Bajaj Housing Finance has extended the maximum tenor on its home loans to 40 years from 30 years now for salaried applicants. The tenor extension offer is only for new buyers. This comes a few days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates steady for the second consecutive time.
Up until now, home loan providers largely provided loans for a maximum tenure of 30 years, while the average loan tenure at the time of agreement is below 20 years.
Bajaj Housing Finance believes that the tenor extension will allow buyers to be flexible with their repayment at their convenience.
What’s on offer?
With the change in the tenor, Bajaj Housing Finance now offers equated monthly installments (EMI), starting at just Rs 733 per lakh. Its loans start at only 8.50% per annum for salaried individuals and professionals.
Bajaj Housing Finance’s revised tenor capping is subject to the applicant’s age at the time of application. The eligibility criteria for age with Bajaj Housing Finance is 23 to 75 years, with 75 years as the upper limit for age at the time of loan maturity.
The increase in loan tenor to 40 years brings down the EMI for a borrower. At an 8.5 percent interest rate, the EMI per lakh for a 40-year loan is Rs 733, roughly 5 percent lower than the EMI of Rs 769 per lakh for a 30-year loan.
Different home loan rates from public and private banks as of June 14, 2023
Home loan rates offered by housing finance companies:
Is an extension of tenor advisable?
The home loan tenor is the duration or length of time over which a borrower agrees to repay the loan amount to the lender. This includes the payment of principal and interest.
.A longer tenor implies lower EMIs but higher interest costs over the life of the loan because you will be paying interest on the loan for a longer period of time. Shorter tenors result in higher EMIs but lower overall interest expenses and faster debt repayment.
“Loan tenure and EMI have an inverse relationship. Thus, opting for a longer tenure would reduce one’s EMI and thereby, increase his EMI affordability. However, this would also lead to higher interest costs for the borrower. Moreover, the quantum of EMI reduction is not proportionate to the increased interest cost incurred for availing longer tenure,” said Ratan Chaudhary, Business Head, Home Loans, Paisabazaar.
For example, if one avails a home loan of Rs 30 lakh for 20 years @ 8.60% p.a., his EMI would be about Rs 26,230 and he would incur a total interest cost of about Rs 33 lakh over the loan tenure. If the same borrower opts for a 40 year tenure for the same loan amount, tenure and interest rate, his EMI would decrease to about Rs 22,230 while his interest cost would shoot up to Rs 76.66 lakh, i.e. an increase of about 130%.
Whare the benefits of a longer tenor?
“Longer tenures for home loan can lower the monthly instalment amount, making it more affordable for borrowers. Lower monthly payments resulting from extended tenures can free up cash flow for borrowers, allowing them to allocate funds for other investments or meet other financial obligations. Extended tenures also help borrowers to qualify for larger loan amounts since the extended term reduces the monthly obligation, thereby improving their loan eligibility,” said Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar.
Disadvantage of a longer tenor?
However, borrowers must know that longer home loan tenures lead to an increase in the overall interest paid over the loan term. Borrowers end up paying more in interest charges, resulting in a higher cost of borrowing. Also, it takes longer to pay off the principal amount, potentially delaying full ownership of the property.
For a Rs 50 lakh loan at 9%, the 20-year interest is Rs 57.96 lakh. But the same loan for 40 years attracts Rs 1.35 crore as interest. If the same loan is paid off in 10 years, the interest is Rs 26 lakh, explains Shetty.
Before you decide to extend your tenor or opt for home loans with a longer tenor, calculate the EMIs for different tenure options and analyse how they fit into your budget.
A longer tenure is good for the young. A lower EMI gives them leeway with their finances and reduces immediate stress. “The clever thing to do is take a longer tenure and then pay off the loan through systematic pre-payment. This can bring down your interest costs as well. We recommend pre-paying 5% of the loan balance once a year, which helps pay off the loan a 20-year loan in about 12 years. You could go faster or slower with the prepayments as per your financial situation and objectives,” said Shetty.
What are the factors one should consider before deciding on the tenor?
A borrower should consider several factors, such as the current age, post-tax income, and other loan repayment obligations, while deciding the optimal term for a home loan.
For example, a 25-year-old borrower can opt for a 35 year- long home loan tenure to minimize her EMI outgo, as the salary in the early years of her career is meagre. A longer payment term allows her to explore other investment avenues in the best of her wealth accumulation years. On the other hand, someone in their 40s will have to choose a maximum of 20 years term since the lender institution would want to recover the principal and interest before the borrower retires, explained Ajinkya Kulkarni, Co-Founder and CEO, Wint Wealth.
The most optimal way is to opt for maximum permitted tenure to reduce the EMI obligation and pre-pay the principal over and above EMI in small tranches, depending on the available surplus funds, he added.
Should you opt for long or short tenor loans?
Whenever you opt for a loan scheme, you must thoroughly examine your financial situation, income stability and existing debts. For longer-term loans like home loans, choose a tenure that it aligns with your financial health for hassle-free repayments.
Home loan applicants having lower repayment capacity at present and/or looking for bigger loan amounts can opt for longer tenure, according to Chaudhary. But he cautions that they should also exercise strong financial discipline to ensure prepayments in future for reducing their interest cost. Else, they would end up incurring a much higher interest cost.
Prospective borrowers should also check whether the lender is charging higher interest rates for offering longer tenure, added Chaudhury. They should use online home loan EMI calculators to make proper cost-benefit analysis of availing longer tenure, especially if availed at a higher interest rate.
Long Term loan is ideal for individuals seeking extended repayment periods. These loans are commonly used for personal purposes, such as weddings, medical emergencies, and debt consolidation, and for more significant investments like homes or businesses.
How to trim your tenor
Make prepayment a priority. If you receive a joining bonus or Diwali bonus along with your pay cheque, use it to prepay a portion of the loan amount.
Secondly, if possibel increase your EMI till the maximum limit to match the increasei in yout salary in the years to come.
Enjoy exclusive access to some of the best courtyards and gardens in Austin.
From the best neighborhoods to the best views, Austin has a lot to offer the energetic apartment hunter. The city is filled with beautiful apartments, but the trick is finding somewhere that truly meets all your needs.
This means thinking through what amenities matter most to you. Whether you want a resort-style pool, a state-of-the-art fitness center or even covered parking, you can find what you’re looking for in Austin. That said, you need to be sure not to forget about the outdoor space when you’re wading through the vast sea of amenities. Austin is just too beautiful to deny yourself an outdoor space you can use to hang out with those closest to you without leaving home.
To see a few hand-selected standout apartment complexes with courtyards and gardens in Austin, check out this list below. Pick your favorite spot and schedule your tour today.
Source: Rent. / Troubadour
This long strip of lawn at Troubadour is the perfect spot for some outdoor games. Grab a set of cornhole boards and make a day of fun in the sun for you and your friends. As the sun goes down, head into the outdoor TV lounge and catch a movie under the stars.
Located within the safe and comfortable Hancock neighborhood, this area is known for its great parks and spanning green space. In this bike-friendly area, with public easily accessible transportation, getting around doesn’t have to involve a car. A little to the north of the city center and the University of Texas, you’ll get a nice mix of students, young professionals and families living here.
Source: Rent. / Lantana Ridge
Get closer to nature in the on-site park at Lantana Ridge. With a paved trail for walking, running or cycling, no corner of this beautiful, 55-acre space will be left unexplored after a few months of living here.
Found in one of Austin’s larger neighborhoods, East Oak Hill is only 10 minutes from downtown. Although close to the urban center of the city, you’ll feel separated from all that living here in the hill country. With plenty of outdoor space, you can spend time exploring the Texas hills, hang out on Lady Bird Lake or even wander through Barton Creek Wilderness Park.
Source: Rent. / MAA Barton Skyway
Although you’ll find a well-maintained walking trail on the property at MAA Barton Skyway, the little oasis pictured above allows you to stop and settle into your natural surroundings. Set under the trees, among a layer of fallen leaves, a little wooden table and benches await for you to take a calming break in this bit of secluded space.
To keep up the outdoor activity, make sure you head to nearby Zilker Park. A prime feature of this Barton Hills neighborhood, the 350-acre park includes a botanical garden, a sculpture garden and a spring-fed pool.
Source: Rent. / Paloma
Enjoy a moment of zen in the minimalist courtyard at Paloma. A single, skinny bench lets you sit and take a moment to meditate alongside two companion trees. In the center of this space, a marble fountain provides a soothing soundtrack, ideal for deep contemplation.
Minutes away from great shopping, dining and entertainment, living in Northeast Austin gives you convenient access to the rest of the city as well as plenty natural resources. A quieter part of town, you’ll also find touches of suburbia with wide streets plenty of parks and an ever-evolving populous of young families.
Source Rent. / Bridge at Steiner Ranch
The garden at Bridge at Steiner Ranch is more for walking around than stopping to smell the roses. In fact, there aren’t any flowers here, just native trees and bushes, giving this area a comfortable, natural feel. The lawn is close-clipped to really highlight the other plant life, and the curved path lets you quickly do a lap or two before moving on.
Up in the hill country, this Northwest Austin neighborhood is picturesque to say the least. It’s also a great spot for outdoor enthusiasts to call home. An abundance of hiking and biking trails throughout means there’s no shortage of fresh air activities within a short drive.
Source: Rent. / Barton’s Mill
An outdoorsy vibe is what stands out at Barton’s Mill. Walking up to your apartment, for example, takes you along a path surrounded by grass, trees and manicured bushes. It’s like walking through a little park or garden, something that should put you in a good mood whether you’re leaving for the day or getting back home after a long day out and about.
Outdoor recreation is a favorite pastime of many Austinites, so living in South Lawn is great because of the easy access to the outdoors. Throughout this neighborhood, you’ll find opportunities to hike, bike and even hop into a canoe. It’s a great place to call home to make those sunny days count in this great city.
