الأربعاء، 8 مايو 2019
Dive Into Free Swim Lessons at the YMCA
Summer and swim lessons: They go hand-in-hand.
As soon as school is out, kids are clamoring to get in the water for fun, exercise and a break from the heat.
But learning to swim is also a valuable life skill.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, an average of 10 people die from drowning every day, two of them being children under age 15. The National Safety Council reports drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death for children.
Despite the stats, not all parents can afford to pay $40 a lesson (give or take) for their child to learn to swim.
“Seventy-nine percent of children in families with household incomes less than $50,000 have little to no swim ability,” said Lindsay Mondick, senior manager of aquatics at YMCA of the USA.
Since it typically takes several lessons for a kid to truly master the skill, swim lessons could end up costing parents several hundred dollars per child.
“As a penny-pinching mom myself, I know swimming lessons are sometimes one of those things that gets left off the list,” Mondick said. “But in my opinion, it’s the only recreational program that also has the ability to be a life-saving program.”
To help make swimming and water safety lessons more accessible, the national YMCA is providing funding for 33,000 children to participate in Safety Around Water programs this year at no cost.
Safety Around Water is a YMCA program that teaches children important water safety skills and basic swimming instruction. Approximately 1,200 YMCA branches across the nation are offering the program, Mondick said.
Throughout a series of sessions (typically eight 40-minute lessons), instructors teach children how to feel confident in the water and maneuvers they can use if they unexpectedly find themselves submerged, like treading water, turning to float on their backs and propelling themselves from the bottom of a pool to the surface.
Kids will also learn basic swimming skills and important safety information, like what to do if they see someone in the water who needs help. The classes are appropriate for beginning swimmers generally ages 3 through 12.
In addition to the money from the national YMCA, Mondick said many local branches do their own fundraising and partner with community supporters to run the program at free or reduced costs.
Some locations only offer the free lessons to children living under a certain income level or from a certain zip code or school district. Registration might be capped, and dates for lessons vary.
Check your local YMCA branch to find out if it offers this program for free in your area and for further details.
The YMCA also offers paid swimming instruction for children that goes beyond basic survival skills. Costs vary by location, but you may find the YMCA’s prices are lower than enrolling in a for-profit swim school or hiring a private instructor.
Mondick said the YMCA provides swimming lessons to an average of 1 million kids each year. She said many local branches offer scholarships or financial assistance to make its programs affordable for low-income families.
For other options for kids’ swim lessons at affordable rates, check your city- or county-owned pools.
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
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.
source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2V9pXhb
Mind the gap if you’re an 'offline' saver
If you’re not a fan of online banking, it’s hard to pick up a best-buy savings deal on the high street. We look at why this is happening and what you can do
Millions of people could be missing out on the best interest rates because they are not online, which is bad news for those who rely on their savings income. We take a look at the reasons behind the growing divide and how much you could be losing by sticking with high street banks and building societies.
While growing competition is benefiting savers with better rates, those who bank on the high street are increasingly worse off.
Whether it is an easy-access bank account or a fixed-rate bond, most of the best-buy accounts are only available online.
If you bank online, finding out the bests savings rates could not be simpler. All you have to do is use a search engine or a price comparison site to compare products to find the best deal. However, for those who don’t use the internet comparing the best deals is more difficult.
The growing gap between online and offline rates is hitting older people the hardest, as many are wary of using internet banking because of potential security risks.
Elderly people are also less likely to go online. Research from the Office for National Statistics shows that more than four million people aged 65 and over have never used the internet.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, says savers are likely to miss out on the top rates if they don’t get online.
She says: “A growing number of the top deals from the challenger banks are only available if savers apply online.
“Silver savers are being left behind as branch access is in jeopardy. With thousands of branches set to close, and the percentage of deals offering branch access decreasing, this may pose a problem for those who rely on them to manage their money.
“These growing signals of a changing landscape on the high street are steering more consumers to bank online, regardless of their age or circumstances.”
