Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
MintLife investing columnist Matthew Amster-Burton has been answering questions from the Mint.com Facebook page and Twitter.
Angela writes: I’m getting married – and soon! What are the top investment-related things my fiancé and I should be thinking about?
Congratulations, Angela!
My favorite investing topics are how stocks and bonds work, how to pick the best funds in your 401(k), and putting it all together into a plausible financial plan.
Unfortunately, the most important investing topic for newlyweds isn’t any of those things — it’s debt. (I know, I kind of want to punch me, too.)
Debt is the opposite of investing. When you invest, you’re turning your money over to someone else in hopes they’ll do something smart with it and give you more money back later. When you take on debt, someone else is investing in you. (Try saying that in a horror movie voice.)
That doesn’t mean all debt is bad, though. It’s just that mixing debt and investing — with a couple of exceptions I’ll get to in a minute — is usually a bad move and most newlyweds bring at least some debt to the marriage.
Let’s say you or your fiancé has a student loan charging 6.8% interest, which is the going rate for an unsubsidized Federal Stafford loan. Paying down this loan is the equivalent of earning almost 6.8% on a risk-free investment (I say “almost” because the interest in tax-deductible, so the effective rate is a little lower).
What is the most you can actually earn on a risk-free investment? About 2.25% on a 5-year CD.
The same goes for credit card debt (duh) and car loans. It doesn’t make any sense to start investing in stocks and bonds when you can get a guaranteed risk-free return by paying off the debt.
Most couples find debt stressful to talk about, partly because it’s easy to see right there in black and white (and red ink). It’s also painfully obvious whose debt is bigger and that’s not a contest anyone wants to win.
You and your fiancé probably already know about each other’s debts, but if not, now’s the time to lay it all out and start talking about how you’re going to conspire to wipe it out.
Oh, and build an emergency fund, too. Sigh.
Exceptions to the rule
Now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, let’s talk about a couple of reasons why you might want to go ahead and start investing — even if you still have some debt around.
Get the 401(k) match. Do your employers offer a 401(k) match? Take it, take it, take it. Even if you have other debt, turning down a 401(k) match is like turning down a raise. Please don’t do that.
Think about your mortgage attitude. If you’re planning to buy a house, some people (like me) argue that you should concentrate on paying down the mortgage and neglect your investment accounts. Others argue just the opposite: mortgage rates have never been lower, you can refinance if they go down further, and you’re likely to earn a higher return on your investments than the interest you pay on your mortgage.
You and your fiancé should have this conversation and if you find yourselves in the “pay it down” camp, consider a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. You’ll get a lower interest rate and force yourself to pay the mortgage down fast.
Advanced moves
Maybe I’m not giving you enough credit. Maybe you’re a couple of go-getters coming to the marriage without any debt; maybe one of you already owns a house and the other is moving in. (No, I can’t believe I just said “go-getters” either.)
In that case, you need to make sure you’re on the same page — investing-wise. This is important for two reasons:
Since you presumably expect to live off a shared pool of savings in retirement, it makes little sense for you to manage your investments with two separate philosophies. If one of you likes index funds and the other is a stock-picker, you need to hammer out a compromise.
Looking at all of your investments as a single portfolio allows you to simplify your holdings and choose the best funds in each of your accounts. For a great overview of how to do this and why it’s important, see author Mike Piper’s post from the Oblivious Investor blog: It’s All One Portfolio.
Oh, and one last piece of advice: talking about investing on your honeymoon kind of kills the mood. You might want to wait until the night you get back to pull out this column and say, “We need to talk.” That should really win him over.
Matthew Amster-Burton is a personal finance columnist at Mint.com. Find him on Twitter @Mint_Mamster.
Do you have an investing question for Matthew Amster-Burton? Head over to the Mint.com Facebook page and ask away!
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Over the past couple of years I’ve looked at, and reviewed, quite a few online brokers. There are a lot of pretty good ones out there, but even among all the good ones I’ve reviewed, TD Ameritrade stands out from the pack. They’ve been honored by multiple financial publications like Smart Money, Kiplinger and Barron’s for their great web and mobile tools, usability, commitment to customer education and just being a great place for investors of all types – especially long term investors.
Today I thought I’d do a TD Ameritrade review, exploring their history, the industry awards they’ve received, as well as looking at the important stuff like fees, tools and mobile trading options. So let’s get started.
TD Ameritrade Background
TD Ameritrade has been around for quite a while, tracing it’s roots back to a company launched in the 1960s called Rahel, Knack and Co. From Wikipedia:
The company started as an investment banking business named Rahel, Knack and Co. in the 1960s in Omaha, Nebraska. It was purchased in 1975 by J. Joseph Ricketts, Robert Perelman, and David G. Kellogg, renamed First Omaha Securities, and became one of the first firms to offer negotiated commissions.
Ricketts acquired the company completely from the other two founders in 1981. The company became AmeriTrade Clearing in 1983. In March 1997, Ameritrade became a publicly held company. In 2005 Ameritrade acquired TD Waterhouse and was renamed TD Ameritrade.
Today TD Ameritrade has over 6 million U.S. customers, and more if you include international customers. As of 2008 they were 746th-largest US firm.
TD Ameritrade is member of SIPC, which means your investments are protected by SIPC insurance up to $500,000 and $100,000 of it can be in cash. This means that you are protected against the company going into insolvency. You are not protected against market losses.
Awards
TD Ameritrade has received a lot of praise as one of the top online brokers in the industry. Among the awards they’ve received in the past couple of years:
Kiplinger named them #1 Best online broker for 2011 and called them “a great value proposition for long-term investors“.
Barron’s ranked TD Ameritrade #1 Best site for novices in their 2012 annual review of online stock and option brokers.
Barron’s ranked TD Ameritrade #2 Best site for long term investing in their 2012 annual review of online stock and option brokers.
Barron’s ranked TD Ameritrade #3 Best site for options traders in their 2012 annual review of online stock and option brokers.
Smart Money recognized them as the #1 discount brokerage firm, tied with one other company in SmartMoney’s 2011 review of online brokers
Stockbrokers.com ranked TD Ameritrade #1 overall broker in their 2012 broker review.
As you can see the last couple of years TD Ameritrade has consistently been rated as one of the top platforms for investing, especially for long term investors like I am.
