Today, I have a fun guest post from my friend Cody Berman. Cody is a digital nomad who quit his corporate job to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. He started selling digital products in 2018 and became hooked after earning $700+ in one week. He now helps other entrepreneurs and creators monetize their businesses through digital products….
Today, I have a fun guest post from my friend Cody Berman. Cody is a digital nomad who quit his corporate job to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. He started selling digital products in 2018 and became hooked after earning $700+ in one week. He now helps other entrepreneurs and creators monetize their businesses through digital products. He’s been featured here on Making Sense of Cents before and you can find that article here – How I Make Money Selling Printables On Etsy.
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I used to be a chronic side hustler. At one point I had 20+ income streams. Sounds great, right? Except it wasn’t.
I was all over the place, trying every side hustle imaginable – delivering UberEats, editing podcasts, building websites, selling discs, running affiliate campaigns, writing articles, buffing boats, you name it. But most of the time, I felt like I was stuck trading my time for money.
Do you want to make money selling printables online? This free training will give you great ideas on what you can sell, how to get started, the costs, and how to make sales.
Don’t get me wrong, the money was great for some of these side hustles, but if I didn’t work I didn’t get paid. At one point, I made $500 for writing a single blog article! But once the article was delivered and the invoice was paid, I had to hunt for my next gig and turn in the work to make my next dollar.
At one point, I co-founded a disc golf manufacturing business. I thought that this business was going to be my golden ticket. For those who don’t know, disc golf is similar to ball golf, except instead of hitting a ball into a hole with a club, you are throwing a plastic “disc” into a basket. Our company manufactured those discs.
We started scaling pretty quickly and within two years we were selling our products in all 50 states and 20+ countries. On paper, everything looked amazing. But behind the scenes, we constantly had product issues, shipping delays, mismanaged inventory, and everything that else could possibly go wrong with a physical product business.
I was feeling tired and burnt out and looking for something new.
Fast forward to early 2019 and my friend Julie, another side hustler, told me that she had been selling printables on Etsy. She had spent about 60 hours creating a bunch of digital products (a.k.a. printables) and had made over $5,000 so far. The words “so far” were the ones that got me hooked.
Unlike my my physical products business where each unit had to be manufactured, quality tested, packaged, and shipped, these “digital products” sounded different. By the way Julie was describing it, I could create a digital product once and keep making money from it without much additional effort. This sounded ten times better than all of the side hustles I had tried (and way more passive).
The only problem was that I didn’t really have any clue what a “printable” was… and I had never even been on Etsy. And at this point, you might be thinking the same thing.
What exactly are printables? Basically, they’re digital files that customers can download and print at home. Think cards, planners, calendars, games, gift tags – the possibilities are endless!
The best part? Once you’ve created a printable, you can sell it an unlimited number of times without ever having to worry about restocking inventory or shipping costs.
Now back to my story. Even though I didn’t really know how to create printables, or what printables to sell, or anything about graphic design for that matter, I decided to give it a shot. If Julie could do it, I could do it, right?
Wrong.
My first ~20 printables were absolutely terrible, but I listed them on Etsy anyway. You’ll never guess what happened next. I got a whopping… zero sales.
OK, maybe you did guess that.
Between my zero graphic design skills, lack of product research, and unfamiliarity with the Etsy platform, I definitely wasn’t setting any sales records.
But after some trial and error – well, a lot of trial and error – I managed to come up with some pretty decent-looking printables. I focused on creating seasonal products, a strategy I often recommend to beginners. And let me tell you, it paid off big time.
In December and January, I created dozens of Valentine’s Day printables since I had heard that it was one of the biggest holidays on Etsy. Some of my designs included Valentine’s cards, love coupons, editable love notes, custom photo cards, and more.
And finally, after months of crickets, it seemed like the algorithm was working in my favor, with tons of people searching for Valentine’s gifts and cards for their loved ones. The real excitement started on February 9th, just five days before the big holiday.
I remember that week vividly because while all this was happening, I was actually skiing in Lake Tahoe. And on February 9th, when I checked my phone in the ski lodge at lunch, I had made over $100… that day.
The entire week continued to be extremely profitable and I ended the week with $718 in sales from just a handful of products that took me a couple of hours to create. It was the first time I experienced true passive income. The only part that wasn’t passive was answering the occasional customer question, which took less than five minutes per day from my phone.
That experience was a game-changer for me. It was the moment I realized the true potential of selling digital products on Etsy. And I owe a big thank you to Julie, who introduced me to this side hustle and helped me see that I could create products that continued to make money long after I’d created them.
Let me be clear – building a successful Etsy shop isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. There’s work involved in getting your shop up and running, from creating high-quality designs to optimizing your listings and promoting your products. But trust me when I say that the effort is worth it.
Once your Etsy shop is up and running, it can become a passive income machine. Your printables can sell for years and years after you list them. That next Valentine’s Day, I was in Aruba for a wedding event, and the same exact designs that earned me $718 in Lake Tahoe, earned me hundreds again that next year.
These Valentine’s Day printables have been sitting in my Etsy shop for years at this point, and they continue to make sales every single year. Compared to selling physical products, delivering UberEats on a bike, editing podcasts, or writing blog posts, this side hustle is so much more passive.
If you want to learn more, I recommend signing up for the Free Training Workshop: Earn Money Selling Printables. This free workshop will teach you how to get started selling printables. You will learn different ideas for printables to sell, how to get started on Etsy, and how to actually make sales.
Are you interested in selling printables online? What questions do you have?
Do you want to make money selling printables online? This free training will give you great ideas on what you can sell, how to get started, the costs, and how to make sales.
Recommended reading: Gold City Ventures Review: E-Printables Course Review
I like interesting stories and I like interesting houses. I also like to believe I tell the former and have the latter. (Don’t we all?) So, when a book titled “Authentic Interiors: Rooms That Tell Stories” (Gibbs Smith, March 2024) hit my radar, I thought, “Shazam! My worlds collide!”
I dove into the 224-page, picture-rich hardcover, then rang up the author, interior designer Philip Gorrivan, to see if I could divine the secret to designing rooms that tell not just stories, but our stories. (Face it. Despite what they say, a lot of designers tell their stories.)
In his introduction, Gorrivan cites the 20th-century designer David Hicks who said, “The best rooms have something to say about the people who live in them.” The book then goes on to feature 14 client-inspired projects including the author’s own house.
“If you’re going to design your home, whether a grand house or a shoebox apartment, whatever the budget, make sure your interior space is an extension of who you are,” he said. “This, after all, is where you come home, sleep and live.”
Few would disagree. However, this is one of those easy-to-say, harder-to-do design maxims. In the wrong hands, the result could be ghastly. Some people’s stories just aren’t pretty. I turned to the pages for clues. For one couple — a screenwriter and newspaper editor — Gorrivan used posterized black-and-white images of famous faces. For a Brazilian couple’s New York apartment, he incorporated saturated tones from the tropical rain forest, painting walls in a lacquered emerald and incorporating fuchsia furnishings.
As with any author I interview, but especially this one, I was curious to learn the writer’s story. Where is he coming from? So, I asked Gorrivan, who has a house in Connecticut and an apartment in Manhattan, that and a few more questions:
Marni:Before we talk about other people’s stories, what’s yours? What was your early home like?
Philip: Because my parents had different interests, our house was a mix of antiques and modern furnishings. It was by no means “decorated.” We lived in Portland, Maine, where we had these long bleak winters. My family had this old farmhouse, which became a repository for family hand-me-downs and heirlooms. To amuse myself, I spent hours exploring all these pieces. I became visually tuned into furniture at a young age. I may have been the first 10-year-old to ask for a subscription to Architectural Digest.
Q: Interior design wasn’t your first career. When and why did you switch?
A: After college, I worked in sales, got married, had children and was working to pay the bills. When 9/11 hit, we were living in New York. It made me rethink everything. I decided then to do what I loved. I went to work for an interior design firm to learn the ropes, and after two years went out on my own. My break came when House & Gardens magazine asked me to design a room for a show home they were putting together. They had one room left, a 12-by-8-foot laundry room, the smallest room in the house. I made the most of it.
Q: Although your rooms tell your clients’ stories, you clearly have a signature look. How would you describe it?
A: I come from a love of textiles and fabrics, color and pattern. I like to align with great design firms of the 20th century to create a look I call classic modern, a mix of periods that speak to both the home and the homeowner.
Q: Color indeed! Not everyone can pull off Chinese red lacquered walls.
A: While I have a lot of respect for neutrals and earth tones, I especially like mixing in strong color. Color is powerful and transformative. The chapter titled “Reinvention,” for example, features a New York apartment we made over after the owner got divorced. He was living in the same place he’d shared with his ex-wife and wanted it to feel completely different. Painting the walls bright spring green felt like a new beginning.
Q:Beautiful interior design books cover coffee tables everywhere. Why another one? How is your book different?
A: The word “authentic” is in the title because it’s important to me. We see a lot of pastiche in the design world, where designers copy and paste the work of others. Authenticity is critical in any creative endeavor. I wanted to convey that and emphasize that a successful interior should speak to the architecture of the house or apartment, to the surrounding geography, and ultimately to the homeowner.
Q:What if the homeowner is a couple with different interests and tastes?
A: Every couple disagrees on looks. We negotiate. A successful home design includes elements that reflect all inhabitants, which ultimately makes the interior even more unique.
Q:What makes you cringe when you walk into some homes?
A: Furnishings that are totally out of scale. A sofa that is way too big or art that is too small can ruin a room.
Q:How can we inject our story into our homes, whether that reflects our professions, interests or heritage?
A: Think of what you love and want to surround yourself with: your children, your pets, your travels, your roots. It may not be your profession. Some clients don’t want any reminders of their work once they get home. And you’d be surprised how many want to decorate using the colors of their favorite sports team. Heritage also matters. I always want to know where my clients grew up.
Q:What do you want readers to take away?
A: Though the book is filled with pictures, I hope readers look at the words, too. I hope they read the different stories and see how stories can come alive in design. I hope they see how the best designs come from the inside out, and come away thinking, maybe I can do this, too?
Marni Jameson is the author of seven books including the newly released Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow, What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want.
“Authentic Interiors” by Philip Gorrivan (Gibbs Smith, March 2024, $45, 224 pages) “provides much to savor,” says Publishers Weekly. Photo courtesy Gibbs Smith. (Handout via Marni Jameson)
Amy Yzaguirre and her husband bought a home in Oregon with a 2.5% interest rate in 2023.
The lower mortgage rate, attained via an assumable mortgage, saves them $40,000 over 28 years.
