Do you have less than $25,000 in your retirement account right now?
You’re far from alone, my friend. The fact is, 40% of Americans have less than $25,000 saved for retirement, according to a Northwestern Mutual study. That’s scary.
But, hey, we’re not here to lecture you or instill fear in you. We’re here to cheer you on and show you how to get back on track.
We’ve got six ways to boost your balance and sock away more savings for your golden years. Bonus: You can start doing most of these things today!
If your employer offers a 401(k) plan as part of its benefits package, then you should absolutely, definitely take full advantage of your employer’s matching contribution.
“Take advantage of your full company match,” says Jeff Dixson, a financial adviser in Vancouver, Washington, who hosts a radio show called “The Retirement Coach.” “If they match 3%, contribute 3%. If they match 6%, try to get to 6%. That’s free money. There’s nowhere else you’re going to get free money.”
If you’re already at the full company match, consider increasing your contributions even more. Trying raising it by at least 1%.
If your employer doesn’t have a 401(k) package, or if you’re self-employed, you should strongly consider stashing retirement savings in a tax-free IRA. Contribute to it routinely and automatically, if you can.
Once you’ve got your retirement account going, it’s a good idea to look into more ways to invest — like stocks. You really don’t need that much to get started, and you can even get free stocks (worth up to $500!) if you know where to look.
Whether you’re got $5, $100 or $800 to spare, you can start investing with Robinhood.
Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. Plus, it’s super easy to use.
What’s best? When you download the app and fund your account (it takes no more than a few minutes), Robinhood drops a share of free stock into your account. It’s random, though, so that stock could be worth anywhere from $5 to $500 — a nice boost to help you build your investments.
It’s hard to build your retirement savings if you’re losing money to credit card debt. And your credit card company is just getting rich by ripping you off with high interest rates. But a website called AmOne wants to help.
If you owe your credit card companies $50,000 or less, AmOne will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every single one of your balances.
The benefit? You’ll be left with one bill to pay each month. And because personal loans have lower interest rates (AmOne rates start at 3.99% APR), you’ll get out of debt that much faster. Plus: No credit card payment this month.
AmOne won’t make you stand in line or call your bank, either. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could help you pay off your debt years faster — allowing you to focus your efforts on your retirement savings.
It might feel like you’re not making enough money to save for retirement. That’s where picking up a flexible side gig can help. We like the flexibility work-from-home side gigs offer — like tutoring kids online.
Right now, Education First, an international tutoring program, is looking for tutors who’ll teach English online to kids ages 5 to 10. You can work from home, pick your schedule and make up to $20 an hour. Not bad, right?
You’ll need a bachelor’s degree to qualify and, if you’re hired, a 40-hour TEFL certificate. (You can take these courses online; we recommend finding one through Groupon to score a deal!)
You’ll also get plenty of opportunities to earn more money. For example, you’ll earn a surge bonus if you teach classes between 6 and 8 a.m. on weekdays or 9 and 10:30 p.m. on weekends. Plus, once you teach 200 classes, you’ll get a $100 bonus.
Applying online is simple; just fill out some basic information (it takes less than a minute) to start the process. You’ll then receive an email requesting a copy of your resume. The Education First crew will review it and get back to you with next steps.
Once you’ve got a second stream of income, you’ll start feeling more confident shoveling money toward your savings.
Take a look at the Forbes Richest People list, and you’ll notice almost all the billionaires have one thing in common — they own another company.
But if you work for a living and just want to make sure you have enough to survive retirement, that can sound totally out of reach.
That’s why we like the app Stash. It lets you be a part of something that’s normally exclusive to the richest of the rich — buying pieces of other companies. But Stash you can start with as little as a $5 investment.
You can buy pieces of well-known companies, like McDonald’s, Apple, Tesla* and more.
The best part? When these companies profit, so can you.