TD Ameritrade Fees, Commissions And Minimums
When you’re opening an online brokerage account one of the first things you should probably look at is what your fees, commissions and minimums on your account will be. With TD Ameritrade you’ll get no account minimums, no maintenance fees and really no other unexpected fees.
Stock Trades
TD Ameritrade has $9.99 stock trades, which are definitely are in line with industry average. For what you’re getting with them for tools and research it is definitely a decent price.
Options Trades
For option trades, they also charge $9.99 per trade, plus 75 cents per contract.
Fees And Minimums For An Account
TD Ameritrade doesn’t have account maintenance fees, monthly minimums, inactivity fees. Broker assisted stock trades are $49.99. To see a full schedule of their fees, head on over to their site.
There is also no minimum account funding level to open a cash account and a $2,000 minimum to open an options or margin account.
TD Ameritrade Tools
TD Ameritrade has some great tools you can access via their platform. For example, the Trade Architect tool-set includes things like custom charts, probability and earnings analysis, stocks watch lists, integrated community to give you help and more.
TD Ameritrade’s Thinkorswim Trading Platform has also been voted the number one trading platform by Barron’s. So you know their trading tools are top notch. Their award winning mobile trading apps are available for Blackberry, iPhone, Ipad, Android, or Windows phone. Trading on the go should never be a problem.
TD also has a ton of research available if you want to investigate stocks before you buy. They offer investing and trading reports from Jaywalk Consensus, Research Team, Market Edge, S&P Columns, and S&P Research. Premium reports are also available for an additional charge if you want to get even more in depth. For the average person, however, they have a ton of knowledge available at their fingertips.
TD Ameritrade Account Types
TD Ameritrade has a ton of investment account options for individuals, families and more. If you want to open a retirement or investing account, they’ve probably got you covered:
Standard Accounts: Individual, Joint Tenants, Tenant in Common, Community Property, Tenants by the Entireties, Guardianship or Conservatorship.
Retirement Accounts: Traditional and Roth IRAs, Rollover IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA
Education Savings Accounts: 529, Coverdell ESA, UGMA/UTMA.
Specialty Investing Accounts: Trust, Limited Partnership, Partnership, Investment Club, LLC, Sole Proprietorship, Corporate, Non-Incorporated Organization, Pension or Profit Plan for Small Business.
Open Your Own TD Ameritrade Account Today
Conclusion
When considering an online discount brokerage TD Ameritrade is definitely one of the most awarded and most recommended options out there. They’ve got low fees, reasonable commissions and their online trading tools and research are second to none. Their Ipad app is also one of the best available.
Add to that the fact that they’ve been awarded extensively in the last year, with at least 4 publications giving them a #1 rating as best online brokerage or best for long term investors, and you’ve got one of my top brokerage options to consider. Definitely put them on your short list.
Have you used TD Ameritrade? What has your experience been like? Are you happy with them? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
Open An Account With TD Ameritrade Or Get Details. Click Here.
Upstart is one of the newer peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms available on the Internet. But the platform is coming up quickly, drawing interest from both borrowers and investors. Despite the fact that the service is barely two years old, Upstart could be one of the better P2P platforms to use, whether you are a borrower or an investor.
About Upstart
Based in Palo Alto, California, Upstart is a peer-to-peer lending platform that began operations in 2014. Despite Upstart’s tender age, the platform has already arranged more than $300 million in loans. The company was “founded by ex-Googlers” (former Google employees) to provide personal loans using very different lending criteria than is common even for P2P lenders, to say nothing of banks.
All loans made through Upstart are made by Cross River Bank, which is an FDIC insured commercial bank that is chartered in New Jersey, but funded through independent investors.
Upstart Borrowing Review
In most respects, borrowing through Upstart is similar to the process on other P2P lending sites, like Lending Club and Prosper. The application is completed entirely online, your loan request – if you qualify – is graded and priced, then the loan is funded.
But what makes Upstart different is the way they underwrite your loan. They check your credit score, your years of credit, and your job history, just like every other lender does. But those aren’t the only criteria that Upstart uses in determining whether or not to make a loan to you. They also consider your education and your area of study.
The idea is that “you are more than your credit score”. Upstart also considers your future potential, which they believe is demonstrated through your education experience. They will take into consideration the college that you graduated from, your grade point average, and your major – obviously certain major fields of study are considered to be an advantage from a lending standpoint. The Upstart system seeks to identify and make loans to what it refers to as “future prime” borrowers.
The Upstart target borrower. Because of the consideration of a borrower’s education, Upstart is well suited to new and recent college graduates. The company is less concerned with how deep your credit history is, or even your employment history. Your potential for future income becomes an essential consideration.
Traditional loan requirements. Upstart does require that you have a minimum credit score of 640, however there is no minimum credit history requirement. You must also not have any bankruptcies or other negative public records on your credit report.
There is also no required minimum income level, nor is there a maximum debt-to-income ratio (DTI). That could be a major advantage if a bank turned you down for a loan due to insufficient income.
Minimum/maximum loan amounts.The minimum loan amount on Upstart is $3,000, and the maximum is $35,000.
Loan term. There are two loan terms available with Upstart, 36 months or 60 months.
Loan purpose. Upstarts loans are generally classified as personal loans, but you can use them for just about any purpose you can imagine. For example you can use the proceeds to pay off credit cards, consolidate debt, refinance student loans, take a course for boot camp, pay for college or graduate school, make a large purchase, relocate, pay medical bills, start or expand the business, buy a car or anything else that you like.
Loan qualifications. In order to qualify for a loan with Upstart, you must be a US citizen or permanent resident alien, be at least 18, not live in West Virginia, have a valid email account, be able to verify your name, date of birth, and Social Security number, have a full-time job or a full-time job offer starting within six months, or a steady part-time job or other source of regular income, and have a US bank account.
Application process. The application is online, and requests information about your academic credentials, work experience and the purpose of the loan. All information provided on the application must prove to be correct. You can complete the application in as little as two minutes.
If you accept your loan no later than 5:00 pm (Eastern Time), your loan proceeds will generally be available on the next business day. Otherwise they should arrive after two business days. However, if the loan is being used for education purposes, there is a three day waiting period between when you accept your loan, and when the funds arrive. In any event, the loan proceeds will be wired to your bank account.
