our IRA nest eggs to help the accounts grow. We won’t have to worry at all.
If you don’t want to pay an advisor, ask a family member or friend who understands investing to take you under their wing and explain their strategy.
You can also use apps to get started. We checked them and found the best apps to help you start investing here.
9. Consider Your Insurance Needs
My brother’s apartment burned down at 32 years old, and he lost almost everything. Believe it or not, the exact same thing happened when he was 20! (Neither fire was his fault, by the way.)
While upsetting, the second fire was far less financially devastating because he had renter’s insurance. The insurance company paid for food and a hotel while he looked for a new place to live and gave him $10,000 to replace items lost in the fire.
We like to think we don’t need insurance. Hopefully, we’ll never have to use it. But if you don’t have renter’s, homeowner’s, life or catastrophic insurance (for those of you whose employers don’t offer medical insurance)… seriously look into it.
Of course, not everyone needs all these types of insurance! Carefully review your needs to see which ones you should consider, and which aren’t necessary for you.
Don’t freak out if you haven’t already accomplished all nine of these tasks. That’s what spring cleaning is for! Focus on one thing this season, whether it’s purchasing renter’s insurance or bumping up your credit score. Happy spring!
Laura Grace Tarpley is a freelance writer who is always looking for ways to save money.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.
source The Penny Hoarder https://ift.tt/2OdGPkT
Leap Life Review | Streamlined Shopping for Life Insurance
Finding the best life insurance provider for your needs can be a daunting task and getting the wrong insurance policy can mean paying hundreds of dollars more than you need to.
According to research, about 80 percent of Americans spend at least 50 percent more than they need to for their life insurance as a result of choosing the wrong insurance provider.
You don’t want to be part of this statistic, and that’s where Leap Life Insurance can come in handy.
Leap Life simplifies and streamlines the process of finding the right life insurance.
You can apply in minutes and get instant quotes from leading life insurance companies. Let’s take a look at Leap Life’s key features to see if it can benefit you.
Leap Life Overview
Leap Life is a life insurance technology firm founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, California.
The company’s primary goal is to match consumers with insurance policies that perfectly suit their needs from some of the top-notch life insurance companies, both local and national.
Benefits of Leap Life
You can use the Leap Life online platform to find the most competitive rates on life insurance policies. Once you provide the required information, the insurance agency compares policies from a variety of insurance providers and allows you to choose the best policy for your needs.
Leap Life offers a fast approval time and boasts an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Besides providing life insurance, this insurance agency also offers an effective insurance needs estimation tool based on assets, current income, and life situation. Another great thing about this insurance agency is that it allows your coverage to begin immediately.
Who Should Use Leap Life
Leap Life is ideal for parents and families. The company points out the fact that life insurance can help you accomplish at least one of the following:
- Pay for funeral and other final expenses
- Replace at least some of your income for a time
- Cover the cost of your children’s college education
- Pay off your home loan or other debt
What Makes Leap Life Insurance Stand Out?
One thing that sets Leap Life apart from most of its competitors is that it provides a form of insurance known as level-term life insurance. With this kind of insurance, you’ll need to make even monthly payments throughout the course of your life insurance policy.
You get to benefit from only life insurance as the policy doesn’t involve any build-up of cash value. This is one of the best life insurance policies for people below 30. You should realize, however, that Leap Life offers level term life insurance policies that aren’t convertible.
Whole vs Term Life Insurance
Namely, it is not possible to convert the policy into a whole life policy at some point in your life. While whole-life insurance policy is not one of the best investments, it can be beneficial when it comes to estate planning.
Term life insurance doesn’t last forever. It can expire when you are still too young. You may not have achieved financial independence by the time the policy expires, but with careful planning and goals in mind, you can save a tremendous amount of money with term life insurance.
How Leap Life Works
Application Process
Leap life allows you to apply for insurance policies online. This saves you the stress that comes with dealing with sales agents. This insurance agency employs state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology to match you with the most appropriate policy and insurer.
Leap Life uses your answers to determine your likelihood of getting approved for the policy you are looking for and at the most affordable prices from all the available insurers.
With the answers you provide, Leap Life will be able to match you to the best, simplest, and most cost-friendly policy without having to speak to a sales agent.
