For readers in the Philadelphia area: I will be teaching a class on personal finance at Tenth Presbyterian Church starting Sunday, June 9, 9:00 – 10:15 AM. Location is in the 1710 Spruce Street Boardroom. There will be 6 sessions running through July 14.
The class will be interactive and tailored to the financial questions, needs challenges and goals of the individuals attending. Bring your questions!
Here are some of the topics to be covered:
A Biblical perspective on money, wealth, stewardship and contentment
Practical suggestions on becoming savvy consumers, cutting costs, stretching dollars and living below your means.
Getting out of debt, staying out if debt. Good debt vs. bad debt
Saving and investing: the power of compounding, the importance of an
emergency fund, long term investment for college and retirement. Saving
for a house.
Legal essentials, particularly for families with young children.
Please join us. Directions and parking can be found on Tenth’s website. Regards, Paul
The April 2017 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine recently arrived. It is a special one indeed: celebrating the 70th anniversary of a venerable publication. To commemorate this occasion, the lead article is 70 Ways to Build Wealth. Definitely a worthwhile read for the Frugal and Wise. (Check for the issue at your local library.)
I certainly cannot claim such ideas as original but neither did I merely copy them from other sources. Any number of fundamental, financial actions can lead to building wealth and living better on less. But there is the satisfaction in knowing what I mention on Frugal, Wealthy and Wise is also being espoused by such a prominent source as Kiplinger’s.
I have been reading Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for at least two decades. It has been influential in my journey towards being a savvy consumer, a shrewd manager of family finances and a builder of wealth. (Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and The Economist are the only two magazines I read.) The introductory rate for a year’s subscription is $15 or less – worth checking out; see if it earns its keep for you.
Words from the Chief
The 70 Ways to Build Wealth article contains 10 saying from Knight Kiplinger, Editor in Chief (page 28). These sayings are comparable to words of wisdom from Warren Buffet, Jack Bogel – or even King Solomon in Proverbs.
1) Wealth creation isn’t a matter of what you earn. It’s how much you save.
2) Your biggest barrier to becoming rich is living like you’re rich before you are.
3) Pay yourself first.
4) No one ever got into trouble by borrowing too little.
5) Conspicuous consumption will make you inconspicuously poor.
6) The key to stock market success isn’t your timing in the market. It’s your time in the market – the longer the better.
7) Diversify, because every asset has its day in the sun – and its day in the doghouse.
8) Keep a cool head when others are losing theirs.
9) Money can’t buy happiness but it can make unhappiness easier to bear.
10) Sharing your wealth with others is more fun than spending it on yourself.
Is it better to pay cash than use credit cards? It depends.
Wikipedia Commons
To pay cash or not to pay cash: that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler to charge everything, to gain rebates and frequent flyer points, but to suffer: The demand of paying balances in full: each and every Month.
Or to take up Arms against a Sea of debts And by opposing, end them: to pay them in full, to sleep soundly and worry-free No more shall we carry balances on our credit cards We shall end the heart-ache of indebtedness. ‘Tis our consumption that must decline For who should bear the Whips and Scorns of outrageous Interest?
(with my apologies to the Bard)
If Hamlet were amoungst us today, would he contemplate out loud whether to use credit cards or cash? He probably had bigger worries. But the best choice for you, dear readers, depends upon a number of factors.
Personally, I despise cash and use it only when I absolutely have to. For me, paying with cash means forgoing – at a minimum – a 1 ½% rebate, or as much as a 6% rebate on purchases. It’s the hassle factor finding a (fee-free) ATM and dealing with handfuls of left-over pennies, nickels and dimes. But most of all, cash expenditures are difficult and tedious to track. I try to keep meticulous records of our spending. Yet, at year-end, there is usually around $100 cash that I cannot account for!
However, if you carry a month-to-month balances on your credit cards and/or make impulse purchases, cash may be the way to go. Here are pros and cons of each:
Cash Pros:
Paying cash is a great method to limit spending – studies prove that paying cash reduces impulse purchases and spending overall
Unlike credit cards, if your cash gets lost or stolen, there’s no risk of identity theft (assuming your driver’s license or other documents did not disappear with the cash)
Some restaurants and retailers only accept cash
Some gas stations offer a cash discount
Cash is the ‘universal gift card’ – for tips and presents
Cash Cons:
If you lose cash, it’s …. gone.
