How to Prepare Your Finances with Parkinson’s Disease

You’ve received your diagnosis, and the tremors, stiffness, and slowing movement have a name. Parkinson’s disease (PD) disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement and occurs when neurons in the brain gradually break down or die, according to the Mayo Clinic. In addition to physical and psychological symptoms, Parkinson’s disease costs more than $25.4 billion every year in medical expenses and $26.5 billion in missed work, lost wages, early forced retirement, and family caregiver time, according to a study conducted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

A Parkinson’s diagnosis can completely change your income and expenses, so it’s important to have a plan — and above all, remember that living with PD into old age is quite possible. You may want to meet with a financial advisor, set a budget or financial plan, evaluate your retirement fund, and consider how Medicare can help. 

“Updating a financial plan upon diagnosis is advantageous for two primary reasons. First, a comprehensive financial plan offers peace of mind for the newly diagnosed and their families as they face an uncertain journey,” says Brendan Willmann, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent with Granada Wealth Management in Asheville, North Carolina. “Second, because the disease is degenerative, it is advantageous to review finances and estate planning prior to a decline in cognitive functioning. Doing so can help ensure decisions are made while meeting the legal requirement of a ‘sound mind.’”

What to Expect with Parkinson’s

There are five stages of PD and the disease progresses at each stage. No matter which stage you’ve been diagnosed in, it’s a good idea to have your finances in order because you may find that the disease becomes increasingly difficult to manage.

Stage 1
You may have mild symptoms such as tremors on one side of the body as well as changes in posture, walking and facial expressions.

Stage 2
Tremors, rigidity and other movement symptoms affect both sides of your body. Walking problems and poor posture may cause daily tasks to be more difficult if you live alone.

Stage 3
Stage 3 is considered mid-stage. Balance, movement slowness and falls are more common. Your symptoms can hinder everyday activities such as dressing and eating.

Stage 4
Symptoms are severe at this stage. You may be able to stand without assistance, but movement may require a walker. You’ll need assistance with everyday tasks and will be unable to live alone.

Stage 5
This is the most advanced stage. Stiffness in the legs may make it impossible to stand or walk and you’ll require a wheelchair or must be confined to bed. Nursing care is needed full time and you may even experience hallucinations and delusions.

Develop a Financial Plan

It’s important to think through how these stages will impact you both physically and financially. Here are a few items to consider as you plan your overall financial goals, and if you’re a younger Parkinson’s patient, you’ll need to consider these in more detail, particularly if you’re not ready for retirement.

Medical Expenses

Ask your medical team to help you estimate the costs of medical expenses, including medication like Carbidopa/Levodopa, as well as physical, occupational and/or speech therapy. You may also want to ask whether you’ll need deep brain stimulation (DBS), which is an electrode that’s implanted into a targeted area of the brain to help with tremors and motor issues.

Assistive Technology and Equipment

You may need equipment that will help you with day-to-day lifestyle changes. Adaptive equipment may include: 

• Compression hosiery
• Adaptive clothing to make it easier to get dressed
• Weighted utensils that can help stabilize eating movements 
• U-Step walkers to increase mobility
• Transfer chairs and wheelchairs

Potential Job Loss

You’ll need to plan for any potential job loss by rounding up disability insurance benefits, personal savings, retirement benefits (if you’re of retirement age), and more. Consider any supplemental income, like rental income, that will be able to help you bring in extra cash and which can bolster the money you bring in per month and in the event of a job loss.

Long-Term Care Costs

Do you have a long-term care insurance policy? If so, now’s the time to review it. Long-term care insurance is also called nursing home insurance and can save your family a lot of money in the long run. Don’t have long-term care insurance? The median cost of long-term care out of pocket depends on your state but is about $85,800 on average in all states. It’s a good idea to work out how you’ll pay for long-term care insurance or what your options are if you don’t have this type of insurance.

Caregivers

Make a determination early on as to whether you prefer in-home care or assisted living. Parkinson’s patients tend to require more care than the average individual in assisted living (approximately $500 to $1,000 more per month than average). The national average for in-home care is approximately $4,500 per month, whereas the cost for assisted living is $4,250. 

Estate Planning and Legal Fees

There are a few legal fees you’ll need to plan for, particularly when you do some estate planning. Estate planning documents take care of your decisions while you’re alive but if you’re incapacitated and can no longer make decisions on your own. In other words, you can decide in the early stages of Parkinson’s how you want your assets and care handled — through a will or trust, durable power of attorney, guardianship and/or an advance directive. 

Margaret “Pegi” S. Price, J.D., professor at National University and the author of the book, The Special Needs Child and Divorce: A Practical Guide to Evaluating and Handling Cases, says the average cost for estate planning and legal fees are:

• Attorney fees: A few hundred dollars per hour
• Court fees: $200-300 range

“In the later stages, a person with Parkinson’s disease can experience cognitive decline, including dementia. It is vital to set up all legal documents, like a will or trust, power of attorney, and advance directive early in the process, while the individual still has the legal capacity to sign legal documents. If you wait too long, the family might have to file a guardianship action with the courts,” Price says.

Wills and Trusts

There are differences between a will and a trust. A will is a legal document that appoints a guardian to your minor children and also explains what to do with your assets upon your death. If you don’t have a will, the state will decide how to distribute your assets to your beneficiaries. This process is called probate.