Documentation requirements. Upstart will run your credit report, and you will need to upload documents that support your income. If you are a full-time employee you’ll need to provide your most recent pay stub. If you will be qualifying using bonus or commission income, you will need an offer letter from the employer spelling out the terms and expected income. If you have multiple jobs, you will need the latest pay stub for each.
Rental income will require a copy of a lease on the rented property. And if you are self-employed, they will need the most recent year’s income tax return, as well as copies of current year’s invoices.
And since your college background is an important part of the loan evaluation process, you may also need to furnish a copy of your college transcript. A college transcript will be required if you graduated within four years of your application date.
One more point on income, and it’s a big one. Since the loan that you will be applying for on Upstart is a personal loan, you cannot include other household income on your application. That includes your spouse’s income, if you’re married. Your qualification is based on your income only.
What if you lose your job and can’t make the payments? Upstart doesn’t provide specific information on this point, but they do make the following claim on the website:
“If you are experiencing hardship and cannot pay, please contact us immediately. If you are unable to pay, we may be able to work on an alternative payment plan that will avoid additional fees or penalties.”
You also have the option to change your monthly payment date to better suit your schedule. However, the new payment date needs to be set before your actual due date, otherwise you will accrue additional interest.
Collateral. There’s more good news here; Upstart doesn’t require collateral on any of its loans.
Interest rate and fees. Your interest rate is generated by the model and is based on your application and a “soft pull” of your credit report. Rates range from 4.66% APR to 29.99% APR for a 36 month loan, and between 6.00% APR and 27.32% for 60 month loans.
Like many other P2P lenders, Upstart does charge an origination fee. That fee is equal to between 1% and 6% of the loan amount (putting it squarely in line with Prosper and the other lenders). However, there is no prepayment penalty should you choose to payoff your loan early.
Upstart Investing Review
Upstart is all about lending money to borrowers, but it’s equally accommodating if you want to join the platform as an investor.
Here are the highlights:
Minimum investment. You need just $100 to open an account and invest with Upstart.
Loan quality. Upstart claims that about 98% of their loans are either current or are paid in full. Only about 1.1% of their loans are more than 30 days late, and just 1.2% are listed as charged off.
Borrower quality. The good experience that Upstart has on its loans has to do with the profile of the typical Upstart borrower. Here are some statistics:
Average FICO score: 691
Average income: $105,842
College graduates: 90.9%
Refinancing credit cards: 76.2%
Refinancing credit cards needs some explanation as to why it is seen as a positive factor as a borrower profile. Loans generally perform better when they represent some form of refinance of existing debt. If the borrower has successfully managed that debt in the past, there is a credit track record, and a better chance that the new financing will be similarly well-managed.
In a borrower is using a new loan from Upstart to replace high-interest revolving credit card debt, with a fixed rate installment loan, the borrower’s financial situation improves immediately, particularly if the new monthly payment is lower than what the total payments were on the credit cards that were refinanced.
Expected Returns. As you’ll see below, you can expect to earn rates of interest on your Upstart loan portfolio that are well above what are available through banks and brokerage firms.
Here are the modeled returns listed on the site, based on loan grade:
AAA – 3 year loans 3.79%; 5 year loans 5.67%
AA – 3 year loans 4.50%; 5 year loans 6.18%
A – 3 year loans 5.60%; 5 year loans 7.14%
B – 3 year loans 6.88%; 5 year loans 9.13%
C – 3 year loans 7.93%; 5 year loans 11.92%
D – 3 year loans 9.01%; 5 year loans 13.67%
E – 3 year loans 10.57%; 5 year loans 15.57%
Modeled returns for each grade and loan term are net of the annual loss rate, which is different for each grade and term. For example, on AAA loans the annual loss rate is less than 0.1% on three year loans, and less than 1% on five year loans. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there is a 13.60% annual loss rate on three year loan grade E loans, and 11.19% on five year loan grade E loans.
Income tax reporting. Upstart will report taxable interest income earned on your account with the filing of Form 1099-INT with the IRS. Naturally, you will receive a copy of the document, which must be sent to you no later than January 31, following the year in which the interest income was earned.
Income taxes may be withheld from your interest income for a number of reasons. If you did not complete lRS Form W-9 when you opened your account with Upstart, then withholding will be required. It may also be necessary in the event that the name, Social Security number or taxpayer identification number that you provided to Upstart doesn’t match IRS records. In addition, withholding will take place if Upstart is notified by the IRS that it is required for any purpose.
Withdrawing funds from Upstart. You can have cash balances in your Upstart investment account transferred to your bank account at any time you choose. There can be a delay of up to seven business days with the transfer, depending upon your bank.
IRA accounts are available with Upstart. You can set up a self-directed IRA account with Upstart that allows you to invest in loans through the platform. Given that interest rates are so low at banks and brokerage firms, the higher interest income that an Upstart account can provide could make an excellent place to hold your fixed income IRA allocation.
Fees. There’s really good news here – Upstart charges no fees to investors. What’s more, Upstart doesn’t earn fees on loans that default. Even better, if the loan defaults, Upstart turns the fees that were collected when the loan was originated over to investors in the loan. This is where that origination fee of between 1% and 5% of the loan amount could loom large.
No FDIC or SIPC insurance coverage! There is one caveat in regard to investing with Upstart. In the event that Upstart goes out of business, there is no federally sponsored insurance agency or fund that will cover your investment with the platform. However, this is another factor that is common with P2P platforms.
Upstart claims that they have a backup servicer and administrator in place so that the loans held for the platform will continue to be serviced, and you will get paid as an investor in those loans.
Upstart Review Summary
If you are a borrower, Upstart uses innovative methods in approving loans. This is an excellent loan source if you are recently out of college, and have not fully established yourself financially, or if your bank thinks your income is insufficient to support a loan. The platform will accept a very short employment history, or even a written promise of employment. It gives you an opportunity to be approved for a loan, even though banks may decline your application.
From an investor standpoint, Upstart’s loan quality is providing solid returns. The emphasis on “future prime” borrowers may be allowing Upstart to tap into a market that other lenders are ignoring. That assures more good investment opportunities in the future.