“Silver savers are being left behind as branch access is in jeopardy”
Why are online deals cheaper?
Based on a balance of £50,000, a saver with a traditional easy-access account on the high street would receive £620 less a year than if they were to take out a higher paying internet-only account, according to analysis by advice site Savings Champion.
So why are all the best deals online? One reason why banks and building societies can offer better rates online is that they are more cost-effective to run. A physical bank on a high street has staffing costs and more expensive overheads compared with an online-only challenger bank.
Andrew Hagger, personal finance expert at Moneycomms, says: “Banks and building societies are catering increasingly for the smartphone generation, which means some older customers who prefer not to transact online for security concerns are being ignored and getting a raw deal.
“It’s a difficult situation for non-internet users and I fear that the lack of choice and poor branch-based interest rates will only get worse.
“Some providers such as Charter Savings Bank are bucking the trend by offering decent rates and the option to open an account via postal application. It’s not as convenient as using a branch but if you’re opening a fixed-rate bond, then you will only be making a transaction around once a year, so it’s still worth it when you are getting a best-buy rate.”
Best-buy savings accounts
Since the arrival last year of the Marcus savings account from investment bank Goldman Sachs, rates on online savings accounts have been edging up.
Marcus, Kent Reliance, Virgin Money and Tesco Bank all have easy-access savings accounts at 1.5%.
By contrast, the best-paying savings account available on the high street is the Santander Everyday Saver at 0.35%. It is a similar story when people who are not online want to take out a fixed-rate bond.
Out of the top 10 three-year fixed rate deals, eight are online only, including Tandem Bank (2.4%) and Aldermore (2.4%). Only two, Al Rayan Bank (2.52%) and Union Bank of India (2.4%), give savers the opportunity to manage their account by post or phone. Mr Hagger says: “Accounts that are available on the high street pay a fraction of the rate offered on the best-buy internet only deals.
“For those customers happy to manage their savings online, the challenger banks beat the big high street players hands down. The likes of Paragon Bank, OakNorth, Gatehouse Bank, Charter Savings Bank and Ford Money all feature consistently in the best buys and are FSCS registered, so there are no issues with cash safety [up to £85,000].”
Online versus high street easy-access savings rates
| Online savings account | Interest rate | High street savings account | Interest rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent Reliance Online Easy Access - Issue 33 | 1.50% | Nationwide Building Society Limited Access Saver Issue 7 | 0.75% |
| Marcus by Goldman Sachs | 1.50% | HSBC Online Bonus Saver | 0.55% |
| Virgin Money | 1.50% | Santander Everyday Saver | 0.35% |
| Tesco Bank Internet Saver | 1.50% | Barclays Everyday Saver | 0.25% |
| Yorkshire Building Society Online Single Access Saver Issue 17 | 1.50% | Halifax Everyday Saver | 0.20% |
Source: Savings Champion, 8 April 2019
Ways round the problem
Anna Bowes, co-founder of savings Savings Champion, says: “Not everyone wants to do everything online. There are some providers who recognise that and offer customers the opportunity to manage the account by post, such as PCF Bank or Charter Savings Bank.
“Sometimes your local provider might offer something interesting on the easy-access side. Newbury Building Society, for example, offers the best easy-access account on the market at 1.75%, but it is only for existing and local customers.”
She suggests a family member or a friend may be able to help. “If you can’t get online, it is a good idea to ask a family member or a friend to help you with opening and managing a savings account.
“If not, have a look in your local area to see which providers are available and then just compare the best rates. The most important thing is for the saver to feel confident and not to worry about their money.”
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Source Moneywise http://bit.ly/306OZkT
Good Decisions and Optimum Decisions
Let me tell you a familiar story, one that I’ve heard variations on many times from reader mailbag submissions and one that I witnessed a few times back in my office days.