It takes two minutes to sign up, plus Stash will give you a $5 sign-up bonus. (You just doubled your money!) Stash offers subscription plans starting at $1.00 a month.** As a reminder, investing involves risk.
You might not be in the next issue of Forbes, but this is a great way to get started.
*The Penny Hoarder is a Paid Affiliate/partner of Stash. This material is not intended as investment advice and is not meant to suggest that any securities are suitable investments for any particular investor. Investment advice is only provided to Stash customers.
**You’ll also bear the standard fees and expenses reflected in the pricing of the ETFs in your account, plus fees for various ancillary services charged by Stash.
Have you thought about how your family would manage without your income after you’re gone? How they’ll pay the bills? Send the kids through school? Even if you don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars saved for retirement, now’s a good time to start planning for the future by securing a life insurance policy.
You’re probably thinking: I don’t have the time or money for that. But your application shouldn’t take more than about five minutes — and you could leave your family $1 million with a company called Bestow.
Rates start at just $5 a month, and you can change or cancel your plan at any time. Plus, the security of knowing your family is taken care of is priceless.
If you’re under the age of 54 and want to get a fast life insurance quote without a medical exam, pushy sales calls or even getting up from the couch, get a free quote from Bestow.
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He has money saved for retirement, but not enough.
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.
So all those other drivers on the road are the problem, huh? That’s what 9 out of 10 of Americans think, according to a famous study conducted by a Swedish psychologist.
However, additional studies seem to indicate this perceived superiority (among other things) could be a major cause of road rage. And given that the costs of road rage are high both to us as individuals and society as a whole, combating it should probably be a priority for everyone.
Here’s why we should all take a moment to slow down before we get behind the wheel next time.
For a term as common as “road rage” is, an accurate definition of it is often hard to agree on.
Is it driving aggressively? Yelling at the jerk who is driving too slow? Or maybe something more serious, like chasing someone down for cutting you off?
While aggressive driving, anger at other drivers and road rage all certainly have ties, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines them differently (and more specifically, according to the punishment received for each):
Punishment for road rage falls under “reckless driving” in most states (with the exception of California, which has a specific law for it). And while the punishment for reckless driving varies by state, typically it’s classified as a criminal offense (misdemeanor) and is punished as such.
Many studies have sought to explain what causes otherwise normal human beings to lose it behind the wheel. While no one causation has been determined, three primary things have been found to contribute:
Research on deindividuation theory has been conducted in numerous settings (not just driving) and has found that when we feel anonymous, we’re more likely to disregard societal norms for behavior.
Basically, it’s easier to get mad at someone when we don’t know them because we’re less likely to be held accountable for it.
“It’s the same reason why people feel like they’re entitled to be angry on certain social media platforms,” Dr. Himanshu Agrawal (a psychiatrist at the Medical College of Wisconsin) explains.
Since we rarely know the person in the car next to us (and since we also have a box of glass/steel between us and them), driving creates that sense of anonymity, making it easier for us to lash out.
That same famous study conducted by Swedish psychologist Ola Svenson also revealed that 88% of Americans believed they were safer drivers than the average person (compared to 77% of Swedes).
This belief has been studied in other settings as well (college professors for example) and is known by psychologists as “illusory superiority.” Experts believe that this may be evolutionary, in the sense that it contributes to lower stress levels and motivates us.
On the road, however, it makes us more likely to get mad at others for being “terrible drivers,” increasing the likelihood of road rage. Or in some cases, making poor decisions that have disastrous results.
It probably comes as no surprise that stress we carry from day to day can find its way onto the road in the form of road rage. And indeed, studies have confirmed this is the case for many road rage offenders (but the most severe offenders in particular):
“Fifty-three percent of 131 subjects reported a recent incident of road rage. Perpetrator and victim groups differed from controls. Perpetrators had increased aggression scores and psychiatric morbidity.” Source
“A cluster analysis revealed 5 distinct groups of people affected by road rage. The most serious offenders (referred to hereafter as the hardcore road rage group), representing 5.5% of those affected, exhibited frequent involvement in the most severe forms of road rage and were the most likely (27.5%) to report psychiatric distress.” Source
Psychologists have also found road rage has ties to Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), a condition where fits of rage and violence are regular and disproportionate to the situation. While the causes are not entirely known, stressors in a person’s environment have been linked to it.