Whether you’re looking to borrow or to invest, check out Upstart as one of the P2P possibilities.
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The earlier you begin investing, the better off you’re likely to be in the long term. Here’s how you can get started if you’re still in your 20s. It’s never too early to start investing—as long as you do so wisely. It’s important to make a proper plan so that your investments actually help you reach your goals. Here are six tips you can implement if you want to start investing in your 20s. A financial advisor can help you manage your investment portfolio.
1. Focus on Retirement
Your first investment move should be to use tax-advantaged accounts to save for retirement. Many employers offer 401(k) plans with matching. If you can afford to, max out the match to capture the greatest retirement savings. So if your employer will match 50% of your 401(k) contributions up to 6% of your paycheck, contribute at least 6% to get the full employer match.
If you don’t have retirement savings options through your employer, there are some tax-advantaged options outside of a job. If you’re self-employed, you can set up a solo 401(k) plan. You can also set up a traditional or Roth IRA on your own and contribute up to $6,500 in 2023.
While retirement savings aren’t the sexiest investment option and you won’t normally be able to access the money without a hefty penalty until the age of 59 ½, they are still the best place to start. You can set yourself up for a secure retirement by starting to build your nest egg now. Being able to take advantage of employer matches and saving on your taxes is the icing on the cake.
2. Build Liquid Savings
While investing for the future is important, it’s still wise to have some liquid savings that you can access quickly if needed. Say you lose your job unexpectedly. If your savings are locked up in a CD for another year, you’ll have to pull them out and lose some or all of the interest you had earned.
While this isn’t the end of the world, it does set you back on your investing goals. The same is true if your money is tied up in stocks—you may have to cash out at an inopportune time from an investment perspective, losing earnings.
So after you’ve set up your retirement accounts, start building an emergency fund. A good goal is to save up enough money to cover your expenses for six months. So if you need $3,000 each month for rent, utilities, transportation, food and other necessities, aim to keep $18,000 in liquid savings.
This money should sit in an account where it’s earning interest. Take a look at high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts and money market funds where your funds can generate interest while still remaining instantly accessible.
3. Start Investing With a Brokerage Account
Once you have retirement funds and an emergency savings account, you can start investing in the market. It’s time for you to set up your own brokerage account so you can buy and sell stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds.
Many brokerage accounts can be set up and managed completely online. Shop around and see which one is right for you. Some important things to consider are whether they require a minimum initial investment, what their fees and commissions may be and whether they offer helpful tools for analyzing investments.
You might start by investing in mutual funds and ETFs, which bundle different kinds of stocks and bonds. Make sure the operating expense ratio of a fund is not excessive, such as more than 1%. You can also buy stocks and bonds directly—but first research the companies you’re considering to see if they’re a solid investment. For example, government bonds are generally a safe investment, but some corporate bonds can be quite risky. And it’s possible for a company’s stock to crash, taking your money with it.
4. Understand the Risk/Reward Trade-Off
For any investor, diversification is the name of the game. Even if you think you’ve found the most profitable stock of all time, you shouldn’t put all your eggs in the same basket. By diversifying the things you invest in, you can set yourself up for lower risk overall.
A strong understanding of risk can help you avoid meme stocks and other unwise investment maneuvers. The younger you are the higher the portion of your portfolio should be in equities, which are riskier than fixed-income securities like bonds. For example, if you’re in your 20s an 80/20 (equities/bonds) allocation might be a reasonable option for you. Use an asset allocation calculator to help you create a diversified portfolio that matches your risk tolerance.
5. Work With an Expert
If tax planning and the other complications of investing leave you with a lot of questions, you might consider working with a financial advisor to get expert advice. While there are plenty of resources out there for a beginning investor, sometimes talking to someone with deep financial knowledge can quickly pay for itself.
6. Let Your Investment Plan Grow and Evolve with You
As you age, your financial needs will change too. Generally speaking, younger investors are advised to take more aggressive and riskier financial positions because they have time to ride out the highs and lows before they’ll need to cash out. On the other hand, older investors are nearing retirement and have less time for their investments to recover if there’s a market downturn.
As you get older, you might have different financial goals than you had at 20. You might be thinking about buying a home, starting a family or starting your own business—any of which would likely change your investment strategy. Take a look at your investment portfolio at least once a year to make sure your strategy is still working for you.
The Bottom Line
Young investors can start by building retirement savings, creating an emergency fund and opening a brokerage account. Savvy investors will understand the risk/reward relationship, revise their investment strategies as their financial needs and goals change and work with a financial advisor when they need expert advice.
Tips on Investing
As you build a portfolio, you might benefit from working with a financial advisor, who can offer both investment insights and tax advice. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Success in investing is partly about your portfolio’s asset allocation. SmartAsset has an asset allocation calculator that will assist you in picking the right asset allocation for you.
Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
A reader on the Mint.com Facebook page writes:
What are the best retirement savings tools for Americans living abroad? I can’t invest in an IRA or 401(k) with foreign-earned income. But I’m young, I have disposable income, and I’d like to get started now.
Good for you.
The reader didn’t specify his job or which country he’s working in, so I’m going to imagine he teaches English to Tokyo hipsters by day and tends bar in the Caribbean at night.
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE)
If you work abroad all year long, you’re eligible for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE). Basically, the IRS figures that if you live and work outside the US, you shouldn’t have to pay taxes on the first $92,900 of your income, plus an additional allowance for housing.
The rationale for this juicy deal is:
You’ll probably be paying income taxes in the country where you work.
You won’t be able to take advantage of most of the services paid for by US taxes, anyway.
The only downside to the FEIE is that if you exclude all of your income from U.S. taxes (as your average English teacher/bartender will), you can’t contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA or 401(k), all of which require non-excluded earned income.
Furthermore, U.S. citizens who participate in a retirement plan in another country are likely to end up with ongoing tax headaches.
So we’re back to the original question: what should our international playboy do?
Save like an international man (or woman) of mystery
The best move for a U.S. citizen working abroad who intends to return to the U.S. is to open a taxable brokerage account with a U.S.-based brokerage or mutual fund company. “Taxable account” just means “not an IRA.” You can still use the money for retirement, of course, even though it’s not in an officially designated retirement account.