Yzaguirre and her husbandhave used their savings to pay off medical debt and purchase a new car.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Amy Yzaguirre, 40, a student and barista. She and her husband purchased a home with an assumable mortgage in Tigard, Oregon, in March 2023. An assumable mortgage allows qualifying buyers to acquire the interest rate, current principal balance, and other conditions of a seller’s existing loan. Not all loans can be assumed. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in the Portland, Oregon, area but moved to Boise, Idaho, in 2017. In 2022, my husband and I decided to move back to Oregon.
My husband had applied for some jobs in Portland and got a position, but we had just refinanced our Boise home. Since we had signed a no-flip clause, we couldn’t sell it until April 2022.
We planned that he would move to Portland and live with a friend while our son and I stayed back and got the house ready to be sold in April. Then, we would join him and buy a house.
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But in January 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I didn’t want to undergo half of my chemo treatment in Boise and the other half in Portland, so we had to figure out a way to be together as a family while I underwent chemotherapy.
We had to keep the house until April, but we couldn’t afford to pay two mortgages or pay rent and a mortgage. A family friend gave us the idea to buy an RV and live on my parents’ land in Oregon. We lived there for eight months. It was pretty rough, but we made it work.
In March of 2022, we started looking at houses through our real-estate agent. I was in the middle of chemo, but on the days that I would feel good, we would meet up with brokers.
One suggested, “To get the type of mortgage loan that you want, you need to wait until you’re back to work.” So, we decided to pause our home search until then. While waiting, we got our credit in a good spot. When August came around and I got a job, we started seriously looking at houses.
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Finding an affordable home to buy was difficult
We wanted to live in the suburb that my parents lived in, called Tigard, but the area was too expensive for us, and the real-estate market was fairly competitive.
It’s funny how an area can be a nice, family-friendly, affordable place to live, and then all of a sudden, it becomes overpopulated and it’s not nearly as reasonable as it used to be.
We eventually decided to look in the Sherwood area instead. At this point, I had beaten cancer and was in remission. My husband and I were excited that we could take the next step and buy a new house.
We qualified for a substantial loan through our mortgage company, but we didn’t want our monthly payments to be too high. We set our budget for a home at no more than $450,000 — but even that was a bit of a stretch.
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As we looked, we really couldn’t find many homes that checked all the boxes for that amount.
But in September 2022, we found a townhouse that was on the market for $416,000. On a flyer for the home, its seller had written that if we wanted to assume her loan, she was locked in at 2.5%.
That didn’t necessarily draw us in because we didn’t quite know what that meant.
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I was more interested in the fact that it was a 1,500-square-foot townhouse that had everything we wanted, like a backyard, a big garage, and an open floor plan with hardwood floors.
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At the time, I believe mortgage rates were close to 6%. If we had a traditional mortgage, our monthly payment would have been about $3,000 a month. I remember being like, “OK, that’s pretty high, but I think we can make it work. We’re just going to have to be really careful.”
An assumable mortgage was too irresistible to pass up
We told our real-estate agent about the home and asked her what an assumable mortgage was. She said, “You’ll have to talk to our mortgage broker. I don’t really have any experience with that and don’t know what it entails.”
I asked the mortgage broker, and he admitted, “Well, we haven’t dealt with this in probably about 30 years, so I’m not entirely familiar with the process. But essentially, when you assume a loan, you’re taking over the seller’s mortgage. If you qualify, you can adopt their locked-in rate, and you don’t have to pay current mortgage rates.”
He warned us that the seller’s mortgage company was not going to hold our hand through the process. But if we were willing to put in a rigorous amount of work and do a lot of bugging, we should definitely try it because it would save us a lot of money.
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I did the math. The seller was locked in at 2.5%, so if we qualified to assume the loan, our mortgage would be a little over $2,100 a month versus the over $3,000 we would be paying with a traditional mortgage at current market rates. It would save us over $40,000 in the long run. That would give us wiggle room and allow us to continue our lifestyle instead of having to scale back.
It sounded amazing, so my husband and I decided to pursue the loan assumption.
It’s not easy assuming a loan — and it took forever
In March 2023, we purchased our home for $418,900 and made a down payment of $48,000. The home had a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, with 28 years left on a $383,000 Federal Housing Administration loan.
We worked with Flagstar to assume the mortgage, and they assigned us an advocate. He was really nice and helped us through the process.
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In the end, we ended up submitting over 200 documents, and the process took three full months.
At a certain point, my husband was over it and just wanted to go with a normal mortgage. I had to assure him I could take care of it and that it would all be worth it — we just had to be patient.
The mortgage broker we originally spoke to was right — as the company processing the assumable mortgage isn’t making any money, you really have to advocate for yourself, jump in there, and ask questions.
I tell anybody who has asked me about assuming loans that it’s going to take a long time and it will be grueling. The process will humble you in some ways, too, because you start doubting yourself, like, “Am I a horrible financial person? Why did they need so much information? Am I not doing this right? Is there something that I’ve done wrong?”
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But once you get through the process, you should be able to get it.
It just takes time.
The hard work getting the assumable mortgage was worth it
After living in a tiny 21-foot RV, buying a home gave us freedom and a new beginning. It also helped me not feel boxed in anymore.
Even though I was fortunate to have good insurance during chemotherapy — once I hit a certain deductible, insurance covered the rest — and have excellent insurance through my current job, I still had quite a few medical bills to pay off.
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With the extra money we have saved on our mortgage payment, I’ve been able to pay them down.
We also used the extra money to pay off other debt and purchase a Toyota Tacoma with cash — we don’t have a car payment at all.
We’re not living grand or extravagantly, but at least we’re not having to eat ramen every night. Knowing that we worked so hard for this lifestyle and achieved it ourselves, I feel like we’re truly living life to the fullest.
The main differences between checking and savings accounts is that checking accounts are for spending and come with a debit card and checks, while savings accounts are a place to stash and grow your money via interest earned but your access may be more limited. These two kinds of financial products can form the foundation of how you manage your money day to day.
Read on to learn what the difference between a savings and checking account is, how they are the same, and the role each plays in your financial life.
Key Points
• Bank transfers move money from one bank account to another.
• These can be done by online transfers, checks, peer-to-peer services, wire transfers, third-party companies, or bank-to-bank money transfer services.
• There may be limits on how many bank transfers you can do in a specific time period and the dollar amount.
• The time it takes to complete a bank transfer may vary with the method.
Quick Comparison of Checking vs Savings Accounts
To help you understand the difference between checking and savings accounts, here is a chart summarizing some key points.
Checking Account
Saving Account
Fees
Varies
Varies
Interest earnings
Minimal (if at all)
Yes
Debit card access
Yes
No
Check writing capabilities
Yes
No
Withdrawal limits
None
May be capped at 6 per month
Maintenance fees
Varies
Varies
Minimum opening balance
Varies
Varies
Best used for
Spending
Saving
There are similarities when you compare checking vs. savings accounts, such as varied minimum opening deposits, maintenance fees, and other monthly fees. Also, both kinds of accounts are typically insured by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) or NCUA (National Credit Union Administration), which can give you peace of mind.
That said, there are also three major points of difference between checking and savings accounts: how account holders access their money, withdrawal limits, and interest earnings.
💡 Quick Tip: Make money easy. Open a bank account online so you can manage bills, deposits, transfers — all from one convenient app.
Three Major Differences to Know
Consider these three important ways that checking vs. savings accounts can differ.
Interest Earnings
When it comes to earning a bit of a return on an online bank account, savings accounts typically offer a higher interest rate than checking accounts. In many cases, checking accounts aren’t interest-bearing, meaning no interest is earned at all. Interest rates for savings accounts vary. The current average is 0.46% APY (compared to a current average of 0.07% APY for checking accounts), according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. That said, you probably will find higher rates at online banks instead of bricks-and-mortar ones, with rates ranging from 4.35% to 5.15%. By not having physical locations, online banks save money and can pass savings onto their customers.
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Liquidity
Here’s a key difference between a savings and checking account: Checking accounts are usually used by account holders to access their cash frequently, whether paying monthly bills or buying a latte. Checking accounts generally include a debit card, which can be used for purchases or ATM withdrawals. Checks, while not as popular as they once were, are also typically provided.
Savings accounts, on the other hand, don’t usually come with debit cards. Some financial institutions offer an ATM card for deposits and withdrawals to a savings account. Similarly, they lack checks. This reinforces the idea that these accounts are not for spending.
Withdrawal Limits
Checking accounts allow unlimited withdrawals, whereas savings accounts may only allow up to six per month. After that point, the transaction could be denied or the account holder charged a penalty. The bank might even convert the savings account into a checking account.
However, in April 2020, the Federal Reserve lifted this limitation of six transactions imposed through Regulation D. Financial institutions are no longer required to limit savings account withdrawals or transfers to six per month, but some may continue to do so. Check with your financial institution to learn the full story.
What Is a Savings Account?
A savings account is an account held at a financial institution such as a bank or credit union, and its primary purpose is to store your funds safely. Most savings accounts allow the account holder to earn interest on the account balance.
A few points to note:
• Savings account rates are generally higher than those offered with checking accounts (if those pay any interest at all). For this reason, they can be a good option as a savings vehicle for money that the account holder doesn’t need to access frequently.
• Common uses for savings accounts are emergency funds, short-term savings goals, and funds for occasional expenses. The cash can accumulate in the savings account and have an opportunity to earn interest.
• As mentioned above, banks can still impose a per-month transaction limit on savings accounts — they’re just not required to by the Fed anymore. There could be fees imposed on these excess transactions, which can add up.
• Some financial institutions may automatically close an account holder’s savings account or convert the savings account to a checking account if too many withdrawals are made each month on a regular basis.
• Other financial institutions don’t charge a maintenance fee or require account holders to maintain a minimum account balance, although they may require a minimum deposit to open an account. It’s wise to check with your financial institution to make sure you understand the ground rules.
💡 Quick Tip: Most savings accounts only earn a fraction of a percentage in interest. Not at SoFi. Our high-yield savings account can help you make meaningful progress towards your financial goals.
Benefits of Savings Accounts
Here are some of the upsides of opening and maintaining a savings account:
• Savings accounts are low-risk, which means you are unlikely to lose money. Rather, you are likely to make money, thanks to interest, especially when that interest compounds.
• Interest is a plus. By shopping around for high-yield accounts, you may be able to grow your money without the volatility of investing in, say, stocks.
• Savings accounts are usually insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per account holder, per account ownership category, per insured institution. In the highly unlikely event of your bank going out of business, you’d be covered. What’s more, some banks participate in programs that extend the FDIC insurance to cover millions1.
• Easy access is another plus. Unless term or time deposits, in which your money can be locked up for a specific period of time, savings accounts allow for easy withdrawal of your funds.