The costs associated with road rage can include injury, death, fines and prison time, in addition to a steep spike in your insurance rates if you’re found liable for an incident.
Studies show that while people are no more likely to feel angry while driving compared to when they’re not, they are more likely to express it behind the wheel.
This ties back to deindividuation theory – that it’s easier to get angry when you feel like you have less chance of being held accountable for it.
But as it turns out, any anger behind the wheel is a risk all by itself.
For example, one study found that “Angry thoughts were significantly related to aggressive driving, risky driving and crash-related events.”
Another study found that “high-anger drivers reported more risky behavior in daily driving, more frequent close calls and moving violations and greater use of hostile/aggressive and less adaptive/constructive ways of expressing anger.”
The results of this increase in aggressive driving? The NHTSA found that 66% of all driving fatalities are linked to it:
Since aggressive driving has been shown to increase accidents and deaths, we wanted to know how this affects drivers monetarily in the form of insurance coverage and premiums.
First and foremost, many auto insurance policies won’t cover road rage incidents if you were responsible for them, even if you’re paying your premium. For example, this policy from Allstate specifically excludes coverage for “loss caused intentionally by or at the direction of an insured person.”
Furthermore, some car insurance providers may not renew your policy once it expires if you were at fault due to road rage or if you have a criminal offense on your driving record (i.e. reckless driving).
While a universal, one-to-one correlation isn’t possible to make (too many variables), the answer lies in how insurance companies determine what to charge you each month.
Insurance companies look at your driving record, your lifestyle and even your credit score to determine whether you’re a high-risk driver or a low-risk driver… and set your premiums accordingly.
Since your insurance premium will also depend on where you live and what you drive, to get a feel for what kind of increase to expect, We decided to look at what it would mean for me for someone who was classified as high-risk.
We used our Car Insurance Comparison Tool to grab a few quotes based on three different scenarios. Here’s what we found:
As you can see, a single reckless driving violation would more than double their monthly premium for someone that lives in California and drives an average car.
And since aggressive driving has been proven to increase the chances of that happening, road rage has the ability to increase your monthly auto insurance expenses significantly in a heartbeat if you’re not careful.
While most states do not have laws that specifically call out “road rage” as an offense (with the exception of California, where it’s considered felony assault with a deadly weapon), as mentioned above, most states do classify road rage incidents as reckless driving misdemeanors.
Punishment for these criminal charges can include fines up to $2,500 or jail time up to 12 months… and sometimes both. Most states will also put 2-6 points on your driving record.
While we can’t control what others do on the road, there are things we can do as individuals to control our own emotions and protect ourselves while driving.
The National Safety Foundation found that those who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to get angry and get into fights with others in traffic jams.
Furthermore, AAA’s research shows that “If you miss just one or two hours of your normal sleep within a 24 hour period, your performance as a driver has the same level of risk as driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 0.08, the legal limit,” putting you at risk for making poor decisions on the road.
The combination of these two data points suggests that getting plenty of sleep helps keep you calm and level headed in traffic.
As mentioned above, studies have shown that stress has a big impact on how we react to other people on the road (not to mention our relationships and day-to-day happiness).
Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been proven effective in reducing stress. So if you’re feeling stressed out, seeing a therapist about it might be the right thing to do.
Avoid reacting to someone who is caught up in a fit of road rage – your reaction could make them react even more. Instead, focus on staying cool yourself. Aggressive driving increases the chances of an accident, so it’s smarter and safer to just let them go.
You can’t control what others do. Dial 911 immediately if another driver has become aggressive and you feel your life is in danger (just make sure to keep your eyes on the road when you do).