Who Qualifies for Leap Life Insurance
You need to be aged between 18 and 75 years to be able to apply for Leap Life insurance. Term policies usually come in increments of 10 to 30 years.
Nonetheless, because Leap Life can connect you to a variety of options, it is advisable to go through the quote process to see the options available.
Coverage
It is also worth noting that term life death benefits normally range from $250,000 to $1,000,000. However, some carriers associated with Leap Life may fall out of this range. Moreover, policy extras such as term to permanent conversions may also vary based on the specific insurer.
Leap Life points out that it selects the insurance providers with the most competitive rates and the best financial strength ratings. That is manifested by the list of Leap life affiliates that includes the industry frontrunners like Pacific Life, Assurity, and Protective.
It is advisable to take your time to understand each recommended carrier before you commit to doing business with any of them.
Leap Life Extra Riders
The fact that Leap Life offers life insurance policies from different carriers, additional riders will depend on the insurance provider you choose. Here are some of the riders you can get from various carriers:
- Child Protection Rider
- Disability Income Rider
- Guaranteed Insurability Rider
- Family Income Benefit Rider
- Critical Illness Rider
- Long-Term Care Rider
- Spouse Protection Rider
Carrying a rider that you don’t need can add unnecessary cost to your policy. It is advisable to take your time to understand the riders, as well as consult with Leap Life, to ensure you choose a policy with the right rider that suits your needs.
Leap Life Carriers
Leap Life gives you the opportunity to compare policies from some of the best life insurance providers in the country, including:
|
Carrier Name |
Offered Products |
|
American General Life Insurance Company, an AIG Company |
|
|
Legal & General Life Insurance Company |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bottom Line
Leap Life is committed to streamlining the process of finding life insurance by leveraging technology. It brings a whole new experience to the world of life insurance.
It is geared to protect not only your life and that of your loved ones but also your time and money.
You can be matched instantly with a policy that perfectly fits your specific needs and financial situation.
You have the opportunity to choose from the country’s best insurers, including Fidelity Life, Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance, SBLI, Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Assurity, AIG, and more.
If you are looking for low-cost life insurance, you can’t go wrong with Leap Life. This insurance agency can help you save up to 40 percent on life insurance with less hassle than calling for a single quote.
The post Leap Life Review | Streamlined Shopping for Life Insurance appeared first on Good Financial Cents®.
Source Good Financial Cents® https://ift.tt/2HHPMlx
In bid to survive, Victoria's Secret relaunching swimwear line
Victoria’s Secret is back in the swim.The L Brands lingerie chain relaunched its swimwear line on Monday with more than 300 selections in its online store.For now, at least, swimwear will be available only online at VictoriasSecret.com and not in Victoria’s Secret’s brick-and-mortar stores.In addition to Victoria’s Secret Swim, the brand is selling a select assortment of other swimwear brands, [...]
Source Business - poconorecord.com https://ift.tt/2FmJHZY
Source Business - poconorecord.com https://ift.tt/2FmJHZY
How to Handle the Financial Advantages of Others Without Feeling Hopeless
Over the last few days, several people asked me for my thoughts on the recent college admissions cheating scandal, where a number of people were charged with various forms of fraud as a result of paying large amounts of money to secure their children’s admission to prestigious universities often through fraudulent means. Many people interpreted this story as an example of people with financial wealth buying opportunities for their children that others do not have, thus ensuring that the wealthy gobble up most of the opportunities and making the path to success harder for less wealthy Americans.
This question from Heather was pretty clear:
What are your thoughts on the college cheating scandal? I find it deeply upsetting and frustrating. I tried very hard to get into a top school when I was in college and exceeded their standards for test scores and GPA but my family was middle class and couldn’t buy my way in so I didn’t get in to any of the schools I wanted. Now I have three kids and although my husband and I do well I can’t just come up with $500K to buy their way into a good school. It just feels hopeless, like the entire deck is stacked against us. Why should I even save much for their college when I know my kids are very likely to just go to the local state school unless they get really really lucky? It’s all just a scam to keep us working.