• Peace of mind can come with savings. Having a savings account can help you feel more secure as you work toward your financial goals. For instance, you’ll know that you have funds available if an emergency cropped up.
Recommended: Guide to Using an ATM
What Is a Checking Account?
A checking account is also held at a financial institution, though its primary purpose is to be used for everyday spending. These accounts generally don’t have any withdrawal limits, so account holders can make as many transactions as their heart desires.
• Debit cards typically come with checking accounts, and can be used for purchases at bricks-and-mortar and online retailers and to withdraw cash from an ATM.)
• Checking account holders may also be able to use paper checks, either complimentary or purchased by the account holder, which can be used to pay bills and make purchases.
• Account holders may also access their funds by P2P platforms (such as Venmo or PayPal) and other means.
Checking accounts may not earn as much interest compared to savings accounts, if they earn any interest at all.
Many financial institutions charge the same types of fees for checking accounts and savings accounts, such as monthly maintenance fees. Additional checking account fees may include overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees and out-of-network ATM fees.
Having enough money in the account and sticking with in-network ATMs are good ways to avoid charges like these, but banks are required to disclose certain fees it charges. Take a look at the fee schedule for any particular type of account you are thinking of opening and get acquainted with the details.
Benefits of Checking Accounts
There are many advantages to having a checking account, including:
• You can pay bills and transfer funds online, in person, or by app; there’s no need to carry around cash for such transactions. Checking accounts can make money management very convenient.
• Checking accounts are typically insured by the FDIC (or, if you bank with a credit union, NCUA), so your money is safe. Even if the financial institution were to go out of business, you wouldn’t lose your money up to $250,000 per account holder, per account ownership category, per insured institution.
• Checking accounts can be an affordable way to conduct financial transactions. For instance, your account is likely to come with checks, which can save you the effort and expense of using money orders or other types of payments in many situations.
• Your checking account may offer rewards, such as cash back opportunities, or if you apply for a loan at the same institution, you may get a better rate.
Recommended: Ways to Avoid Overdraft Fees
The Takeaway
Yes, there are significant differences between checking and savings accounts. They serve quite separate purposes (spending vs. saving) and can be useful in working toward varied financial goals. For many people, however, it’s not a question of which kind of account to open, but where’s the best place to open both.
When you’re looking for the best banks for checking and savings accounts, see what SoFi can offer.
Interested in opening an online bank account? When you sign up for a SoFi Checking and Savings account with direct deposit, you’ll get a competitive annual percentage yield (APY), pay zero account fees, and enjoy an array of rewards, such as access to the Allpoint Network of 55,000+ fee-free ATMs globally. Qualifying accounts can even access their paycheck up to two days early.
Better banking is here with SoFi, NerdWallet’s 2024 winner for Best Checking Account Overall. Enjoy up to 4.60% APY on SoFi Checking and Savings.
3 Great Benefits of Direct Deposit
It’s Faster
As opposed to a physical check that can take time to clear, you don’t have to wait days to access a direct deposit. Usually, you can use the money the day it is sent. What’s more, you don’t have to remember to go to the bank or use your app to deposit your check.
It’s Like Clockwork
Whether your check comes the first Wednesday of the month or every other Friday, if you sign up for direct deposit, you know when the money will hit your account. This is especially helpful for scheduling the payment of regular bills. No more guessing when you’ll have sufficient funds.
It’s Secure
While checks can get lost in the mail — or even stolen, there is no chance of that happening with a direct deposit. Also, if it’s your paycheck, you won’t have to worry about your or your employer’s info ending up in the wrong hands.
FAQ
Are interest rates variable on savings and checking accounts?
Savings and checking accounts virtually always have variable interest rates.
Are checking or savings accounts insured?
Yes, both checking and savings accounts are usually insured by the FDIC (or NCUA) for up to $250,000 per account holder, per account ownership category, per insured institution.
Is it better to have most of your money in a savings or checking account?
When comparing checking vs. savings accounts, know this: If you have a chunk of the money that will sit in the bank for a period of time, a savings account can be a wise choice since it will earn interest.
Photo credit: iStock/AleksandarNakic
1SoFi Bank is a member FDIC and does not provide more than $250,000 of FDIC insurance per legal category of account ownership, as described in the FDIC’s regulations. Any additional FDIC insurance is provided by banks in the SoFi Insured Deposit Program. Deposits may be insured up to $2M through participation in the program. See full terms at SoFi.com/banking/fdic/terms. See list of participating banks at SoFi.com/banking/fdic/receivingbanks.
The SoFi Bank Debit Mastercard® is issued by SoFi Bank, N.A., pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated and can be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.
SoFi members with direct deposit activity can earn 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Direct Deposit means a deposit to an account holder’s SoFi Checking or Savings account, including payroll, pension, or government payments (e.g., Social Security), made by the account holder’s employer, payroll or benefits provider or government agency (“Direct Deposit”) via the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) Network during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Deposits that are not from an employer or government agency, including but not limited to check deposits, peer-to-peer transfers (e.g., transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc.), merchant transactions (e.g., transactions from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.), and bank ACH funds transfers and wire transfers from external accounts, do not constitute Direct Deposit activity. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate.
SoFi members with Qualifying Deposits can earn 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Qualifying Deposits means one or more deposits that, in the aggregate, are equal to or greater than $5,000 to an account holder’s SoFi Checking and Savings account (“Qualifying Deposits”) during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Qualifying Deposits only include those deposits from the following eligible sources: (i) ACH transfers, (ii) inbound wire transfers, (iii) peer-to-peer transfers (i.e., external transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc. and internal peer-to-peer transfers from a SoFi account belonging to another account holder), (iv) check deposits, (v) instant funding to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, (vi) push payments to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, and (vii) cash deposits. Qualifying Deposits do not include: (i) transfers between an account holder’s Checking account, Savings account, and/or Vaults; (ii) interest payments; (iii) bonuses issued by SoFi Bank or its affiliates; or (iv) credits, reversals, and refunds from SoFi Bank, N.A. (“SoFi Bank”) or from a merchant.
SoFi Bank shall, in its sole discretion, assess each account holder’s Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits throughout each 30-Day Evaluation Period to determine the applicability of rates and may request additional documentation for verification of eligibility. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the “Start Date” and “End Date” set forth on the APY Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the “30-Day Evaluation Period”). You can access the APY Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking > Savings > Current APY or (ii) Banking > Checking > Current APY. Upon receiving a Direct Deposit or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits to your account, you will begin earning 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% on checking balances on or before the following calendar day. You will continue to earn these APYs for (i) the remainder of the current 30-Day Evaluation Period and through the end of the subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period and (ii) any following 30-day Evaluation Periods during which SoFi Bank determines you to have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits without interruption.
SoFi Bank reserves the right to grant a grace period to account holders following a change in Direct Deposit activity or Qualifying Deposits activity before adjusting rates. If SoFi Bank grants you a grace period, the dates for such grace period will be reflected on the APY Details page of your account. If SoFi Bank determines that you did not have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits during the current 30-day Evaluation Period and, if applicable, the grace period, then you will begin earning the rates earned by account holders without either Direct Deposit or Qualifying Deposits until you have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits in a subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period. For the avoidance of doubt, an account holder with both Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits will earn the rates earned by account holders with Direct Deposit.
Members without either Direct Deposit activity or Qualifying Deposits, as determined by SoFi Bank, during a 30-Day Evaluation Period and, if applicable, the grace period, will earn 1.20% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances.
Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 10/24/2023. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.
Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.
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In some popular budgets, 30% of your take-home pay goes toward the wants in life. So if you are wondering how to enjoy life when you have student loans, some of those funds can go to dining out, travel, and more. While student loans can eat up a portion of your disposable income, with smart budgeting, you can have some fun money available as you make your payments.
Read on for advice on how much money to earmark for fun when you’re focused on paying off what you borrowed for your education. Student debt, after all, is a phase of your life that you are moving through, and you can indeed find ways to live life while paying off student loans..
The Impact of Student Loan Debt
Yes, student loans can require time and effort to pay off. Many Americans are working their way through their payments. In fact, in one recent survey, the College Board found that 54% of undergraduate students at four-year institutions graduated with student loan debt. In other words, you are not alone.
Having that debt hanging over you can have an emotional impact in addition to affecting your finances. Student loan debt can result in higher levels of mental health issues; it can possibly contribute to money stress or feelings of depression.
That in turn can put strain on other aspects of life. It might, for instance, lead a borrower to delay life decisions, such as getting married or starting a family.
But having student loans on your plate can have a silver lining. That debt can encourage you to build positive financial habits as you work through your payments. You can learn how to budget efficiently. You can learn resilience and how to work through paying off debt. Consider it good practice for when you might have a car loan or a mortgage in the future. 💡 Quick Tip: Get flexible terms and competitive rates when you refinance your student loan with SoFi.
How Much Money to Allocate for Fun
As you look at your budget when paying off student loans, you might wonder, “What’s the right amount of money to allocate for fun?”
There’s no “right” or “correct” amount. Funds that you allocate toward fun (whether that means buying new clothes you don’t need, snapping up some concert tickets, or spending a long weekend at the beach) will need to work within your budget. Given that you are allocating a percentage of income toward student loans, here’s how to figure that out.
10% Rule
The 10% Rule refers to allocating 10% of your monthly income after taxes toward fun. For example, if you make $3,000 per month after taxes, you’d allocate $300 toward fun each month. You can use that amount guilt-free, whether you want to put it toward hobbies or dining out.
50/30/20 Rule
The 50/30/20 rule could also help you budget when you’re paying off student loans. Here’s how it works; you would allocate your take-home pay as follows:
• 50% essential expenses: Essential expenses refer to the cost of housing, food (groceries, not going out to brunch with friends), healthcare, and the like, as well as minimum debt payments, such as what you owe per month for your student loans, credit card, and car loan, if you have one.
• 30% discretionary expenses: Discretionary expenses include items that aren’t as essential, including dining out (like the above-mentioned brunch), personal care (spa days, training sessions), non-essential clothes, travel expenses, etc.
• 20% for savings and additional debt payments: You can think of these as putting money toward your short- and long-term goals. They can include savings, investments, or a child’s education. Or making additional payments toward you student debt to pay it off that much faster.
70/20/10 Rule
Another type of rule, the 70/20/10 rule, may seem just like the 50/30/20 rule, which it is — just with different allocation percentages. This rule means you divide your take-home pay as follows:
• 70% goes toward needs and wants.
• 20% goes toward debt repayment and short-term savings.
• 10% goes toward investing and donations.
You would figure out how much of that 70% you can allocate for fun to make this budget work for you.