Source: Rent. / Camden Stoneleigh
The courtyard at Camden Stoneleigh feels like a garden thanks to the circle of trees and vibrant green lawn. Gnarled branches lean in all directions, giving this space a mystical feel, combining tasteful hardscaping with small plants along the border. Take the path, walk right through or weave between the trees for a little solo time in nature.
Yet another popular part of Austin, living in Southwest Austin gives you the best of both worlds. You’re close to the downtown area and all its fun, but you still have plenty of parks, shopping and green space to enjoy close to home. There are a few lakes to utilize for a dip or a boat ride as well, which comes in handy when summer temperatures soar.
Source: Rent. / Sonterra
The garden at Sonterra welcomes you in with a special message, “Plant dreams, pull weeds and grow a happy life.” This sweet sentiment makes this lush space all the more special. Take a walk around to get closer to the trees and other greenery or sit on one of the stone benches for a quiet moment. Between the wide variety of plant life and the stacked rock borders, you’ll fall in love with this tranquil space in no time.
This Northwest Austin community provides an element of seclusion thanks to its heavily-wooded surroundings which extend into the greenbelt. You’re also very close to Lake Travis and Volente Beach, which sits along four acres of the lake.
Source: Rent. / The Park at Wells Branch
Nice decking and red wooden benches set the courtyard at The Park at Wells Branch apart. This is also where you’ll find the charcoal grill and umbrella-covered picnic table for when it’s time to whip up a meal alfresco. Surrounded by a short wall of shrubbery and mature trees with leaning branches, this is the ideal spot for a Saturday barbecue.
A tranquil Austin community, living here can also make your daily commute very easy. It’s close to some of the local major employers like IBM and Amazon. Other amenities within this eco-friendly community include a pool and hot tub, playground and basketball court. There are also nearby trails for hiking and biking to keep those active vibes going.
Source: Rent. / The Social
A minimalist approach to greenery doesn’t make the garden path any less peaceful at The Social. Iron gateways spice up an otherwise basic sidewalk, giving it a fun look. Cacti and other desert-friendly greenery sit low to the ground, while pruned bushes and trees rise up to near-eye level.
For a real taste of Austin suburbia, you’d do well to call any community in Parker Lane home. This chill neighborhood is primarily residential, so you may have to drive a little to head out for the night, but you do have an excellent bit of greenery all around. Mabel Davis District Park is here. It takes up 50 acres in the center of the neighborhood and contains a playground, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a skate park. There’s also a covered picnic area and basketball courts.
Find an apartment with one of the best gardens in Austin
Don’t forget to consider amenities as you decide what your ideal Austin apartment looks like and start uncovering all the secrets this great city has to offer. Having all the right features — and a great outdoor space — will give you a winning combination to call home no matter what part of the city speaks to you the most.
According to a study by Ernst & Young, there is one trait that is shared by 94% of women who hold C-suite level positions. PepsiCO CEO Indra Nooyi has it. So does former Hewlitt-Packard CEO Meg Whitman. Elevance Health CEO Gail Koziara Boudreaux and Sheex CEO Michelle Marciniak possess it as well.
So, what is this trait? These women are all former athletes.
We have long known about the physical and mental health benefits of team sports. What the Ernst & Young study showed was that women who are high school and college athletes are also being coached on how to be leaders in the business world. From hardened work ethics to strong problem-solving skills to enhanced management abilities, these women come equipped to win in today’s workforce.
My college basketball career at Dartmouth College — and later during a professional stint overseas — played a significant role in developing the leadership skills I utilize every day. Although leaders do develop such skills in other ways, participation in sports provided me with multiple opportunities to overcome challenges, test personal limits and hone my competitive spirit. Here is what I learned:
Teamwork. Playing basketball taught me that leadership is about building relationships that drive people to achieve a common goal. By depending on their team members’ experience and skillsets, praising individual successes and focusing on the big picture, the best leaders inspire those around them to achieve greater success.
Communication. Effective verbal and nonverbal communication are an integral part of a successful organization. It ensures team members understand their duties and responsibilities, helps build quality client relationships and creates a positive work environment.
Perspective. The best leaders do not concentrate on what they cannot control but instead focus on what they can control: effort, attitude and perspective. Doing so helps you move on and focus your energy constructively.
Authenticity: Basketball taught me the need to be my authentic self. You develop stronger relationships with your teammates and coaches when they know that you are genuine and real. The same can be said about growing relationships within an organization. The best leaders understand that acknowledging and working with their team members’ individual strengths, weaknesses — and idiosyncrasies! — makes their organization stronger.
Throughout my professional career, I have seen the skills we learn from athletics directly translate to the business world. I am passionate about empowering more girls to play team sports and to help develop the female leaders of tomorrow.
Connecting a competitive edge, a strong marketing approach and a good customer experience
Strong communication is one of the essential skills to a winning basketball team. Whether calling out plays, setting picks or executing screens, players must communicate to ensure everyone on the court is working towards the same goal.
That communication focus extends to business. In order to gain a competitive advantage, you need to know your customers and their communities and have effective, timely communication to build layers of trust that results in a flourishing relationship. When customers feel heard and understood, their experiences are inherently better ones.
That said, successfully engaging with borrowers today is all about meeting them where they are. You better understand customers’ needs through listening to what they and the data are saying and by more effectively communicating the right message in a way that works for them. Volly’s most successful customers use our tools to engage with a combination of email, social, print and other multi-mediums that when choreographed together successfully blankets the market. This is how lenders can exceed their customers’ expectations, deliver better borrowing experiences and cultivate stronger relationships within their client base.
Marketing automation can also help lenders build stronger client relationships.
Today’s loan officers simply do not have the time to undertake the various tasks that create customers for life — such as prospecting, crafting curated emails and creating engaging content for multimedia campaigns. This is when marketing automation tools can be especially impactful.
A strategic marketing automation partner can help lenders generate stronger leads, increase conversion rates and access more accurate data for determining the effectiveness of marketing efforts. But most important of all, marketing automation gives lenders more time to make the genuine human connections with customers that build trust and create brand loyalty.
How Volly helps lenders create customers for life
In today’s always-competitive mortgage market, connecting with prospects and transforming these leads into customers for life is the biggest challenge facing lending organizations. The path from capture to convert to retain is a not simple, straight line but a complex path with plenty of twists and turns.
I like to think that the diversity of our solutions is what sets Volly apart. It’s how we are able to help today’s lenders overcome challenges that are both unique and ever-changing. We offer an online marketing store and mortgage websites to give lenders more promising leads. We provide a CRM solution, email automation and creative services to help lenders boost conversion rates. And we drive repeat business for lenders with personalized retention programs and gift fulfillment.
Complex challenges demand best-in-class solutions — and this is what Volly delivers.
Family travel is a whole other ballgame. The strategy, gear, planning, expectations and number of times you may answer “Are we there yet?” make it an entirely different sport than solo or adults-only trips.
While traveling with kids is arguably quite different than taking a trip without a child (notice we didn’t call it a “vacation” with kids), it doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, there are countless ways to experience memorable moments and make lifelong memories with your kids, whether you hike the mountains of Machu Picchu or ride the newest coaster at Disney World.
Related: TPG’s 10 top family vacation destinations
To make the journey a little easier, we’ve compiled our 43 favorite family travel tips. Whether you’re traveling with infants, teens or some of both, these tried-and-true tips are bound to ease travel headaches and ensure your family travels are as fun and carefree as possible.
Travel tips for infants and toddlers
Having a baby does not mean the end of your time as a traveler. It may cause you to temporarily pause your adventures, and it will certainly change how you travel. But traveling with a baby is still worth the effort.
While it’s true that your baby may not remember the details of your trips during the first few years, quality time together is invaluable. You will always remember their first big vacations.
Some travel is often easier with a small, snuggly baby than with a growing, active toddler, so don’t be afraid to plan something while your little one is still young.
Use the right travel stroller
If you plan on traveling with a stroller, you want one that is lightweight and easy to maneuver through the airport or rough terrain, if necessary, once you reach your destination.
Related: These are the 13 best travel strollers for your next trip
Sign up for our daily newsletter
If you choose to gate-check your stroller, foldability isn’t as important. Instead, prioritize protecting your stroller from dirt and damage by investing in a stroller with a bag. For long layovers, you can request to have your gate-checked stroller delivered to you between flights so that your baby has a safe and comfortable place to rest while you navigate the airport. Just ask the gate agent when you check your stroller.
Baby-wear
To keep your hands free and your baby snuggled, you may choose to baby-wear through the airport or on a flight (though most airlines don’t allow it during takeoff and landing).
The Transportation Security Administration rules state that infants may be carried in a sling or carrier while going through the walk-through metal detector, so you shouldn’t have to remove them for security — at least, according to the rules.
If it’s not too hot, baby carriers and slings also come in handy at theme parks, which allow baby-wearing on many family-friendly attractions. Just be sure you ask about safety restrictions before you ride.
Breastfeeding mamas should consider carriers that allow easy access for on-the-go nursing, such as those in sling or wrap styles.
Consider a Doona
If you don’t want to lug both a car seat and a stroller and your baby weighs between 4 and 35 pounds, you’re in luck: The Doona can serve the function of both. It transforms very easily from a stroller to a car seat and back again, all while your baby is strapped in.
Because of their convenience, Doonas are great for flights, cab rides, Uber rides and, frankly, any part of your busy life with a baby.
Think twice about flying with a lap infant
Most airlines allow children younger than 2 to fly as lap infants instead of purchasing separate seats for them.
The cost savings can be hard to pass up, and during those early months when the little one is nursing or sleeping a lot, it can be the easiest way to go. However, if your baby is fussy or you are flying solo, you may feel more comfortable keeping them in their car seat. If they can sleep through anything or you have someone you can split baby-care duties with, you may have more success flying with a lap infant.