Anger. Frustration. Hopelessness. A sense that no matter how many good financial moves you make, if you don’t have a wealthy “guardian angel” grabbing opportunities for you and pushing obstacles out of the way for you, you’re going to be left trying to overcome lots of obstacles for ever fewer opportunities. Those are the feelings I’ve read from several readers and, to an extent, I’ve felt myself upon reading news like this. Wealth means that some people play by different rules, and if you don’t have wealth, it can seem pretty hard to compete.
How does a person of average income not feel like the deck is stacked against them? How does a person of average income not feel hopeless?
Sarah and I are probably a little above average in terms of national income, but not exorbitantly so. We’re definitely in the “ordinary income level” side of the equation.
My feeling on this cheating scandal is this: what exactly is it that I can do to make it better? If I were a financial regulator or an FBI agent, I may have a role to play; aside from that, it’s largely in the hands of society’s mechanisms, and they did catch these people.
Thus, if there’s nothing I can directly do to impact such misuse of wealth and power, it does not benefit me to worry about it or let it impact what I’m doing in my own life going forward. Rather, the best thing I can do is maximize my own opportunities. If I waste my energy worrying about the unfairness of it all, that’s energy that I didn’t use opening other doors in life.
Here are some of the things we do and some of the beliefs we hold that help us overcome a sense of hopelessness in the face of enormous financial advantages of others.
Unless You’re Jeff Bezos, There’s Always Someone Higher on the Mountain
Virtually everyone on earth lives their life with the understanding that there are people wealthier than they are. That’s simply a fact of life. As long as someone has more than someone else, there will always be someone out there with more than you unless you happen to be the wealthiest person on earth.
Like it or not, that higher level of wealth confers some advantages. It enables people with more wealth to achieve things and open doors that you simply cannot. Again, this is simply a fact of life. You can’t change it.
You should never let a fact of life that’s outside of your control cause you to despair or alter your own plans. Do not devote energy or time to things you cannot control.
Instead, devote energy and time to the things you can control, such as the actions you take each day and how you choose to express your feelings to the world.
You – not some rich person – get to decide how you spend your days. You and you alone get to decide how you’re going to spend your time and your money. Don’t let anyone take that from you. Your freedom of choice and freedom of thought and freedom of action are always yours. This is a key idea that we’re going to return to throughout this article.
Abundance, Not Scarcity
One view that often leads to hopelessness in situations like this is the idea that there are only so many slots to go around and that if one slot is gobbled up by a cheater, then there’s one less slot for everyone else.
This relies on a scarcity mindset, that there are a set number of chances for success in life and once that fixed number is taken up, there’s no chance of success for anyone else.
I consider that kind of thinking to be utterly self-defeating, and it also doesn’t match with what I’ve seen in the real world. The world is actually an abundant place. Opportunities appear and multiply all the time. Twenty years ago, I could have never dreamed that I could start a publishing platform from my own home and raise it to the point where I could be completely self-employed by it, but the opportunity came about. I didn’t take anyone else’s “spot.” At my taekwondo school, you earn a black belt through personal effort; there’s not some fixed cap on how many black belts exist in the world. I can list many, many stories like this.
The truth is that focused effort creates opportunities. There aren’t a fixed number of opportunities out there. When someone works hard at something, they often make new opportunities for themselves and for others.
If you busted your tail to get into your perfect school and then you didn’t get in, that doesn’t mean the time was wasted. What you’ve actually done with all that effort is create a ton of opportunities for yourself. You now have access to tons of schools and, even more, you’re prepared for the next set of challenges life will give you.
- Read more: Breaking Through the Money Scarcity Mindset
Nothing Is Guaranteed – Your Efforts Just Improve the Odds
Everything you do in life serves mostly to improve the odds of an outcome that you want. If you want a good job, you try to get into a good school (which improves your odds of getting a good job) and then to do well in the classes at whatever school you get into.
Some with all of the opportunity in the world can utterly fail. At the same time, someone with almost no opportunity at all can succeed.
What’s the difference between the two? Pure chance plays a role, but hard work plays a big role, as does smart work – not just effort for effort’s sake, but effort towards achieving a goal.
If you want something, put it in your sights and work towards it. You’re never going to guarantee that you get what it is that you want, but every step is going to increase your chances of getting there.