Budgeting as a Couple
If you have a partner, you will have to decide how to budget your funds. Some couples keep their money separate, while others pool their resources. You may be in a situation where one person earns more than the other, or perhaps one is still in school. One or both of you may have student debt in a marriage. It can take some discussion and experimentation with different budget systems to decide how to divide your money up to cover:
• Essential expenses
• Discretionary expenses
• Goals
• Debt payoff
• Savings (whether for the down payment on a house, an emergency fund, or other goal).
💡 Quick Tip: It might be beneficial to look for a refinancing lender that offers extras. SoFi members, for instance, can qualify for rate discounts and have access to career services, financial advisors, networking events, and more — at no extra cost.
Choose Your Fun
Fun money should be intentional and focused. There’s no rule on how to live life while paying off student loans, so consider what would bring you joy. Would it be knowing you can go out to dinner once or twice a month? Being able to buy a new mountain bike? Becoming a member at your favorite local museum?
A quick reminder: Not that there’s anything wrong with saving for a crazy weekend in Vegas, but you don’t need to spend thousands to have fun. Don’t forget to also find low-cost fun with family and friends through free local concerts, movie nights at home, strolls through the local farmers’ market or sunset walks at a local park, potluck dinners, and similar activities. Making your own fun can be a free or cheap way to stretch your budget while paying off your student loans.
Monthly Budget Example
Here’s a quick example of a simple monthly budget. Say your take-home pay is $6,000 a month , and these are some basic expenses:
• Mortgage: $2,000
• Property taxes: $500
• Credit card debt: $500
• Food: $300
• Car loan: $300
• Student loans: $250
• Transportation (gas, etc.): $100
• Utilities: $260
• Healthcare: $300
• Retirement savings: $200
• Emergency fund savings: $200
• College savings for your child: $200
• After-school childcare: $500
Total expenses: $5,610
If you have allocated the amounts needed in the 50/30/20 budget rule, for example, then you would subtract $5,510 from $6,000, and you have $490 left. In that case, you may consider using the difference between your expenses and your income as your fun money, as long as you’ve covered all your bases with your expenses.
Set Goals for Life Beyond Debt
Imagine your future without student loans. Setting financial goals — such as paying off student loans or other debt or accruing enough cash for the down payment on a house — can help you build long-term financial stability and help you work toward financial freedom. The best way to do that is to plan to achieve these goals and stay committed to them.
Take a look at this example: Let’s say that instead of buying a new pair of shoes every month, you put $100 in an investment account every month. In five years, that amount could grow to $8,000, and over 30 years, it could grow to over $280,000.
Without dipping into a no-fun lifestyle or dealing with more money stress, consider finding a way to economize today to make tomorrow brighter. For example, maybe you could forgo or cut your fun money for a few months out of the year to build your savings. Or put the money saved toward crushing your student debt that much sooner.
Recommended: Ways to Stay Motivated When Paying Down Debt
How to Manage Student Loans
What’s the best way to manage student loans without forgetting to allocate money toward fun? Take a look at a few steps you can take.
Make It Automatic
First, consider setting up an automatic payment plan through your loan servicer. An automatic payment plan will automatically pull money from your account each month, ensuring you do not miss any payments.
Missing payments can result in a delinquent account, which happens the first day after you miss a student loan payment. If you remain delinquent on your student loan payments after 90 days, your loan servicer will report you to the three major national credit bureaus. This could lower your credit score, which might make it more difficult to obtain credit, get a job, or secure housing.
If that carries on, you could default on your student loan. Consequences could include the entire unpaid balance of your loan coming due, loss of eligibility for federal student aid, further damage to your credit score, wage garnishment, and possibly legal action against you.
This is an extreme situation, but making it automatic will prevent these issues from occurring.
Income-Driven Repayment
If you’re a federal student loan borrower, you may qualify for an income-driven repayment plan, which means monthly student loan payments get capped at a certain level of your income and family size.
Several types of income-driven repayment plans include the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment plan, Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan, and the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan:
• SAVE Plan: Caps your payments at 10% of your discretionary income and, as of summer 2024, possibly 5%.
• PAYE Plan: Caps your payments at 10% of your discretionary income, and you’ll never pay more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.
• IBR plan: Caps your payment at 10% of your discretionary income if you’re a new borrower on or after July 1, 2024. If you’re not a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014, your payment generally caps at 15% of your discretionary income.
• ICR plan: Offers the lesser of 20% of your discretionary income or what you would pay on a repayment plan with a fixed payment over 12 years based on your income.
You must apply to qualify for one of these plans (contact your loan servicer) and update your income and qualifications every year to continue with one of these plans.
Prioritize an Emergency Fund and Retirement
Many graduates ask this question: Should I fund my retirement and emergency savings or pay off my student loans?
In most situations, there’s no reason why you can’t do both. Furthermore, it’s important to realize the importance of funding an emergency fund and retirement savings.
• Your emergency fund is a financial safety net that will allow you to pay for a critical home repair (think air conditioning in the summer!) or help cover the negative financial consequences of becoming unemployed. Ideally, you want to save three to six months’ worth of basic living expenses in an account where you can quickly get the money out if necessary.
• Saving for retirement when you have student loans can be an important step for your financial security as you reach older age. If you retire at 65 and live till 95, you must ensure you’ve saved enough to last those 30 years. Consider contributing at least enough to your retirement plan to get your employer match — many employers match between 3% and 5% of employee pay.
Putting money in all these “buckets” means prioritizing and organizing your debts, putting together a budget, tracking your spending, and setting savings goals.
Celebrate Your Progress
Don’t forget to take time to celebrate your progress! In addition to spending your “fun money,” you should also allocate time toward celebrating your student loan payoff goals.
For example, if you choose to pay off a high-interest rate loan and succeed in paying it off, consider rewarding yourself with a night out or another type of splurge — maybe a larger splurge than you would ordinarily allocate for fun money.
Recommended: How to Handle Student Loans During Job Loss
The Takeaway
While student loans and other debt types may make you feel burdened, remember that this is just a phase you are moving through. Building fun money into your budget can help bridge the gap between frustration and feeling like you have flexibility.
Write down a few things you enjoy doing, and budget for them. Also investigate other ways to free up funds to make paying off your student loans more manageable.
Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.
With SoFi, refinancing is fast, easy, and all online. We offer competitive fixed and variable rates.
Photo credit: iStock/Dragon Claws
SoFi Student Loan Refinance If you are a federal student loan borrower, you should consider all of your repayment opportunities including the opportunity to refinance your student loan debt at a lower APR or to extend your term to achieve a lower monthly payment. Please note that once you refinance federal student loans you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to federal loan borrowers, including but not limited to income-based repayment plans or extended repayment plans.
SoFi Loan Products SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.
Non affiliation: SoFi isn’t affiliated with any of the companies highlighted in this article.
Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.
Average mortgage rates edged higher yesterday. Unfortunately, it was the sixth consecutive business day on which they’ve risen.
Earlier this morning, markets were signaling that mortgage rates today might barely move. However, these early mini-trends frequently alter speed or direction as the hours pass.
Current mortgage and refinance rates
Find your lowest rate. Start here
Program
Mortgage Rate
APR*
Change
Conventional 30-year fixed
7.15%
7.17%
Unchanged
Conventional 15-year fixed
6.57%
6.61%
-0.04
Conventional 20-year fixed
7.16%
7.19%
+0.02
Conventional 10-year fixed
6.63%
6.66%
-0.05
30-year fixed FHA
6.51%
7.19%
Unchanged
30-year fixed VA
6.61%
6.72%
-0.03
5/1 ARM Conventional
6.3%
7.39%
Unchanged
Rates are provided by our partner network, and may not reflect the market. Your rate might be different. Click here for a personalized rate quote. See our rate assumptions See our rate assumptions here.
Should you lock your mortgage rate today?
Tomorrow’s Federal Reserve events (see below) could make a big difference to mortgage rates in the near and medium terms. But, right now, I’m pessimistic about our seeing a sustained downward trend until the summer. And some wonder if the fall might be a more realistic timeframe.
So, for now, my personal rate lock recommendations remain:
LOCK if closing in 7 days
LOCK if closing in 15 days
LOCK if closing in 30 days
LOCK if closing in 45 days
LOCKif closing in 60days
However, with so much uncertainty at the moment, your instincts could easily turn out to be as good as mine — or better. So, let your gut and your own tolerance for risk help guide you.
>Related: 7 Tips to get the best refinance rate
Market data affecting today’s mortgage rates
Here’s a snapshot of the state of play this morning at about 9:50 a.m. (ET). The data are mostly compared with roughly the same time the business day before, so much of the movement will often have happened in the previous session. The numbers are:
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes held steady again at 4.32%. (Neutral for mortgage rates. However, yields were rising this morning.) More than any other market, mortgage rates typically tend to follow these particular Treasury bond yields
Major stock indexes were mixed this morning. (Neutral for mortgage rates.) When investors buy shares, they’re often selling bonds, which pushes those prices down and increases yields and mortgage rates. The opposite may happen when indexes are lower. But this is an imperfect relationship
Oil prices increased to $83.18 from $81.35 a barrel. (Bad for mortgage rates*.) Energy prices play a prominent role in creating inflation and also point to future economic activity
Goldprices inched down to $2,156 from $2,159 an ounce. (Neutral for mortgage rates*.) It is generally better for rates when gold prices rise and worse when they fall. Because gold tends to rise when investors worry about the economy.
CNN Business Fear & Greed index — dropped to 69 from 75 out of 100. (Good for mortgage rates.) “Greedy” investors push bond prices down (and interest rates up) as they leave the bond market and move into stocks, while “fearful” investors do the opposite. So, lower readings are often better than higher ones
*A movement of less than $20 on gold prices or 40 cents on oil ones is a change of 1% or less. So we only count meaningful differences as good or bad for mortgage rates.
Caveats about markets and rates
Before the pandemic, post-pandemic upheavals, and war in Ukraine, you could look at the above figures and make a pretty good guess about what would happen to mortgage rates that day. But that’s no longer the case. We still make daily calls. And are usually right. But our record for accuracy won’t achieve its former high levels until things settle down.
So, use markets only as a rough guide. Because they have to be exceptionally strong or weak to rely on them. But, with that caveat, mortgage rates today look likely to hold close to steady. However, be aware that “intraday swings” (when rates change speed or direction during the day) are a common feature right now.
Find your lowest rate. Start here
What’s driving mortgage rates today?
Tomorrow
I covered yesterday the three Federal Reserve events due early tomorrow afternoon:
2 p.m. Eastern — Rate announcement and report publications
2 p.m. Eastern — Summary of Economic Projects publication. This occurs only quarterly and includes a dot plot
I’ll brief you more fully on those tomorrow morning. That way you’ll know what to look out for before it’s too late to act.