If you do purchase a seat for your baby, there are dozens of portable car seats out there that are much easier to travel with than the bulky car seat you may have at home.
Get a car seat just for travel
The Cosco Scenera is a perennial favorite when it comes to travel car seats. At around 10 pounds and only $50 to $60, this car seat is a winner for travel when you need something easy and affordable. It’s rated for rear-facing little ones weighing between 5 and 40 pounds or forward-facing kiddos weighing 22 to 40 pounds.
Another model to consider is the WAYB Pico portable car seat, which was recommended by several TPG readers.
Use a car seat on the plane
Every kid is different, but if your little one sleeps well in a car seat in the car, they may do the same on a plane. If your kids are generally comfortable in car seats and have their own seat assignments on the plane, consider bringing the car seat on board for a secure flight experience.
Related: Car seats that are airline approved
Bring a Boppy pillow if you’re holding an infant
TPG’s senior director of engineering Mitchell Stoutin recommended using a Boppy nursing pillow for long flights with an infant. In addition to being handy for nursing, it gives your baby a comfortable place to rest. He also advised stashing your Boppy in a vacuum Ziploc bag to save space when not in use.
Sign your kids up for frequent flyer programs
Once you make the transition to buying your child a seat — either because they turn 2 or because you think having a separate seat will work best for your family — sign them up for a frequent flyer account and let the miles start rolling in.
No minimum age requirements exist for kids, so enroll them while they’re young to maximize their earnings.
Related: Earning frequent flyer miles for your kids just got a little easier
Board last
Most airlines let families with young children board early in the process, but as long as your family has assigned seats, you don’t need to worry about rushing to board before others.
Instead, have one parent get all the gear ready and board first while the other waits as long as possible before bringing the baby on board. This will help minimize the amount of time you have your little one in tight quarters, reducing the likelihood of a meltdown or further disrupting their schedule.
Pack your carry-on strategically
Think about everything you may need to easily access for yourself and your baby before organizing your carry-on. That way, you don’t forget any of your must-have items or struggle to find them while on board.
Consider packing food, diapers and extra outfits for at least twice as long as you think you’ll need them for your little one while in transit. Don’t forget to also bring clothes, snacks and drinks for yourself so you have everything you need.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to have enough essentials to survive at least 24 hours off of what you bring on board, as you never know what is going to happen.
Bring large Ziploc bags and black trash sacks
Avoid packing a suitcase without tossing in a few Ziploc bags, grocery bags or trash bags. They can be used to stash snacks and store wet or dirty clothing.
As TPG executive editor Scott Mayerowitz shared, large black garbage bags can also work as blackout shades in a pinch.
Related: The best family beach vacation destinations to kick off summer
Find a space in your hotel for the baby to sleep
In the best-case scenario, you’ll have accommodations with at least two bedrooms so your baby has a dark, quiet place to sleep while you relax without disturbing them. However, there are times when having multiple rooms isn’t possible.
If you only have one bedroom, try putting a crib in a hotel closet or bathroom to achieve the same result.
Travel with gear that will help your baby sleep in the hotel
When it’s time for the baby to sleep, there are numerous sleep tents, shades and white noise machines to choose from. Here are a few of our most trusted options:
You don’t always need to buy new gear for a successful trip, though. One reader suggested using painter’s tape to cover outlets as a quick, cost-effective way to baby-proof your hotel room.
Related: These are the best New York City hotels for families to check out
Have diapers and essentials shipped to your final destination
While you need plenty on hand for that first day or two, you can purchase what you need from Amazon and have it shipped directly to your destination instead of traveling with an entire week’s worth of needed items like diapers and wipes.
Alternatively, you can use a service like Shipt or Instacart to have essentials delivered to your hotel or home rental after you arrive.
Pack the snacks
This is true for all ages but especially applies when traveling with infants.
Don’t ever assume anything baby-appropriate will be available while you are in transit. The last thing you want is the stress of scrambling to find what you need at the last minute.
To avoid this potential headache, pack enough formula, snacks and more so you have whatever your little one may need to stay happy and content.
Related: How to pack — and prepare — for travel with a baby
Travel tips for preschoolers
The good news is that when kids are old enough for preschool, they don’t need quite as much sleeping and transportation gear.
With preschoolers, you’ll want to pay particular attention to toys and activities that will keep them entertained, night lights that will help keep the “scaries” away and a few other important travel essentials.
Bring mess-free toys
When choosing toys to pack for a flight or road trip, keep in mind that you don’t want anything that will create a mess or get lost easily, such as Legos or slime.
For mess-free coloring, we love Crayola Color Wonder Markers and coloring pages. If you’re taking a long flight or road trip, consider suction toys that can stick to a car or airplane window.
Related: 14 mistakes parents make when traveling with kids
Pack hidden toys to reveal during your trip
A surefire way to keep your child content for extended periods of time is to hide some toys until your travel day arrives so they feel new and exciting. You can even wrap them up or dole them out periodically throughout your trip — we recommend packing one toy for each hour of a flight — to add an element of surprise.
Try visiting a dollar store or dollar aisle in a store to dial up the surprise factor. Trust us, the $5 investment will pay off in spades.
Related: Your guide to flying with kids of every age
Consider an inflatable booster seat
If your child has graduated to a booster seat (congrats!), there are inflatable and fold-flat booster seats available that are easier to haul when traveling by car.
While there are several options currently on the market, the BubbleBum inflatable booster seat is a TPG reader favorite.
Use a stroller
Should you find yourself covering lots of miles on your trip, having a stroller can come in handy, even if you don’t normally use one at home.
For example, at a large theme park like Disney World, you may find yourself needing a stroller until your kid is 6, 7 or even 8 years old if you are moving quickly and want them to easily keep up (or if you know they will fall asleep before you are ready to call it a night). This may mean renting one when you get there, though you may prefer to have your own if you’re doing more than spending time at Disney.
Get stroller straps
Because it isn’t socially acceptable to AirTag children (though they do come in handy for finding lost luggage), we instead suggest getting stroller straps that bigger kids can hold on to while you push younger children in the stroller. We’re particularly fond of the Tagalong Stroller Accessory.
Preschedule car service from the airport
If you need car seats or want to be sure you have a ride waiting for you when you land, Uber and Lyft now both have options for prescheduling a ride if you need one.
While the best service depends on where you are going, one option to try is Blacklane. Consider having your driver meet you inside at baggage claim if you’re traveling with a lot of gear.
Pack a night light
For kids who are afraid of the dark, night lights may come in handy. This affordable nightlight is small, sleek and easy to pack.
If you are going on a cruise and don’t have access to traditional power outlets, TPG senior travel editor Erica Silverstein suggests bringing along battery-operated tea lights instead.
Travel somewhere with a kids club
A magical milestone in travel is when your child turns 3 and is potty trained, as this unlocks access to a variety of kids clubs.
Whether you’re on a Disney cruise (like the new Disney Wish cruise ship, pictured below) or at a resort with a kids club (some of which are free to use), children’s clubs are great for preschoolers.
By going somewhere that caters to younger children, you’ll be able to get a well-deserved break while the kiddos are taken care of.
1 of 5
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Plan down days and afternoon rest
Even if your preschooler has dropped daily naps at home, it’s still smart to build some downtime into your vacation schedule. This is especially important because it’s likely that their sleep schedule will be a little off while you’re traveling and that your vacation will be more action-packed than what they’re used to at home.
To help your overtired kid adjust, plan a relaxing pool day or take an afternoon break in your hotel room to keep crankiness at bay.
Travel tips for elementary-age kids
As kids get older, they can do more while on vacation with less help, but the tried-and-true tricks for keeping them entertained may no longer work.
Because their brains are developing and becoming more complex, elementary-age kids will need to have access to more activities while they’re away from home. As a result, you’ll need to adjust your strategy for vacations so they continue to have a good time.
Use packing cubes for the family
This tip applies to all age groups but can be especially helpful when your child starts taking more of an interest in choosing their own clothes. By relying on packing cubes, you can keep clothing for every member of your family organized while saving space.
If you decide to use packing cubes, there are a couple of good methods to choose from.
You can have a packing cube for each day of your trip and put your family’s clothing for each day in one cube. This works well if you will be making multiple stops and don’t want to pack and unpack everything.
You could also pack each family member’s clothing in a separate packing cube, which is helpful when you are encouraging kids to get dressed on their own and choose their own outfits.
Leave 1 day free in the schedule
We’ve already covered the importance of leaving some flex time in the afternoons, but if you are traveling for more than a long weekend, we highly recommend leaving an entire day unscheduled. That way, the kids can either rest and chill or you have the ability to say yes to something they spot along the way.
Depending on your child’s interests, you may want to use your free day for activities like splashing around at a water park, checking out some animals at a zoo, enjoying an epic ice cream-tasting adventure or spending more time at the kids club.
The key is to leave this day flexible so you can cater some activities to what your kid is enjoying the most.
Take advantage of your hotel’s club lounge
Club access can be invaluable when traveling with kids.
If you stay in a club-level room at a hotel, you’ll often have daily access to breakfast, snacks and drinks. An added bonus is that the club can serve as a gathering spot for enjoying more time (and often gorgeous views) with them.
Related: Can you use a World of Hyatt club lounge access award for someone else?
Plan trips with another family
This is the age where having other kids around really starts to matter.
If at all possible, try planning the trip to at least overlap with time spent with cousins or friends. Doing so will virtually guarantee the kids will have a better time, which means you will, too.
For these types of trips, you may want to look into finding a good vacation home rental.
Related: Why the best big family vacation may be skiing
Travel tips for tweens and teens
Traveling with tweens and teens is completely different than traveling with younger kids — something you probably know all too well if you are currently living with them.
At this age, kids are well on their way toward becoming full-fledged adults. As a result, they deserve a taste of the space, privacy and independence that comes along with adulthood.