Yes, some people start off with better chances than you and some people start off with worse chances. That has very little to do with your own chances. If you take the right actions, your chances of the outcome you want go up. If you do nothing or take the wrong actions, your chances of the outcome you want go down.
Any sufficiently big ambition you have in life has some chance of succeeding and some chance of failing. Even doing your absolute best is not a guarantee of success – it’s merely a higher likelihood than doing nothing at all. Almost always, when you don’t succeed, you can look back at your own missteps along the way and hopefully learn from that to try again or to help others.
That’s it. It doesn’t matter what some rich person is doing. It doesn’t matter what obstacles have been moved out of the way of someone else. That’s a given. That’s something you can’t control. What matters is what you do to improve your own odds of achieving the success you want.
A rich person buying their way into an elite school is pretty unfair, but does that excuse you not doing your absolute best to get in there? No. It has nothing to do with it. If you do your absolute best, then you’ve maximized your chances, and that’s all you can do. It’s very rare that any of us do our absolute best, though, and we can always look at ways to improve.
This is why my best advice to everyone is to just do your absolute best at whatever it is you’re doing. Don’t slack off. Don’t waste your efforts. When you do that, all you’re doing is reducing your own chances of success. Above all else, don’t worry about the situation that others have, because it has no bearing on whether you put in the maximum effort to succeed or not.
- Read more: Planting Seeds for the Future
If You Want To Make Money and Succeed, Be Valuable to Others in Ways Not Easily Replicated
That’s the recipe for success for most people. It’s not about having doors unlocked for you. It’s not about having obstacles moved out of the way for you. That might get you in the door, but what’s going to keep you there and help you move up is being valuable in ways that aren’t easy to replicate.
What can you offer that’s not easily replicated? Honestly, at many jobs, the things you can offer that are often not replicated is a cheery and friendly demeanor and a good work ethic. That is often the difference maker at many jobs.
The thing to remember is this: The more replaceable you are at a job, the less incentive anyone has to reward you for just doing the minimum. If anyone off the street could do the minimum at your job, then they’re probably not going to pay you well. If there are tens of thousands of people with the skills needed for your job, you’re probably not going to get paid well.
What are you doing to set yourself apart? What are you doing that you can point at and say, “This brings value to my employer and it’s not something they could easily replace”?
Again, those things come back to effort above all else. The only advantage that wealth and opportunity really confer is that initial foot in the door. Beyond that, it’s about who can produce genuine value.
You should be asking yourself this question every day if you’re in the job market or you’re in a situation where you want to succeed. Furthermore, you should be encouraging your children to think the same way.
- Read more: The Best Career Advice I’ve Ever Received
Your Job as a Parent Is to Equip Your Child With the Tools to Succeed
So, there are two basic lessons here that are worth teaching your child. First, you can’t worry about what other people are doing, because it just takes away from what you’re doing. Yes, there are always going to be people with advantages. That changes nothing about whether or not you can put in the effort to create your own advantages. Second, the more smart effort you put into something, the better your chances of success. This is about you and not about anyone else. The flip side is also true – you maximize your chances of failure by doing nothing (or, in some cases, working against your goal).
Baked into those two ideas are a lot of good tactics for parenting.
Encourage your child’s work ethic and effort above all else. Don’t talk about the result (grades, getting into a good school, winning awards) nearly as much as the effort (studying, self-learning, being a positive force in the community). Why? The rewards – good grades, etc. – are the likely outcome of the effort – studying, etc. You want to laud the effort – let the rewards be their own reward. If you simply further reward the reward, the skills they need to achieve things will atrophy – they’ll just aim for the shortest path to whatever that reward is, and that won’t build any sort of skills they need for the future.
Encourage them to take on challenges. Nudge your child toward taking on the challenging option when they’re faced with a choice. Should they take an AP class? If it seems like they have a chance of being successful, sure. Should they try out for the musical? Absolutely.
Sure, sometimes they’re going to fail, but quite often, if you encourage their effort, they’ll figure out how to succeed. Both are valuable – failure often teaches more than success, and success is often the reward for hard work.