Personally, I’m not very hopeful about the impact of the Fed’s events on mortgage rates. Of course, I can’t be sure what they’ll bring. But recent economic data has likely reinforced the central bank’s natural caution. And I suspect that it may signal later and fewer cuts in general interest rates this year than markets have been expecting.
If I’m right, that could be seriously bad for mortgage rates. So, let’s hope I’m wrong.
Today and later in the week
I’ll be surprised if today’s economic reports move mortgage rates much. They cover February’s housing starts and building permits. It’s not that those data are unimportant. However, they rarely attract the attention of the investors who largely determine mortgage rates.
We have to wait until Thursday for a couple of reports that sometimes affect mortgage rates. They’re two March purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) from S&P. One is for the services sector and the other covers manufacturing. I’ll brief you on those tomorrow morning.
Don’t forget you can always learn more about what’s driving mortgage rates in the most recent weekend edition of this daily report. These provide a more detailed analysis of what’s happening. They are published each Saturday morning soon after 10 a.m. (ET) and include a preview of the following week.
Recent trends
According to Freddie Mac’s archives, the weekly all-time lowest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages was set on Jan. 7, 2021, when it stood at 2.65%. The weekly all-time high was 18.63% on Sep. 10, 1981.
Freddie’s Mar. 14 report put that same weekly average at 6.74% down from the previous week’s 6.88%. But note that Freddie’s data are almost always out of date by the time it announces its weekly figures.
Expert forecasts for mortgage rates
Looking further ahead, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) each has a team of economists dedicated to monitoring and forecasting what will happen to the economy, the housing sector and mortgage rates.
And here are their rate forecasts for the four quarters of 2024 (Q1/24, Q2/24 Q3/24 and Q4/24).
The numbers in the table below are for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. Fannie’s were updated on Feb. 12 and the MBA’s on Feb. 20.
Forecaster
Q1/24
Q2/24
Q3/24
Q4/24
Fannie Mae
6.5%
6.3%
6.1%
5.9%
MBA
6.9%
6.6%
6.3%
6.1%
Of course, given so many unknowables, both these forecasts might be even more speculative than usual. And their past record for accuracy hasn’t been wildly impressive.
Important notes on today’s mortgage rates
Here are some things you need to know:
Typically, mortgage rates go up when the economy’s doing well and down when it’s in trouble. But there are exceptions. Read ‘How mortgage rates are determined and why you should care’
Only “top-tier” borrowers (with stellar credit scores, big down payments, and very healthy finances) get the ultralow mortgage rates you’ll see advertised
Lenders vary. Yours may or may not follow the crowd when it comes to daily rate movements — though they all usually follow the broader trend over time
When daily rate changes are small, some lenders will adjust closing costs and leave their rate cards the same
Refinance rates are typically close to those for purchases.
A lot is going on at the moment. And nobody can claim to know with certainty what will happen to mortgage rates in the coming hours, days, weeks or months.
Find your lowest mortgage rate today
You should comparison shop widely, no matter what sort of mortgage you want. Federal regulator the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found in May 2023:
“Mortgage borrowers are paying around $100 a month more depending on which lender they choose, for the same type of loan and the same consumer characteristics (such as credit score and down payment).”
In other words, over the lifetime of a 30-year loan, homebuyers who don’t bother to get quotes from multiple lenders risk losing an average of $36,000. What could you do with that sort of money?
Verify your new rate
Mortgage rate methodology
The Mortgage Reports receives rates based on selected criteria from multiple lending partners each day. We arrive at an average rate and APR for each loan type to display in our chart. Because we average an array of rates, it gives you a better idea of what you might find in the marketplace. Furthermore, we average rates for the same loan types. For example, FHA fixed with FHA fixed. The end result is a good snapshot of daily rates and how they change over time.
How your mortgage interest rate is determined
Mortgage and refinance rates vary a lot depending on each borrower’s unique situation.
Factors that determine your mortgage interest rate include:
Overall strength of the economy — A strong economy usually means higher rates, while a weaker one can push current mortgage rates down to promote borrowing
Lender capacity — When a lender is very busy, it will increase rates to deter new business and give its loan officers some breathing room
Property type (condo, single-family, town house, etc.) — A primary residence, meaning a home you plan to live in full time, will have a lower interest rate. Investment properties, second homes, and vacation homes have higher mortgage rates
Loan-to-value ratio (determined by your down payment) — Your loan-to-value ratio (LTV) compares your loan amount to the value of the home. A lower LTV, meaning a bigger down payment, gets you a lower mortgage rate
Debt-To-Income ratio — This number compares your total monthly debts to your pretax income. The more debt you currently have, the less room you’ll have in your budget for a mortgage payment
Loan term — Loans with a shorter term (like a 15-year mortgage) typically have lower rates than a 30-year loan term
Borrower’s credit score — Typically the higher your credit score is, the lower your mortgage rate, and vice versa
Mortgage discount points — Borrowers have the option to buy discount points or ‘mortgage points’ at closing. These let you pay money upfront to lower your interest rate
Remember, every mortgage lender weighs these factors a little differently.
To find the best rate for your situation, you’ll want to get personalized estimates from a few different lenders.
Verify your new rate. Start here
Are refinance rates the same as mortgage rates?
Rates for a home purchase and mortgage refinance are often similar.
However, some lenders will charge more for a refinance under certain circumstances.
Typically when rates fall, homeowners rush to refinance. They see an opportunity to lock in a lower rate and payment for the rest of their loan.
This creates a tidal wave of new work for mortgage lenders.
Unfortunately, some lenders don’t have the capacity or crew to process a large number of refinance loan applications.
In this case, a lender might raise its rates to deter new business and give loan officers time to process loans currently in the pipeline.
Also, cashing out equity can result in a higher rate when refinancing.
Cash-out refinances pose a greater risk for mortgage lenders, so they’re often priced higher than new home purchases and rate-term refinances.
Check your refinance rates today. Start here
How to get the lowest mortgage or refinance rate
Since rates can vary, always shop around when buying a house or refinancing a mortgage.
Comparison shopping can potentially save thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
1. Get multiple quotes
Many borrowers make the mistake of accepting the first mortgage or refinance offer they receive.
Some simply go with the bank they use for checking and savings since that can seem easiest.
However, your bank might not offer the best mortgage deal for you. And if you’re refinancing, your financial situation may have changed enough that your current lender is no longer your best bet.
So get multiple quotes from at least three different lenders to find the right one for you.
2. Compare Loan Estimates
When shopping for a mortgage or refinance, lenders will provide a Loan Estimate that breaks down important costs associated with the loan.
You’ll want to read these Loan Estimates carefully and compare costs and fees line-by-line, including:
Interest rate
Annual percentage rate (APR)
Monthly mortgage payment
Loan origination fees
Rate lock fees
Closing costs
Remember, the lowest interest rate isn’t always the best deal.
Annual percentage rate (APR) can help you compare the ‘real’ cost of two loans. It estimates your total yearly cost including interest and fees.
Also, pay close attention to your closing costs.
Some lenders may bring their rates down by charging more upfront via discount points. These can add thousands to your out-of-pocket costs.
3. Negotiate your mortgage rate
You can also negotiate your mortgage rate to get a better deal.
Let’s say you get loan estimates from two lenders. Lender A offers the better rate, but you prefer your loan terms from Lender B. Talk to Lender B and see if they can beat the former’s pricing.
You might be surprised to find that a lender is willing to give you a lower interest rate in order to keep your business.
And if they’re not, keep shopping — there’s a good chance someone will.
Fixed-rate mortgage vs. adjustable-rate mortgage: Which is right for you?
Mortgage borrowers can choose between a fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM).
Fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) have interest rates that never change unless you decide to refinance. This results in predictable monthly payments and stability over the life of your loan.
Adjustable-rate loans have a low interest rate that’s fixed for a set number of years (typically five or seven). After the initial fixed-rate period, the interest rate adjusts every year based on market conditions.
With each rate adjustment, a borrower’s mortgage rate can either increase, decrease, or stay the same. These loans are unpredictable since monthly payments can change each year.
Adjustable-rate mortgages are fitting for borrowers who expect to move before their first rate adjustment, or who can afford a higher future payment.
In most other cases, a fixed-rate mortgage is typically the safer and better choice.
Remember, if rates drop sharply, you are free to refinance and lock in a lower rate and payment later on.
How your credit score affects your mortgage rate
You don’t need a high credit score to qualify for a home purchase or refinance, but your credit score will affect your rate.
This is because credit history determines risk level.
Historically speaking, borrowers with higher credit scores are less likely to default on their mortgages, so they qualify for lower rates.
So, for the best rate, aim for a credit score of 720 or higher.
Mortgage programs that don’t require a high score include:
Conventional home loans — minimum 620 credit score
FHA loans — minimum 500 credit score (with a 10% down payment) or 580 (with a 3.5% down payment)
VA loans — no minimum credit score, but 620 is common
USDA loans — minimum 640 credit score
Ideally, you want to check your credit report and score at least 6 months before applying for a mortgage. This gives you time to sort out any errors and make sure your score is as high as possible.
If you’re ready to apply now, it’s still worth checking so you have a good idea of what loan programs you might qualify for and how your score will affect your rate.
You can get your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com and your score from MyFico.com.
How big of a down payment do I need?
Nowadays, mortgage programs don’t require the conventional 20 percent down.
Indeed, first-time home buyers put only 6 percent down on average.
Down payment minimums vary depending on the loan program. For example:
Conventional home loans require a down payment between 3% and 5%
FHA loans require 3.5% down
VA and USDA loans allow zero down payment
Jumbo loans typically require at least 5% to 10% down
Keep in mind, a higher down payment reduces your risk as a borrower and helps you negotiate a better mortgage rate.
If you are able to make a 20 percent down payment, you can avoid paying for mortgage insurance.
This is an added cost paid by the borrower, which protects their lender in case of default or foreclosure.
But a big down payment is not required.
For many people, it makes sense to make a smaller down payment in order to buy a house sooner and start building home equity.
Verify your new rate. Start here
Choosing the right type of home loan
No two mortgage loans are alike, so it’s important to know your options and choose the right type of mortgage.
The five main types of mortgages include:
Fixed-rate mortgage (FRM)
Your interest rate remains the same over the life of the loan. This is a good option for borrowers who expect to live in their homes long-term.
The most popular loan option is the 30-year mortgage, but 15- and 20-year terms are also commonly available.
Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM)
Adjustable-rate loans have a fixed interest rate for the first few years. Then, your mortgage rate resets every year.
Your rate and payment can rise or fall annually depending on how the broader interest rate trends.
ARMs are ideal for borrowers who expect to move prior to their first rate adjustment (usually in 5 or 7 years).