Carrying around lots of cash could make you a target
The time and effort required to physically withdraw cash from an ATM or bank. Possible ATM fees
If you have lots of cash in your pocket, you may be inclined to spend it all (‘burning a hole in your pocket’)
Travel can be much more challenging to arrange: from booking hotel rooms and flights, renting cars, to getting cash in a local currency
Cash expenditures are difficult to track. An essential element of being Frugal and Wise is knowing where your money goes
Credit Card Pros:
Convenience – a credit card is always in your wallet. It can be used for faster transactions at gas pumps, kiosks and the like
Security –a lost or stolen credit card can easily be deactivated and replaced, with no financial loss
Rewards, whether cash back rebates (generally a statement credit) or travel points
Protection and the ability to dispute charges when in disagreement with a merchant
Perks such as extended warranties and rental car insurance
Ease of use when traveling abroad (just be sure your card that does not assess foreign transaction fees)
Statements that are a record of your expenditures
Credit Card Cons:
Very easy to spend too much or buy impulsively. Using credit cards requires considerable self-control
If you don’t pay the full monthly balance, you will be subject to interest charges that could really sap your finances
‘Convenience fees’ are sometimes accessed for using a credit card. Example: property taxes, income taxes, vending machines. Be vigilant. A credit card is probably not worth using in these situations
The possibility of identity theft or unauthorized use. Regularly checking credit card activity and credit reports is a must do
Recommendations and Takeaways:
Although the role of cash is diminishing, it’s virtually impossible to use cash exclusively or credit cards exclusively. We all exist somewhere on a continuum (or blend) between the two
If you are faithful paying your credit card balances in full every month, go ahead and use credit cards for the advantages mentioned above. But be sure that you have credit cards that work hard for you. See recommendations in earlier FW&W postings: 31 Essential, Frugal and Wise Actions – 6, My Favorite Things Part I
If you currently carry credit card balances, cease using your credit cards until the debts are paid off. That should be one of your highest priorities.
Ditto if you are unhappy with your high spending levels and low saving rates.
If you do go with cash, utilize the ‘envelope’ method: split it your cash for the month into spending categories, both discretionary and necessary. Once all the cash in a given category – particularly a discretionary category — is spent, similar expenditures will just have to wait until next month
What are your experiences with cash or credit cards? Please let me know.
Open a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)– wouldn’t you like to save thousands of dollars annually by paying for everyday expenses pretax rather than post-tax? (For a review of the value of money pretax vs. post-tax, re-read A Penny Saved is NOT a Penny Earned.) To refresh your memory: a dollar post-tax (the net proceeds of your paycheck) could be worth a $1.50 or more pretax (depending upon your tax bracket, state and local taxes). Here’s the skinny on FSAs:
FSAs are only offered through employers. If your employer doesn’t have an FSA program, lobby the HR department to set one up. Signing up for an FSA may only be allowed during the benefits open enrollment period. Ask. If you missed getting in on an FSA for 2017, make sure you get signed up in time for 2018!
Your FSA is funded through payroll deductions. This lowers your income used to calculate Federal, Social Security, Medicare, and (in some cases) state/local taxes. It’s a wonderful thing!
There are actually 3 separate FSA programs: (1) Out-of-pocket healthcare expenses – for 2017, up to $2600 annually per household (2) Dependent Care/Child Care – $5000 annually per household (3) Parking and public transportation commuting costs – ($255/month) Note: not all employers offer all three.
As you incur healthcare, dependent care or commuting expenses, submit documentation to be reimbursed from your FSA. Some programs even provide a debit card for convenience.
What if you took advantage of all 3 programs to the max? That would be a total of $10,600 paid pretax. Let’s say that your take-home pay after taxes is only 70 cents on a dollar pretax (pretty common). You would have saved approximately $3200 in taxes!
Use it or lose it! The one downside to FSAs. If you don’t spend all the money in your FSA by year end, you lose it! But even if you have to walk away with some money remaining in the FSA, you may still come out ahead on tax savings. In recent years, the Use It or Lose It rules have been relaxed somewhat. Some plans allow you to claim expenses into the first few months of the following year. Others plans allow carrying up to $500 over to the next year.
Open a Health Savings Account (HSA) – FSAs and HSAs easily confused but are actually two completely different programs. But in some respects, an HSA is an FSA on steroids. Here’s the scoop on the differences and HSA advantages:
A Health Saving Account can only be used in conjunction with a “high-deductible” health insurance plan. For 2017, a high-deductible policy means a minimum deductible (that you pay) of $1300 per person or $2,600 per family.