Build an activity bag
It’s easy to assume the phone will do the trick, but TPG editor Kristy Tolley is a proponent of custom activity bags to keep kids (including older ones) occupied on long trips.
For your activity bag, consider anything from snacks to quiet toys to new games for their Nintendo Switch to art supplies — whatever will keep them entertained while you get to your final destination.
Double-check downloaded content
Wi-Fi on airplanes can be quite finicky. Even if you pay for it, there’s never a guarantee it’ll work for the entirety of your flight. Because of this, download movies, music, games and more to your device (or your child’s) before your trip.
When downloading movies or TV shows, turn to multiple sources like Netflix, Disney+ and Apple. That way, if you run into issues with one provider, you still have content from the others.
Also, remember that messaging others is free on many flights, so be sure your teen has the airline app downloaded if you want them to be able to keep using services such as iMessage while in the air.
Enroll your child in TSA PreCheck
Until they turn 13, kids traveling with a parent or guardian with TSA PreCheck will be allowed to go through the expedited security line even if they themselves don’t have TSA PreCheck.
Even after they turn 13, kids 17 and younger can typically use the TSA PreCheck lines with their parent or guardian as long as the teen has the indicator on their boarding pass.
If you have a credit card that reimburses fees for TSA PreCheck, you can recoup the cost of your child’s application. Note that Clear continues to work to bring kids through until they turn 18.
Related: Why you should get TSA PreCheck and Clear — and how you can save on both
Consider connecting rooms
The days of squeezing two or three kids into one queen-size bed are probably long gone once they reach their teenage years. Not to mention, trying to have the whole family use one bathroom is an ordeal you likely won’t want to go through.
To keep the peace, consider reserving connecting hotel rooms.
With connecting rooms, you’ll have double the beds, bathrooms and storage space. Plus, teens and tweens will have the space and privacy they need without you being too far away to keep an eye on them.
Related: Big news for families: Hilton to guarantee adjoining rooms with ‘Confirmed Connecting Rooms’
Let kids choose a few activities (or plan the whole day)
At this age, kids are not just along for the ride. Give them some input (and independence) by allowing them to help plan your trip. Odds are they’ll be more engaged by being involved in the planning.
Bring a friend
While planning trips with other families is a good strategy with elementary-age kids, by the time kids are teens, just bringing along one of their friends could be sufficient.
To keep the costs down, consider using an airline companion certificate to bring along that friend without spending extra.
Go somewhere with a teens club
If you are visiting a resort or destination where you may be going light on activities, lean into places that have a space just for teens.
Cruise ships are fantastic when it comes to this, as they often have kid-focused spaces divided into pretty distinct age ranges. For example, Disney Cruise Line has a club for kids ages 3 to 12, another for those between 11 and 14 and then one for teens ages 14 to 17.
By taking advantage of clubs that are broken up into designated age groups, your teen can have plenty of fun without the annoyance of hanging out with younger kids.
1 of 4
SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Related: Child turning 18? Here’s everything you need to know before the next time they travel
General family travel tips
Some family travel tips transcend age groups.
Regardless of how old your kids are, where you’re traveling or how you’re getting to your vacation destination, there are a few tips you’ll always want to keep top of mind.
Utilize airport lounges
Airport lounges are becoming more and more kid-friendly, as they offer dedicated family rooms with toys and kids shows on TV, plus food that will please picky eaters. Additionally, if you have a long layover or are dealing with flight delays or cancellations, you’ll be much more comfortable waiting in a lounge instead of at your gate.
You can purchase a day pass to many lounges but may be able to get yourself and your family in for free with certain credit cards or airline status. For example, The Platinum Card® from American Express grants the cardmember and one guest complimentary access to Priority Pass lounges and access to Centurion and Escape lounges, though complimentary guest access depends on how much you spend annually.
Related: Best credit cards for airport lounge access
Upgrade to a suite
Similar to springing for connecting rooms, upgrading to a suite will buy you additional space and, sometimes, a pullout sofa that adds another sleeping option.
You’ll also have more room for your family’s belongings and areas for relaxing and dining so your kids don’t spend all their time jumping, eating and lounging on the beds.
Check for reciprocal zoo and museum memberships
If you have a membership to your local zoo or museum, you may be able to use reciprocal benefits for free or discounted entry to other zoos and museums that you can visit on vacation.
This information is usually available on your zoo or museum’s website, but you can also check lists on the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ page about reciprocal admissions or on the North American Reciprocal Museum Association website.
Get a travel tracker that doubles as a memento
There are so many unique travel souvenirs you can get that also serve as keepsakes for remembering your child’s travel “firsts.”
These Junior Frequent Flyer flight logbooks allow you to record your child’s flights while teaching them about aviation.
If a national park visit is in your future, order a standard or junior National Parks Passport and collect stamps every time you visit a new park.
Don’t forget important medicines
When you are away from home, you have to be prepared for anything. That includes unexpected sicknesses and accidents.
Pack kid-safe and grown-up medicines, as well as Band-Aids, antibiotic ointment and other first-aid necessities in your carry-on bag so you won’t be without them if your checked luggage is delayed or lost.
Bring an extra bag
If you are traveling between a cold climate and a hot one, pack a lightweight tote bag that can fold into your carry-on so you can easily gather up everyone’s coats once on the plane. By keeping this tote tucked away until you’re on board the aircraft, you’ll enjoy an extra allowed bag, saving you the headache of trying to determine where to put bulky coats.
Get Global Entry for each family member
Unlike TSA PreCheck, which allows kids to travel with an eligible adult until they turn 18 (in most cases), anyone wishing to use Global Entry to expedite reentry into the U.S. needs to apply for the program.
Global Entry can save valuable time spent waiting in line. However, you’ll need to apply well in advance of your trip so you have time to submit your application, complete an in-person interview and await approval.
Similar to TSA PreCheck, you can use a credit card that will reimburse your child’s Global Entry application fee.
Try out the games built into many spaces
It’s easy to miss, but many resorts, theme parks and cruise ships have a hidden layer of fun that ranges from traditional scavenger hunts to interactive activities you can unlock with an iPhone or similar device.
While the youngest travelers won’t benefit from these types of experiences, they can be fun for a variety of age ranges, especially elementary-age kids and tweens.
Related: Disney World rolls out all-new MagicBand+: Here’s what this wristband can do for your trip
Bottom line
Family travel has its own built-in challenges, but it also comes with immense rewards.
By knowing all the tips and tricks to traveling with kids, having the right gear with you, mapping out a game plan and having the right attitude and realistic expectations, you can have a memorable vacation every member of the family enjoys.
You may not get to do everything you want or sometimes feel like it’s more of a hassle than a vacation. However, if you’re willing to be flexible and appreciate when things go according to plan — even if the end result isn’t quite what you had hoped for — you’ll find yourself eager to book your next family trip before you have the bags unpacked and put away.
Today we’ll check out “Blue Sky Financial,” whose goal is to save you time and money so you can get outside and enjoy those beautiful blue skies a little bit more.
The young company (formed in 2020) refers to itself as a discount mortgage brokerage, meaning they work with third-party lenders to find your loan a home.
Apparently they also offer low mortgage rates, which they say are possible thanks to “digital efficiencies” aka the latest technology and less overhead.
Let’s find out more about them.
Blue Sky Financial Fast Facts
An independent discount mortgage brokerage
Offers home purchase financing and mortgage refinances
Founded in 2020, headquartered in Boise, Idaho
Has three physical locations: Boise, Sun Valley, and West Palm Beach
Employ about two dozen loan officers nationwide
Currently licensed to do business in eight states
As mentioned, Blue Sky Financial is a mortgage brokerage, meaning they link up borrowers with a wholesale mortgage lender, which actually provides the financing.
While that means they need to turn to another company to get your loan to the finish line, it gives them the advantage of offering more loan programs because they’ve got multiple lending partners.
Like other mortgage lenders, they offer home purchase financing, along with mortgage refinances.
They have three physical offices, including locations in Boise and Sun Valley, Idaho, along with a branch in West Palm Beach, Florida.
At the moment, they’re only licensed in eight states nationwide, including California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, and Washington.
It’s unclear if they plan to expand to additional states soon, or focus on those specific states for the time being.
How to Apply for a Home Loan with Blue Sky Financial
They refer to their loan process as the “10 Minute Application”
It is a digital mortgage platform powered by Ellie Mae
You can apply online, upload income and asset documents, and eSign disclosures
Their online borrower portal allows you to keep track of loan progress and receive updates along the way
Blue Sky Financial is big on making it easy to apply for a home loan, and they’ve partnered with fintech company Ellie Mae (ICE) to make that possible.
They say they offer a better mortgage experience via their “10 Minute Application,” which sounds fast enough, even if Rocket Mortgage claims you can do it in just eight minutes.
Anyway, to get started you simply visit their website, then click on “Blue Skies Start Here.”
That will take you to the digital application page where you begin filling out personal and financial information online.
When prompted, you can link financial accounts and/or upload things like pay stubs and bank statements to verify your information.
You can also eSign important disclosures with the click of a button to breeze through what is often a painstaking process.
Once submitted, a loan officer and processor will discuss pricing and prep your file to submit to the underwriting department.
Those who are looking to get pre-qualified for a mortgage can follow the same instructions listed above.
If you want to work with someone specific, you can click on the loan officer bios on their website as well, then get in touch before you apply.
It may make more sense to get loan pricing with an actual loan officer first, then proceed to the application if you’re happy with what you hear.
All in all, it appears to be pretty easy to get started with Blue Sky Financial, and you can price a loan on your own via their website as well if you don’t want to speak to anyone.
Loan Programs Offered by Blue Sky Financial
Home purchase loans
Refinance loans: rate and term and cash out
Conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
FHA loans
VA loans
Jumbo loans
Fixed-rate mortgages: 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed, etc.
Adjustable-rate mortgages: 5/1 ARM, 7/1 ARM
While they don’t list individual loan programs on their website, my guess is they offer the full suite of offerings you’d expect to find with any big lender.