A trust is a fiduciary arrangement that allows a third party (trustee) to hold assets on behalf of your beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries will get access to your assets more quickly than they would with a will. A revocable living trust is called “revocable” because you can change it as your wishes change, and it’s called “living” because you make it while you’re alive. 

Durable Power of Attorney and Guardianship

Eventually, the time will come when you need someone to make decisions for you. You’ll need to consider durable power of attorney and guardianship options early on. A durable power of attorney means that a trusted friend or relative will be able to handle legal, financial or medical decisions if you become incapacitated. The only way durable power of attorney is removed is if you revoke it. 

Guardianship is awarded by the courts to someone who can look after your affairs when you become incapacitated. Guardians will look after your personal, financial and physical well-being. For guardianship, Price says the cost for a lawyer to meet with the alleged disabled person (to look at medical records, meet with the disabled person, find out that person’s wishes, meet the proposed guardian(s) and write a report) costs around $3,000 and approximately $250 per hour. Service fees (for the sheriff to personally serve the papers) is about $100-$200. 

In addition, a medical, psychiatric, vocational expert, or some other expert on disabilities will be $500-600 an hour.

Advance Directive

An advance health care directive is also known as a living will. An advance directive is used to make health care decisions once you’re unable to make them yourself. It could involve indicating whether you want a machine to continue breathing for you if you can no longer breathe on your own, do not resuscitate orders, and more. 

You may want to consider setting up a savings account as soon as you are diagnosed to take care of some of these expenses, if you don’t already have an account you’ll draw from to pay for various costs. You may want to talk with your loved ones at length about these major financial decisions. 

Organizations That Can Help

It’s important to assemble a team of professionals shortly after diagnosis. “A certified financial planner (CFP) should be able to assist in organizing finances, an important first step. A family meeting with a CFP, a qualified tax advisor and an estate planning attorney can serve to address family questions and prepare a fully coordinated, comprehensive plan,” says Willmann. 

A qualified team should be able to answer any cash flow assumptions, go over life and disability insurance policies, as well as Social Security and Medicaid benefits. Professionals will go over your Medicaid eligibility and offer you a clear understanding of your options upon incapacitation. 

Life and Disability Insurance

Your CFP should be able to go over any life and disability insurance options you can tap into. Life insurance is a lump-sum payment or death benefit paid to your beneficiaries when you die. Disability insurance is intended to help replace some of your income by paying you periodically when you become unable to work, according to the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU). 

Social Security Benefits

There are two programs where you can reap Social Security benefits, and your team of professionals can help you choose when you should tap into one of these programs:

• The Social Security disability insurance program can offer benefits to you and certain family members if you worked and paid Social Security taxes.
• The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program pays benefits to disabled adults and children who have limited income and resources.

Medicaid and Medicare Benefits

Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides free or low-cost health coverage to millions of Americans, including people with disabilities, according to Benefits.org. Answer a few questionsto see if you could be available for Medicaid assistance.

Medicare is a federal health insurance program that can offer you health benefits if you’re 65 or older. There are several parts you can look into:

• Part A: Covers inpatient care in hospitals, nursing facilities, hospice, and home health care.
• Part B: Covers services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, preventive services, and more. 
• Part C: Medicare Advantage: Covers everything that original MedicarePart A and Part B) covers, plus prescription drug coverage and other benefits as well.
• Part D: Helps cover the cost of prescription drugs.
• Medicare Supplement Insurance: Covers health care costs that the original Medicare program does not cover, and it’s sold by private insurance agencies.

There are numerous nonprofits that can offer resources to you and your family upon diagnosis. The Michael J. Fox Foundation offers Parkinson’s 360, a resource base that can address any questions you may have.

Veterans with Parkinson’s

The VA can also help finance health care and compensation if you were

exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service. Agent Orange was used to clear plants or trees during the Vietnam War. You do not need to establish a connection between Parkinson’s and military service to receive free VA health care and disability compensation. Know your rights and what you’re financially entitled to by submitting a medical record that shows you have an Agent Orange-related illness and a military record that shows that you served in Vietnam during a particular period

Prepare for the Future

You may feel as if you’re preparing for an uncertain future, but one thing is for sure: it’s a good idea to begin saving and preparing so you can manage what the future holds. Whether you need an estate-planning attorney, financial advisor, assistance with Social Security, or even just help figuring out what to do with your money market account, pinpoint your needs as soon as possible.

The post How to Prepare Your Finances with Parkinson’s Disease appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar https://ift.tt/32YKclY

Growing number of retailers opting to stay closed this Thanksgiving

A growing number of major retailers say they won't be open on Thanksgiving Day this year.The move reverses a trend that has popped up in recent years, as chains eager to get first dibs on consumers' holiday spending cash threw open their doors earlier and earlier. They include Best Buy, Kohl's, JCPenney and Macy's.While many shoppers loved the idea, employees in many cases didn't. That's because it meant they missed out on celebrations with their own families.The list of [...]

Source Business - poconorecord.com https://ift.tt/30NpRib

How We Made a Budget… and Stopped Fighting About Money

A few of years ago, my husband and I were in limbo. We were trying to sell a house that wouldn’t sell and paying off student loans on an education that promised a higher-paying job but didn’t deliver. Our savings weren’t growing, even though we both had full-time jobs. We felt like we were hurtling along in life, but never getting anywhere. 