It’s an either/or choice for an FSA or HSA. They are mutually exclusive. However, you could have an HAS for healthcare and FSAs for dependent care and commuting costs.
HSAs do not have a Use It or Lose It provision. You can accumulate funds in an HAS and use them years or even decades later in retirement.
HSA contributions may be invested or kept in an interest-bearing account, so the balance grows over time.
HSAs can be offered by employers or opened by individuals (provided the high-deductible policy requirement is met).
HSAs offer these tax advantages: (1) contributions up to the annual limits are tax deductible (2) earning and appreciation are tax free. (3) withdrawals for medical expenses are tax-free.
HSAs have much higher annual contribution limits compared to FSAs. As of 2017: $3,400 per person or $6,750 per family. If you are over 55, add in an additional $1,000 as a ‘catch-up’ contribution. For couples with no dependents on their health coverage, I recommend maximizing contributions by setting up two individual accounts rather than a single, family account.
Contributions can only be made until age 65 (when you become eligible for Medicare.)
Increase 401K/403B contributions – at a minimum, you should be contributing enough to your 401K or 403B to get the full employer match (typically 6% of your salary for a 3% employer match) failure to do so means losing out on a huge sum of money over a lifetime. This year, try to ratchet up your contribution another 1 or 2 percent. Such a small reduction in take-home pay likely will not be missed but could significantly accelerate your retirement savings. (go back and read You can’t spend what you ain’t got: Why You Need to Automate Your Savings.)
Open a Roth IRA – a Roth IRA is beautiful thing indeed! While contributions are made with after-tax dollars, Roth IRA appreciation and retirement withdrawals are tax-free. There is also some flexibility for withdrawing contributions penalty-free prior to retirement (although I wouldn’t recommend it.) Unlike conventional IRAs, there are no minimum withdrawal requirements in retirement. Contribution limits are $5,500 or $6,500 if you are over 50. Be aware: eligibility to contribute to a Roth is phased out or eliminated at higher income levels ($117,000 for singles or $184,000 for couples as of 2017). And how would you contribute to your Roth? With an automatic deduction, of course! (Note, some employer 401K and 403B plans also offer a Roth option.)
Start saving for the children’s college education; open a 529 Plan(s) – money contributed to a 529 grows tax-free. Many states also permit 529 contribution to be deducted from state income tax (but no such luck on federal tax). Generally, as much as $14,000 per child can be contributed each year (limited by federal gift tax exemptions). 529 Plans are administered on a state-by-state basis. However, you are not confined to your state’s plan; you can chose to go ‘out-of-state’ Here’s one article about the Best 529 Plans (Forbes, March 2016)
Set up automatic transfers to a savings account – there are many reasons for bulking up your savings: establishing an emergency fund in case of layoffs or unexpected expenses, saving for a house down payment, saving for a replacement auto or a major appliance, even a vacation. The list goes on. Set up an automatic transfer to the savings account. Better yet, divert part of your paycheck directly to a saving account. A great place to keep said savings account: the Capital One 360 Money Market account. It’s pays 0.60% interest for balances under $10,000 and 1% for balances over $10,000. And it’s FDIC insured.
Review last year’s expenditures – when it comes to managing your finances, it’s difficult to know where you’re going, when you don’t know where you’ve been. Tally up your spending activities from last year using records and statements. Which categories of spending ‘jump out’ at you? Where are opportunities to cut back? How much were you able to save? Don’t have any idea where your money went last year? Skip Immediately to #13 and get this year off to a good start!
Track expenses –tracking expenses is essential for taking control of your finances and planning for future. Do you need to keep such meticulous records that you know where every penny went? Well, no. But the more accuracy, the better. Recording expenses can take many forms: a notepad or journal, a spreadsheet, online (mint.com, budgetpulse.com), a PC program (Quicken, Microsoft Money) or any number of smartphone apps (Mint, GoodBudget, Mvelopes). Personally, I’m old school and use Microsoft Money. It was discontinued years ago but copies are still available on ebay and, it works fine installed on modern PCs. It fits my needs. I am also a little bit leery about keeping financial records in the cloud, or apps such as Mint that directly access accounts,. However, Mint is well regarded.