The post Why We Have Road Rage and How to Combat It appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
Tandem cashback credit cardholders must join new fee-paying membership scheme or lose the card altogether.
Challenger Bank, Tandem, will introduce a £5.99 monthly fee for its cashback credit card from 9 March 2020.
Launched in February 2018, the Tandem Cashback credit card offers fee-free spending overseas as well as 0.5% cashback on purchases worldwide.
Tandem invited existing cardholders to join the new Tandem Membership scheme which offers the following features:
Customers who decide not to become members will be able to use their cards as normal until 9 March 2020.
After this date, their cards will be deactivated, and their credit agreement will remain in place until the credit card balance is repaid.
Existing Tandem customers have been less than impressed with Tandem, with some finding the membership fee to be too expensive:
Couldn't agree more, how many customers could possibly justify the membership fee? Already applied for an Aqua card, same cashback and travel benefits with no fee.
— Maddie Deaton (@two4theroad) January 8, 2020
Yep, I'm off too come March. Originally got it for a specific trip abroad but there are others available for next time. Kept it for the 0.5% cashback on spending, but as I don't spend enough on it to earn more than the fee each month, Tandem membership would lose me money! Oops!
— Jonathan Gadsby (@JG_Jonno) January 8, 2020
£72 a year charge for the card, and REMOVAL OF SERVICE FOR EVERYONE WHO DOESNT SIGN UP? Why not offer two levels, paid and unpaid?
— Craig (@MrCraigDuncan) January 8, 2020
The introduction of the Tandem Membership scheme was prompted by customer research amongst existing cardholders, according to the challenger bank.
Its new feature structure aims to offer all Tandem customers a “well-balanced deal.”
Ricky Knox, co-founder and chief executive of Tandem, says: “We want to continue to offer products and services that make a real difference to our customers, but we also need that offer to be sustainable.
“That’s why we’re taking the opportunity to test a membership model that preserves all of the benefits of the cashback card and more.”
If you would like a new cashback credit card there are several options to consider.
The Amex Express Platinum Cashback Everyday Card has no annual fee and has an introductory offer of 5% cashback on spending for the first three months, up to a £100 limit.
After that cardholders will earn 1% cashback on spending over £5,001 per year and 0.5% on spending below this amount.
The aqua Reward Mastercard gives customers 0.5% cashback on all spending up to a limit of £100 per year.
This card is designed for those with a poor credit history (although anyone can apply) so beware of the high interest rate.
You'll need to pay this card off in full every month to avoid paying a high rate of interest (34.9%) on your balance.
Check out our guide to the best cashback credit cards for more information.
There’s really only one way to get out of credit card debt: by paying off the balance. But there are plenty of pitfalls along the way to make the payoff more costly than it needs to be.
With balances continuing to climb — credit card balances in the U.S. rose $13 billion between the second and third quarter in 2019 — it’s in your best interest to do everything you can to put a dent in debt that costs you in double-digit interest rates every month.
Picking a method for paying down the balance should be your first step — there are plenty of options, including avalanche, snowball, stack and starve — but there are mistakes you should avoid to ensure you get the maximum value out of whatever method you choose.
We’re here to help you avoid the most common — and costly — errors people make when getting out of debt. Let it help you make the best money decisions during your climb.
You’re ready to pay off that credit card. That’s great! But just randomly paying back money without a strategy could end up costing you more money. Here are the seven credit card debt mistakes you should avoid.
You know how if you don’t make plans for a day off, you end up wasting it on a Netflix binge instead of doing something productive?
Well, the same goes for paying off debt. If you’re simply going about it without a plan, there’s a good chance all your good intentions — and extra payments — will end up getting spent elsewhere.
How to prevent the money from disappearing? A budget.
Stop whining — it’s no different than planning a vacation itinerary. Instead of blowing your money on new shoes, you’ll create an attack plan and pay off debt faster with a clear direction.
