Numerous traders interact day in day out through the financial instrument transaction that happens over the internet. Trading in financial instruments is mainly about making the price changes on the financial securities work out for you. You can generate abundant profits by utilizing to your advantage any price fluctuations. [Read more…]
Remote Workers Get Paid to Live In These Locations
When you work remotely, you’re not stuck living in a specific city or state. This gives you a lot of freedom, as you can essentially take your job with you no matter where you head. Plus, it creates a unique opportunity. As a means of attracting more professionals, some locations actually pay remote workers to relocate there. If you want to see if these programs could work for you, remote workers are paid to live in these locations.
Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.
I Want To Be Rich | Financial Advice from the Wealthy
When you need to know how to get something done, it makes sense to go to the experts. You wouldn’t call a plumber to complete electrical work! You also wouldn’t take advice on how to become rich from a person that is not wealthy. [Read more…]
What Happens When Your Debit Card Expires?
Depending on what financial philosophy you subscribe to, a debit card may be your best friend. Paying with a debit card is a surefire way (outside of loans) to make sure you don’t have any debt. But what happens when your debit card expires?
In today’s post, we’ll answer that question, as well as some related questions.
Why do debit cards expire?
The reason debit cards expire is to prevent fraud. Banks and credit unions make you “renew” your card to thwart fraud.
Think about it. When you’re making a purchase online, they ask for various pieces of information. Name, billing address, card number, security code (CVV), and EXPIRATION DATE.
This also gives the card issuer (bank or credit union) the ability to keep their customer’s identity safe. Every few years, cards get more sophisticated and come up with a new feature. Magnetic strip, then chip reader, then contactless.
Your card number shouldn’t change when it is renewed. The only time your number would change is if you cancel your card, due to losing it or someone stealing it (or the number, expiration date, and CVV), and you need your financial institution to issue you a new one.
Your replacement card
When your debit card expires, your replacement card will come in the mail at least one week before your card is set to expire.
Once you receive your replacement card, activate it, and securely destroy your old card. There are a couple of ways to destroy your old debit card.
- Shred it
- Cut it up and place pieces of the old card in different refuse bins around your home. Better to even throw out pieces across multiple pickups. One week, throw out a piece. Then throw out more than next week. And so on.
- For more…read a related post about recycling bank statements.
Word to the wise
Expired debit cards cannot be used to make purchases. If you try, your card will decline. If you have recurring purchases tied to your card, make sure that’s updated with the new expiration date.
Related reading:
The Things You Need To Do to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
5 Ways to Prevent Identity Theft from Happening to You
**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com
My name is Jacob Sensiba and I am a Financial Advisor. My areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, retirement planning, budgets, and wealth management. Please feel free to contact me at: jacob@crgfinancialservices.com
How to Manage Lawyer and Court Fees – Finances First
Once you get involved in a dispute, claim, or trial, you will have to pay the lawyer and court fees – there’s almost no way to avoid paying them. Even if you work with personal injury lawyers who often require no direct payment if they don’t win your case, you still may have to pay some court fees. [Read more…]
Buying a New Car? Here’s How to Keep Things Financially Safe
Buying a car sounds easy enough. You walk into a dealership and choose whatever fits you. Well, not really! [Read more…]
Is Cheap Insurance Worth It?
Nowadays, given all the expenses that we must manage, people tend to go with the cheapest version of anything. As such, even if they desperately want a new pair of brand sneakers, they will still go on bargain websites and try to buy them. [Read more…]
5 Ways to Prepare Your Finances for Divorce Proceedings
It is certainly difficult to go through a divorce. However, if separation is guaranteed, it may be wiser to focus more on your finances rather than let your guard down and feel sad. [Read more…]
Financial Impact of Automobile Accidents
Usually, after a car accident, people think that their insurance company and the attorney will take care of everything that needs to be done. In short, most people think that automobile accidents come with no financial impact on their lives. [Read more…]
The Best, Low Maintenance Way to Invest 30K
If you’ve been building your savings to start investing and you’ve managed to put aside $30K, you may be wondering what your next step should be. How do I invest 30k? What is the best, low maintenance approach?
Here are some great ways to apply that 30K towards growing your wealth.
Pay Off Debt
First and foremost, use some of the money to pay off any debt you may have. It will save you money in the long-run. If you’re carrying a $10K credit card balance with a 15% interest fee, you’ll be paying an extra $1500/year in interest. That’s money that can be better spent on investments down the road. If you want to invest 30k, first start by getting rid of debt.
Emergency Fund
If you don’t already have one, put some of your money aside in an emergency fund so you know you’ll be able to manage if something unexpected happens. You should have 3-6 months’ worth of expenses put aside in an easily accessible account like a savings account. Just make sure it’s not linked to your debit card so you can’t spend it. The period of time you need to cover varies based on how long you think it would take you to find another job should something happen to your current job.
