Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Filing taxes used to take me 15 minutes. I would wait for the first day taxes could be filed, log in online, fill out a few simple forms, and just wait for my refund check. Then life happened. I created an online business, started a family, owned a few different types of investments, and more. I’m sure I can still file my taxes easily online, but I no longer have the confidence that I can take advantage of every tax break available to me.
Now I solicit the help of a tax guy. He’s great – confident, attentive, and knowledgeable. He’s also expensive. What I don’t like the most is how it now takes me a few hours to gather documents, drive out to meet him just to tell him all the nuances of my past tax year and then to email him every once in a while to make sure he is working on my return.
Telemarketing has been around since the early days of the telephone. Now that we have caller ID and the “do not call” registry, unwanted cold calls have become less of a problem for most of us — but that doesn’t mean they’ve completely disappeared.
In fact, with the rise of automated telemarketing — otherwise known as robocalling — it looks like the annoying calls have simply evolved. If these automated calls could simply be chalked up as the digital version of cold calling, it would be the least of our worries.
But many of them are deliberate scams designed to trick people into sharing their account details, social security numbers, and other personal information. Based on consumer reporting, the Federal Trade Commission estimates there are 2.6 billion of these calls each month.
Companies of all kinds are always looking for ways to increase their revenue — and that includes financial institutions. Today, traditional banks are being forced to compete with a constant influx of financial technology (Fintech) companies, and their desperation for new income streams has led them to create unlikely alliances with insurance companies.
Over the last few years, my husband and I have received numerous letters from our credit union offering $1,000 of “free” accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance coverage. We never sent in the consent forms because it seemed rather odd, almost gimmicky, although the paperwork assured us it was a gesture of appreciation to us as loyal credit union members.
Recently I saw a question on Reddit about the legitimacy of these offers, and the varied responses got me thinking and researching on the topic. I found assurance that these offers aren’t usually scams — but I still won’t be signing up. Here are four reasons you might want to pitch these offers, too. [ continue reading… ]
A recent survey showed that 84% of us have financial goals for 2018, and these five top the list:
Saving money
Paying down debt
Sticking to a budget
Improving credit scores
Increasing retirement savings
How do these line up with your 2018 money goals?
It’s easy to set New Year’s goals, but statistics show that only 8% of us successfully achieve them. A few reasons we don’t reach our financial goals, specifically, are that we tend to set too many goals and fail to create a plan of how we’re going to accomplish them.
If you want to make 2018 different, here’s some MoneyNing advice for moving these top five from goals to lifelong habits: [ continue reading… ]
We’ve been hearing a lot about Bitcoin in the news lately, and financial advisors say they’re fielding more and more questions about this intriguing digital currency.
(If you need to get caught up on Bitcoin and block chain technology, read this article).
As with any technology, it’s taken a few years for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to become more mainstream — and that time seems to have arrived.
From branch closures and smaller drive-through formats to more ATMs than bank tellers, it’s clear that traditional banking as we’ve known it is rapidly changing.
While the 65 and older generation is finally getting comfortable completing transactions online, the youngest generation has moved on to mobile devices. Overall, an American Bankers Association survey from September 2017 indicates that 4 out of 10 Americans do most of their banking online, and mobile banking ranks a close second.
Before we assume the trend toward online banking signals the slow death of traditional banks, let’s look at what finance industry leaders are seeing and predicting. Here are three personal banking trends we’re almost certain to spot as we move into 2018. [ continue reading… ]
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