For those who plan to stay in their home long-term, a fixed-rate mortgage is typically recommended.
Jumbo mortgage
A jumbo loan is a mortgage that exceeds the conforming loan limit set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In 2023, the conforming loan limit is $726,200 in most areas.
Jumbo loans are perfect for borrowers who need a larger loan to purchase a high-priced property, especially in big cities with high real estate values.
FHA mortgage
A government loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration for low- to moderate-income borrowers. FHA loans feature low credit score and down payment requirements.
VA mortgage
A government loan backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. To be eligible, you must be active-duty military, a veteran, a Reservist or National Guard service member, or an eligible spouse.
VA loans allow no down payment and have exceptionally low mortgage rates.
USDA mortgage
USDA loans are a government program backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They offer a no-down-payment solution for borrowers who purchase real estate in an eligible rural area. To qualify, your income must be at or below the local median.
Bank statement loan
Borrowers can qualify for a mortgage without tax returns, using their personal or business bank account as evidence of their financial circumstances. This is an option for self-employed or seasonally-employed borrowers.
Portfolio/Non-QM loan
These are mortgages that lenders don’t sell on the secondary mortgage market. And this gives lenders the flexibility to set their own guidelines.
Non-QM loans may have lower credit score requirements or offer low-down-payment options without mortgage insurance.
Choosing the right mortgage lender
The lender or loan program that’s right for one person might not be right for another.
Explore your options and then pick a loan based on your credit score, down payment, and financial goals, as well as local home prices.
Whether you’re getting a mortgage for a home purchase or a refinance, always shop around and compare rates and terms.
Typically, it only takes a few hours to get quotes from multiple lenders. And it could save you thousands in the long run.
Time to make a move? Let us find the right mortgage for you
Current mortgage rates methodology
We receive current mortgage rates each day from a network of mortgage lenders that offer home purchase and refinance loans. Those mortgage rates shown here are based on sample borrower profiles that vary by loan type. See our full loan assumptions here.
Well, so much for mortgage rates falling just in time for the spring home buying season.
While many expected interest rates to be lower by now, they’ve proven to be pretty sticky at current levels.
At last glance, the 30-year fixed is still hovering close to 7%, albeit better than October 2023 when it was around 8%.
But there was hope we’d see rates in the 6% range by now and maybe even lower if the Fed had cut rates earlier.
Interestingly, rates are actually pretty well aligned with the 2024 mortgage rate predictions made at the end of last year.
The likes of Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association pegged the popular loan program at 7% for the first quarter of 2024. And that’s pretty much where we stand today.
The bad news is they’ve now indicated that it could take longer for rates to fall to more agreeable levels.
Fannie Mae Has Adjusted Its Mortgage Rate Forecast Higher for 2024 and 2025
In Fannie Mae’s March forecast, they noted that their “interest rate forecast has been upgraded.”
And not upgraded in a good way. Upgraded as in expect higher mortgage rates for the foreseeable future.
Just how bad is it? Well, after making adjustments a month earlier, they’ve since made upgrades of four-tenths and five-tenths, for the years 2024 and 2025, respectively.
This puts the 30-year fixed at an average of 6.6% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2025. In other words, no sub-6% mortgage rate for the next two years! Ouch!
In January, their forecast called for a 5.8% 30-year fixed in the fourth quarter of 2024, and a relatively low 5.5% by the end of 2025.
Freddie Mac Also Expects Mortgage Rates to Stay Above 6.5% in the First Half of 2024
Meanwhile, Freddie Mac released a new outlook that calls for mortgage rates to remain high through at least the first half of 2024.
They noted that 30-year mortgage rates will stay above 6.5% through the second quarter of 2024.
It’s unclear what happens after that, but there’s not a lot of optimism at the moment.
This should translate to lower mortgage volume, with rate and term refinance activity hard to come by.
And purchase activity also constrained by things like a continued lack of for-sale supply and mortgage rate lock-in.
However, they do expect home prices to increase by about 2.5% in 2024 and another 2.1% 2025.
Whether this keeps up with inflation is another story…
Why Aren’t Mortgage Rates Coming Down?
Simply put, the economy continues to run too hot. As a rule of thumb, good economic news leads to higher interest rates. And vice versa.
The reason is a strong economy typically results to inflation, which is bad for bond prices and mortgage-backed securities.
That price pressure requires higher yields, which translates to higher mortgage rates. So if you want lower rates, you kind of need to root for economic strife.
Due to this robust economy, the Federal Reserve has maintained its restrictive monetary policy.
While there were expectations of a series of rate cuts in 2024, including one as early as this March, the Fed balked today.
And there’s a chance rate cuts will remain elusive for the time being.
Ultimately, inflation continues to run high and unemployment remains low. Until that changes, the Fed won’t “pivot” and cut rates. They’ll simply stay the course.
While the Fed doesn’t directly control mortgage rates, their long-term policy decisions can dictate the direction of 10-year treasury yields and also 30-year mortgage rates.
Until economic conditions worsen, don’t expect the Fed to pivot and begin cutting its own federal funds rate.
Perhaps It’s Better to Say Mortgage Rates Will Be Elevated for Longer
There’s a popular phrase “higher for longer,” in reference to the Fed’s monetary policy needing to remain restrictive for a longer period of time to reach its goals.
When it comes to mortgage rates, perhaps it’s more accurate to say “elevated for longer.” That is to say they won’t necessarily go higher from their current levels.
But they may remain at these higher levels for longer than originally anticipated. So it’s not like we’ll necessarily see mortgage rates move up from here.
Or that they’ll go back to those scary 8% rates seen in October 2023. But they could linger in this unpleasant range throughout 2024. And maybe even into 2025.
This may make that date the rate, marry the house thing hard to achieve
If you recall when mortgage rates were super low, many forecasts called for higher rates year in and year out.
Yet each year, the forecasts proved to be incorrect as rates reached new all-time lows and stayed at/near those levels for much longer than expected.
Sadly, the same thing is possible now, just the other way around. So instead of rates doing what the forecasters expect, they’ll continue to remain sticky high.
The funny part is the economists will be wrong in both instances. Wrong about them rising for many years. And possibly wrong again about them falling back down to earth.
After a few real-life conversations and my running the math, I’ve decided that a “50/50” rule for college saving achieves the best of both worlds.
The rule is:
~50% of your college savings goals should be saved via a 529 plan.
The other ~50% should be saved via a taxable brokerage account.
Why is that the case? Let’s discuss what we do and don’t want from our college savings plan.
PS – if you want further background reading on 529 plans, here are some other useful articles…
What We Do and Don’t Want from College Savings
We do want to save for college. Ground-breaking stuff.
We do want to reduce our income taxes.
We do want our investments to grow tax-free.
We do want flexibility while we save, in case life throws us a curveball.
We don’t want to end up with permanently frozen assets. We don’t want “leftover” 529 dollars.
529 College Savings Plans offer some of these ideals. But not all.
In fact, 529 plans are terrible at achieving some of the abovementioned goals.
Reducing Income Taxes
Many states offer income tax deductions on 529 contributions. In New York, for example, the first $10,000 contributed to 529s per year is exempt from state tax. That’s a ~$600 annual savings (depending on tax bracket).
Tax-Free Growth
529 investments grow tax-free, just like 401(k) or IRA assets. There’s no annual tax on dividends and interest. This leaves more dollars behind to compound.
Let’s Measure That Tax Savings
If we apply these two tax advantages to a reasonable scenario**, it’s realistic to expect a 529 account to result in 15-20% more dollars for college than a taxable brokerage account.
**see this Google sheet for detail.
But taxable brokerage accounts have distinct advantages on our other ideals.
Flexibility & “Frozen” Assets
Taxable accounts are very flexible. You can withdraw from them anytime (e.g. during an unexpected emergency). 529 dollars, on the other hand, must be spent on educational expenses and cannot be withdrawn for other reasons.
What if your kid decides to skip college? Unused funds in a 529 can be impossible to withdraw without taxes and penalties. Taxable accounts avoid this situation.
What’s the 529 Withdrawal Penalty?
Every 529 withdrawal—whether for education purposes or not—is made pro rata between your contributions and your earnings. The contributions are never taxed and never penalized, but the earnings can be if your withdrawal is not for a qualified educational expense.
For example:
Your 529 plan has $100,000 of contributions and $50,000 of earnings. (Two-thirds and one-third)
You make a $30,000 withdrawal. You have no choice in that $20,000 will come from contributions and $10,000 will come from earnings (Two-thirds and one-third)
If your withdrawal is not for qualified education expenses, the $10,000 earnings portion will be taxed as income (more marginal tax dollars, ouch!) and will suffer a 10% penalty.
If you run the math, you’ll see this penalty eats away at all the 529’s tax benefits. You do not want to suffer this penalty.
Finding Balance Between 529 and Taxable
The question is how to balance these various pros and cons. The 50/50 Rule does so!
Let’s say you aim to gift your children $100,000 over their four years of college. How generous! I submit you should aim to have:
$50,000 of that gift coming from a 529
And $50,000 from a taxable brokerage
You know it won’t be a perfectly ideal scenario. Whatever reality throws at you, you’ll wish you had decided to go all-in on the 529 or all-in on the taxable.
But you don’t know the future! This fact – that we’re more mortals without a crystal ball – is one of the fundamental frustrations in financial planning. If we knew the future, we could make a perfect financial plan. But we don’t, so we can’t. Our best solutions, therefore, involve hedging our bets. We’d rather know we’re 50% correct than be surprised later we’re 100% wrong.
The 50/50 Rule guarantees a middle-of-the-road solution. You’ll capture tax benefits and retain flexibility.
If Johnny gets a little scholarship and only needs 70% of your saved money, great! Use the 529 dollars completely. Dip into the taxable account when needed, and keep the remaining taxable dollars for other goals in life. You’ll be confident your 529 account will be completely drained, avoiding frustrating taxes and penalties.
Does It Have to Be 50/50?
I’ll admit: dividing the two accounts down the middle, 50/50, is an easy shorthand. You can choose a different fraction. But when thinking it through, my primary concerns are:
You need to be confident you’ll drain the 529s. If Johnny’s college will cost $200,000 and you aim to have all $200,000 in a 529, I don’t like that. There’s no margin for error.
You want to have a large enough portion in the taxable account to provide “just in case” flexibility.
Maybe 75/25 makes more sense for you. I can get on board with that. But I wouldn’t go much higher than 75% from the 529.
Working Backward
You can work backward from your future goal to discover what today’s saving rates need to be. In our hypothetical scenario of $50K in a 529 and $50K in a taxable (for college in ~15 years, we’ll say), a reasonable starting point is to put $2000 per year (or ~$170 per month) into each account. That’s how the math shakes out.