A friend was leading a class on budgeting, so we signed up — more as a favor than anything else. I mean, we weren’t frivolous with our money! We weren’t smothered under debt! We weren’t like other couples fighting about money. 

But we weren’t talking about money, either. And since finances influence every other area of life, we weren’t talking about our jobs or our goals. They were kind of there, kind of fuzzy and not at all the driving force behind our decisions. 

That budgeting class changed how we thought about money — and ultimately how we related to one another. Being forced to sit down and talk about our financial situations brought life into better focus. Often, our conversation spilled outward from money into how things were going at work, what struggles we were facing, revealing our insecurities and helping us listen to each other person more deeply. 

How to Avoid Fighting About Money

It’s not news that most fights in a relationship have something to do with money. But happier couples figure out a way to talk about their issues with clear solutions in mind, according to a 2019 study published in Family Process. 

Most of these fights start because the people in the relationship aren’t on the same page. Maybe you’re working off different budgets (or no budget), or you have different attitudes toward money. 

Talking about money early and often in a relationship can help you make sure you’re working together, rather than against one another, and prevent future fights. And creating a shared budget can help ensure you’re working toward the same goals and bring you closer as a couple.

Here’s how to talk to your significant other about money, and how to create a budget that works for both of you.

Make Sure You’re Not Tired, Hungry or Rushed

It may sound silly, but it’s not. If you try to sit down and sort out money problems when you are any in of these three states, you are doomed to fail. 

It’s important to give yourselves the time you need, especially the first few months you sit down to talk. Don’t start the discussion when one of you is going to have to run off to work or right before bed. 

Plan time for your discussion when you know you will both be at your peak of attention: You’ve had a good night’s sleep and a recent snack, and you have at least an hour of uninterrupted time where you can both be fully present (turn off those cell phones!) to discuss your situation. 

My husband and I often spend some time on Sunday afternoons chatting through our budget. We have nowhere to be and have usually eaten lunch together, so we make a pot of coffee and start talking. 

Be Honest

Whether you realize it or not, you have each been raised with certain attitudes toward money. The way your parents organized their finances probably had an impact on you. One of you may be more of a spender, and the other might like to keep almost everything “for a rainy day.” 

My husband and I grew up with vastly different influences regarding money. His mom has an accounting background and balances her checkbook to the penny. 

You would think this would have made him a stellar budgeter, but when he left home, he wanted nothing more to do with line items and category balances. While he is not a spender, he doesn’t feel the need to pre-plan where his money goes — he just doesn’t overspend. 

A 2019 Penny Hoarder survey of more than 1,500 adults found that 40% of respondents who did not receive early financial education had no savings at all.

If my parents budgeted, I never knew it. They weren’t savers and didn’t have a retirement plan. I don’t think I ever heard the word “budget” before meeting my in-laws. 

Oddly enough, as an adult I became extremely careful with my money — I saw the issues my parents went through, and I never wanted to be an over-spender. By nature, I am also a rule-follower, so having a budget just makes sense to me: I like to have established, external guidelines for how I use my money. 

To balance my desire to have guidelines and his desire to keep things as simple as possible, we have a bit of a hybrid system: We budget for the things we have to pay for (rent, insurance, etc.) and then decide on an amount for all the fun stuff each month (eating out, vacations, etc.). Then we take out the money we can spend on those things, spend it however we want that month, and when the money’s gone, it’s gone — if we run out of “fun money” on the 12th, it’s leftovers and Netflix for the rest of the month.

As is the case in most relationships, we don’t always see eye-to-eye. But sitting down to talk through our budget each month creates a dialogue where we can be honest about what we want to do with our money. 

The more honest you are with each other about your spending habits, the easier it will be to avoid hurt feelings — now and in the future — and the more realistically you will be able to craft your budget so it works for you and not against you. 

Discuss Your Goals

And not just financial goals: What is most important to you in life? Ask yourselves the question: “What do I want life to look like?” Dream big, and then try to discern the underlying values beneath those dreams.

If you wish you could spend every day at the beach, soaking up the sun, maybe your priority should be to plan vacations each year that let you do that — or better yet, create a life that you don’t want to escape from as often. Make plans to buy a house with a killer in-ground pool or start working toward a job that allows you to relocate somewhere near the coast. 

When I asked my husband that question, he said he would love to buy a farm and work full-time on the land. The capital investment to buy a farm is too high for us, but what we could do was purchase a few acres of land in the country where we could build a house and he could spend weekends puttering around on an old tractor, turning logs into lumber and getting out of the city where we work all week. It was the perfect compromise.

Another budget discussion we had led me to becoming an entrepreneur. Life-changing? I’d say. 

Decide what’s important to you: paying off a debt, taking that vacation or going to every rock concert within driving distance. Those goals will drive your decisions of how to spend your money — together. 