Never miss a bill — and incur late fees — by automating payments. Many service providers and banks provide automatic withdrawals for bills on specified dates each month.
By reviewing a monthly budget, you can see where you might be overspending in certain areas (I spent how much on takeout?!?) and commit to applying that money to your credit card debt instead.
Even if you’ve never lived with one before, we can help you create a budget that fits your lifestyle and your money goals.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that replacing credit card debt with a personal loan is just trading one debt for another. Interest rates can make a big difference.
How much of a difference? Let’s say you have $5,000 in credit card debt and you commit to paying $400 every month.
If your credit card interest rate is 17%, it will take you 14 months to pay off the debt, and you’ll pay $542 in interest. If you take out a low-interest loan at 4%, it will take you one one less month to pay off the loan, and you’ll pay $116 in interest — a savings of $426.
If you’re paying off credit cards and you know you’re within striking distance of wiping them out, you could be throwing away money on interest by not researching short-term options.
By opening a balance transfer credit card, you could save yourself a bundle on interest. Balance transfer credit cards generally come with lower introductory interest rates for a set amount of time (plus any transfer fees). The rates then rise to a higher annual percentage rate after the promotional period ends.
If you’re prepared to pay off your credit cards within the promotional period, it would be a big financial faux pas not to put in the extra effort to research balance transfer offers.
And consolidating your credit card balances could not only save you money with a lower interest rate but also keep you on a more livable payment schedule, thus avoiding those pesky late payment fees.
If you’ve reduced your expenses, but you’re still coming up short on extra credit card payments, remember the other half of the financial equation: money coming in.
Getting a side gig to bank extra money for payments can accelerate your payoff schedule in a meaningful way. Consider this: If you make $50 extra each week, you could pay an extra $600 toward the credit card balance after just three months.
An exit plan that defines clear financial goals can stave off a reliance on money from gig work to cover basic necessities and stop you from getting stuck in an endless hustle.
One of the keys to making the side gig work for you is to create a specific goal for the money you want to earn or the time you want to spend working. By developing an exit plan for your side gig, you won’t end up burning out and spending all the extra cash on ways to make up for being overworked.
If you feel like you’ve tried everything — or nothing, because you’re too overwhelmed — it’s time to swallow your pride and ask a professional for help.
A credit counselor can review your financial situation and make recommendations to improve it. Depending on your situation, they might help you organize your credit accounts, obtain a credit report, develop a budget or even help you set up a plan to pay off your debt.
If your credit card debt is more temporary but urgent — think: you got laid off and your water heater just died — you can also ask your credit card issuer for a break via a credit card hardship program.
The little-advertised assistance option could suspend your minimum payments or reduce your interest rate temporarily. But you won’t get the help unless you ask for it.
Let’s say you’ve been paying down your credit card balance for a few months (or years). You get the statement in the mail that says your current balance is $1,000 and you’re ready to pay it off.
You go online to make the payment in full, but you schedule it for 10 days later because you’re waiting for pay day.
When you get next month’s statement, you’ll see that you were charged interest on that $1,000 for the 10 days between the account closing date and your payment (and probably a couple extra days for the time it took for the statement to arrive in the mail). That’s called residual interest (or trailing interest).
It might only be a few dollars, but if you don’t pay the residual interest — which could easily happen if you think that the balance is paid in full so you ignore the next statement — that amount will continue to accrue interest.
And not paying it will result in late fees and a hit to your credit score.
Instead, call your credit card company for the full payoff amount as of the date the issuer will receive the payment, then monitor your credit card statement for at least a couple months after to make sure the residual interest has been paid off, too.
Paying off your credit card bill is important. But so is your future.
If you’re putting every last dime toward credit card payments, you could be setting yourself up for a big financial hardship down the road.
In the short term, that could be due to an unexpected expense and no emergency fund to cover the cost.
