When you've put together a budget, you might think that you have a good grasp on your finances. However, knowing where you've spent your money is only half the story. The other half is knowing how your funds should be allocated.
You probably know that credit unions and banks offer checking accounts and savings accounts. What you might not know, however, is how many different types of savings accounts are available.
One of the biggest myths about rich people is that they know some ultra-classified money management secrets that let them make millions of dollars each year. It should go without saying that a lot of people on the Internet claim to have unearthed these secrets and will gladly reveal them for a modest fee.
Money market accounts are a type of high interest savings account that offers similar features to a checking account. Typically, these accounts offer the advantage of earning a higher interest rate on the money you’re saving, while still having convenient access to your cash when you need it. Of course, as wonderful as all that sounds, there are disadvantages to money market accounts to consider as well.
How do you plan and budget for your pet expenses? Maybe you use your credit card or have pet insurance to help pay for some of the costs as they crop up, but using a pet savings account will actually help you get ahead of the costs related to pet ownership.
Every financial expert talks about the importance of saving money. A lot of them have also come up with innovative ways to save, not to mention what to do with the money you’ve put aside. The problem for many people isn’t that they’re unaware of how to save money or how to invest it, though. It’s that saving money at all can be hard.
Setting a savings goal can be difficult, especially when you're not sure where to start. Often, we end up setting our goals too high and they're impossibly hard to reach. I'm a huge fan of starting small and working your way up.
In previous blog posts, we’ve talked about why a trust fund can help you even if you’re not rich. We’ve also talked about how to set up a trust fund. However, there’s one part of a trust we haven’t talked about. If you want your trust fund to succeed, you’ll need to pick a good trustee. If you don’t, your fund may hurt your beneficiaries more than it helps.
Are you hoping to get a refund from your 2018 tax return? If so, you’re not alone. Many people intend to use their refund as a "forced savings plan," essentially withholding extra taxes on purpose in order to get a larger refund at the end of the year, instead of being tempted to spend it during the year.
The number one tip you hear again and again from financial experts is start an emergency fund. This typically means having money in a savings account that is equal to three to six months of your income. If you have no money saved, this can seem like an overwhelming task to accomplish, and it is admittedly not going to happen overnight. However, there are easy and incremental steps you can take to start building your emergency savings fund now, so you are more prepared for your future.