Depending on your timeline and assumed rate of compound growth, a simple spreadsheet or question to your financial planner will inform what your savings plan should be.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, join 8000+ subscribers who read my 2-minute weekly email, where I send you links to the smartest financial content I find online every week.
-Jesse
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A lot has been written about whether now is the best time to buy stocks.
Many think that it is a good idea, and others are still skeptical. So which one should you believe?
This article will help answer the question once and for all with facts rather than opinions.
But first, let’s look at some statistics:
S&P 500 Total Returns for 2021 was 28.71% (source)
In the past 20 years (2003-2021), the S&P 500 was down three times. (source)
Over the 10 year period of 2011-2020, the S&P 500 averaged 13.9% (source)
With that said, will it be best to invest now?
Honestly, that is an answer no one can give you. And the movies about Wall Street won’t help you either.
However, you can learn to read charts become a technical analysis trader, and have a better idea of where the market is going.
The stock market is a volatile thing. It can go up or down at any time. As the statistics show, it goes up more often than down.
Is it Smart to Invest in Stocks?
The stock market is a great way to make money whether for income or for long-term investments. Plus it is a lot more accessible than you think.
With stocks on an upswing lately, it might be tempting to dive in. But do not get too excited just yet!
You must learn how to invest in stocks.
Are you ready to make money in the stock market? If so, learn the steps to start investing today.
In order to make educated decisions, it is crucial that you understand what makes stocks go up or down.
Since you might be asking yourself whether it is a good time to buy stocks after the market has been on such an upswing for several months. The answer is yes, but there are some important factors you should consider before handing over your money.
This article will discuss how the stock market works and provide you with reasons why now may not be a great time to invest in stocks as well as alternatives that could make sense for you if this is indeed a bad time to purchase them.
Read more!
What is the Stock Market?
The stock market is a system of securities, such as stocks and bonds, in which investors buy and sell ownership stakes to each other on various exchanges using money or their own businesses.
Simply put, the stock market is a place where people invest money.
There are many different ways to invest in the stock market, but one of the most popular ways is through buying stocks.
Investing in stocks is a commonly used way to make money.
In the stock market, people can buy and sell shares of companies they believe will rise in value. You can participate by investing in the stock market by buying individual shares of a company like AMZN (Amazon), investing in an ETF like VTI, or investing with a mutual fund, such as VTSAX.
One former assistant principal, Teri Ijeoma, changed her life when she left her job as an educator and become an active trader.
What does it mean when the stock market is up or down
When the stock market is up, it means that stocks have been doing well.
Conversely, when the stock market is down, it means that stocks are losing value.
You have heard the saying… buy low, sell high.
Stocks are an investment that you can purchase in order to make a profit, but the best time to buy stocks is when they are at their lowest price.
If you bought a stock for $100 and its value increased by 10%, then your stock would be worth $110. However, if you bought 20 stocks at $100 and the value increased by 10%, then your new value is $2,200. If you are trading options, then your return (and risk) is much greater.
When the market is up or down there are always going to be opportunities to make money from the stock market!
The hardest part for the novice investor is to determine when to buy and sell.
Thankfully, there is a great investing course to help you figure out how to invest in stocks and options.
Timing the Stock Market
Can you even time the stock market?
Many people are concerned with timing the stock market because of its volatility. Honestly, no one knows what the stock market will do.
As a technical stock trader, you will learn based on previous actions how the market and individual stocks may react.
When day traders or swing traders “time” the market, they are using time frames to make their predictions. Those traders who manage their risk and potential losses well will do better in the market.
For the average investor or someone going off a friend or Reddit recommendation, timing the market can be detrimental to your portfolio.
The real answer to the question, “Is now a good time to buy stocks?” is that there’s no such thing as an ideal moment. It could be a great time or it could also be terrible timing. There are too many variables and market risks which makes this decision very difficult for investors.
Too many times, investors fall into the trap of panic selling while stock prices are low and buying when stocks are high on the fear of missing out (FOMO).
That is why the common knowledge states don’t time the market.
However, I can tell you that you can time the market. If (and it is a big if) you are willing to put the time and effort into an investing education as you would going to college.
Many people have found success in timing the market.
Why investing is always a good idea
Remember earlier in this post, we stated the stock market has averaged 13.9% over the past 10 years and only had 3 negative years in the past twenty.
Simply put, that means you can make money, and investing is a good idea.
That is better than the flip side of your money sitting in the back earning slightly above 0% and when you account for inflation, your money is worthless.
The stock market is (almost) always following an upwards trajectory.
This means investors are more likely to experience gains in their investments than they would if the prices were going down. Moreover, it’s almost never a good idea to just let your money sit doing nothing for years on end because inflation will eventually force you into losing value at some point.
Instead of waiting until then and hoping for the best, focus on what you want instead of what the market is doing at any specific moment.
Must Read: How To Invest In Stocks For Beginners: Investing Made Easy
Is now a good time to invest?
This is the wrong question. The better question to ask would be “What is a good time to invest?”
It is not always a good time to invest. Before buying stocks, it is important that you do your research and have a clear purpose for investing in the first place. Once you know why you are investing, then it will be easier to answer when now might actually be a good time.
What are your goals for investing in stocks?
Are you looking to make extra money?
Do you enjoy learning about the fundamentals of your favorite companies?
Do you have the time to invest to learn about investing in stocks and executing trades?
The desire to increase your investment accounts and net worth appealing?
If you answered yes, then you are ready to start investing in stocks.
If you said no, then stick to consistently investing in EFTs or mutual funds. That is still a solid investing strategy!
The bottom line is whether you are ready to invest. The stock market will continue to do its thing whether you choose to participate or not.
Why does the stock market just keep going up?
The stock market has been steadily climbing for the long trend.
As a result, it’s important to be aware of the factors that influence how much you can profit from stocks. This includes understanding what drives stock prices and when these markets are likely to go up or down.
The reality is that there is no such thing as an “always” in investing — there will always be downturns at some point for any market, but those dips won’t last forever either.
As history proves, the stock market over time will keep going up.
Why has the stock market dropped?
This is the #1 reason why most people are terrified of investing in the stock market.
The fear of the stock market dropping and losing money. Or maybe they were burned in the previous market corrections in 2001 or 2008.
Typically, the stock market has dropped because of the following:
The global economy is going through a rough patch.
There is fear that the US may be headed for another recession.
The US is experiencing inflation that has caused the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
In other words, investors are uncertain about the future of the global economy and are afraid of a recession in the US, which will have a significant impact on the stock market.
Just remember, the S&P 500 has come back each time after posting a year or two of negative returns.
However, you can still make money as an investor when the market goes down! Learn how to ride that elevator up and down.
What are the best times to trade stocks?
Ask a few different investment gurus and you are likely to get a variety of answers such as:
It is best to trade stocks when the market is down and on a day with low volume. This way, you are less likely to be hit with volatility that could cause your profits to drop.
The best times to trade stocks are when the market is stable, meaning that there are few fluctuations in price. The most optimal time to enter and exit the market is during a period of low volatility.
The best time to trade stocks is when the market is at an all-time high. (very wrong idea, so don’t try this one)
Traders should try and stay away from markets when volatility or uncertainty is high.
It is important to understand the best times for trading stocks in order to maximize profits.
Overall, your trading plan will tell you the best time for you to trade stocks. Over time with practice in a simulated account, you will be aware of the best times for trading.
Your best times will be different than mine; they will vary for all of us and that is okay. We all view the stock market and read charts in our own way.
Best Stocks to Buy Right Now
What are the stocks to invest in right now? Should you buy stocks now?
Well, first of all, I am not an advisor telling you what to invest in. You are responsible for doing your due diligence.
The best stocks to buy are the stocks that you understand the best– YOUR Watchlist!
Typically, that means following 10 stock tickers and learning everything you can about how those stocks move.
Other investing gurus may tell you the best stock to buy is one that has a low price-to-earnings ratio. This is because the company has room for growth, and they are more than likely not overvalued in the market. They look for industries that are experiencing either a slowdown or an increase in competition.
Personally, I like to stick with strong, healthy companies to buy.
Many times the best stocks to buy right now are growth stocks, which have been very successful in 2021. These types of companies grow rapidly and offer significant returns on investment in a short period time frame.
What are the best stocks to buy now or put on a watchlist? These are the most popular stocks investors tend to follow:
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)
Advanced Microdevices (Nasdaq: AMD)
Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN)
Meta / Facebook (Nasdaq: FB)
Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA)
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA)
More Best Stocks to Buy
When you invest in these stocks as an investor, it is important that you look for them during their good moments so that your investments will increase significantly over time and always have risk management strategies in place (BEFORE YOU ENTER THE TRADE).
Can You Afford to Buy Stocks?
There are a lot of factors that go into determining the best time for someone to begin investing or trading stocks.
The most important aspect is whether or not you have enough money at your disposal, which can be determined by your personal financial situation.
Other factors that may play a role in determining the best time to trade are whether or not the person trading has a specific investment objective, and if they have a time-sensitive need.
You need to know your long-term goals for buying stocks.
Are you buying stocks as a long-term investor or if you are buying stocks for income?
Either way, you need a solid idea of how to plan to manage your risk and maximize your profit. That is why investing in stocks is so enticing for so many traders.
Read Now: How Fast Can You Make Money in Stocks?
So, should you buy stocks now?
The current market conditions are a great time to buy or short-sell stocks.
However, there are many trading mistakes when investors place a trade.
Whether we are experiencing a bull run or heading into a bear market, there is always money to be made in the stock market. You should not question yourself is it time to buy stocks.
Regardless, you must invest the money in a solid investing education. That is non-negotiable.
If you want to go out and start buying stocks without investing knowledge, that is fine. Just do not complain if you lose more money than the only investing course I recommend. Check out my Trade and Travel review.
You must do your own due diligence when investing in stocks and finding a good time to buy stocks.
This is your investing journey!
Your journey will be different than my investing journey. That is okay because we each will find our niche and how we like to trade stocks.
Back to the original question, is now a good time to buy stocks?
Overall, you must look for the best companies to invest in. That will make you successful at investing.
Know someone else that needs this, too? Then, please share!!
Did the post resonate with you?
More importantly, did I answer the questions you have about this topic? Let me know in the comments if I can help in some other way!
Your comments are not just welcomed; they’re an integral part of our community. Let’s continue the conversation and explore how these ideas align with your journey towards Money Bliss.
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I’ve been told that life is about living in the moment.
But are you living with intention?
Intention means to be aware of what you want, and your desires should align with your purpose.
If they don’t, it can lead to a feeling of not knowing who you are or where on earth life is heading. And without those two things happening in unison – clarity and direction – then any type of accomplishment becomes difficult if not impossible (see my personal story below, for example).