FROM THE BUDGETING FORUM

Money management in general
9/17/19 @ 8:59 AM

Out on sick leave
9/19/19 @ 1:48 PM

Budgeting Apps?
3/17/19 @ 8:42 PM

How do you distribute your income?
8/5/19 @ 9:38 AM

See more in Budgeting or ask a money question

How to Budget as a Couple

Getting the discussion above started is the first step, but how does it really work on a day-to-day basis? How do you figure it all out together? Here are some practical strategies to help you start a budget with your significant other:

Take Stock of the Numbers

Gather your past few months of statements, bills, pay stubs and other financial documents. You’ll want to see where your money has been going to get an idea of where it needs to go in the future. Make sure to account for:

• Your income: How much do you bring in each month? Note the combined total of your income from your jobs or businesses. If one person makes significantly more than the other, talk honestly about how to handle it. My husband has always made more money than me, and we have always found it easiest to pool all of our resources and spend them together, equally. Each couple should figure out what works for them. 
• Your obligations: List out things like rent, car payments, student loans, utilities, life insurance, phone bill, retirement contributions, even saving for a down payment. These are the costs you have already committed to paying each month, and they likely come with a contract, either formal (like rent) or informal (a monthly promise to pay for the water you use). 
• Your living expenses: This is anything that doesn’t have a monthly payment, but that you need to buy anyway: groceries, gas for the car and things like pet supplies, gifts and household goods like shampoo and sandwich bags. 

Bills like rent and utilities are easy to manage, since they only come up once per month. Divide longer-term bills like car insurance into one-month chunks so you make sure you are putting away enough money each month to be ready when the bill comes due. 

Expenses like gas or groceries are a little more difficult because you purchase these several times each month, and not always in the same amount each time. Figure out what you typically spend on these purchases and use that number as a starting point for your first month of budgeting.

Allocate What’s Left After Your Necessary Expenses

What magic number is left of your income after all of your expenses above? That’s what you get to spend on the fun stuff, from eating out and going to concerts to saving for a vacation. You need to both be on the same page about how you’re going to save and spend this money. 

It’s important to decide on a “no-questions-asked” allowance for each of you. Whether you can afford $10 each per month or $300 each per month, everyone needs a little money to spend on themselves — if not, you’ll likely end up with a “my-budget’s-too-strict” craving and splurge on something you shouldn’t. And then you’ll feel guilty because you “failed,” and it’s a downhill spiral from there. It’s good to build in some fun money for each person to spend or save as they please.

Pro Tip

Coming up short on your budget? Consider looking for a side gig that the two of you can do together, like dog walking. You can make it a mini date night that pays!

This first month of budgeting, make sure to allocate every single dollar of your paychecks: Money has a way of spending itself if you don’t have a plan for it.

Try Your Plan and Reevaluate

Try out this new budget for two weeks, then discuss what’s working and what’s not. Maybe you underestimated how much gas you would need that month and you’ve already overspent.

Readjust by pulling some money from a category where you haven’t spent as much, like groceries. 

Give it another two weeks and reevaluate. This is your chance to go over the first month’s plan and see where it worked well and where it fell short. Then, plan out the next month’s budget with your new knowledge about your spending habits.

To make sure you remember to do reevaluate and plan out your next month’s budget, put it on the calendar! It’ll feel like a date. I promise. 

Be Patient and Keep Trying

It’s going to take a few months to find a process that works best for the two of you. If this is your first time budgeting from scratch, you will probably forget something in your initial budget (for us, it was haircuts!) and will need to add it in later and re-allocate some funds accordingly. 

You will also need to shift money around sometimes, like when you overspend on gifts because Mother’s Day, your best friend’s birthday, a baby shower and a wedding all land in the same month. That’s OK! You can borrow $20 from the grocery fund and plan to eat more leftovers this month. Then start budgeting an extra $5 each month so that next year you’ve got a little extra padding in your gift fund this time of year. 

Budgeting is about making your financial decisions reinforce your life goals. If at any point the two feel disconnected, take a step back and ask yourselves that question: “What do I want life to look like?” The answer will tell you how to better spend your money now. 

How Starting a Budget Changed Our Relationship

Our budget meeting each month has turned into an informal monthly check-in of where we are in life and how we’re feeling. It gives us a chance to course correct quickly when something is off, and it helps remind us that we’re doing OK when things are going well. 

Having a monthly budget we agree on and that reflects our goals changed our relationship. I have a feeling it will do the same for you.

Abbigail Kriebs is a contributor to 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 https://ift.tt/31NVl93

60+ Texting and Driving Statistics and Facts

In recent years, people all across the country have shifted their attention to the dangers of texting and driving. 

This shift in public discourse may not be surprising. The latest data on the dangers of distracted driving show that in 2017 a staggering 401 fatal crashes were reported to have involved distraction by cell phone use.  

What’s more, crashes involving cell-phone related activity accounted for 14% of all distraction-related fatal crashes across the country in that year, resulting in 434 deaths.

Over 80% of drivers polled in 2016 believed that distracted driving was a much larger problem than in 2013 and that the problem is only increasing. 

These 60+ texting and driving statistics will help you understand the current landscape, and what you can do to make the road a safer place.

Table of Contents

1. Statistics on Texting and Driving by Generation
2. Statistics on Teens Texting and Driving
3. Texting and Driving Statistics by Gender
4. Reasons That People Text and Drive
5. Situations That Prevent Drivers from Texting and Driving
6. Texting and Driving Laws
7. The Dangers of Distracted Driving
8. Tips for Preventing Texting and Driving
9. Dangers of Texting and Driving Infographic

Statistics on Texting and Driving By Generation

Of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes caused by cell phone distraction, drivers under 30 years old account for those most likely to be using a cell phone at the time of the incident. 