Because they’re a mortgage broker, they can send your loan to one of a variety of their partners depending on its attributes.
For example, they may have a certain partner that accepts jumbo loans, and another that’s a good fit for FHA loans or VA loans.
You can take out a home purchase loan or a refinance loan, including a rate and term refinance or a cash out refinance.
They lend on all common property types, including single-family homes, condos/townhomes, 1-4-unit investment properties, and more.
It’s unclear if they offer USDA loans or any specialty options like interest-only loans.
It would be nice if they provided more information on their website regarding available loan programs so we don’t have to guess.
Blue Sky Financial Mortgage Rates
One benefit to using Blue Sky Financial is the “Loan Pricer” found on their website.
It allows you to plug in your loan details to see today’s mortgage rates, without having to sign up or log in.
It will show you both an interest rate and price, which is the associated lender credit or points required for said rate.
You can play around to see different rates and prices across different scenarios if you’re simply shopping around, then get in touch with a loan officer to confirm pricing.
It’s a nice touch of transparency as not many lenders actually publicize their mortgage rates online.
Additionally, you may come across Blue Sky Financial’s mortgage rates on popular home loan comparison websites like Bankrate or Zillow.
So they do seem to lead with their pricing, which is a great sign if you’re shopping for the lowest rates out there.
That being said, they don’t mention anything about lender fees, so it’s not clear if they charge an application fee, loan origination fee, and so on.
Be sure to inquire about those fees as well when comparing different lenders.
Blue Sky Financial Reviews
On Zillow, Blue Sky Financial has a very respectable 4.83-star rating out of 5 from about 60 customer reviews.
Similarly, they’ve got a 4.8-star review at Bankrate from about 30 reviews, with most perfect 5-star reviews.
They’ve also got a 5.0-rating on Google from 21 reviews at last glance. While the sample sizes aren’t huge, they appear to be making customers happy thus far across all ratings sites.
Blue Sky Financial isn’t an accredited company with the Better Business Bureau, nor does it have a rating, perhaps because they’re pretty new.
In summary, while relatively young, they’re a well-liked company and seem to employ the latest technology while offering attractive mortgage rates.
That means they could be a good fit for existing homeowners looking to refinance, or even a prospective home buyer looking to make their first purchase.
Blue Sky Financial Pros and Cons
The Good
You can apply for a mortgage quickly and easily from any device
Their digital mortgage application is powered by Ellie Mae (ICE)
They let you see today’s mortgage rates via their loan pricer
According to the FTC, Americans have lost $610 million to “income illusions” since 2016 – and $150 million of that was in the first nine months of 2020 alone.
Predatory get-rich-quick schemes have become so audacious, so prevalent that the federal government has launched a full-scale operation targeting them: Operation Income Illusion.
So what are all the modern scams and schemes that young people should look out for? How can you spot the especially sneaky ones? What are the early warning signs of a bad online business course or a phony job listing?
And how can you convince that one relative of yours that they’re in an MLM?
Let’s cover this and more as we explore modern get-rich-quick schemes (and how to spot them).
What’s Ahead:
Common signs of a get-rich-quick scheme
Before we get into specifics, it’s worth pointing out some of the most common signs of any get-rich-quick scheme:
A promise or guarantee of income.
Payment requested upfront to cover supplies/training/application fees.
Sketchy websites or email addresses.
Zero online reviews or ratings.
Hyperbolic marketing language (achieve your dreams, become your own boss, etc.).
The perfect opportunity somehow found you (instead of the other way around).
A request for sensitive info: credit card info, SSN, or a photo of your passport/ID.
They give you a bad gut feeling. When you have a bad gut feeling about a person in real life, you walk away. Do the same online.
1. Cryptocurrency
Ah, crypto.
Perhaps no other investment in history has produced as much FOMO as Bitcoin. After all, everybody knows of somebody who got rich off of it, or alternatively, some rare altcoin (read: any crypto that isn’t Bitcoin) that exploded overnight.
It would be an overreach to call cryptocurrency a scam, but it’s certainly not the investor gravy train it’s made out to be.
Read more: The Top 10 Things You Need To Know About Bitcoin
What they promise
A $10,000 investment in Bitcoin in 2017 became $640,000 just four years later. Invest your money and buckle up, because you’re about to get rich.
Or, alternatively, keep your eyes on the crypto forums. If you get in on the ground floor of a new crypto before it explodes, that’s another easy way to 100x your investment overnight.
What really happens
A $10,000 investment in Bitcoin in November, 2021 would be worth $6,175.36 in February 2022.
Cryptocurrency values are 100% speculation, upheld by investor demand alone. There’s simply no guarantee (or even near-guarantee) that your investment will grow in value in the short- or long-term.
That’s especially true of new or obscure “altcoins” that trade for pennies a pop. Sure, a small percentage of them may blow up – but many more are simply scams or pump-and-dump schemes – and it’s extremely difficult to detect which is which.
Read more: From High Risk To High Cost: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Bitcoin
How to spot a crypto scam
Any crypto that promises to multiply in value is a scam. Again, the only thing propping up crypto values is investor interest, which is fickle, fleeting, and unpredictable.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other bonafide cryptos aren’t scams, but they’re ultra-risky investments nonetheless. For more on why, check out Crypto Crash Course – Everything You Need To Know About Bitcoin, Blockchain, And More.
2. Multi-level marketing schemes
MLMs are notorious for using psychology and manipulation to lure unsuspecting income-seekers into their midst. Then, they squeeze capital out of them on the dangling promise of eventually multiplying their returns.
Now that John Oliver and others have shone a light on the industry, the MLMs have had to get even sneakier.
What they promise
Join [Herbalife, Amway, Infinitus] and you’ll become your own boss, get free training, and earn six figures in your first year!
Who doesn’t want to become their own CEO for a small initial investment of just $150, especially when you can make 1000x within 10 months!
What really happens
99% of MLM participants lose money, according to the Consumer Awareness Institute. Anyone appearing like they’re making money from an MLM on social media is simply trying to dupe others into distributing for them.
How to spot an MLM scheme
If you’re wondering whether the sales opportunity you’re considering is part of an MLM, or you’re trying to convince someone that they’re in an MLM, here are a few steps that you can take:
See if it’s already a known MLM. TitleMax (of all places) published a helpful list of the top 25 MLMs by revenue. If your future “employer” is on the list, take a hard pass.
Search for complaints about the company. Reddit, The Better Business Bureau, and your state Attorney General’s office website are all helpful places to find consumer ratings, reviews, and official complaints.
Vet the products. MLMs tend to sell sketchy products with dubious or unsubstantiated research proving their efficacy. If you wouldn’t buy the product, you definitely shouldn’t sell it.
ID the “startup fee”. If a company has a flat fee for upfront training or especially your first round of inventory, it’s most likely an MLM.
Get a second opinion. Ask the company to provide all of its contracts and legal documents, and have a friend, mentor, or your attorney look over everything with a skeptical eye. Don’t try to convince them it’s legit; ask them to convince you that it’s an MLM.
3. The lottery
There’s no more open and honest get-rich-quick scheme than the lottery!
Playing the lotto in tiny doses can be fun when you expect to lose. My better half and I buy a ticket or two per year and fantasize about how we’ll fill our 20-car garage.
Then we lose and laugh.
But playing the lottery with even the faintest expectation that your investment will eventually pay off is a slippery slope – both financially and psychologically.
Read more: Why You Should Never Play The Lottery – And How To Better Spend Your Money
What they promise
Whether it’s $10,000 or $10,000,000, you’re just a scratch away from winning life-changing money.
What really happens
It’s better to gamble your money in Vegas than to play the lottery.
I say that because generally speaking, you have a 5% to 30% chance of beating the house in a Vegas casino (WSJ). Your chances of winning the lottery are 1 in 300 million (CNBC).
But what about a non-jackpot? Can you profit from buying scratch-offs?
“Scratchies” typically list their odds of winning on the back of a card, usually between 5% and 20%. Your chances of winning something are better – but your chances of profiting are still extremely low.
Lotteries are also inherently problematic and controversial. Supporters say they benefit society by generating tax revenue – but it’s worth considering where that revenue is originating.
A mass study on the lottery’s net impact on society found that “the percentage of income spent on the lottery is significantly higher for players with low family incomes and low education,” hence the lottery’s ignominious nickname: “a tax on the poor.”
While it may be more transparent, make no mistake – the lottery is just as bad of a get-rich-quick scheme as an MLM (just with much worse odds).
4. Phony job listings
This one’s more of a straight-up scam than a scheme – and even as far as scams go, it’s pretty nefarious. FBI Special Agent, Jeanette Harper writes:
“Fake Job Scams have existed for a long time but technology has made this scam easier and more lucrative.”
What they promise
A supposed rep from a legit-looking company – or even one pretending to be from a company you’ve heard of – will reach out and say they’re hiring for a high-salary role.
They either say “no experience necessary” or that you’d be perfect for it, and since they want to fill the role right away, they’ll just do the interview via a chat window.
Before your start date for your high-salary role, they’ll need to add you to payroll and benefits – so you’ll need to pass along your W-9, 1099, and/or a scan of your ID.
What really happens
The scammer uses this sensitive information to steal your money and/or identity.
How to spot a phony job listing
Fake job opportunities are pretty insidious, but at least they’re pretty easy to spot. Here are some of the telltale signs:
The job listing appeared on social media (nearly all legit companies recruit via job boards, LinkedIn, or by referral only).
The rep’s email address doesn’t match the company name.
The company has no website/social media/LinkedIn presence (or a sketchy one).
The rep won’t reveal themselves – they won’t share their own personal data nor will they get on a video call with you – they insist on communicating via chat.
Everything they’re telling you seems oddly vague.
The interview process is moving oddly quickly – you’re accepted in minutes or hours, when the real-world process takes days or weeks.