Don’t cover up for their mistakes. When your child messes up, they need to be held accountable for those mistakes. You should not step in and clean up those mistakes. If your child doesn’t get an A on their report card, don’t badger the teacher until they have an A. Rather, figure out what they need to do to move themselves into an A. If your child skips class, let them suffer the consequences for that. You might work with a teacher or administrator to prevent permanent damage to their future, but they should absolutely face real consequences now.
This needs to start small. If your child doesn’t do a household chore, what is the consequence for that? Here, it’s simple: They don’t get their preferred electronic device. That stays in a basket they can’t touch until certain things are done.
Clearing the Path Doesn’t Help Your Child Become a Problem Solver
So, let’s roll back to the issue that launched this article: the whole college admissions cheating scandal. In that scandal, the parents were using their wealth to remove obstacles from their child’s path.
Those children didn’t have to build any work ethic.
Those children were not challenged in any way.
Those children did not have to face any problems or overcome them.
They might get their foot in the door, but are they equipped to succeed? Can they handle the obstacles life throws at them? Are they prepared to face actual challenges? If parents have been constantly removing obstacles, then they’re not ready for those challenges.
Removing obstacles for your child can help them get their foot in the door, but when they start facing real challenges that you can’t just buy their way out of, they’re going to be woefully unprepared.
Who is going to be prepared? The person who knows how to handle challenges. The person who knows how to solve problems.
It might be a little harder to get your foot in the door, but when you do, you’re ready.
Being Disheartened
For most of this article, I’ve tried to focus on the fact that this is about your path, not theirs. The advantages that other people have might feel unfair, but those advantages have no real bearing on the path ahead of you. The harder and smarter you work, the more advantages you open for yourself.
That doesn’t mean that it won’t feel unfair sometimes, that you won’t feel disheartened sometimes. I think everyone does, sometimes.
There are two things I always keep in mind for those disheartened moments.
First, those other people are not my story. Someone cheating to get into a college might be unfortunate, but it really honestly has no bearing on whether or not I succeed at the challenge set before me. There are always going to be reasons why people gobble up an opportunity that might have been mine. All I can do is make sure I’m as ready as possible to snag those opportunities.
Second, the only person that really decides my own success or failure is me. Yes, obstacles can come flying in from out of nowhere and knock you off your path, but those obstacles would have flown in anyway. If you work hard to stay on that path, then you have a good chance of getting to where you want to go. If you don’t, you’re probably not getting there. It’s the only thing you can really control, so start controlling it and stop worrying about what you can’t control.
Taking One Step Forward Is Better Than Taking No Steps Forward
So, what do you do today about all of this? You put one foot in front of the other one.
What is the big thing you want out of life? What can you do today to move yourself in the direction of that big thing? Ask yourself that and take action on that every single day and you will move in that direction.
Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Don’t worry about what other people are thinking. Let the mechanisms of society work to fix those problems (unless you’re part of those mechanisms, in which case you should get cracking).
Worry about what you’re doing, make today a genuine step toward where you want to go, stop worrying about what others are doing unless it directly impacts you, and the rest will take care of itself.
Some Additional Reading
This article is a distillation of a bunch of ideas I’ve collected over the years that have helped me overcome a lot of sense of feeling jealous and upset and hopeless over the success of others and helped me to focus on where I can actually make change happen in my own life. If you found these thoughts useful, here are three books I highly recommend reading.
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday focuses on the idea that the very things that demoralize and frustrate you are the things that are often the foundation of the success you want to build.
How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci is a book-length description of how to live by the philosophy of stoicism in the modern world. Stoicism taught me to separate the things I can control – my internal emotions and thoughts and, to an extent, my actions – from the things I cannot control – the rest of the world.
Aristotle’s Way by Edith Hall similarly takes a school of thought and directly applies it to modern life, something I wrote about a few months ago. The idea behind this book is that, to paraphrase Hall, the good life is found by aiming to maximise happiness by living virtuously, fulfilling your own potential as a human, and engaging with others – family, friends and fellow citizens – in mutually beneficial activities. The financial advantages of others play no role in any of this.
These three books take different approaches to the same core idea, that someone else’s advantages really play no role in whether you have a successful or joyous life or not; that success and joy is up to you and the things you already control.
Good luck.