This, unfortunately, is easier said than done. If you’re a foreign resident and aren’t rolling in cash, most US brokerages will consider you high-maintenance — at best. Vanguard doesn’t want your money at all. Schwab makes a special effort to reach non-U.S. residents, but they have a minimum opening balance of $25,000.
TD Ameritrade is open to residents of most, but not all, countries and they don’t require any special procedures or minimum balances. Roughly 30 to 40 countries are on a blacklist, however, and TD doesn’t publish it; you just have to ask. And we’re not necessarily talking about Axis of Evil-type countries; I was able to determine that Japan is on the blacklist.
Now, I am not explicitly suggesting anyone do this, but I suspect the way most foreign residents get around these restrictions is to link their brokerage account to a U.S. bank account (which they established before leaving the US), provide a U.S. mailing address to the brokerage, and sign up for online statements.
However you manage to establish an account, whatever investments you would have made in your IRA, you can make in your taxable account, with no maximum contribution. Those investments might include mutual funds, ETFs, or individual stocks and bonds.
The interest, dividends, and capital gains from those investments are not considered earned income and will be taxable, but because you’ll be in a low tax bracket, the taxes will be minimal, at least until you have a very large investment account.
This leaves the question of how to get the money to the U.S. and into U.S. dollars without spending a fortune on wire transfer and currency conversion fees.
If you work with a brokerage used to dealing with international residents, they can probably help by providing an international bank account where you wire the money and it automatically ends up in your U.S. brokerage account within a couple of days. (Schwab offers this service; TD Ameritrade doesn’t.) Or, if you need to get money into your US checking account as an intermediate step, you can use a low-cost international wire service like XE.net or OANDA.
Trouble in paradise
I’ve glossed over a variety of other issues you may run into. Border straddling of any kind makes governments nervous, especially when money is involved. It’s hard not to get the feeling that everyone assumes you’re a smuggler or a wealthy elite trying to pay zero taxes.
The IRS is not the only taxman in the world. The country you live and work in may want to know why you’re keeping all this money “offshore,” and might want a cut. This is more likely to come into play when you’ve amassed enough money to be worth going after—but I’m not promising anything. The details vary from country to country.
Speaking of the IRS: they are generally intolerant of U.S. citizens investing in foreign mutual funds and similar investments. Unless you want to learn a whole lot about “passive foreign investment companies” and all the red tape involved, avoid investing in funds local to your host country, even if they’re denominated in U.S. dollars.
The U.S. Treasury (not the IRS this time!) wants to know about your foreign accounts (bank, brokerage, or otherwise). If the total balance exceeds $10,000, then you have to file an annual form with Uncle Sam.
The best advice I can give is: talk to members of your expat community. Admittedly, if we’re talking about 24-year-olds teaching English in Japan, they’re probably not sending any money home or putting anything away for retirement. Fine. Seek out ”the suits” in your expat community and hire a pro to do your taxes the first year or two, or until you understand how all the moving parts work.
None of these hurdles are legitimate excuses for failing to save for retirement—and I know the reader knows that, or he wouldn’t have asked.
Oh, and if you think this sounds like a reeking can of worms, it could be worse: you could be a non-citizen working in the U.S., trying to abide by our rules. More on that in a few weeks.
Matthew Amster-Burton is a personal finance columnist at Mint.com. Find him on Twitter @Mint_Mamster.
Do you have an investing question for Matthew Amster-Burton? Head over to the Mint.com Facebook page and ask away!
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MintLife Reader Q&A: 401(k)s, 457(b)s, and IRAs — Oh, My!
The answer is yes – sort of. Unlike a fully taxable custodial brokerage account, which lets you invest on behalf of a minor, you can not open and fund a Roth IRA for your child. The key word being fund.
For example, with a taxable brokerage account, your newborn child’s grandma can set up an account in your child’s name and purchase any amount of stock she so chooses. But when it comes to a Roth IRA, your child needs to generate taxable earned income before you can help them set up an account, and most newborns don’t come with taxable income!
However, assuming your child does have taxable earned income, you can open a Custodial Roth IRA on his or her behalf.
No Roth IRA Age Limit
Most people fail to realize that no age restrictions exist when it comes to funding a Roth IRA.
Anyone, regardless of age, can contribute to a Roth IRA as long as they generate taxable earned income that falls within the Roth IRA income limits. To illustrate, let’s look at some extreme examples.
Let’s say you have a six-month old baby earning $10,000 per year modeling baby clothes for a national retailer. As long as you file an income tax return on behalf of your baby, your baby can make the maximum Roth IRA contribution of $5,000.
On the other end of spectrum, let’s say you’re 100 years old with a passion for power tools. You work part-time at Home Depot as a hobby and earn $14,000. You can make a $6,000 Roth IRA contribution, because anyone over 50 years old is allowed to make a $1,000 catch-up contribution.
Those are two extreme examples, but they drive home a key point – Roth IRA eligibility has nothing to do with age and everything to do with your ability to generate taxable earned income.
Earned Income
So, if you want to establish a Roth IRA for your child, they must have earned income. And their annual Roth IRA contributions can not exceed the amount of earned income they generate in any given year.
According to the IRS, earned income includes wages from a job, sales commissions, tips, and/or bonuses. Earned income does not include your child’s weekly allowance, gifts from grandparents, or investment income from a trust.
For example, let’s say your teenage son works part-time as a lifeguard. Over the course of the summmer, he generates $6,000 in after-tax income. Your son is eligible to make the maximum $5,000 contribution to his Roth IRA, but if he only earns $3,000, the maximum contribution he can make is $3,000.
Custodial Roth IRAs
With a Custodial Roth IRA, you oversee the management of your child’s Roth IRA until he or she reaches the age of majority (anywhere between ages 18 and 21 depending on the state in which you live). This means you have the power to determine how your child’s money is invested. You can initiate buy and sell orders for stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, etc. You can do anything on their behalf that you can do with your own Roth IRA, except – withdraw money.
Unlike your own Roth IRA (which allows you to withdraw your original contributions tax-free and penalty-free at anytime and for any reason), the Roth IRA withdrawal rules state that money can not be withdrawn from a Custodial Roth IRA under any circumstance until the owner (your child) reaches the age of majority. And that leads us to the next factor you need to consider…
They Own It, Not You!