In the long term, you could be losing out on retirement savings by not investing early and letting compound interest do its thing to grow your nest egg.
And once you make that last payment — oh, joy! — you’ll understandably want to celebrate.
But you’ll also want to think about life after debt, including sticking with the good strategies you used to get out of debt rather than falling back into bad habits that got you into debt in the first place.
Tiffany Wendeln Connors is a staff writer/editor at The Penny Hoarder. Read her bio and other work here, then catch her on Twitter @TiffanyWendeln.
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.
I feel as if I have been unfairly treated in my divorce settlement.
Following my divorce and dividing of the assets, I learnt that a principle called ‘notional costs of sale’ had been applied to my share, despite the fact that the matrimonial home was not being sold.
What concerned me further was that I was not told in advance that it was being applied. I was not given a breakdown of the final figure and it only came to light after it was all too late. A figure of 3% was used on the value of the property. I was informed these costs are ‘always’ applied yet I now learn they are not mandatory and are open to negotiation. How can this be fair?
The practice of deducting notional sale expenses from the matrimonial home can seem confusing and unfair. It comes from the requirement that both parties to the divorce must give full, frank and clear disclosure of all their financial and other relevant circumstances. As the ultimate objective is for the parties to negotiate a full financial settlement of their respective claims and have it approved by a judge, the financial disclosure they make of their assets and income must be net of all liabilities, charges and tax.
In the vast majority of cases, the matrimonial home will be subject to a mortgage, the value of which has to be deducted from the overall gross value of the property and so do the sale expenses, such as legal and conveyancing costs. Sale expenses have been calculated until very recently on a figure of 3% of the sale value of the property, but as the property market has cooled, it is possible to argue down this figure to 2.5% or 2%.
Where it can feel unfair is when one spouse has to either buy a new home (including the payment of stamp duty and legal costs) or rent one, while the other spouse remains in the matrimonial home and appears to have none of this expense.
It is very likely, however, that the spouse who stays in the house will sell it at some point when they, too, will have to pay the entire sale expenses or their estate will have to do so if they die while still owning the property. After an appreciable period of time has elapsed, these expenses are likely to be much greater, so there is a consequence for the spouse who resides in the former marital home, even if they remain there for a long period.
In my experience, the application of notional cost of sale is common practice in divorce settlements. I suspect that had you tried to argue the unfairness at the time it would have been pointed out to you that in the future a sale of that property would be inevitable.
Jane Keir is a family law and divorce partner at Kingsley Napley LLP
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Email fightback@moneywise.co.uk
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Email editor@moneywise.co.uk
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Would you like a full money makeover? We will arrange a free one-to-one meeting for you with an FCA-regulated independent financial adviser worth over £2,000.
See Moneywise.co.uk/money-makeover for more details.
Dear C.,
I only want you staring at the wall at night if you’re contemplating paint choices for your new home.
It sounds like your gut is telling you that buying a home is right for you in the long term. Unfortunately, even the right decision doesn’t mean you’ll never have another anxiety-induced stare-in-silence-at-the-wall kind of night. Expensive repairs, job losses, market downturns can always happen.
No matter how prepared you are, these events won’t be pleasant, though a decent emergency fund can ease the stress. So will having as little debt as possible.
So I think there’s a pretty simple solution to your homebuying quandary: Wait until next year when you’ve paid off your debt. Keep the $60,000 in liquid savings.
Once you’re ready to buy, you probably won’t need to drain the full $60,000 from your savings. The median down payment for first-time homebuyers is just 6%, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In the meantime, try having a friendly chat with your neighbor to let them know the smoke is impacting you. If they’re not willing to work out a solution, like smoking outside, go to your landlord. They often have wide discretion to restrict indoor smoking.
Holding off has an obvious benefit: You’ll be better prepared for those expected-yet-unexpected homeownership costs with the other 70% of your income freed up.