The post How to Handle the Financial Advantages of Others Without Feeling Hopeless appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar https://ift.tt/2JnW38m
How Can Photoshop Help My Home Business?
Over the past decade, technology has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. The advancements that have been made have been nothing short of extraordinary. Smartphones, wireless internet, Bluetooth connections, and all the different apps and devices have completely changed our lives. Technology has also become an indispensable part of your business and the […]
The post How Can Photoshop Help My Home Business? appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.
Source The Work at Home Woman https://ift.tt/2HHMgHy
Why Your Credit Needs an Emergency Fund
Believe it or not, neither the amount of money you earn nor how much you have in the bank or in your wallet has an impact on your credit scores.
Credit scoring models, like FICO and VantageScore, don’t consider your income or other wealth related metrics. This means you have the potential to earn great credit scores whether you earn millions of dollars per year or you earn the minimum wage.
But although income and wealth metrics aren’t factored into your credit scores, a lack of savings can still hurt your credit, albeit indirectly. For example, if you don’t have an emergency fund, you’re putting your financial and credit health at risk.
Emergencies are, by definition, urgent. If you don’t have money set aside to cover unexpected, immediate expenses, you’ll most likely have to borrow the money to cover them. Depending on the urgency of your situation, you may even feel forced to use a financing option that could hurt your credit or cost you a lot of money in the long run.
Here are a couple of common ways people cover urgent expenses when they don’t have an emergency fund.
Option #1: Using a Credit Card
Using a credit card to cover an emergency expense is easy, if you have enough available credit on your account. However, easy isn’t synonymous with good.
When you use a credit card to cover a large expense, like a car repair bill, it can turn into a costly mistake. Interest rates on credit card accounts are notoriously high, often in the high teens or higher. If you charge more on your credit card than you can afford to pay off in a month, those high interest fees will pile up quickly.
For example, say you make a $5,000 charge on your credit card with a 20% APR but you can only afford to pay $100 per month on the debt. If you keep paying only $100 per month, it would take you nine years and one month to pay off that expense. During that time, you would pay an extra $5,840 in interest fees – more than double the initial cost, and an expense that could have been avoided entirely if you had an emergency fund.
To make matters worse, that $5,000 in new credit card debt may damage your credit scores even if you make every payment on time. Why? Because credit scoring models pay attention to the relationship between your credit card limits and your credit card balances. When your credit reports show that you’re utilizing a high percentage of your available credit limits, your scores will likely suffer.
- Read more: Why Is Credit Utilization Such a Big Deal?
Option #2: Taking Out a Loan
If you have decent credit, taking out a personal loan from your bank to cover an emergency expense might not be such a bad idea. With good credit, you may be able to obtain a reasonable interest rate and affordable monthly payments.
However, when you have credit problems, getting a quick loan at a low interest rate might not be possible. In desperation, many people feel forced to turn to high-rate loans from online lenders. Even worse, some people will turn to payday lenders, title loan companies, and other short-term, asset-based lending options. The annualized interest rates on these types of loans can reach as high as several hundred percent, and some of them are even outlawed in certain states.
It’s easy to get in over your head financially when you take out high interest loans. Before you know it, you might have trouble keeping up with your payments, and a downward credit score spiral could begin.
Start Your Emergency Fund
Think about the recent partial government shutdown that delayed one or two paychecks for some government workers. There was a real possibility that, if the shutdown went on for several more months, people could have defaulted on car loans, credit card bills, and even mortgages. The need for an emergency fund is legitimate and real.
Now think about what would happen if you lost your job or your hours were cut back. How long could you make your payments?
Building an emergency fund doesn’t just protect you financially; it’s also a smart way to protect your credit. All it takes is setting aside some money each week or each month — even just $5 or $10 a week is a start — into a high-interest savings account. Make the transfer automatic, so you don’t forget and you don’t miss it. (Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started building a healthy emergency fund of your own.)
Even if you don’t feel like you can afford to save money aggressively right now, make the decision to get started with small amounts. When it comes to saving money, something is always better than nothing – no matter how small.