The rep wants money – such as a $25 fee to submit your application.
5. COVID-era robocall scams
At the risk of sounding indelicate, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a target-rich environment for robocallers who peddle MLMs, phony jobs, or shady website building services.
To give an example, the FTC is going after scam company National Web Design for sending out millions of illegal robocalls specifically targeting people who’d just lost their jobs, guaranteeing them passive income if they just paid a little upfront.
I try not to use the term evil lightly…
What they promise
Here’s what National Web Design told its victims: you could earn up to $400 a day as an Amazon affiliate. Just let us build your site for $2,000 and your passive income awaits.
What really happens
The scammers may actually deliver a product, but it never works as advertised. You’re out $2,000 and they never pick up the phone.
How to spot a robocall scam
If someone calls you offering a job or passive income opportunity, it’s a scam. But don’t just hang up – report their call as spam on your phone and report the company to the FTC using this form.
BONUS: how to prevent robocalls in the first place
You can help stem the flow of robocalls to your own phone by adding your number to the official Do Not Call Registry. Don’t worry, it’s free and 100% legit.
The second thing you can do is to never, ever, ever give your phone to a business unless it’s essential to your wellbeing. Even companies that claim to “protect your privacy” will still sell your data to their partners (since it’s not a violation of their own privacy policy).
6. Bad online business courses
Here’s one that I fell for.
To my credit, it wasn’t named so blatantly – and I can tell that the instructor was being sincere in his advice – but it was still bad advice that I paid an embarrassing amount of money for.
Bad online courses always seem like good investments upfront. They’re taught by people who’ve “made it” in the industry and who promise to tell you all of their “best money-making secrets.”
They’re also sold to you at a weirdly high discount (e.g. 97% off) and sometimes, you even have to apply to be in the course.
But crappy online courses aren’t just dangerous due to high cost and missed expectations – they can teach you the wrong things that actually hinder your progress and take months to unlearn.
What they promise
Sellers of “How To Get Rich In XYZ Industry” courses promise exactly that – that you can make millions in a certain industry by simply following in the instructor’s footsteps.
What really happens
The advice you learn in an unaccredited online course can range from good to bad to downright toxic. And if you’re new to an industry, it can be hard to distinguish which is which.
You could be paying for advice that could win new clients – or immediately turn them off.
That’s why you’ll want to be extremely careful who you learn from. Some instructors truly are at the top of their industry and their tips are worth their weight in gold.
But others are on their way out – their way of doing things in their industry no longer works, so they’re packaging and selling bad and outdated advice to make up for lost income.
How to spot a bad online course
Part of the challenge to spotting bad online business courses is that they’re often marketed exceedingly well – so well, in fact, that if it’s a course in How To Make Millions Selling Bad Online Courses, maybe it’s worth it!
Facetiousness aside, here are some of the signs that the course you’re considering isn’t worth it:
The instructor has limited, outdated, or vague experience – e.g. they’ve “worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies” but won’t say who, in what capacity, or how much they actually earned.
The course promises or downright guarantees income. No course can guarantee income, so that’s a huge red flag.
High-pressure sales tactics. If the vendor of an online business course gives you a short time window to decide, or says the price will increase in 13 hours, just shrug and hang up the phone.
No reviews or ratings. If the instructor can’t point to a single successful past student, that’s probably a sign that one doesn’t exist – and you won’t be the first.
A high price tag. Finally, if a 3-day “Mastermind” costs thousands of dollars, that could be a sign that the instructor values his or her advice. It could also mean that they need the money because their clients dried up.
7. Mystery shopper scams
Mystery shopping is when a restaurant, retailer, or third-party data company will hire you to go into a store or restaurant and report back on your experience. Mystery shoppers are often paid a flat fee per assignment, and sometimes even get the product/meal reimbursed, too.
From what I’ve heard, it’s a fun gig if you can get it. But since lots of folks are interested, the scammers are taking advantage.
What they promise
Mystery shopping scams often start with a text stating that you can earn $200 to $500 per assignment by becoming a secret/mystery shopper or “filling out a survey.”
All you have to do is visit a retail store, purchase a product or a gift card, send it to a specific address, and report on your experience. You’ll be compensated upon completion. Easy $500.
This may sound like an obvious scam, but in the victims’ defense, this isn’t too far removed from how legit mystery shopping works.
What really happens
In the case of the scam, you send the product or gift card and are never compensated. To rub salt on the wound, the scammer may sell or abuse the personal data you gave them.
How to spot a mystery shopping scam
Luckily, the Mystery Shopping Professional Association (MSPA) publishes a running list of all the mystery shopping scams they’ve seen.
If you don’t see the potential scam listed there, cross-reference it with their free online directory of legitimate mystery shopping companies.
Summary
To a pandemic-stricken society, get-rich-quick schemes are becoming harder to spot and more seductive all at once.
But by helping yourself and your loved ones avoid them, you can protect your money and ride out the storm.
My wife and I have been homeowners for nearly twenty years. In that time, we’ve done a lot of home improvement ourselves. But we’ve also learned when it’s best to hand projects to the pros. (To be honest, this is most of the time.) It’s great to be able to do small jobs yourself, but it’s also important to recognize when something’s beyond your ability.
During the past 18+ years, we’ve learned that working with contractors always seems to follow a similar pattern. I’m not sure it has to be like this, but it generally seems to be so. To illustrate our typical experience, I took notes on our most recent repair job. Today I’ll share our tale.
Note: At the recent Financial Blogger Conference, a lot of folks expressed fondness for the Personal Finance Hour, the podcast that I used to do with Jim from Bargaineering. I’ll admit I’d forgotten about it. That was a fun gig. Here’s an episode we did about home improvement.
A Leak in the Roof
In 2004, we bought a hundred-year-old farmhouse on more than half an acre. It’s a lovely place in a park-like setting, but it’s also a bit of a money pit. There’s often something going wrong.
We’ve had trouble with the roof, for instance, since the first summer we moved in. Initially, we blamed the insulation contractors, who had cut holes in the roof for added ventilation but then failed to adequately seal around their work. As a result, the vents eventually developed large leaks.
It turns out, however, that the shoddy vents were only part of the problem. One section of the roof is essentially flat, which means it needs a different kind of roofing material than most of us are used to. When the previous owner last installed a new roof, he cut corners. (He was always cutting corners. Many of our woes are because the previous owner did his own work and cut corners.)
As a result, the flat section of the roof developed a leak. Or several. While I was traveling in July, Kris called me in a panic to tell me that Portland was having a severe rainstorm and that water was pouring into an upstairs bedroom — right next to my precious comic books. My comics were safe, thank goodness, but this certainly spurred me to action.
The roofing problem was one reason I canceled my planned trip to England. I stayed home, called contractors, and shepherded the project toward its slow completion.
Choosing a Contractor
Whenever we’re faced with hiring a contractor, we get multiple bids for the job. This time was no different. We like to take recommendations from friends, though this doesn’t work in every instance. This time, for instance, nobody we knew had worked with a roofer recently. Instead, I contacted five or six local roofers via the web. On August 2nd, three of them came out to look at the roof.
The first guy had been with his company for 37 of its 42 years. I liked him. He pulled up a section of the roofing to reveal that “the guy who did this didn’t know what the hell he was doing”. It was just one layer (instead of three) over some felt paper. “No wonder it’s leaking,” he said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all.” There were already soft spots in the plywood too that need to be dealt with. He said the job would be expensive, but the work would be designed to last a lifetime. The job would take him two or three days, and he was two or three weeks out. (I can’t find his bid or I’d share it here; it was highest of the three.)
The next guy was young, but I thought he was sharp and observant. He noted that the leak wasn’t under the actual roof we were standing on, and tried to figure out where it might be coming from. He tracked the crease between the flat roof and the angled roof, and he found a soft spot with an “eyehole”. “That’s the leak,” he said. He tracked down other spots where water might got in, and also a spot where the water was likely flowing out. He downplayed the expense, saying it was no more expensive than any other roofing material. The job would take about a day, and he was about one week out. He gave us a bid of $2800.
Like the first two contractors, the final fellow didn’t think much of our roof. But he didn’t really get down and look at it. When I told him our previous leak had been through a vent, he yanked on the current vent and said, “I think it’s here again.” He too thought our current roofing was a poor option for Oregon. He recommended tearing it off (and tearing off the shingles on the ridges around the flat roof), laying down a three-ply roofing system, and then installing new shingles back over the top. He said the job would take two days, but they were at least a month out, and probably more. He quoted $3500.
After meeting with all three men and getting their bids, we decided to go with the second company. They seemed to have the clearest idea of what needed to be done, they had the lowest price, and they could start almost immediately. It almost seemed too good to be true.
It was.
Repairs
The first sign of trouble was the constant delay. We’re used to contractors putting us off, but this company did it again. And again. And again. When I met with the representative on August 2nd, he told me they could start within a week. HA! They didn’t actually begin work until September 8th. Fortunately — or perhaps not — the job only took a day.
Mid-way through the repair, the company called me with bad news. “A lot of the plywood is rotten,” they told me. “That’s why it was so soft. It’ll take an extra four or five hours. And we’ll have to charge your for material.” So, as usual, the cost on our planned repair ballooned. I should have been wary when the crew was still able to finish the job in a day despite the “extra four or five hours” replacing the plywood was going to take.
As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve been paying our neighbor Chris to do some handyman stuff around the place. He’s been under-employed for a while, and I have more writing work than I do time, so this seems like a good exchange. (It’s one way in which I value my time.) So, we paid Chris to climb up and paint the patches that had been uncovered by the roofing project. When he did, he found problems.
A gallery of photos of the botched roof repair. Click on an image to see a larger version.