Someone decides that they want to start contributing to their workplace retirement plan, which is a pretty good move for almost everyone. They go in to the HR office to sign up, only to find that there are a lot of options. That person doesn’t want to make a big mistake here, so they take the paperwork home to “look it over.” The idea of researching all of those options is intimidating, so they leave it on the desk and slowly forget about it.
Or, perhaps, they do start researching it and they find themselves facing all kinds of arcane advice. One article says they should strongly consider a Roth IRA instead. Another says that they should mix the two. Again, it seems overwhelming, so they just put the papers on the desk and slowly forget about it.
In both cases, the same problem is occurring: the good solution is lost in an effort to find the optimum solution. This is sometimes known as the “paradox of choice” – people are simply overwhelmed by options and fail to make a decision out of fear of not choosing the “best” one or not getting the most “bang for the buck” out of their choice. They lock up and often don’t make a choice at all or make a choice that’s based on something arbitrary.
I sometimes feel this myself. I’ll see “potato chips” on my grocery list, roll down the potato chips aisle, and I’m just gobsmacked at the options. There are twenty different brands of potato chips, each with ten different flavors. Should I buy Sweet and Spicy Doritos? Sour Cream and Onion Lays? Harvest Vegetable Sun Chips? Store brand salt and vinegar chips? What about the “low fat” options? Which one is right? Which one is wrong? I stand there for ten minutes trying to make the “optimum” decision when the “good” decision is pretty easy – just grab the one on sale that looks tasty.
That’s usually the best strategy: quickly find a “good” option and go with it rather than investing a bunch of time to find the “optimum” choice. This route very rarely fails me.
So, let’s roll that idea back to the retirement savings scenario.
The “good” option in that scenario is simply putting money away for retirement in a tax-advantaged account with almost any investment option, and doing that starting today and contributing as much as you can. Simply doing that is going to blow away doing nothing at all.
The “optimum” option, of course, is simply evaluating every possible retirement option and account option available to you and picking an investment option based on some number of criteria that’s important to you. This route will likely get you into a somewhat better investment option than the “good” option, but it’s going to involve a significant time investment, time in which you’re not saving for the future.
So, what’s the best solution? The best solution is almost always to make the “good” choice now, then go back and redirect to the “optimum” choice later on.
Again, let’s take that through the examples I wrote about above.
With the retirement planning option, that means that the best overall move is to get down to the HR office right away and sign up for the retirement plan, socking away as much as possible. When you’re faced with retirement choices, choose one that seems to be in line with what you want and just go with it. Don’t overthink it – just make a quick choice that seems to match what you’re aiming for – and start contributing right away.
Remember, that’s the “good” move. The “good” move is simply socking money away for retirement as soon as possible.
Then, over the next few months, take some time here and there to look at all of those options. Look into what a Roth IRA is. Figure out how to compare the options available to you. Then, maybe it’s time to change your contribution options or open a Roth IRA on the side. However, that doesn’t undo the fact that while you were doing this, you were racking up money in a solid retirement option.
What about that potato chip option? I snag a bag that looks tasty, preferably one that’s on sale. I take it home and we have it with our picnic – it’s probably pretty good. If it isn’t, I know to avoid it going forward. If it is, then I know it’s a pretty safe choice and can easily grab it next time, particularly when it’s on sale.
Over time, I can move closer to the “optimum” chip decision. I try different kinds when they’re on sale and see what my family likes and doesn’t like, giving me more information to figure out what chips are best to buy for my family. Over time, I’ll know three or four choices that most of the family will really like, and the likelihood is that at least one will be on sale or will have a low store brand price. In other words, I make several “good” choices quickly and that leads me to being able to make the “optimum” choice down the road.
These ideas hold true for almost every money decision we make – in fact, it’s true for almost every decision we make. Whenever we’re faced with a choice with an abundance of options, we’re better off doing a little research and making a “good” choice than overanalyzing and chasing an “optimum” choice. Obviously, a bit of upfront homework is good for any decision, but this should quickly point you to a few trusted options and then you can make your decision based on that information.
So, here’s how I go about almost every financial decision, big or small, in my life.