In a 2016 study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, data indicated that compared to all drivers, those between ages 19 to 24 were:

• More likely to read or craft text messages while driving 
• More like to find texting while driving acceptable 
• Less likely to support legislation designed to curb driving distractions 

The same study also indicated that 88% of young millennials engaged in at least one risky behavior (texting while driving, red-light running, and speeding) while driving in the last 30 days, which earn millennials the top spot as the worst behaved drivers in the United States. 

The most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also indicates similar trends. 37% of fatal crashes caused by distracted drivers on their cell phones involve drivers that were 20 to 29 years old. It is reported that for all fatal crashes involving distracted drivers using cell phones:

Distracted Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes
Age	% of Drivers
15–19	16%
20–29	37%
30–39	21%
40–49	12%
50–59	8%
60–69	5%
70–79	1%

As you can see, young adults are some of the worst offenders when it comes to distracted driving:

• 16% of drivers 21 to 24 years old send text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time
• 17% of drivers 25 to 34 years old send text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time 
• 19% of drivers 16 to 20 years old read text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time
• 47% of drivers 21 to 34 years old read text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time

Statistics on Teens Texting and Driving

Teen drivers are the fourth most prevalent age group to use cell phones while driving. 

In 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that:

• 9% of all teen motor vehicle crash deaths involve distracted driving 
• 9% of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes are teens 15 to 19 years old
• 8% of teen drivers 15 to 19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the incidents
• 52% of people killed in teen distraction-related crashes are teens 15 to 19 years old

Texting and Driving Statistics by Gender

Looking at texting and driving through a gendered lens unearths some interesting findings on the differences between male and female distracted driving habits. In 2015, data indicated the following:

Female Distracted Driving Habits

• 50% of female drivers ages 45 to 54 are the most likely to say that they would use an app designed to block phone calls and text messaging while driving 
• 79% of females are very likely to intervene when  the driver of their vehicle is sending text messages or emails while driving 
• 7% of female drivers send text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time 
• 81% of female drivers never send text messages or emails while driving 
• 9% of female drivers read text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time 
• 76% of female drivers never read text messages or emails while driving
• 87% of female drivers never use smartphone apps while driving
• 79% of females are very likely to intervene when the driver of their vehicle is sending text messages while driving

Male Distracted Driving Habits

• 71% of males are very likely to intervene if the driver of their vehicle is sending text messages or emails while driving 
• 9 % of male drivers send text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time 
• 79% of male drivers never send text messages or emails while driving 
• 13% of male drivers read text messages or emails while driving at least some of the time
• 73% of male drivers never read text messages or emails while driving
• 80% of male drivers never use smartphone apps while driving

It turns out that women are more likely to: intervene if their driver is texting while driving; never send text messages while driving; and never read text messages while driving when compared to their male counterparts.

Reasons That People Text and Drive

There are a number of reasons that prompt people to engage in distracted driving on the road. Work-related messages are more likely to prompt drivers to text and drive, over personal or social messages. These are the most popular motivators:

• The message is important (43%) 
• The message is work-related (9%) 
• The message is personal or social (8%) 
• The person the driver is messaging is important (8%)
• The driver needs to report a traffic crash or emergency (6%)
• The message makes or responds to a quick or short message or call (4%) 
• The driver needs directions or other information (4%)

When it comes to how people rate their driving abilities, reports indicate that drivers are overconfident in their ability to text and drive, though it makes them nervous when others do:

• 31% of drivers report no difference in their driving when they text 
• 34% of drivers report being distracted or not as aware of things when texting and driving 
• 12% of drivers report they drive slower while texting and driving 
• 86% of people indicate that they would feel very unsafe if their driver was sending text messages or emails while driving
• 81% also report that they would feel very unsafe if their drivers were reading texts or emails while driving 
• 47% of people report that they would feel safe if their drivers used a hands-free device to talk on a cell phone while driving

Situations That Prevent Drivers From Texting and Driving

Data indicates that drivers are less likely to text and drive if: 

Texting and Driving Laws

Today, 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all have a ban on texting when driving. However, distracted driving laws and enforcement vary from state to state. 

Take a look at the table below to get a detailed breakdown of distracted driving laws across the United States.

Primary Versus Secondary Enforcement

As you’ll see in the table below, some bans are subject to primary enforcement, while others are subject to secondary enforcement. 

Primary enforcement means that a police officer is allowed to stop and ticket a driver when the officer observes a violation of the law (like texting and driving). 

Secondary enforcement means that the officer cannot stop and ticket a driver unless they engage in that offense and an additional violation (like texting and driving while also speeding).