So how do you live with intention?
For many people, life is a struggle.
We are constantly told that we need to do certain things and be a certain way in order for us to feel fulfilled or happy.
While this may sound like good advice, it can lead some of us down the wrong path–especially when our lives are already suffering from a lack of motivation or direction.
In this post, we will discuss seven reasons why you should consider living your life with intention now rather than just letting life lead you. Also, this may change your perspective on life.
There are great benefits that come along with living your life with intention and what it means to live without limitations.
Most importantly, there will be questions you may want to ask yourself which could help get you started on the right path going forward.
Either way, to live life with intention, you must take action now!
What is Intentional Living?
This is an intentional practice of living more intentionally, with a greater focus on self-care and mindfulness.
Intentional living is a lifestyle that encourages you to identify your priorities and values.
This means that it matters more than ever before because people are gradually becoming clearer on what they want in life and how they can achieve those things.
It is not an easy task but one worth taking up if you’re ready for the challenge, as there will be greater clarity of focus when pursuing this goal.
Living Life with Intention Meaning
Intentional living means that we are aware of what’s going on in our lives and make conscious decisions about the things we want to do. It also implies being present, stopping for a moment, reflecting, and thinking about what’s happening.
When you live intentionally it gives your life meaning because you will see progress over time as opposed to just fixing things or achieving goals by ticking them off a list.
Intentional living is a lifestyle that allows for more time to experience love, laughter, happiness, and appreciating the intrinsic value of simpler things.
Saying I appreciate you is important.
In these exploratory questions below, we looked at what makes you happy, how you spend your time, and your future plans.
Why is it important to live intentionally?
It is important to live intentionally because you will have a life that is more meaningful, purposeful, and rewarding.
You are able to make decisions about what you want out of your life and know what is most important to you.
In this busy world, it is easy to get caught up in the rat race. Simplify your life and spend time doing what matters most requires living with intention.
We need to be mindful of how we choose our day-to-day activities so that they serve a greater purpose.
By living intentionally, one can live a happier and healthier life. Purpose in life is correlated with happiness.
7 Reasons For Living Life with Intention and Purpose
Intentional living is a lifestyle that focuses on reflecting and making conscious decisions about what’s in alignment with your values.
This approach to life helps you live more meaningful, satisfying lives by taking time out of each day to consider who you are, what matters most to you, and how might be able to change the course of your life for the better.
It only takes 7 minutes per day for intentional reflection.
In a short amount of time, the benefit is it allows you not only to think about what is in alignment with your values but also how you might be able to change the course of your life for the better.
And that’s the point of intentional living: to live your life with intention.
These 7 reasons are not only worth pursuing now but also in life’s present moments where there is no need to wait until tomorrow because it can be done today!
1. You’ll be more in the present moment.
You will be able to live a life more spontaneously and deeply, with intention.
By living each day more deliberately, you will find greater peace bliss, serenity in your day-to-day life, and increased meaning in a world where things and people repeatedly start to look the same.
Living a life with intention and purpose is going to be one of the best decisions you can make. Why? The power that comes from living a deliberate life will impact every area of your being.
2. You’ll be focused on goals and daily tasks, not distractions.
A person’s life is often focused on daily tasks, work, and going through the same routine day after day. This focus has its benefits, but it also entails forgetting about important goals that a person has set.
With the abundant distractions in our lives, we seek the next big project (or social media) to distract us from what we need to focus on.
In times like these, it becomes difficult to make the “life decisions” that will lead us closer to success.
3. You’ll be more likely to make smarter decisions and take on new challenges with confidence.
Happiness is a choice, and so are meaningful relationships. Time well spent will be a joyful day.
Managing your expectations will improve your life, making it harder for you to get too disappointed.
Start new projects with ease and make motivation part of your daily routine.
Handle criticism with ease knowing there will be some bumps and bruises along the way, but you know it is worth sticking your neck out.
Utilize today’s technology to your advantage – not a distraction device.
Sidestep old patterns or bad habits, so that you are open to the opportunities that lie ahead.
Perception of ease is attainable when you make healthy lifestyle choices and become reliant on an inner sense of what is worth.
4. It will help you better understand your priorities, which means less decision fatigue!
You’ll feel more relaxed knowing you are saving your time for the activities that matter: conversation, cooking dinner with friends, sitting on the couch working on your weekend project, and reading a book.
Maintaining your lifestyle and personal growth should be a top priority in your personal development plan since it is impossible to get back any time you waste.
This should not have to be a life of hustle.
In this life, you have time for time activities with meaning and purpose.
5. It will help keep you on track with your goals and priorities, which can be hard to do without a plan.
You have to find your 100% pure motivation and encouragement in this journey of life!
By setting goals and aligning your priorities, it will transform the way you live your life and have a fulfilling time.
Our focus on this post resonates with a well-timed message to help facilitate personal growth and success- with empowering and easy steps.
Learn how to make money goals and a vision board.
6. You’ll have the freedom to live life how YOU want to live it.
You’ll have the freedom to live life how YOU want to live it.
You will have the freedom to set and achieve objectives using the resources you have.
You will love how it keeps you balanced, since your world is always changing, and the results will show on your path to success.
One of the ways to achieve this is to understand the real meaning of time freedom. More importantly, you need to figure out how to live with time freedom dominating your day.
7. You will have clarity of your desired outcome and what you want to create for yourself, others, or both (meaning you’ll have a purpose).
Since the idea of pursuing happiness can be vague, you have to define the truths about living this free life and live more intentionally.
In these times, many are foregoing happiness in favor of sacrificing something to feel secure within their careers or daily overexerting themselves by trying to “keep up with the Jones.” You deserve clarity of how you want to spend the remaining years you have.
This answer will vary from person to person and situation to situation because you have the freedom to design the life you want.
With so many distractions and options, it can be hard to find your way. Whether you’re looking for love, fulfillment, or a career path, this mantra is the life guideline that will provide clarity and stay true.
Now, It is Your Turn…
Living Life with Intention turns the phrase “figuring it out” into a guide to the life you love.
It is about being aware of what matters most and prioritizing it in a way that helps you reach your goals. Intentional living is not just for those seeking blessings or divine guidance; anyone can benefit from this approach – whether they be spiritual seekers or simply trying to improve their quality of life.
This is how can I have an intentional life.
Is intention and purpose the same thing?
Intention is a conscious choice to act in a certain way. Purpose, on the other hand, is something that we do because it’s part of our core values and who we are as people. Intention helps you live life with purpose and intention.
The difference between Intention and Purpose:
– Intentions are short term goals or actions. These are things you do today to achieve your purpose.
– Purposes are your long term goals or actions. This is whys why you are doing the things that lead up to your intentions.
In addition, purpose also means that you are doing something for a larger reason than just the goal or action itself.
Intention and purpose are different because the intention is short-term, while purpose is long-term. They correlate to each other on how you live your life each day.
How to Live Life with Intention
Intention is defined as the direction or goal of one’s thoughts and actions. Even though people may be living their lives without intention, life still has a direction.
In order to live life with intention, one must think about their actions and their consequences of them. The consequence could be something small such as not picking up an item at the store that you needed to buy, or it could be something monumental such as not staying in a relationship that you feel is no longer healthy for you.
The point of living life with intention is to make the best choices for oneself, one’s family, and one’s future.
In order to do this, you must answer these soul-searching questions.
For most people, this is difficult because it requires you to consider how you want to live your life.
There are many ways that one can do this, and the answer will be different for everyone. However, it is important to do this with intention and intentionality.
1. Envision your perfect day
Make a picture of what your life would look like if you were living that perfect day and make it as detailed as possible.
Find a quiet place to sit and be still for at least 10 minutes.
Think about:
What would you spend your time doing?
Where would you be?
Who would be with you?
Now, how can you live days like that more often?
2. Decide your Personal Values
In order to make a change, you must first decide what is important to you. This process can be difficult and painful, but it’s necessary in order to keep yourself motivated towards your goal.
It is important to decide what your personal values are and use them as a guide for making decisions in life.
This is a process that starts with thinking about what your personal values are. This can be difficult to do in the abstract, but it is helpful to think of your values as being somewhere on a spectrum between your beliefs and what you do.
Do this exercise like you were an outside person looking in. What would that person say about you? What do you value in life?
Your life of personal values will be necessary in order to live with intention.
3. What is your Vision for Life?
Your vision for life is what makes all the difference in how you live your day-to-day life.
Core values are the guideposts that lead you along your path to fulfillment and happiness. By looking back on moments when you feel proud or happy, it’s easier to find out what is important to you and how those things can be expressed through your actions today.
A simple example could be:
My vision for life is to be happy and healthy. I want to live a long, fulfilling life with the love of my family and friends.
If you have never created a vision board, then this vision board planner will help you out!
4. Question the “Norms”
Think about everything you believe you belong on your list of “have tos.”
Those things you feel like you must do. Some examples of these are “you have to go,” “you need to eat,” and “I have to do my homework.”
Now, take a birds-eye observation… do these “norms” and “have tos” serve you well?
Are these “norms” the reasons why you are not living your life with intention?
Take inventory of what you actually have to do every day and eliminate all that does not serve your goals.
5. Relax Intentionally
Relaxing intentionally is a process in which one seeks to achieve a temporary escape from stress and the overwhelming pressures of everyday life.
This is something that is HARD to do when you first attempt to relax.
It is important to take some time for yourself.
Unwind from a busy day and get back into the life of intention by choosing low-energy activities that re-energize you.
During quiet time, spend time intentionally uncovering ways that help you relax.
Are you Ready to Live Life with Intention?
Ultimately, living life with intention is about curating a life based on things that really matter.
You can do this through intentional time management and making sure you are spending your time in the way that makes the most sense for yourself. This will help you to be more clear on what it means to live intentionally as opposed to just being dictated by society’s standards or guidelines.
This is something that you deserve to do.
Furthermore, intentional living is about being present and aware of what you value.
It is a shift from striving for the life that others think you should be leading to embracing the one that feels good. Intentional living allows us to find more room for love, laughter, happiness, and appreciate all those things we often take for granted in our daily lives.
It doesn’t mean giving up on your goals or aspirations but rather finding rhythm so they feel true instead of false like many other pursuits.
Living a life of intention will impact the world on what you believe in.
This is a step necessary for personal growth, which leads to accomplishing more things than you ever thought possible.
With true reflection, it will take time to figure out your values and decide what they are.
Intentional living is about more than just paying bills and going to work each day — it’s about giving your life a purpose. It means considering every decision from all perspectives that are relevant to the kind of life you want
You just have to start questioning every single action you take.
This is how can we live an intentional and purposeful life.
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