While a Custodial Roth IRA gives your child an enormous head start in saving for retirement, it comes with a potential drawback. Your child owns it outright. And just like a taxable custodial brokerage account, once your child reaches the age of majority, they take over control of the account. At that point, they can withdraw every last penny if they choose, and this opens the door to the possibility they might squander their head start on retirement.
After all, thousands of dollars can be quite tempting to a young adult, especially if they haven’t fully matured. But keep in mind, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Your child can learn a valuable lesson from blowing a small fortune, and the earlier in life they learn this lesson, the better it will serve them in the long-run.
Giving Your Child A Head Start
Ask most people in their 40’s and 50’s which financial decision they most regret, and the overwhelming majority will tell you, “Not saving for retirement earlier in life.”
After all, it’s so much easier to save what you need for retirement if you start the process earlier. Why? The power of compound interest. And when it comes to compound interest, time is literally money.
To illustrate, let’s pretend two people are both saving $10,000 a year for retirement with a goal of retiring at age 65. Both manage to earn a 10% annual return, but Saver #1 starts at age 25 while Saver #2 starts at age 35.
At age 65, Saver #1 has $4,878,518.11, while Saver #2 has $1,819,434.25. That’s a $3,059,083.86 difference! Just to equal Saver #1’s retirement nest egg, Saver #2 needs to save an extra $18,596.93 per year – just because he started ten years later.
Now, pop open your Roth IRA calculator and imagine the possibilities if your child starts contributing to retirement at age 15. Your child will have an enormous head start financially, and they’ll have you to thank for encouraging them to save early!
This is an article from Britt at Your Roth IRA, the Web’s #1 resource for Roth IRA information.
By Mike PiperLeave a Comment – The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited January 10, 2014.
When putting together a portfolio, the very first question you have to ask is what type of asset allocation you want to use — how much of your portfolio should be in stocks and how much in bonds?
And the answer to that question depends on how willing you are to take risk in your portfolio.
Risk Tolerance Questionnaires
The most common way of assessing an investor’s risk tolerance is to give them a multiple choice quiz called a risk tolerance questionnaire. Unfortunately, most such questionnaires leave much to be desired. You can get more useful information from a quiz in Cosmo.
The problem is that the questions are often designed in such a way that there’s only one reasonable answer. So rather than learning anything useful about yourself, you simply proceed through the quiz, picking the “right” answer each time as if you were taking a quiz in school.
For example, consider this question from a real-life risk tolerance questionnaire:
“Imagine you inherited $1 million-worth of a single stock from a long-lost aunt. Would you A) hold the stock, B) sell half of the stock and invest the money in more diversified holdings, or C) sell all of the stock and invest the money in more diversified holdings?”
If you choose C, you’re rated as a conservative investor. The problem, of course, is that everyone should choose C. Even super aggressive investors (who don’t want any low-risk investments like bonds or cash) would be better off selling the stock and investing the money in a diversified portfolio of stocks. In most cases, holding $1 million in a single stock doesn’t make you an aggressive investor. It makes you an idiot.
Using Real Life Experience
My best suggestion for determining your willingness to take risk is to keep a record of how you have actually responded to market declines in the past. For example, what did you do when the investment banks started failing in late 2008 and the market began to crash? How did you feel? What about a few months later, by which point the market had fallen by roughly 50%?
Did you panic and move everything to cash?
Were you sufficiently brave to hold on to your investments (but not brave enough to rebalance your portfolio back to your planned allocation, because doing so would have required selling bonds to buy more stocks)?
Did you rebalance exactly as planned?
Or did you smell the deal of a lifetime and move every single dollar into stocks?
What you actually did and how you actually felt during a real life market crash gives you meaningful information about your willingness to take risk — far more useful information than you can get from a multiple choice quiz.
What About New Investors?
If you’re a new investor who hasn’t been through a bear market before, my suggestion is not to worry about it too much. When you’re first getting started, how much you invest is far more important than how you invest.
You probably won’t get your risk tolerance and asset allocation precisely right on the first try. But that’s OK. If the lesson you gain from your first bear market is that you under- or overestimated your risk tolerance, simply adjust your portfolio as needed and move on with your life, knowing that you’ve gained valuable information that will help you to better survive your next bear market.
Mike Piper is a CPA who blogs at Oblivious Investor, where he answers tax and investing questions such as, “Should I roll over my 401(k)?” and “Should I invest in index funds?“
When you look at Peerform reviews you first need to understand the difference between conventional loans and peer to peer loans. While traditional loans come from a bank and can take months to get done, P2P loans are done through a platform that connects investors and borrowers.
Peer-to-Peer lending sites are rapidly becoming preferred destinations for both borrowers and investors. Peerform is a newer member of the P2P Market and it provides opportunities for both borrowers and investors to get better rates than what they can get from banks or other traditional loan and investment sources.
About Peerform
Peerform was founded in 2010 by Wall Street executives with backgrounds in finance and technology. They started the platform because they realized that traditional lenders like banks seemed unwilling to provide loans for individual and small business owners.
The solution was to create a peer-to-peer lending platform that would bring both borrowers and loan investors together. This would also give investors an opportunity to earn much higher interest rates on their investments than what they could get through traditional bank investments like savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.
The platform is able to offer lower rates to borrowers, and higher rates to investors, because it lacks the physical infrastructure and employment base that banks have. The reduction in operating costs from running a technology driven online lending platform could be passed on both borrowers and investors.
Peerform is headquartered in New York City and has been featured in major media outlets, such as Time and The Street. Peerform is currently eligible to make loans to residents in the 36 following states: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Loans made on Peerform are underwritten by Cross River Bank, a federally insured New Jersey chartered bank and FDIC member.
Borrowing Through Peerform
The Peerform borrowing process is quick and simple, and you can use the loan proceeds for just about any purpose, including for business related needs.
Here are the highlights of the Peerform lending process:
Loan purpose. Peerform makes personal loans that can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including debt consolidation, credit card refinancing, home improvement, major purchases, car financing, business purposes, medical expenses, moving and relocation, wedding expenses, vacation, home buying, or other needs.