Earning return
What’s next has all to do with three things: risk tolerance, time horizon, and investment objectives. As a matter of fact, that’s how all of your investment decisions are made.
There are several different vehicles you can utilize, so what I’m going to do is give each vehicle its own section, explain what it is, and then give a little more detail as to when it could be used.
Certificate of Deposit (CD)
A bank product with a specified interest rate and a specified maturity. CDs are used to hold money for a specified period of time in a virtually risk-free fashion. More about CDs.
You’ll choose a CD for two reasons. The first is if you want a safe, federally insured vehicle to stash away some cash. The other reason is if you do not want to touch that money for a specified period. For example, you’re going to buy a house in three years and you don’t want to jeopardize that down payment. You buy/invest in a 3 year CD. At the end of year three, you’ll get back your principal (what you put in) and some accrued interest. Early withdrawal penalties apply.
Savings/Money Market Accounts
Typically used for your emergency fund. Easily accessible, and able to earn a little interest.
That’s pretty much it when it comes to these accounts. The interest they offer will be (not always) pretty low, but, like the CD, it offers a very safe place to store your cash until you need it. Unlike the CD, however, there are no early withdrawal penalties.
Qualified accounts
Basically any retirement account. Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and employer-sponsored plans (401k, Simple IRA, etc.). There are contribution limits associated with these accounts.
With these accounts, as I said, contribution limits are something to pay attention to. With your Traditional and Roth IRA, there’s a $6,000 contribution limit ($7,000 if you’re 50 and older). 401ks have a limit of $19,500 (25,500 for 50 and older). Simple IRA limit is $13,500 ($16,500 for 50 and older).
This is a long term investment solution, as early withdrawal penalties apply. There are several ways to “exempt” yourself from that penalty, however, such as a first home purchase. For an extensive list of these exemptions, click here.
These accounts are also called “tax-advantaged” accounts because, as the name suggests, there are tax advantages. You either lower your taxable income with your contributions or have the ability to withdraw the funds “tax-free” (barring an early withdrawal penalty, of course).
Non-Qualified Accounts
Brokerage accounts or any investment vehicle that doesn’t have any tax benefits. Meaning, you pay taxes on any capital gains and dividends you receive. No contribution limits.
Honestly, the only advantage to these accounts is there is no contribution limit. For example, if you’ve maxed your contribution for your employer-sponsored plan and your IRA, then you can dump the rest of your money here.
Health Savings Account (HSA)
Accounts specifically designed to help you with your medical expenses. Money that you contribute to this account is “tax-free” or “tax-deductible”, which means it lowers your taxable income. Also, the funds, if used for qualified medical expenses, are tax-free.
With some, not all HSAs, you can invest what you’ve contributed. So if you have 30k to invest, I’ll point you to the below section to help with that. There are contribution limits with the HSA, however, so keep that in mind.
Asset allocation
After you’ve selected an investment vehicle (this section does not apply to CDs, savings accounts, or money market accounts), it’s time to invest your capital.
Asset allocation is my preferred method to invest, and I’ve written extensively on it here. So if you want to invest 30k, here’s what you need to ask yourself. How long until I need these funds? What is my ultimate goal for these funds? What am I willing to lose?
If your time period is less than 5 years, ignore this section and stick your money in a savings account or a CD. The risk/reward is unfavorable in this scenario.
If you have, ideally, 10+ years, then you have some options. The next question is about risk tolerance. What kind of portfolio are you comfortable with? Using the stocks/bonds/cash breakdown, are you a 60/40/0 type of person? Maybe you’re quite tolerant and prefer an 80/20/0 approach.
For those of you that are not tolerant of risk and/or you have a shorter number of years until you need to access these funds. Your portfolio should start at 50/50/0, and then adjust as you see fit. The cash portion in this breakdown should be used as investable cash for when you see a buying opportunity and/or funds you’ll need access to in the near future (unriskable capital).
Risk Tolerance
If you really want to know what your unique risk tolerance is, take our quiz!
I know I didn’t really give a concrete answer to what’s posed in the headline, but that’s the thing about investing – it’s incredibly personal. You need to do what’s best for you.
If time is on your side, max your retirement contribution, then put the rest in a savings account until next year. At that time, max it again.
If time isn’t your friend, a CD isn’t a bad idea. As I said earlier, paying down/off debt is incredibly worth it. That’s an automatic 15% return on your money if you pay off your credit card. Money that can be used more effectively going forward.
Read our articles, ask for advice, and do what’s best for you. That’ll help you answer the question: how do you invest 30k?
**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com
My name is Jacob Sensiba and I am a Financial Advisor. My areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, retirement planning, budgets, and wealth management. Please feel free to contact me at: jacob@crgfinancialservices.com
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