While you crush the last of that debt, consider meeting with a financial planner to figure out how much house you can afford. Crafting a plan with help from a professional will make this decision a lot less scary.
There’s also a less obvious benefit to paying off your debt before buying a home: the confidence boost.
Your early experiences with money were negative. But paying off debt is a huge win. You’ll have evidence that the tough times didn’t define you.
You’ll know that not only are the black mold meth apartment days behind you — but so is the debt you carried over from that chapter.
Robin Hartill is a senior editor at The Penny Hoarder and the voice behind Dear Penny. Send your questions about homebuying to AskPenny@thepennyhoarder.com.
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.
Paragon expands savings range with new notice Cash ISA.
Paragon has launched a new market-leading 120-day notice cash Isa paying 1.31% AER.
Customers can sign up to the account online with a minimum deposit of £500.
Notice accounts work by requiring the saver to give advance notice before withdrawing any money from their account.
Paragon offers the best rate of return for a notice cash Isa at 1.31% (AER).
The Earl Shilton 90 day notice cash Isa and Aldermore's 30 day notice cash Isa follow closely behind, offering 1.30% AER.
Most notice accounts require between 30 and 90 days before a saver can withdraw money, but some can ask for as much as 180 days.
While Paragon currently pays the highest rate of interest, its notice period is much higher than its competitors.
Usually the longer you are willing to lock your money away in a savings account, the greater rate of return you’ll get.
With interest rates being notoriously low, these types of account can seem tempting.
They do, however, come with withdrawal restrictions which could prevent you from accessing your cash in an emergency.
If the money you’re thinking about locking away is your emergency fund, it may be best to choose a savings account that offers more flexibility to access your cash in case your circumstances change.
Savers that already have a rainy day fund in place but want to save a little extra may find that locking their extra money away could get them better returns.
Our guides on the best cash Isa rates and best savings rates reveal the top savings accounts available on the market right now.
Most of us want to get the most value for our dollar when we’re buying things. At the same time, one aspect of our purchases that many of us care about is ethics. What are the ethical implications of our purchases?
That kind of ethical concern can take on a lot of forms. Perhaps you’re concerned about the environmental impact of the things you buy. Are they manufactured in an environmentally friendly way? What about the packaging? Others might be concerned with the treatment of animals. Does the company treat animals in an ethical fashion? Many of us are concerned about the ethical treatment of workers. Are the workers at the factories or in the fields paid well? Are they treated well?
Sometimes, we find ourselves making purchases with a bit of a guilty feeling. At other times, we even avoid purchases or spend more on purchases to avoid those ethical dilemmas.
All of these feelings are complex, and they’re made even harder when we’re concerned about our money, too. How do we balance all of these ideas and concerns without spending tons of money on the most ethical goods?
Here are seven strategies to use.
The first strategy is easy. Just stop buying stuff. If you don’t need something, don’t buy it.
This choice makes it easy to spend less money and thus keeps money in your pocket. It also guarantees that your money isn’t going to unethical companies, either. It also means that you’ll have plenty of money to support a much smaller number of more ethical products and services, and since you’re reducing your purchases, you have more time to pay attention to the purchases you do make.
You can achieve all of that by simply saying “no” more often. Stop buying things you don’t need.
Another strategy to use is to simply buy items secondhand. Once items are being sold secondhand, your acquisition and use of them has far less ethical consequence because you are not buying a new product fresh from the manufacturer. You don’t support a manufacturer by buying its product secondhand; rather, you’re just supporting the local thrift store, the person running a yard sale or the person selling on Craigslist.
This is particularly important when your concerns are more environmental in nature. Buying secondhand is a great way to simultaneously minimize the amount of junk that makes its way into landfills, minimize the number of new items being produced and also minimize your own expense.
It is essentially impossible to find an ethically “perfect” good, product or service. Almost all production causes waste. People aren’t ethically perfect. Even if a particular business does a lot of things well, they can’t be sure about the entirety of all of its supply chains. You can find an ethical problem with essentially every producer of goods and every service provider if you look close enough.