They also have a category referred to as a “green loan”. That’s where you take a personal loan and use it to purchase alternative energy equipment for your home. This typically can be something like solar panels for heat and hot water, or even the generation of electricity.
Loan amounts. Peerform will make loans that range in size $1,000 and $25,000.
Loan terms. All loans made through Peerform are for a term of 36 months. All loans are also fixed rate, installment loans that will be fully paid off at the end of the term. Peerform does not offer any other loan terms at this time.
Minimum borrower qualifications. In order to qualify for a loan with Peerform, you must have:
A minimum credit score of 600
No delinquencies, bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, or non-medical related collections in the past 12 months
A minimum of one revolving account ever opened
A maximum debt-to-income ratio (DTI) of not more than 40% (not including mortgage debt)
A minimum of one open bank account
Although you don’t need to be employed, you do need to have an income which can be documented and verified. Also in regard to income, if you’re married, your spouse’s income cannot be used to qualify for the loan. Peerform provides personal loans, so you cannot include a cosigner for qualification purposes, nor make joint applications.
The loan application process. Peerform’s loan application uses a five step process:
Registration – This is an online registration that you can complete within a few minutes
Personal loan selection – After completing the online registration, the platform will review your information, and offer loan terms or alternatives.
Personal loan listing – After you have selected the loan terms that you want, your loan request is listed on the platform so that it can be evaluated by potential investors.
Verification – You will be asked to submit documentation that supports the information that you supplied in your registration form, or that will be needed to verify your identity.
The loan registration process will ask you to provide basic information, such as the loan amount you are requesting, the purpose of the loan, your credit score range, your full name, address, phone number, date of birth, email address, and annual salary and wages. You will then be asked to create a password.
Once you complete the registration form, you will be informed immediately if you qualify for a loan, and what the rate for that loan will be. Again, all loans are for a term of 36 months.
If you accept the offer, your loan request will be placed on the platform for investors to review and consider if they want to invest in it. You will also be taken through a step-by-step process to complete your application. Making application does not have any impact on your credit score.
Identity verification will involve you uploading copies of one of the following: your drivers license, military ID with photo, passport with photo, or US federal or state government ID. You will also be asked to verify your income. This will include two recent pay stubs, but they may also request recent tax returns and/or a copy of your bank statements.
Loan funding. In a best case scenario, your loan funds will be available shortly after the loan is put on the personal loan listing platform. However, all listed loans can remain on the platform for up to two weeks, which is known as the two-week listing period. You can track investor interest in your loan during the process.
But it is possible that your loan will not be fully funded within the two-week listing period. If it isn’t, you can either accept a lower loan amount (up to the amount funded), or you may need to reapply.
Interest rates and fees. Just like Lending club loans, interest rates with Peerfrom range between 7.12% APR and 29.99% APR. Rates are based on your Peerform Grade, and broken down into four alphabetic groups, each with its own rate range:
AAA, AA+, AA, A+ and A: 7.12% APR to 13.94% APR (credit score range: 700+)
BBB, BB+, BB, B+ and B: 14.86% APR to 19.44% APR (credit score range: 680 – 699)
CCC, CC+, CC, C+ and C: 20.87% APR to 26.92% APR (credit score range: 600 – 679)
DDD and DD+: 28.33% APR and 29..99% APR (credit score range: not indicated)
There are no application fees. There are however origination fees, typically 5.00% of the loan amount on all loans grades, except Peerform Grade loans AAA (1.00%), AA+ (2.00%) and AA (3.00%). The origination fee is deducted from your loan proceeds. For example, if your loan is $10,000, and the origination fee is 5.00%, you will receive net loan proceeds $9,500. The origination fee is payable only if the loan is issued.
The preferred loan repayment method by Peerform is by direct debits from your bank account. But you do have an option to pay by paper check. If you do, there is a $15 check processing fee for each check.
Late payments are assessed a fee of 5% of the monthly payment, subject to a $15 minimum per occurrence. There is also an unsuccessful payment fee in the event that your payment is refused. That fee is $15 per unsuccessful attempt, or a lesser amount as determined by state law.
There are no prepayment penalties in the event that you want to make a partial or full early payment on your loan.
Loan payments. You can repay your loan either by automatic draft from your bank account, or by mailing in monthly checks. However, Peerform does charge a fee of $15 per payment if you pay by check. There is no charge if you pay by automatic bank draft.
Site security. Peerform follows bank level security protocols, which includes encrypting and storing sensitive data in dedicated 24 hour maintain servers, which are protected with firewalls and housed in a secure facility. Servers are equipped with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate technology to ensure encryption.
You also don’t need to concern yourself with the fact that investors will have access to your personal information. They will get only the information needed for investment purposes, but will not have access to any information that personally identifies you. In that way, you can apply for a loan anonymously, and not concern yourself that the information is available to someone who is either unintended or inconvenient, and certainly not for general public consumption.
Investing Through Peerform
If Peerform is a great place to get a loan, it’s also a rich source of investment opportunities.
Here is how investing through Peerform works:
Investor qualifications. In order to invest on Peerform, you must be an accredited investor. That’s an investor who is either high income or high net worth, or both, and who is generally recognized as a sophisticated investor who understands risk, knows how to invest into it, and is prepared to lose all of his or her investment (the temperament factor).
According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, an accredited investor is defined as anyone who…
earned income that exceeded $200,000 (or $300,000 together with a spouse) in each of the prior two years, and reasonably expects the same for the current year, OR
has a net worth over $1 million, either alone or together with a spouse (excluding the value of the person’s primary residence).
.large-mobile-banner-2-multi-106border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none !important;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:15px !important;margin-left:auto !important;margin-right:auto !important;margin-top:15px !important;max-width:100% !important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align:center !important;This differs from other P2P lenders. Prosper loan investors are allowed to start with as little as $25 to get started.
Investments offered. Peerform offers two types of investment products, whole loans and fractional loans. Whole loans are just what the name implies – you’re buying an entire loan. These investments are typically offered to institutions. Fractional loans are portions of loans, that are offered to individual investors.
These are not unlike investments on other P2P sites in which you can either invest in an entire loan, or in small pieces of many loans, commonly called notes.