State	All cell phone ban	Texting ban	Enforcement
Alabama	Drivers age 16 and 17 who have an intermediate license for less than 6 months.	All drivers	Primary
Alaska	No	All drivers	Primary
Arizona	School bus drivers; Learner’s permit and provisional license holders during the first six months after licensing.	All drivers	Primary: cell phone use by school bus drivers Secondary: cell phone use by young drivers
Arkansas	School bus drivers, drivers younger than 18	All drivers	Primary: for texting by drivers and cell phone use by school bus drivers Secondary: for cell phone use by young drivers, drivers in school and work zones
California	All drivers	All drivers	Primary: handheld and texting by all drivers Secondary: all cell phone use by young drivers
Colorado	No	All drivers	Primary
Connecticut	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Delaware	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
District of Columbia	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Florida	No	All drivers	Primary
Georgia	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Hawaii	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Idaho	No	All drivers	Primary
Illinois	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Indiana	No	All drivers	Primary
Iowa	No	All drivers	Primary
Kansas	No	All drivers	Primary
Kentucky	No	All drivers	Primary
Louisiana	No	All drivers	Primary
Maine	All drivers(effective 9/19/2019)	All drivers	Primary
Maryland	All drivers, school bus drivers	All drivers	Primary
Massachusetts	Local option	All drivers	Primary
Michigan	Local option	All drivers	Primary
Minnesota	Yes(effective 8/1/2019)	All drivers	Primary
Mississippi	No	All drivers	Primary
Missouri	No	All drivers	Primary
Montana	No	No	Not applicable
Nebraska	No	All drivers	Secondary
New Hampshire	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
New Jersey	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
New Mexico	Local option	All drivers	Primary
New York	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
North Carolina	No	All drivers	Primary
North Dakota	No	All drivers	Primary
Ohio	Local option	All drivers	Primary: for drivers younger than 18 Secondary: for texting by all drivers
Oklahoma	Learner’s permit and intermediate license holders, school bus drivers and public transit drivers	All drivers	Primary
Oregon	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Pennsylvania	Local option	All drivers	Primary
Puerto Rico	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Rhode Island	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
South Carolina	No	All drivers	Primary
South Dakota	No	All drivers	Secondary
Tennessee	Yes	All drivers	Primary
Texas	Drivers in school crossing zones	All drivers (effective 9/01/2017)	Primary
Utah	Speaking on a cell phone, without a hands-free device, is an offense only if a driver is also committing a moving violation other than speeding	All drivers	Primary: for texting Secondary: for talking on a hand-held phone
U.S. Virgin Islands	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Vermont	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Virginia	No	All drivers	Primary: for texting by all drivers Secondary: for drivers younger than 18
Washington	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
West Virginia	All drivers	All drivers	Primary
Wisconsin	No	All drivers	Primary
Wyoming	No	All drivers	Primary

While the majority of states across the country have enacted regulations aimed at distracted driving, the overall awareness of these laws varies across drivers:

• 57% of drivers believe their state has, or likely has, a law banning talking on a cell phone while driving 
• 76% of drivers believe that their States has, or likely has, a law banning texting or emailing on a phone while driving 
• In States that ban sending or reading text messages and emails while driving, 36% of drivers were unaware of the law 
• In States without laws banning the sending and receiving of text messages, 25% of drivers were aware that their States did not have such a law

The Dangers of Distracted Driving

The effects of distracted driving, especially texting and driving, are severe and irreversible. 

A 2018 study published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that: 

• Texting doubles your chances of getting in any kind of accident – which can raise your insurance rates 
• Texting triples your chances of being involved in a crash where the vehicle actually departs the road (drives off the roadway, crashes into a tree, hits a sign, etc.) 
• Texting increases your odds of rear-ending another vehicle by a multiple of 7

Moreover, in 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that:

• 3,157 crashes happened as a result of distracted driving 
• Of all 34,439 crashes that year, 9% of the total crashes involved distracted driving 
• 444 distraction-affected crashes involved a cell phone in use 
• 3,450 fatalities occurred as a result of distraction-affected crashes
• 486 fatalities resulted from distraction-affected crashes with a cell phone in use 
• 3,210 drivers were involved in distraction-affected crashes 
• 457 drivers were involved in a distraction-affected crash with a cell phone in use

Texting and driving is a huge issue, but texting isn’t the only form of distraction on the road. Distracted driving refers to any activity that sidetracks your attention from driving. 

Activities that lead to distracted driving come in a multitude of forms and include: 

• Talking on your phone
• Texting
• Eating
• Drinking
• Talking to someone in your vehicle
• Tinkering with an entertainment or navigation system

Distracted driving is separated into three categories. Visual, when you take your eyes off the road. Manual, when you take your hands off the wheel. Cognitive, when you take your mind off of driving.

Every day, approximately 9 people are killed and over 1,000 injured due to distracted driving.

Distracted driving is such a huge issue that there are companies dedicated to monitoring your phone usage while driving. Companies like Zendrive analyze driving behavior and use a combination of data capture and pattern analysis to determine if a driver is engaging in safe or risky behaviors at a given time or place. 

Zendrive even allows insurance companies the option to integrate Zendrive’s monitoring services into their mobile app. If a user has granted permission and an insurance company has integrated a service like Zendrive into their mobile app, this data could impact the user’s auto insurance rates. 

The best way to avoid the pitfalls of texting and driving is simple: avoid it completely. 

Tips for Preventing Texting and Driving

If you’re looking to break your dangerous habit of texting and driving, consider these practical tips:

1. Keep your phone out of reach or out of sight while driving. 
2. Turn your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode or turn your phone’s notification volume to silent and keep the vibrate function off while in the car. 
3. Use an app to block incoming calls or texts while driving. 
4. Pullover to a safe location and stop your vehicle entirely to send or read a text message.
5. Securely mount your phone to your dashboard, if you need your phone for navigational purposes, and keep your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode while driving to prevent notifications from distracting your attention.
6. Make a social commitment and tell your friends that you’re not going to text and drive. 
7. Get involved! Help stop distracted driving by encouraging your peers, colleagues, or loved ones to curb their dangerous driving habits, or by spreading the word about the potential dangers of distracted driving.

