Did you make any New Year’s financial resolutions? According to Bankrate.com, the top financial resolutions are to stay current on living expenses,to pay down debt and to save money. By first month, 30 percent of us have given up on these resolutions. Don’t worry. Elisabeth Leamy, from ABC News, shares 50 excellent strategies to keep your money resolutions. Instead of focusing on small stuff such as packing for lunch or skipping Starbucks coffee, she encourages people to save big–at least $1000–by control the top five costs: Housing, Cars, Credit, Groceries and Health Care. By applying some of the 50 strategies to save at least $1,000 on these top five costs, you are in much better shape to keep your money resolutions for the year.
Who Are The Top Income Earners in America
Based on the Internal Revenue Service’s database, Financial Samurai write an excellent article about how much the top income earners make. To be the 1% one needs to make $380,354, and to be in top 5%, it is $159,619. To be above 50%, one only needs to earn around $33,000 per year. While it’s the trend to complain about the top 1% of tax payers, but they pay nearly 38% of all the income taxes. If you earn less than $33,000, you can join the above-average income earners by moving to high-tech locations where the average salary is way above average. You can also try to work more than 40 hours a week and to upgrade your skills constantly in order to get ahead. After all, there are still many six-figure jobs available in the market.
Young Americans Delay Other Life Decisions Due to Student Loan
Base on a whitepaper report from American Student Assistance, US News & World Report discussed about the profound impact of student loan debt on the daily lives and spending habits of young Americans. The student debts affect the majority of borrowers’ decisions to make large purchase such as car and home. Borrowers believe education is worth it, but they are making financial sacrifices elsewhere. These young Americans have problem saving for their emergency fund and for their retirement. Education is a great investment but it also make the new generations more indebted.
Is Saving More Money One of Your New Year Resolution?
An article on Brownsville Herald recommend saving more money as a resolution to keep. According to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, over half of American households have less than one month of income available in case of an emergency. Personal finance bloggers often advise to keep at least three to six months of income as a part of emergency fund. However, saving can be difficult for those with household incomes of less than $35,000. The ability to save mostly depends on age and household income. So, does saving more money rank near the top of your resolution list?
62 People Own as Much Wealth as the Poorest Half of the World Population
According to Oxfam report, just 62 people own about the poorest half of the entire world population – or 3.6 billion people. Back in 2010 it took 388 rich people. But as the global inequality has reached levels not seen in over a century, the richest 1 percent own more than the other 99 percent put together. To put that into perspective, the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population – that’s 3.6 billion people – has fallen by a trillion dollars since 2010 while the wealth of the richest 62 has increased by more than half a trillion dollars.
Live Below Your Means
Some of the basic concepts of personal finance needs to repeat as often as possible. One of them is to live below your means as written by Jonathan Chevreau of Financial Post. Live below your means is considered as an eternal truth of personal finance. “This is the granddaddy Truth of personal finance. Without it, there’s little point talking about the rest. The only way to become financially independent is to be consistent about spending less than you earn, year in and year out, decade in and decade out.” The formula for happiness, attributed to Charles Dickens, is based on living below your means. If translated into today’s world, in David Copperfield the character Micawber would say: “Annual income $50,000, annual expenses $40,000, result happiness. Annual income $50,000, annual expenses $60,000, result misery.”
Does Money Really Buy You Happiness?
The Price of Happiness is confirmed to be $75,000 Per Year by a study from Princeton University. Another article written for About Money delves into the relationship between money and happiness as Joshua Kennon discuss this topic of how much money it takes to be happy. The first step to financial success is to define what you want. Once you narrow down the income the next step is to figure out the safe withdrawal rate to be happy with that income level. By selecting the proper asset classes, you can deride how much money you need in your portfolio to achieve your desired level of happiness.
Three Easy Money Concepts for Millennials
On Money, Financial blogger Jason Vitug shows three essential money concepts for millennials to become financially savvy: Define your lifestyle, don’t keep up with the Joneses, and money can indeed buy happiness.
How Much is the Cost to Have a Baby?
According to USDA Report, the total cost to raise a child for food, housing, childcare and education, and other child-rearing expenses up to age 18 is $245,340. That report does not included the costs associated with pregnancy. Holly Johnson of the Simple Dollar put into details the total cost to have a baby by include the medical costs, the impact of maternity leave, and the ongoing costs of caring for a newborn. While the true cost of having a baby depends on one’s health insurance and place of residence, the new parents can expect to pay up to $6,500 for out-of-pocket expense out of the average cost of $10,000 for delivery and a hospital stay. The cost adds up when the yearly $6,960 premium for health insurance is included along with associated costs. Overall, the bundle of joy also comes with extra financial responsibility.
Financial Mistakes That Millennials Make
Millennials, born from 1980 to 2000, are now the largest, most diverse generation in the U.S. population. Here are some top financial mistakes that millennials make, written by Ashley Eneriz for Everything Finance blog. The financial mistakes include taking on a lot of debts, not saving for retirement, not having emergency fund, passing up on health insurance and ruining credit scores.
What to Expect Before Getting a Pet
Interaction with pets can provide stress relief and comfort to pet owner. But taking care of pet costs money. Before you go out to get a pet, Jessica Sommerfield explains that there are some financial costs to consider before getting a pet. Whenever you travel there’s boarding fee for your pet. If you rent, there’s also deposit for pet along with damage expenses. Finally, you also have to consider vet bills throughout the lifespan of your pet.
You Should Start Your Own Website Today
In this day and age, it is easy for anyone to create a website. Domain will cost around $12/year and hosting will cost $3.49/month through BlueHost. WordPress will let you set up and run your website quickly. Anyway, Financial Samurai shows some reason for you to start your own website today. With a website, you can connect with many people and do what you love. You can also make some money along the way and the website looks good on your resume. Finally, with your own website you can create your own legacy.
What is Middle Class?
Do you consider yourself as a middle class? and how do you define middle class anyway? Amy Livingston of Money Crashers delves into this issue of what is middle class in America. Often we hear from politicians talking about middle class without giving an exact definition. Media has various definitions to accommodate their viewers. The median American household income was $53,657 with an average net worth of $85,712, but these figures are not the whole picture. In addition to income and net worth, you have to look into education, occupation, lifestyle and aspiration to define the middle class. So it is not possible to define the middle class with household income only.
Focus on Big Expenses to Save Money
Saving money doesn’t require one to sacrifice to the extreme. FrugalTrader from Million Dollar Journey gives some real life examples on how to save more money with less effort. It’s hard to find way to cut costs and to save money as most of us are influenced by friends, neighbors and co-workers. The trick to save money is to focus on the largest expenses such as mortgage, car payment, groceries, etc. By refinancing debts or eating out less often, one can quickly and easily save more money every month.
Insurance: Term Life Is Better Than Whole Life
If you are undecided between term life insurance and whole life insurance, Ben Edwards at Money Smart Life has some advice about this insurance debate. He points out that almost in all cases, term life insurance is your best choice. The reasons are that it costs a lot less than whole life insurance and that you can buy a lot more term life insurance compared to whole life insurance while leaving you with more money to invest. Those are very good recommendations. Don’t confuse between insurance and investment. Term life insurance is pure life insurance. So if you are going to get a life insurance, term life insurance is better than whole life insurance.