What you have to figure out is what matters most to you. Figure out one or two ethical issues that matter the most to you and focus on making ethical purchases with regard to those specific issues. Lean into those issues and don’t worry as much about other issues.
Perhaps you care about how much of a company’s manufacturing and sourcing comes from America above all else. Or, maybe, you care about how the company treats all of its employees and all of its sources with fair wages and good treatment. Maybe you’re most concerned with companies minimizing the environmental impact of its production and products and want to avoid big polluters and waste producers.
There is no truly wrong answer here. Whatever it is that concerns you the most, lean into that.
But aren’t those other issues important? Sure, but if you try to lean into every possible ethical concern, you lose the time and ability to understand and adequately research how each company you might buy products and services from addresses the ethical concerns you care about the most. Choose one or two and really understand them front and back. That way, you know you’re making ethical choices on the core issue or two most important to you.
It’s easy to discover that one company is acting horribly in terms of an ethical area that concerns you. Maybe you discover that a company has abysmal practices when it comes to employee treatment, for example. Simply boycotting that company is an easy choice, right?
Don’t just think of ethical shopping in terms of avoiding really unethical businesses. You should also think of ethical shopping in terms of intentionally supporting highly ethical ones.
When you find a company or organization that really hits a home run in the ethical dimension you care the most about, lean into that company. Buy its products for all of your uses. Give its products as gifts. Laud that company publicly.
Ethical shopping doesn’t just mean avoiding the worst companies. That often results in companies aiming to be just slightly better than the worst. Rather, aim to intentionally support and buy from the most ethical companies in the issue or two you care about, and make it known why you buy from them by sharing. This encourages competitors to strive for those high expectation of ethics.
You make the most impact by making a better ethical choice about companies and services you use frequently than ones you use infrequently.
For example, you should strive to make sure that the financial institutions you use are as ethical as possible. Make sure that the energy companies you do business with are as ethical as can be in the areas you care about. Make sure your primary grocery store is an ethical employer, particularly if employment issues are your main concern. Make sure that the brands you most commonly buy are ethical behaviors in the areas of your ethical concern.
You will have far more impact if you spend your energy making sure you’re maximizing your ethics in terms of the businesses that hold your money and the businesses that take the largest portions of your money. Start with the big slices of your financial pie and move down.
Yes, this means that you might make occasional small purchases without understanding the ethics, but that single occasional small purchase has a tiny impact. Spend your energy on where your dollars make a much larger impact.
When you’ve identified your specific area of ethical concern, it’s a good idea to learn about the various certifications that companies and products can earn within that level of concern and what those certifications actually mean.
What does it mean to be “USDA organic”? That might be very important if your area of ethical concern is pesticide use, for example. What does it mean to be “fair trade certified,” and who’s doing the certification?
There are many areas of ethical concern that have certifying organizations. Sometimes, you’ll find these on product packaging or websites. At other times, you’ll have to find certifying organizations independently and they’ll often list products and companies on their website. These certifications help — if you can trust the certification, then the certifications can lead you to trusted products.
Sometimes, you’ll find out that you were wrong about an organization. Maybe it’s more ethical than you thought, or maybe it isn’t as ethically wonderful as you believed.
Regardless of which side of that balance you find yourself, it’s OK to be wrong about your initial views. Don’t hold onto them; let new information change your course of thinking and your decision making.
Similarly, you may find that a new ethical issue has become more important to you. It’s OK to step back and use this new issue as the primary guide for purchasing decisions. You can always continue to support an ethical company you discovered before, even if your main ethical concern is a new one.
It’s OK to be wrong. It’s OK to change your mind. The goal is to make better steps going forward, not to feel guilty about mistakes made in the past.
You don’t have to be perfect. Just aim to be better.
Good luck.
The post How to Shop Ethically Without Breaking Your Budget appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