Chris actually has experience with construction management, and is well-versed in the ways of roofing. He was flabbergasted at the quality of workmanship (or the lack thereof). “This looks like it was just rushed through,” he said. He borrowed a digital camera to take photos of all the things that were wrong with the repair. “If I were you,” he said, “I’d get them back out here to fix this. Otherwise you’re still going to have leaks.”
I called the roofing company and asked them to send somebody out. To their credit, they were very contrite. They responded quickly and efficiently. They took copies of our digital photos back to the office, promising to send a crew out by the end of the week to make things right. And they did. They installed new flashing and caulked the spots where they’d nailed through the shingles. They spent several hours fixing their foul-up — at no additional charge to us, of course.
When they were through, Chris and I climbed back up on the roof. “Well, it’s not perfect,” he told me. “But I’ll admit that any further complaints would probably just be seen as nit-picking. They could have done better work, but this should be fine. Just keep an eye on things.”
So, we think things are fine, but I still a harbor a few worries. Every time it rains, I go upstairs and check to make sure there’s no leak over my comic books. I don’t do this just once, either. I’m sort of compulsive about it. Meanwhile, I dream of the day when we hire a contractor who is punctual, thorough, and reasonably priced. There are times I think this will never happen.
Have you ever thought about renting a short-term apartment? Whether you’re seeking short-term accommodation for business or pleasure, here’s what you need to know.
When
If you’re on the road for work frequently or just love to travel for personal reasons, it may be worth it to you to look into staying at a short-term corporate or vacation rental rather than a hotel. Or, if your situation requires that your living arrangements stay flexible (like if you’re a student, are in between leases or are planning to purchase a house in the near future, etc.) renting a short-term apartment may make sense for you.
Why
While you may not be offered a free continental breakfast or other amenities like housekeeping or room service, the benefits and added perks can often give the advantage to staying in a short-term apartment when you’re vacationing. And, if you’re a business traveler relocating for a few weeks or a few months, the flexibility of staying in a short-term apartment can be worth it.
More from Apartment Guide: Month-to-Month Leases: What You Need to Know Understand Your Lease Before Signing ItKnow the Components of an Apartment Lease Agreement
What You Get
The extras. We’re not talking about stale bagels and subpar coffee. Perks like a personal washer and dryer, hot tub, luxury fitness center, and extra space are more common in apartments than hotels. When you’re traveling on a budget, having a fully equipped kitchen is a great way to save some money while staying in and cooking a meal. Outdoor amenities like a front porch, balcony or patio can be a nice perk and allow for some fresh air that you might not get in a hotel room.
Price is right. If you’re staying for an extended amount of time at your destination, hotel fees can be pricey. Even for the most budget-friendly hotels, you can expect to pay up to $800-$1,000 a week. A short-term apartment, however, may charge a similar price for a month’s stay, getting you more time for your money.
Location, location, location. Staying in a hotel when you’re traveling may mean you’re relegated to a being in a commercial area rife with chain restaurants and fast food joints. To really immerse yourself in the city, choose a short-term apartment in a neighborhood that is known for its cool location and environment. You’ll have access to public parks, trendy restaurants, and unique retail shops that will give you a better sense of the personality of the city while you’re there.
What to Look Out For
The fine print. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the policies before you sign on the dotted line. Cancelation policies vary, so be aware of the potential penalties for canceling or changing the dates of your visit. If you have young children or pets traveling with you, check ahead of time to ensure they can be accommodated. Most apartments don’t allow smoking, so smokers may need to seek out alternate accommodations.
Know the details. One benefit of a hotel is having round-the-clock access to a concierge desk. In a short-term apartment, that may not be available, so make sure you have the details squared away before arriving. When and where will you pick up the keys? When can you check in? Who is your contact in case your flight is delayed or plans change? Knowing before you go can save you a headache.
For those fresh out of college and newer to the workforce, it can be challenging to figure out how to balance between managing looming student loan debt and saving for your future.
Student loans are a particularly burdensome source of debt, totaling $1.63 trillion — or $37,600 per borrower — in the United States, according to a recent WalletHub study. They’re the second-highest form of debt for Americans, second only to home mortgages. And after a three-year pause, federal student loans will resume accruing interest on Sept. 1, with payments coming due in October.
You may have heard of the 50-30-20 rule — dedicating 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings — but there is more to post-college budgeting, Chris Briscoe, vice president and director of financial planning at Girard Advisory Services, tells CNBC Make It.
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, especially for Gen Zers and millennials burdened with student debt, here are a few steps young professionals can take to start balancing loans and future savings.
1. ‘Take your time’ and establish your financial goals
Putting together a plan for financial success right out of college is not an easy or quick task, Briscoe says. College graduates do not have to find the perfect job right off the bat, nor should they feel the pressure to immediately know how to handle their money.
“You don’t have to take care of this all at once. Take your time,” he says.
Start by establishing a preliminary budget and outlining financial goals. There are a few simple questions you can ask yourself in this process, Briscoe says.
“[The budget] doesn’t have to be set in stone, but at least take some time to figure it out a few months after you get used to making money. What fixed expenses do you have? What do you like to do? What would you like to do for enjoyment? How much money is going in? How much money is going out?”
Additionally, “write down your goals. Where do you want to be in one year? Where do you want to be in five? Where do you want to be in 10 years? If you have debt, how do you want to tackle that debt?”
2. Always make the minimum payment
For those grappling with student loan debt, the most important thing is to stay on top of your minimum monthly payments, Andrew Meadows, senior VP of HR, brand and culture at Ubiquity Retirement and Savings, tells CNBC Make It.
“It costs money to owe money. It is a funny thing to say, but that’s the truth,” he says. “In order to not have that debt grow, continue to make the minimum payments.”
That’s because “if you get late on your payments, they add late charges on top of that,” he says. “The last thing you want when you’re facing debt is to face more debt.”
Ultimately, the sooner you can pay off your student debt — by making minimum payments and paying a little more each month if you can — the less you will pay overall.
3. Start building a savings buffer
While it might be difficult to immediately set aside a full emergency savings fund of three to six months’ worth of expenses soon after entering the professional world, at least build a cash savings buffer, Meadows says.
“Start taking a little bit of money away that will cover two months’ worth of your student loan debt and a couple of months’ rent,” he says. “This isn’t a full emergency savings. It’s just that buffer so that you have some breathing room and you can lower your anxiety overall.”
Some jobs are not forever, he reminds young professionals. It’s important to prepare while you can and have enough money to get yourself through periods without steady pay.
4. ‘It is never too early to save for retirement’
If you have a savings buffer and are making your minimum loan payments, it’s time to start putting money away for the future.
If given the opportunity, opt for a job that offers an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, Meadows says. “It is never too early to save for retirement.”
For working professionals, 401(k) retirement plans allow your money to grow tax-free, offer you an upfront tax break and can include employer matching. If your company offers a match, save at least that amount every month, Briscoe says. It’s part of your compensation, and basically “free” money.
If your company does not offer a 401(k), a Roth IRA might be a strong alternative. Roth IRAs are funded with post-tax funds, which you can withdraw tax-free in retirement, provided you meet all the requirements. They’re often recommended for early career investors because you’re more likely to be in a lower tax bracket early on than in retirement.
5. Maintain your ‘study mindset’ and continue to learn
When it comes to gaining greater financial literacy and learning how to effectively balance student loans and retirement savings, it is essential to learn all that you can.
“Be a sponge,” Briscoe says. “If you’re at your job and you have questions about your retirement plan, make sure you’re asking somebody that might be a little bit more experienced about what they’ve done.”
Recent college graduates should maintain their “study mindset,” Meadows says, and devote time to building their budget and financial resources. It shouldn’t feel like a burden — rather, it’s a chance to maximize your postgraduate experiences.
“Your retirement plan is the ultimate DIY project,” Meadows says. “You can’t rely on Social Security as your primary form of income when you retire. Many of us are not going to have jobs that provide pensions. The only thing you have left is your own personal savings.”
“You are working hard now, you’re out there making a living. But don’t forget to treat yourself a little bit,” he adds. “Just understand what your boundaries are so that you can be setting up your future self for the most comfort possible in retirement.”
DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!
Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.
You just came into a cash windfall. You’re happy about this, but you aren’t exactly sure about what to do with it. Should you spend it? Save it? Invest it?
Depending on the amount of money you now have and your financial situation, the answers are going to differ. Here are some things you can do with a financial windfall to ensure that you are handling it in the smartest way possible.
What Is Considered a Windfall?
There is no one specific definition for what is a financial windfall. Typically, it means that you’ve received some unexpected money of a significant amount. For some people, a windfall could be a few hundred dollars; for others, it could be millions.
Whatever the amount, if it feels as if you have come into a considerable amount of money that you weren’t anticipating, it makes sense to develop a plan for how to use it.
3 Tips to Help You Make the Most of Your Money Windfall
If you are fortunate enough to have a windfall land in your lap, consider these points before you take action (whether spending, saving, investing, or donating). These steps can help you make the most of your money:
• Get professional advice: Depending on the size and source of your windfall, you might owe taxes on it and it might push you into a different tax bracket. Consulting with an accountant or financial planner may help you identify the implications.
• Go slow: Of course it’s exciting to have cash coming your way, but it’s wise to take some time and reflect on how the money would be best spent versus deciding “Dinner’s on me!” for you and your 10 best friends to celebrate. For instance, could your windfall lower or wipe out some debt? Could it be invested? Don’t let the adrenaline rush drive you to make too quick a decision. Take some time to clarify your goals.
• Think long-term: If you’ve received a sizable sum, it may be tempting to drop everything and quit your day job to travel or take on a passion project. Again, financial counseling could be wise before you do such things. What sounds like a major sum may not actually finance those things (or at least allow you to go all in on them), so look at the implications carefully before making a big life change.
Remember That Taxes May Be Due on Your Windfall
As briefly mentioned above, taxes may be due on your windfall. Talking with a certified public accountant or financial planner could be a wise move. Some food for thought:
• A large inheritance (more than $12.06 million as an individual in 2022) from a relative other than a spouse would trigger federal taxes owed.