First, I identify what the decision is. What exactly am I looking for? What is it that I need? Maybe I need to start saving for retirement in something fairly aggressive. Maybe I need a bag of chips that my family will like at a good price. I try to point to two or three specific features that I need in whatever it is that I’m doing. With the retirement savings, I need something fairly aggressive and something I can start as soon as possible. With the chips, I need something my family will like and something at a good price.
Second, I do a bit of research to find something that matches those two or three needs. For big purchases or for frequent purchases, I do the research using outside sources, usually starting with Consumer Reports. I see what they recommend and make sure that it matches my criteria. With investment options, I’ll look at something like Morningstar and check out the options available to me, just seeing what their Morningstar grade is and making sure it’s not anything bad (three stars and above, in other words). With things like chips, I mostly just think about what flavors my kids like; if I happen to notice a comparative potato chip review, I might look at it, but I’m generally looking for “flavors my family likes” and “inexpensive but not awful.” For single big decisions, I might do more up-front research, but with retirement savings, what I’m actually doing is buying a small investment with each paycheck, so it’s actually closer to the potato chip decision than one might think.
Third, I simply go for an option that’s clearly on top. With the investment, I just choose one that’s aggressive and has a decent Morningstar grade. With the chips, I just choose one that my family will like that’s on sale or is a store brand. That’s it.
After that, I might invest more time refining that “good” decision to an “optimum” one going forward. In my spare time, I might sit down and learn more about investing, but I can do it knowing I’m already in a “good” place and am just looking to improve it a little. If I decide to, I might open a Roth IRA or change my investment options at work. With the chips, I might notice an article about potato chips or think about what my family seemed to like the best and use that to refine my choice next time.
The goal here is to make the “good” decision quickly and simply refine it later based on the results of the “good” decision and on any further research I do on my own terms. That lets me take action in the present and actually move forward with things in my life rather than getting caught up in an endless decision making pattern.
Some good rules I use to guide myself to quick “good” decisions:
+ default toward store brand items and items on sale when they’re inexpensive things
+ trust the “best buy” option in Consumer Reports
+ trust investments that aren’t graded poorly by Morningstar (in other words, anything with three stars or above is okay by me)
+ consider my wife and children’s preferences
Those four rules usually narrow my choice down to one or two options really quickly for almost all financial choices, making it very easy to make a “good” choice that’s financially sensible without getting tied down in a big deliberation about what the “optimal” choice is.
Good luck!
The post Good Decisions and Optimum Decisions appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2VQGc7g
Will Consolidating Student Loans Help Your Credit Score?
In the United States, some 44 million borrowers currently owe more than $1.5 trillion on loans they took out to finance their education. So, if you’re sitting on a pile of student loan debt, it’s safe to say that you’re not alone.
To cut to the chase, the answer to whether consolidating student loans can improve your credit score is yes – at least for some people. If you’re looking for ways to improve your credit scores, a student loan consolidation could potentially help you out.
Of course, before you can understand how a student loan consolidation may impact your scores, it’s helpful to consider how the loans affected your credit scores in the first place.
Multiple Student Loans on Your Credit Report
If you’re like a lot of graduates, there’s a good chance you make a single student loan payment each month to a student loan servicer. Depending on who is servicing your loan, you might send your monthly payment to any of the following (just to name a few):
- Nelnet
- Navient
- FedLoan Servicing
- OSLA Servicing
You don’t actually owe the debt to your student loan servicer. Rather, the servicer (assigned by the U.S. Department of Education) handles billing and other services with respect to your federal student loans.
The fact that only one monthly payment is being made leads many people to believe that they have just one really big student loan. In reality, many graduates have multiple student loans.
Each semester you applied for educational financing, a separate loan was created when/if your application was approved. So, if you applied for student loans each semester during a standard four-year undergraduate schedule, you could have as many as eight separate loans on your credit reports because you received eight disbursements.