The dangers of texting and driving should not be taken lightly. Every time a driver switches their focus from driving safely on the road to their cell phone, they increase their likelihood of being involved in (or the cause of) a fatal car crash. 

Arm yourself with the tips above to curb your own texting and driving habits and remember the information you learned today the next time you reach for your phone or hear that fateful message ping the next time you’re driving. 

It’s also never a bad idea to equip yourself with a car insurance policy. At The Simple Dollar, we’ve assessed pretty much every car insurance company under the sun so you can determine which company has the best auto insurance policy for your needs. Discover our helpful rundown of the best car insurance companies of 2019 to ensure you’re prepared for whatever comes your way on the road. If you’re looking for discounts, we’ve also got you covered for the cheapest car insurance companies.

The post 60+ Texting and Driving Statistics and Facts appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar https://ift.tt/32XVffc

People Who Do These 5 Things With Their Money Are Less Likely to Go Bankrupt

Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners.

Every year, nearly 750,000 Americans go bankrupt. In fact, tens of millions of Americans will go into bankruptcy at some point in their lives. Their debts will overwhelm them and their credit will get nuked.

These are depressingly large numbers. But you can avoid being one of them. People who do these five things are much less likely to ever face bankruptcy. 

1. Simplify Your Budget

If you really want to manage your money better, try creating a budget. 

Ewww, gross. We know. But it’s important to take a good look at what you’re spending and where you can cut back.

If you’re not sure where to even start, we favor the 50/20/30 budgeting method for its simplicity — and flexibility. Here’s how it works:

• 50% of your income goes toward essentials.
• 20% goes toward financial goals.
• 30% goes toward personal spending.

The key is to accept you can’t create the perfect budget in an hour. You’ll have to experiment to find what works best for you.

2. Get Out of Debt Faster

Getting trapped in a cycle of high-interest debt can be one of the quickest ways to end up filing for bankruptcy. A lot of us are being crushed by credit card interest rates north of 20%. 

Your credit card is getting rich by ripping you off with these insane rates, but a company called Fiona could help you pay them off tomorrow. 

Here’s how it works: Fiona will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every credit card balance you have. The benefit? You’re left with just one bill to pay every month, and because the interest rate is so much lower, you can get out of debt so much faster. Plus, no credit card payment this month.

Fiona won’t make you stand in line or call a bank. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars. Totally worth it.

3. Invest 15 Cents In the Stock Market

Yeah, we know what you’re thinking: 15 cents? How’s that going to do me any good?

Well, that leftover change from your morning coffee and evening grocery hauls could turn into more than $1,000.

That’s what happened when Penny Hoarder reader Jeremy Kolodziej opened an investment account with Acorns. The app’s round-up feature bumps each of your purchases up to the nearest dollar and puts the spare change into the stock market, which helped him mindlessly save $1,076 in about 20 months. 

“It’s a virtual coin jar,” he says. “You don’t even think about it.” He used the spare change to pay for two vacations.

Plus, Acorns invested the money for him, allowing him to grow his savings — without studying stock prices or managing trades.

The app is $1 a month for balances under $1 million, and you’ll get a $5 bonus when you sign up. 

Building some extra cushion through small investments can do wonders for keeping yourself out of financial trouble.

4. Make Sure You’re Not Overpaying

Making sure your spending is in control is an important factor in maintaining your financial footing. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around certain expenses — like car insurance.

But one way you could save money is by shopping around and comparing rates at least once a year. Most of us don’t do that, according to numerous studies, although who wouldn’t want to lower their own rates and pay less?

So, just like you compare the prices of flights, shoes and laptops before purchasing, why not compare car insurance?

The Zebra, an online car insurance search engine that offers “insurance in black and white,” compares your options from 204 providers in less than 60 seconds.

We talked to Artie Januario, who found new insurance through The Zebra and managed to knock off $30 a month — or $360 a year — from his premium.

5. Dodge Bank Fees — and Make Your Money Work for You

There’s no law that requires you to bank the old-fashioned way — at a brick-and-mortar bank with a low interest rate on your savings.

It’s time to move your money into the 21st century. An app called Varo Money combines traditional banking tools with modern technology to help its customers become financially healthy. 

Here’s the best part: Pair your checking account with a savings account where you’ll earn 2.12%* APY (Annual Percentage Yield) with the opportunity to earn up to 2.80% APY on up to $50,000 in savings. To qualify for the 2.80% rate, you’ll need to have payroll or government direct deposits of $1,000 or more and authorize at least five purchases with your Varo debit card each month.

That’s 31 times — repeat, 31 times — the average savings account, based on a 0.09% average reported by the FDIC.

Varo goes easy on the fees, too. You won’t pay fees at more than 55,000 ATMs worldwide.

Keep Your Finances in Good Shape

This is all about finding achievable ways to better yourself financially and put more money in your pocket.

Obviously, make sure you’re contributing to a regular old 401(k) or IRA while you’re out there making all these smart, savvy financial moves.

Set goals. Avoid traps. Take the long road, and you’ll win a little peace of mind.

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) 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 https://ift.tt/357mSo5

Why It’s So Hard for Even the Best Investors to Beat the Market

In investing, there’s a competition that’s a lot like “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

Remember the story? The tortoise, exasperated with the hare’s incessant antagonizing, challenges him to a race. 