More by John Ulzheimer:
- Three Ways to Raise Your Credit Score Fast
- The Perfect Credit Score (and Why You Shouldn’t Obsess Over It)
- UltraFICO vs. Experian Boost: Two New Ways to Build Your Credit
John Ulzheimer is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring, and identity theft. The author of four books on the subject, Ulzheimer has been featured thousands of times over the past decade in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, The Los Angeles Times, CNBC, and countless others. With professional experience at both Equifax and FICO, Ulzheimer is the only credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has been an expert witness in over 230 credit related lawsuits and has been qualified to testify in both federal and state courts on the topic of consumer credit.
The post Why Your Credit Needs an Emergency Fund appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar https://ift.tt/2ucxfFZ
I’ve waited months for my TSB compensation
Moneywise helps a reader still waiting for payment
Does the £100 compensation offered by TSB to disgruntled customers after their computer chaos last year actually exist? I have been to the Financial Conduct Authority and it ordered the TSB to pay me. I haven’t been paid and have told TSB, but still there’s nothing.
SH/Reading
You first contacted me about your problems with TSB last year when you couldn’t get at your cash because of the bank’s widely reported computer problems.
We helped you unlock your account and get your cash, at which point you understandably decided enough was enough and switched to another bank. That seems to have sparked the problem with your £100 compensation for the disruption. When you tried calling the bank to find out what was going on, you were told that as you were now not a customer, telephone banking couldn’t help you. Unbelievable!
You were told to pop to a local branch but as TSB shut the nearest one, that would have involved a day trip for you, which you naturally declined to do.
After we exchanged comments about the issue on social media, your cheque suddenly turned up, which must have been a coincidence.
I asked TSB how many others were still waiting for their compensation.
A TSB spokesperson told me: “We would like to apologise to any of our customers who may still be waiting for a resolution to their complaint. We are working as hard and as quickly as we can, but we can guarantee that no customer will be left out of pocket as a result of migration and no complaint will go unanswered. As at the end of January, we have resolved around 90% (181,000) of all the customer complaints received since migration.”
OUTCOME: TSB agrees to pay £100 compensation
Simon Read is a a money writer and broadcaster. He was personal finance editor at The Independent and is an expert on BBC1’s Right On The Money
Section
Free Tag
Workflow
Published
Source Moneywise https://ift.tt/2FmRSp2
How can I avoid going into the 40% tax bracket?
Question
I currently earn just below the 40% income tax threshold and have two questions. Firstly, I am likely to get a bonus at work, does that count as part of my main income as it would push me into the higher tax bracket? Secondly, even a small pay rise is likely to move me into the 40% rate. Can I do anything to offset it? For example, pay the excess straight into my company pension?
From
DS/Ripon
Congratulations on getting a bonus, this is good news. The bad news is that it will be taxed as earnings in exactly the same way as your income, so will be potentially liable to income tax at your marginal rate and national insurance contributions. This means that the amount of extra money you get in your pocket may be less than you think as you’ll be paying more tax.
There may be other disadvantages – for example, if you receive child benefit and your income increases to more than £50,000 a year. In this situation, there is an income tax charge of 1% of the amount of child benefit received for every £100 of income over £50,000. So those earning a net income of £60,000 or more will effectively lose all of their child benefit.
There are ways that you can reduce your income for tax purposes, the most common of which is to invest into a pension. The money you invest can potentially benefit from tax relief of 40%, compared with 20% for a basic-rate taxpayer. This can reduce the amount of income tax you pay on your earnings and bonus and protect your entitlement to child benefit if you are affected.
You need to be aware of tax changes planned from 6 April, such as the personal allowance increasing to £12,500, which means people will have more tax-free income and the higher rate threshold rising to £50,000, meaning fewer people will pay income tax at the higher rate.
This latter change might mean you are not pushed into a higher tax bracket after all, depending on the amounts in question. These changes apply in England and Wales; there are different tax rates in Scotland. Visit Gov.uk/scottish-income-tax for more details.
Tax rules can be confusing, so if you’re not really sure what you’re doing, you should take independent financial advice.
Patrick Connolly is a certified financial planner at Chase de Vere
Image
Section
Work & family Pay less taxAsk Experts Blurb Top
Source Moneywise https://ift.tt/2OcsFAE
الاشتراك في:
الرسائل (Atom)