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You Can Get Your Finances In Order-How to Deal With Financial Distress

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Financial Distress

Financial distress is highly common. Often, it occurs when unexpected money problems arise or ongoing challenges start making it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. At times, a simple lack of proper planning could be responsible. Even with solid planning, financially difficult events like divorces or unemployment can wreak havoc on your finances. Fortunately, regardless of the reason, it’s possible to move forward. Here’s a look at how to deal with financial distress.

How to Deal with Financial Distress

Identify the Root Cause

Before you can start moving forward, you need to identify the source of your financial distress. This means examining the situation to look beyond the basics. For example, simply knowing that your income isn’t enough to cover your expenses may not be sufficient if you want to solve the situation. You need to determine why you’re falling short, how long that shortfall will remain an issue, and if there are any patterns or financial moves you’re making that are causing the situation to become more challenging.

Ultimately, you need to determine precisely what about where you stand is causing discomfort. Are you turning to credit cards to handle basic expenses because you don’t have enough income? Were your debt payments once manageable, but the end of an introductory APR or special promotion is now causing problems? Did an adjustable APR cause your required payment to become too challenging to cover? Are rising food prices throwing off your budget?

By asking questions like those above, you can figure out why you’re experiencing financial distress. Once you know, it’s easier to use a targeted strategy to move forward.

Determine Your Priorities

When you’re dealing with a challenging financial situation, spending time outlining your priorities is a must. This is especially true if you currently don’t have enough income to handle all of your obligations, but it’s valuable for anyone experiencing financial distress.

For those who can’t afford all of their bills, spend time identifying the ones you simply can’t let fall behind. Generally, that includes housing, utilities, transportation, groceries, and similar must-haves that ensure your survival and are necessary to keep earning an income.

By doing that, you can see how much the essentials are costing every month. If there are opportunities to cut back in these areas, that’s potentially wise. However, if you’re already in low-cost housing based on your location, don’t have an expensive vehicle or use public transit, and have a barebones grocery budget that you’re sticking with, you’ll know exactly how much the essentials cost.

After that, you can review your remaining expenses to determine which ones are more critical than others. While it’s again wise to reduce your other bills as much as possible, cutting back wherever the opportunity arises, it also helps you see where a sacrifice can occur. Then, if you need to miss a payment, you’re ensuring that the critical bills are covered first, allowing you to choose a less-crucial one to skip.

For those who can pay all of their bills and those who can’t, this exercise helps you see what matters to you most. Then, you can choose costs that aren’t as vital in your eyes for drastic cost-cutting. Essentially, it ensures that any short-term sacrifices are in areas that cause you the least amount of discomfort, letting you prioritize your spending based on what matters to you.

Cutback and Create a New Budget

After determining your priorities, it’s time to identify appropriate cutbacks and create a new budget. As mentioned above, work to scale back spending in all lower-priority areas where reductions are possible. Usually, this starts with lifestyle adjustments that aren’t connected to essentials. Reducing eating out and entertainment spending are both solid starting points, but it’s also wise to examine other areas where you may be able to find savings.

Once you finish reducing costs where you can, it’s time to create your new budget. List your expenses based on your priorities and allocate your income to them. As you work down the list, identify the point where your costs exceed your income if that occurs. Then, you can determine how much you’re short.

If you’re not short, assess how much money you have remaining. After that, determine if you can direct those funds to areas that result in less financial stress. For example, building an emergency fund could give you peace of mind. Similarly, reducing your credit card debt may relieve some anxiety.

Speak with Your Creditors

If you know that you won’t be able to make a scheduled debt payment, speak to your lender as soon as possible. Many creditors have programs that assist those with challenging financial situations, allowing you to avoid – or limit the impact of – missed payments and similar issues.

Precisely what’s available varies by lender and your situation. In some cases, you might be eligible for forbearance, interest rate reductions, term extensions, or other adjustments that can reduce your financial stresses. Ultimately, you won’t know what’s available until you ask, and the sooner you find out, the easier it is to find suitable arrangements with one or all of your creditors while you work to get back on your feet.

Find Opportunities to Increase Your Income

While getting a second job or starting a side hustle can potentially add some stress, the extra income may make solving your financial concerns easier. If you’re currently employed, ask about overtime. If you’re performing well and haven’t seen a pay increase recently, you could also see if you’re eligible for a raise.

Otherwise, start exploring part-time jobs, freelancing, or gig opportunities. Generally, genuine part-time employment is the least risky. Otherwise, stick with other side hustles that have a reputation for being safe options, making it easier to avoid scams.

You could also sell household items you no longer need for a quick injection of funds. Whether it’s listing items online or holding a yard sale, it’s a way to earn a bit from things you own but don’t have a clear reason to keep. Just make sure that you remain security minded if you sell online, only agreeing to meet buyers in safe locations like police department parking lots.