• A gift of more than $16,000 will require you to pay federal taxes.
• A lottery win is taxed as ordinary income.
What to Do With a $500 Windfall
Let’s say the amount of money you received was $500. While it isn’t a ton of money, it still is significant enough that you should figure out what to do with it. Here are a few ideas for what to do with a small windfall.
1. Investing in Real Estate
Did you know that you can become a real estate investor with just $500? The real estate crowdfunding platform DiversyFund allows you to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) with a minimum of $500. Although there is risk involved in real estate investing and it might tie up your money before you see a return, this might be a good way to get your feet wet when it comes to real estate.
2. Meeting With a Financial Advisor
Hiring a financial advisor to help you learn how to plan for your financial future might be a good use of this money. Financial advisor charges vary: Some might charge hourly while others are commission-based. If this professional will be managing a portfolio for you, it is fairly common to be charged 1% of the portfolio value.
3. Buying a New Wardrobe
You could refresh your wardrobe with a little extra money. Wearing the right clothes could make you feel more comfortable and give you the confidence to go after your professional goals. Or you might splurge on some clothes you’ve been eying that give you a self-esteem boost.
4. Traveling Somewhere Cheap
You may be able to save on hotel rooms and plane tickets when sales are running. Or, you could always take a road trip somewhere locally for only $500. Since you’re on a tight budget, you may want to use credit card rewards to finance any additional cost of your trip.
5. Investing in a Certificate of Deposit
Another thing you can do with a $500 financial windfall is put it into a certificate of deposit, which is a savings account with a fixed interest rate as well as the maturity date. It’s a low-risk way to invest your money.
6. Getting Your Car Fixed
Have you been putting off car repairs because they’re too expensive? Now that you have $500, it might be time to put it towards your vehicle so it’s less likely to break down when you’re on the road.
7. Buying Renter’s Insurance
If you’re a renter, your personal property is not covered under your landlord’s homeowners insurance policy. Your renter’s insurance policy, typically costing less than $500 per year, will cover the cost of your belongings should anything happen, as well as offer liability coverage if anyone gets injured on your property. How much does renters insurance cost? Prices will vary depending on where you live and the value of what you have to insure, but nationally the average cost is typically between $126 and $252.
8. Purchasing a Life Insurance Policy
Life insurance is designed to protect your family in the event that you pass away. The average cost of a life insurance policy is $26/month, so you could pay for the whole year upfront with just $500. Typically, life insurance rates increase as you age and your risk of dying increases. So it’s likely to be less expensive to purchase life insurance while you’re young, rather than waiting until you feel like you can afford it.
9. Taking a Professional Development Class
While private colleges and universities may be pricier, you may be able to find a class online or at your local community college for less than $500. Finding something that is relevant to your career may even help you move up the ladder at your job.
What to Do With a $1,000 Windfall
Did you receive a $1,000 financial windfall? Here are some tips on what to do with windfall money of that amount.
10. Getting Started on Your Emergency Fund
Ideally, your emergency fund will be as robust as possible and include several months’ worth of expenses just in case you lose your job or otherwise face some financial hardships. However, if you don’t have anything saved up, then putting $1,000 into it is a great start. You will have a safety net at the very least.
11. Hiring an Estate Planning Lawyer
Another important thing you could do with a $1,000 cash windfall is meet with an estate planning lawyer to write your will, establish a trust, and determine your power of attorney. You may feel some peace knowing your family will be protected and your assets will go where you wish to distribute them.
12. Opening a 529 Plan
A 529 plan is a way to save for your child’s college education. With $1,000, you can get a nice head start on college savings and gain interest on your money at the same time. Plus, the money will be tax-deferred.
13. Doing Home Improvements
With $1,000, you could do some significant home improvements like replacing your curtains, put down a new kitchen floor, paint different rooms, or spruce up your backyard. If you do the work yourself, you may be able to stretch your financial windfall money even further.
14. Donating It
If there’s a nonprofit you always donate to, you could make a big difference by giving $1,000 to it. You could also write it off on your taxes if it’s a qualifying organization.
15. Opening a High-Yield Savings Account
A typical savings account tends to have low-interest rates. But a high-yield savings account could earn up to 25 times the interest of a regular savings account. Putting the $1,000 in your account and then setting up automatic transfers from your checking into your new savings account will help it continue to grow.
16. Opening an IRA
If you don’t have anything saved up for retirement and you suddenly get a $1,000 financial windfall, then it might be time to open up an IRA. It’s wise to speak with a financial advisor about the best type of account for your situation.
17. Investing in Your Side Hustle
To make money on your $1,000 financial windfall, you could start or invest in your own low-cost side hustle. For instance, perhaps you’re a freelance graphic designer on the side but you need to buy some software to be able to do more detailed work. Or maybe you need to purchase a domain name and hire a developer to create a business website. With this initial investment, you may be able to bring in much more money and improve your finances.
What to Do With a $5,000 Windfall
You just got a cash windfall of $5,000. Now what? Here are some ideas.
18. Saving Up for a Down Payment
In some instances, you could make a down payment on a home for only 3% to 5%. For instance, if you purchase a $100,000 home and you only need to put 5% down, you could use your financial windfall money as your $5,000 down payment.
19. Paying Off Credit Card Debt
The average American family has $7,951 worth of credit card debt. Even if you have more than that much debt, $5,000 could make a big difference.
20. Investing Via Robo-Advisors
Do you want to invest your $5,000 cash windfall, but you don’t know where to start? Robo advisors create a diversified investment portfolio based on your investment goals and the level of risk you’re willing to take.
21. Investing in Blue-Chip Stocks
If you’re willing to take some risk with investments, then blue-chip stocks could be good investments for you. These stocks are from well-established and financially stable companies that typically pay dividends to investors.
22. Investing in International Bonds
Bonds typically have a solid history of returns, although slightly lower than that of stocks. However, since US interest rates have been relatively low, it may be a good idea to look into international bonds for a better return rate. These can carry higher risk because of currency exchange rates, however, so it’s wise to choose carefully, based on the country where the bond is held. Having both stocks and bonds in a portfolio is a good way to achieve diversification in a balanced portfolio.
23. Taking a Luxurious Vacation
With $5,000, you and your family could potentially vacation in a luxury resort. By looking for all-inclusive experiences, you could do much more with your money. Check out sites like Expedia, Costco Travel, and Booking.com for deals.
What to Do With a $10,000+ Windfall
If you received a cash windfall of $10,000 or more (lucky you!), here are some things you could do with it.
24. Opening a Money Market Account
With $10,000 could enable you to invest in a money market account, which typically earns a higher interest rate than a regular savings account.
25. Paying Off Student Loan Debt
The average student loan debt is more than $32,000. If you have a $10,000 financial windfall, you could put a nice dent in your student loan payments.
26. Trying Peer-to-Peer Lending
You could lend your financial windfall money to someone who is looking for a loan and have the opportunity to earn a much higher interest rate than you might receive on other types of investments.
27. Making Mortgage Payments
You could make a large principal-only payment toward your mortgage loan with a $10,000 cash windfall. Using an amortization calculator on the remaining balance of a fixed-rate loan will show you how much sooner you could pay off the loan.
28. Going to College
While $10,000 won’t cover a bachelor’s degree unless you also get grants or scholarships, you may be able to earn your associate’s degree at your local community college with your financial windfall money. This may also cover several classes at a university that could lead to career advancement.
29. Starting Your Business
Let’s say you want to do more than start a side hustle, and you’re ready to open a small business. With $10,000, you can get the ball rolling on your business without the need to borrow money. It could be a good idea to talk to a successful business owner in your industry who has the experience and can give you some guidance on how best to allocate your money.
30. Putting it in Your 401(k)
If you have a 401(k) through your employer, you could put your $10,000 into it. If your employer matches your contributions, the money could go even further.
31. Moving to a Different Home
Moving can be expensive, and a $10,000 financial windfall could be useful when it comes to covering moving costs. A move may make sense if you can find a place that’s more convenient to your work, restaurants, and entertainment and/or gives you and your family more space or offers additional amenities.
The Takeaway
Receiving a financial windfall of any amount is probably best handled with careful thought. You might pay down debt, take a vacation, invest the funds, or pursue higher education…or even do a little of each. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to set it aside while you take your time to make a decision about how best to spend it.
Earning interest on the money during a “thinking it over” period can be a good thing, too. A SoFi Checking and Savings Account can be a good place to park your money; it will earn a competitive annual percentage yield (APY) and you won’t pay any account fees. Those two features can help you money grow.
Better banking is here with up to 4.30% APY on SoFi Checking and Savings.
FAQ
What amount of money is considered a windfall?
The amount of money that is considered a windfall will vary depending on your circumstances. If you are just starting out or earning a lower income, $500 might be cause for celebration. Typically, a windfall is considered $1,000 or more, and in some cases, it could be a major sum of six figures or more.
What to do with a $50,000 windfall?
There are many ways to use a $50,000 windfall. You could pay off high-interest debt, pump up your retirement account or savings for your children’s education, or you might invest it, whether in the stock market or your own business.
What can you do with a $100K windfall?
With a $100,000 windfall, you might pay off high-cost debt, stash money for future educational costs for yourself or your child, save for retirement, or invest the money or buy real estate with it.
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 can earn up to 4.30% annual percentage yield (APY) interest on Savings account balances (including Vaults) and up to 1.20% APY on Checking account balances. There is no minimum direct deposit amount required to qualify for these rates. Members without direct deposit will earn 1.20% APY on all account balances in Checking and Savings (including Vaults). Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 6/9/2023. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at http://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. Tax Information: This article provides general background information only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for legal counsel. You should consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor if you have a question requiring legal or tax advice. Third-Party Brand Mentions: No brands, products, or companies mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.