All loans available for investment on Peerform are subject to analysis by the Peerform Loan Analyzer. The tool uses a highly advanced and dynamic algorithm for pricing loans. It uses empirical methods rather than filters (which are used on most P2P platforms) in order to better calculate consumer credit risk.
Custom portfolio. The portfolio enables you to diversify by customizing your investments to meet your needs. You can set investment goals, and the customization tool will outline how to invest your capital in order to reach your investment goals in the most concise way.
Fraud protection. Loan fraud is not uncommon and increases loan defaults, so Peerform takes extra steps to weed it out. In addition to requiring documentation to verify the borrower’s identity and income on the loan registration form, Peerform also uses both proprietary methods and commercially available licensed technologies and solutions to both detect and prevent fraud.
This includes third-party services such as Lexis Nexis for user identification, TransUnion for credit checks, and OFAC compliance.
Peerform also verifies that there is a variation of no more than 10% in the income stated by the borrower on the registration form, and that which is proven by the income documentation. If needed, IRS Form 4506T will be completed and sent to the IRS to verify the borrower’s income tax records. A small debit is taken from the borrower’s bank accounts, and verified by the borrower to make sure that the bank account is valid. The borrower’s phone number and email IP location are also verified.
Investment returns. Peerform offers rates of between 6.44% and 28.33% (net of origination fees). This rate range refers to returns before deducting for loan defaults, so your actual returns will be something less. .
Summary
Peerform is one of a growing number of P2P lending sites that also offers investment opportunities. The platform is using cutting edge technology to set the most accurate loan rates, which will also reduce the number of defaults that lowers the investment return on so many P2P lending sites.
Tap on the profile icon to edit your financial details.
Real estate investing can have many benefits, including cash flow, asset appreciation and tax breaks. However, it can also be a lot of work, which many people don’t have the time to do. But investing in real estate doesn’t have to involve managing properties in person. In fact, passive real estate investors own their properties from afar. Here’s what to know about passive real estate investing. You may want to consult with your financial advisor to understand if this is a good investment for you.
What Is Passive Real Estate Investing?
Passive real estate investing involves purchasing real estate investments without active involvement in their day-to-day management. This differs from active real estate investment, which may involve buying, selling and managing real estate investments, such as rental properties.
Active real estate investors often must commit a significant amount of time to their real estate investments. They might also be skilled in doing at least basic maintenance and repairs on their own.
Conversely, passive real estate investors take a hands-off approach. They typically aren’t involved in the daily management of the properties and may not have the skills to make repairs on investment properties. However, passive real estate investors often must pay fees to a property manager or pay investment fees.
Passive real estate investing can come in many forms, such as investing in real estate exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or buying shares in a real estate investment trust (REIT). Another way to passively invest in real estate is to purchase real estate properties directly and then hire a property manager to take care of their day-to-day management.
Benefits of Passive Real Estate Investing
Passive real estate investing can have many benefits that make it appealing to many investors. For instance, the time commitment is often much less than for active real estate investors. Passive real estate investors often outsource day-to-day management to a property manager, so they only need to monitor their investment periodically.
Passive real estate investing also offers diversification. Real estate investments typically have a low correlation with the stock market, allowing investors to reduce the overall volatility of their portfolios. In addition, the minimal time commitment allows passive real estate investors to invest in more properties in different regions, providing further diversification.
Passive real estate investing can also have less risk than active real estate investing. These investments are typically managed by a professional team with expertise in the real estate industry. These teams have the knowledge and experience to evaluate properties and make sound investment decisions on behalf of the investors. Owning multiple real estate investments can reduce one’s risk as well.
Risks of Passive Real Estate Investing
Passive real estate investing is not without its risks. For one, you have minimal control over investment decisions. This may not be an issue if the investment manager is highly experienced, but it could be a problem if the investment manager isn’t as knowledgeable.
These investments can also have a lack of transparency. For example, REITs can be complex investments with multiple projects and it isn’t always clear exactly how investors’ money is allocated. In addition, there can be inadequate regulation in the industry that leads to minimal disclosure of information.
There may also be volatility in the real estate market at times. We saw this with the Great Recession when the value of many homes collapsed. The real estate market can be overheated at times as well, leading to inflated prices. This volatility can have a serious impact on investments, both positive and negative.
How to Get Started with Passive Real Estate Investing
Passive real estate investing can be a great opportunity for investors but requires careful planning and due diligence. Before you get started, assess your financial goals. What are your financial goals, your risk tolerance and your desired returns? These questions will help determine which type of investment is the best choice to meet your needs.
Next, it’s time to find the right passive investing opportunity. As mentioned earlier, you can consider investments like REITs and real estate ETFs. You can also buy your own property and hire a property manager. Or you can consider crowdfunding platforms and private equity funds. Each of these has its own benefits and drawbacks and the questions you answered above will help you make the right choice.
However, you should also do your due diligence with each investment opportunity. That might involve researching the company’s past performance, reading customer reviews and assessing its risk and reward. You want it to be the right fit before you decide to invest.
The Bottom Line
Passive real estate has several benefits, such as a minimal time commitment, lower risk and diversification compared to active real estate investment. However, it can also have risks like lack of transparency, limited control and volatility. Do your due diligence before you invest and review the investment with a trusted financial advisor.
Tips for Investing in Real Estate
Real estate investing can be complex. If you want some help, perhaps speaking with a financial advisor could be beneficial. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
If you decide to become a passive real estate investor, there will be a lot to think about. In addition to various laws and regulations, you may have to finance your investment properties. In that case, you can still use SmartAsset’s mortgage calculator to estimate your monthly costs.
Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
Maybe you didn’t hit the mega-millions jackpot, but you’ve come into some extra cash. It might be tempting to go out and indulge, but there is probably a better way to spend that money.
In the second installment of this 3-part series, Jennifer Openshaw, America’s Chief Consumer Advocate, Wall Street Journal columnist and CEO of Family Financial Network, is back with advice on what to do with $10,000.
From building an investment portfolio to purchasing reliable transportation, see what she says about how to make sure your financial decisions have a positive impact on your long-term financial well-being.
If you are just catching up on the series, check out Jennifer’s infographic on what you should do with $1,000. The ideas range anywhere from tuning up your car to making a few minor home improvements — even getting certified in yoga instruction.
Click on “Launch Infographic” for an expanded view.
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