After your loans come out of deferment, you’ll generally make a single monthly payment to your servicer. The servicer will credit that payment across your various loans.
How Consolidating Student Loans Impacts Your Credit
When you consolidate student loans, you’re actually taking out a new, larger loan and using it to pay off all of your other student loan accounts. Those old student loans won’t disappear from your credit reports; however, they should all be updated to indicate a zero balance. Your new loan will be added to your reports as well.
Credit scoring models consider the number of accounts on your credit reports with balances. This isn’t a huge factor in your credit scores, but by reducing your number of accounts with balances, there’s a chance you might see a score increase. And, of course, every point matters, especially if your scores aren’t as high as you’d like them to be.
Additionally, consolidating student loans is a good way to protect your credit from potential damage. Imagine the following scenario: You accidentally forget to make a payment for two months to your student loan servicer. You check your credit reports and discover that you have eight accounts that are reporting as 60 days late to the credit bureaus. The credit score damage in this hypothetical scenario could be significant.
On the other hand, if you had consolidated your student loans down to a single account, that same oversight would only result in one account on your credit reports with a 60-day late payment. That late payment would probably still be bad for your scores, but the impact wouldn’t be nearly as severe as eight past-due accounts.
- Read more: Here’s How Credit Scoring Actually Works
Should You Consolidate Your Student Loans?
Credit reports, and the scores used to interpret those reports, vary widely. An action which helps one person’s credit score might not have the same impact for the next person. Although many people can experience a score boost from consolidating student loans, your experience isn’t guaranteed to be the same.
As such, your credit should only be one factor you consider as you decide whether or not to consolidate your student loans. You should also consider whether a consolidation loan will save you money and be the right financial move in the long run.
Read more:
- Do Student Loans Help or Hurt Your Credit?
- When Does It Make Sense to Refinance Your Student Loans?
- How to Raise Your Credit Score
- When Using Other Loans to Pay Off Student Debt Is a Good Idea
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 Will Consolidating Student Loans Help Your Credit Score? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2LsDZLe
Fund Briefing: when to invest in smaller companies
Investing in smaller companies can be a terrific way to earn bumper returns by finding tomorrow’s winners at an early stage in their development
The idea is to buy shares in innovative businesses before everyone realises their potential and then sit back as your foresight is handsomely rewarded.
After all, even today’s corporate giants were once relatively modest start-ups struggling to attract attention and build a customer base.
Take Microsoft, for example. If you had invested $1,000 into the company when it floated on the stock market back in 1986, your holding would now be worth more than $1 million.
The fact is that smaller companies offer the potential for significant growth, according to Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen.
“They are often under-researched, so the opportunities are not recognised until they get much bigger,” he explains.
It is also much easier for a company to grow its profits by 20% when those profits are much smaller. Larger firms obviously struggle to match such growth rates.
“Smaller companies can also be more flexible, nimble and able to react quickly to changing events,” says Mr Lowcock. “They can also take advantages of niche opportunities.”
However, while it is tempting to look for the next Just Eat, these companies are not easy to spot. A combination of expertise, experience and resources is essential.
“Smaller companies are more volatile when markets go down”
For every success story, there are plenty of disasters. Some will grow rapidly, but many more will remain small or fail completely.
“Investing in smaller companies requires a huge amount of work,” adds Mr Lowcock. “It’s about avoiding the losers as much as it is about spotting potential winners.”
It is a point echoed by Patrick Connolly, a chartered financial planner at Chase de Vere, who believes smaller companies are most suitable for investors with a higher tolerance to risk.
“They are more volatile than larger companies and tend to fall further and faster when markets go down and investors avoid risk,” he explains.
This can also make them potentially susceptible to political risks, such as any fallout from the long-running Brexit negotiations.
“If there is a bad outcome, it is domestically-based UK names, such as smaller companies, which are likely to be hit hardest,” he adds.
Quick guide:
Are smaller companies funds right for me?