Set a budget – not to worry. Establishing a budget does not have to be as tedious and painful as you fear. Step one: begin by recording on-going, necessary monthly expenses: mortgages, loans, tuition, phone and internet. Step two: estimate variable expenses based on last year: auto repairs, gas, utilities, house maintenance. Step three: estimate necessities where there is leeway for spending, such as clothing and food – these are areas where spending can range from basic to lavish, from Mac’n’cheese to Porterhouse steaks. Step four: estimate spending for purely discretionary items: vacations, dining out, entertainment, hobbies. Add it all up and adjust the items in steps 3 and 4 to fit your income. Allow (plenty of) room for saving and giving.
Set goals for big-ticket items – some goals may have a timeline of decades (saving for retirement, attaining financial independence). Some last a decade or so (kids’ college education). Others are a few years or even months (replacing a car or appliance, home renovation, down payment on a house, a vacation.) Dream a little, but then prioritize. Evaluate the viability of your goals and what it takes to achieve them.
Set up automatic bill payment to save time and postage, avoid late fees – this action is as much about quality of life as it is about saving money. Life is simply too short to spend it writing checks and stuffing envelopes. Moreover, the cost of postage and stamps can really add up. Say you write 10 – 15 checks a month for recurring bills and donations. A first-class stamp is currently 47 cents. An individual check may cost 10 cents, or more. Altogether, you could needlessly be spending $60 – $100 on stamps and checks every year! Worse yet, what if you overlook or forget a payment and get socked with a late fee? Late payments can also adversely impact your credit score. Set up as many automatic payments as you can for (1) charitable donations, (2) utilities (3) internet and phone (4) credit cards (5) mortgages and loans (6) insurance (7) rent, (8) IRA and HSA contributions, and more.
All for now. Look for Actions 17 – 21 early next week. Cheers, Paul
Photo credit: Universal Pops (David) via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
Make a list of all your newspaper and magazine subscriptions; cancel any that are not regularly read. Take action if you have a stack of periodicals piling up in a corner, untouched and unread. This ‘stack’ could represent hundreds of dollars wasting away every year. Chances are you only have time to read a handful of magazines each month. Frugal alternatives: (1) catch up on your reading for free at the local library (2) ‘share’ subscriptions or swap magazines with friends.
Review all recurring expenses (monthly and annual). Cancel any that are no longer important. These are expenditures that can add up but are easily overlooked as regular charges. They can include (but are not limited to):
Gym, YMCA or health club memberships
Pool or golf club memberships
Any other association or club memberships where you rarely participate
Credit alert or credit score services (of minimal value, provided you routinely review statements and your credit report)
Credit or mortgage life insurance – incredibly expensive for what you get. Better to buy a term life policy.
Subscriptions to video or music providers (Netflix, Sling, Pandora, Sirius, etc.)
Annual credit card fees (unless the rewards exceed the annual fee)
Monthly checking account fees – time to find a new bank or a credit union!
Contemplate whether it’s time to cut (or cut back) the cable. Here are several strategies for scaling back or eliminating the cost of cable:
Cancel premium packages for channels rarely watched.
Replace cable with a combination of over-the-air broadcasts and streaming services. Attention sports fans, click here for ways to get your sports fix – without the expenses of cable.
Go old school: rent DVDs from RedBox or check out DVDs from the local library.
Limit TV viewing – engage more in productive and healthy alternatives. Another advantage: you are less inclined to buy so much stuff when you are no longer being bombarded by commercials.
Investigate dropping the telephone land line – given the pervasiveness of cell phones, do you still need a land line? It depends…
Pros: (1) dropping the land line could save several hundred dollars each year (2) lose the telephone ‘spam’: all those annoying telemarketing and robo calls. (3) simplify your life
Cons: (1) there may not be much savings if your phone line is bundled with internet service (2) a land line typically has better sound quality; cell coverage is still spotty in many areas (3) emergency response for 911 calls is faster, since your address pops up in the 911 response center.
Review cell phone plans – cell phones, particularly those with data plans have become a big monthly expenditure. If you’ve had your plan a while, it’s time to shop around. Just be aware of any early termination fees. Take advantage of family plans where data and airtime can be pooled.
Cheers, Paul
Next time: Actions 12 – 16 Friday the 20th.
Photo credit: blavandmaster via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
The April 2017 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine recently arrived. It is a special one indeed: celebrating the 70th anniversary of a venerable publication. To commemorate this occasion, the lead article is 70 Ways to Build Wealth. Definitely a worthwhile read for the Frugal and Wise. (Check for the issue at your local library.)