Our industrious tortoise doggedly pursues his objective. But the hare, confident of his victory, takes several detours. Hearing the commotion in the distance as the tortoise approaches the finish line, the hare makes a furious dash — only to lose to the tortoise by mere inches. 

The moral: Slow and steady wins the race. 

There’s a parallel in the debate between active management vs. indexing.

Active management is viewed as the faster, sleeker, more sophisticated approach to investing. 

Indexing, on the other hand, with its low fees and academic theorizing, is seen as a strategy for ivory tower academics and unsophisticated investors. 

But which one is the better investing strategy?

What Is Indexing?

First off, let’s distinguish between an index — a noun — and index-ing which is an approach to investing. 

An index is simply a list of securities — usually stocks or bonds — grouped together according to some predetermined criteria, such as:

• Price
• Percentage of overall market value
• Location (domestic vs. international)
• Revenue growth
• Credit quality

Some examples of larger indexes you may have heard of include the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 Index. But there are literally thousands of indexes measuring just about every kind of investment or investment strategy imaginable. 

Indexing is the act of investing in a particular type of investment vehicle, such as an exchange-traded fund, that tracks an underlying index.

Frequently, indexing is described as “passive” management, though this is somewhat of a misnomer for two reasons.

First of all, passive investing can include investment strategies beyond indexing. Buying and holding onto a handful of stocks, for example, can also be considered a passive approach to investing. Indexing, on the other hand, is a specific approach to investment management that seeks to replicate and track the performance of a particular market index. 

Secondly, replicating an index by trading the individual stocks or other securities is an incredibly intense and proactive endeavor.

What Is Active Management?

Active investment management is any investment decision that rests on the assumption that an investor will be able to earn better returns than the market average, as reported by one or more indexes.

The index is used as a benchmark to measure an investment manager or strategy against.

Intuitively, active investment management makes all the sense in the world.

Shouldn’t anyone with a little business savvy should be able to discern a superior investment opportunity from an inferior one? And shouldn’t professionals who spend most of their waking hours analyzing investments and the economy be that much more likely to improve upon the performance of the collective masses constituting the “average” investor? 

The answer is frequently “no.” 

FROM THE INVESTMENT FORUM

Do I Need a Broker to Buy Stock?
10/2/19 @ 11:36 AM

Beginner Investing
9/27/19 @ 3:28 PM

Website called Fundrise
8/29/19 @ 2:39 PM

I want to invest small amount
8/30/19 @ 6:14 PM

See more in Investment or ask a money question

Indexing vs. Active Management: Which Is Better?

Hands down, the primary advantage of indexing vs. active management is the cost. 

Without an army of analysts, office space and other overhead, index funds and ETFs can be managed for very low costs. 

Consider the difference in the expense ratios, which is the fee for managing an investment and is calculated as a percentage of its total value.

Most actively managed investments (usually mutual funds) charge around 0.5% to 1.5% in management fees. But an index fund may cost as little as 0.1%, or $10 for every $10,000 you have invested.

Some brokerage firms have even begun to offer their own proprietary funds linked to various indexes for ZERO management fees. (Don’t worry — they still make money in other ways.)

Most active investment managers fail to outperform their indexed counterparts. 

Even the best active investment managers have, historically, only managed to outperform their respective benchmarks by around 0.25% to 0.5% after fees. Most do not even break even. 

Considering the likelihood of identifying these successful managers in advance in the first place, this is hardly enough to alter the fundamental principles of sound financial management.

Does that mean that there is no role for active investment management at all? Not necessarily. 

Proponents of active management argue that as the number of active managers and the fees they charge decline, the opportunity for active investment management could improve. 

The Moral of the Story: Just Keep Investing

The choice between active management vs. indexing — even after taking fees into account — is FAR less important than deciding how much to save (or spend) in the first place. 

Investing in a well-diversified portfolio, whether indexed or actively managed, eliminates your risk of losing all your savings because a single company goes into bankruptcy or default. 

While you can eliminate this type of risk by not investing in a single company, you can’t eliminate the risks associated with the market, no matter how diverse your investments are. Such risks include:

• Recession
• Runaway inflation
• Political turmoil
• Anything impacting investor sentiment 

But indexing is hardly a low-risk alternative to active investment management.

As anyone who was invested during the dot.com bubble or 2008 financial crisis will tell you, although (relatively) rare, stock index funds can and do lose 50% or more of their value — depending on the type of stocks owned by the fund — during a severe market downturn or financial crisis. 

It’s important to consider your risk tolerance relative to your objectives.

From there, you can set realistic expectations for the returns you can expect from investing, choose an asset allocation that’s appropriate for your risk tolerance and decide on an appropriate amount to save each pay period to have a reasonable chance of achieving your goals.

Whatever investment strategy you decide is a fit for you, be sure to go into it with a firm understanding of what you should expect. 

At that point, whether you’re a tortoise or a hare, you should be well on your way to successfully running your race — no matter who comes in “first.” 

David Metzger is a fee-only wealth manager in Chicago. He is a certified financial planner (CFP) and a chartered financial analyst (CFA). He has taught courses on personal financial planning and investing at DePaul University in Chicago and Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee.

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 https://ift.tt/2MdaXwb