Consider investing if…
- You want to invest in the businesses of tomorrow
- You want exposure to companies with lots of potential
- You understand there are risks attached to these holdings
In addition, investments in small companies can be very volatile. The share price can swing dramatically and result in significant falls in the value of holdings.
“This means that it is not for the faint hearted and only for someone willing to take their time to invest,” adds Mr Connolly.
If you believe buying individual shares is too risky – and that is certainly a fair conclusion – the next best option is to buy a smaller companies investment fund.
These products are run by professional managers whose job it is to use pooled investors’ cash for buying a portfolio of smaller companies.
The type of companies owned – and the way such funds are run – will depend on their aims, according to Jonathon Curtis, an investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Look for managers who really understand how small companies work ”
“Some fund managers focus on medium-sized ones at the upper end of the size scale, while others invest at the smallest end of the spectrum, known as ‘micro-caps’,” he explains.
There will also be differences in the way they are managed.
“Some hold on to small companies as they grow bigger,” he says. “Others sell them once they reach a certain size and look for the next opportunity.”
It is very important to scrutinise smaller company funds as they will differ from one another, as opposed to larger company investments that hold many of the same shares.
The objective is finding a manager who can pick the winners from the losers, points out Mr Connolly at Chase de Vere.
“You need to look for managers who can really get under the skin of companies to understand how they work, as well as assessing their future plans and prospects,” he says.
Compared to giant sectors such as UK All Companies, the array of funds – and, subsequently, the number of investors in IA UK Smaller Companies is relatively small.
In fact, it has £14.3 billion of assets under management – with £29.9 million of net retail sales during January 2019, according to figures from the Investment Association.
Of course, you don’t have to stick to small firms listed in the UK. There are plenty of funds focusing on other areas of the world that might be worth considering.
There are even specialist sectors covering Europe, North America and Japan, in which billions of pounds have been invested.
However, whether or not putting your money into smaller businesses is a sensible option will largely depend on your investment goals and attitude to risk.
Franklin UK Smaller Companies
Value of £100 invested in the fund over five years
| Year | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund movement in year (%) | -0.35 | 25.61 | -0.47 | 28.46 | -15.67 |
| Value of £100* | 99.65 | 125.17 | 124.57 | 160.02 | 134.94 |
* The £100 was invested on 1 January 2014. Source: Moneywise.co.uk
| Managers | Paul Spencer, Richard Bullas, Mark Hall and Dan Green |
| Launch date | 1 July 1991 |
| Total fund size | £293 million |
| Minimum initial investment | No minimum for investors |
| who invest via a platform | |
| Initial charge | 0% |
| Ongoing charge | 0.83% |
| Annual management fee | 0.75% a year |
| Contact details for retail investors | 0800 305 306 |
Fund to watch: Franklin UK Smaller Companies
The fund aims to increase the value of its investments by more than the return of the Numis Smaller Companies ex-Investment Trusts index over the medium to long term.
The managers, who boast a combined 62 years with the firm, define this time period as between three to five years.
Almost 75% of the fund is in companies with market capitalisations of less than £1 billion, with around 24% in those of £1 billion to £2 billion.
Businesses within the industrial goods and services sector account for 38.84% of assets under management, followed by financial services with 11.69%.
Other sectors include real estate, construction and materials, technology, healthcare, chemicals, personal and household goods, and retail, according to the fund fact sheet.
The fund’s largest holding of 4% is in the Vitec Group, which supplies products to the ‘image capture and content creation’ market. These include camera supports, LED lights, mobile power, monitors, bags, smartphone accessories and noise reduction equipment.
The second largest is Discoverie Group, which is an international ensemble of businesses that design and manufacture components for electronic applications.
Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, likes the fund’s balanced approach.
“The investment process focuses on quality companies that are attractively valued,” he says. “Quality is assessed via three pillars: business risk, management risk, and balance-sheet risk.”
ROB GRIFFIN writes for the Independent, Sunday Telegraph and Daily Express.
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Source Moneywise http://bit.ly/307jqrc