Get Outside Help

Getting outside help can reduce feelings of financial distress in many ways, primarily depending on the approach you use. Speaking with trusted loved ones or a counselor could give you an outlet for your concerns. Plus, you might get advice that can make dealing with any stress or anxiety easier.

If you’re not able to make ends meet and your financial situation seems insurmountable, turning to a credit counseling organization could bring some relief. They can provide advice to move you toward financial recovery, and they may be able to arrange a debt management plan to simplify paying down your debts.

Just make sure you choose a reputable nonprofit credit counseling organization that offers the service, taking time to research it carefully, as there are scams operating in this area. Looking for options through the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Financial Counseling Association of America is typically a good starting point.

It’s also wise to look for community services or nonprofits that may offer financial or others types of support to those in need. States typically have agencies dedicated to helping low-income individuals, and there are many nonprofits that operate programs that provide various types of assistance. Again, just make sure to research them carefully, as there are scams that masquerade as charities.

Track Your Progress

In many cases, seeing that your efforts are leading to positive results can alleviate stress and help keep you motivated. Without appropriate tracking, you may not realize that your approach is working. As a result, it’s wise to monitor your progress toward your various financial goals and give yourself some kudos every time you get closer to the finish line.

Tracking how your financial situation changes also lets you know if a strategy that you thought would work isn’t making the difference you expected. Plus, monitoring your spending allows you to identify budget leaks you didn’t notice previously. As a result, it’s far easier to take quick corrective action, making it easier to get on the right track and ensure you’ll make appropriate progress in time.

Do you have any other tips to help someone deal with financial distress? Have you tried some of the options above and want to tell others how they impacted your financial anxiety or stress levels? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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5 Tips For Improving Financial Reports 

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Modern companies today are focused on keeping their operations as transparent as possible to their stakeholders. And one of the ways to maintain this is to create successful financial reports to earn investors’ trust. But when there are too many elements in this complex reporting, it can get pretty messy and disorganized. 

If your internal finance department is currently struggling to make ends meet in their financial reports, you know some things need to be changed and get done. If there are too many inconsistent figures, lost spreadsheets, human errors, and data disorganization, it’s crucial to rethink your financial reporting strategies. 

Consider the following tips for improving your company’s financial reports.  [Read more…]

How Oil Rig Companies Can Save Money

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If you have an oil rig company or you’ve been employed by one to keep its finances and other affairs in check, it’s important to know some money-saving techniques. This is crucial for companies that need to cut back on their expenses and save money by maximizing their profitability. Read on to see how you can save money for an oil rig company and put these tips to practice for a positive outcome.

Leverage Technology

The first thing you should do is leverage technology. If you haven’t already done so, it’s good to put modern technology to work on as many levels as possible for your operations. This includes using drones to conduct inspections of places that are high-risk or hard for staff to reach. When you do this, it may help you make considerable savings as far as time and additional safety measures go because you won’t have to put people at risk. Keep in mind the employment of ground maintenance workers, as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, will grow by 10% between 2019 and 2029. That said, you can hire people for lower-risk positions and fine-tune their safety to a higher degree.

Improve on Safety

When you improve the safety of your oil rig bases, whether that is through introducing new body harnesses for workers or the installation of coshh cupboards, you will inadvertently be saving money. This is because when there’s a lower risk of people suffering injuries while at work, you lower the chance of having to pay settlement fees and the expenses of downtime. This is important because offshore platforms are generally located anywhere from a few hundred meters to 250 miles off the coast. Also, some rigs drill as far down as two kilometers beneath the surface and so it’s easy to appreciate that anything can go wrong. When you make your working environment safer, you also minimize the chance of having to replace workers due to injury, which is something that can cost you a tidy sum.

Train Staff Thoroughly

Next, make sure your entire team is well-trained on the procedures to follow and they know all relevant safety measures. This is because, while you can take steps to ensure the workplace is safe, it’s every worker’s responsibility to uphold their personal safety at the end of the day. For this reason, take onboarding very seriously and carry out drills as often as it’s necessary. This will ensure there’s no chance of someone forgetting the steps to take in case of an emergency, a very big deal when you consider the fact that every 23 seconds, there is a fire somewhere in the United States.

Secure Your Workspace

Finally, make sure your workspace is secured, not just on the physical level but digitally. This can save you a lot of time and money since cyber security is constantly evolving. Note that cyber criminals are getting smarter and getting more resources as well, so security systems that may have worked a few short years ago are currently all but obsolete. That said, enlist the services of a professional team to make sure you don’t risk your data or any of the systems that run your workspace. This will be a way of securing your finances in the long term, which is something you’ll be glad for in the future as your operations grow. With a safer digital workspace, it’s going to be easier to make plans for the future and get the most out, even as far as improving staff safety goes.

Take note of these suggestions and you may save money for the oil rig company you are managing. It may take some time and resources to implement some of these measures, but in the end, they will be worth everything you spent on them.

5 Every Day Things That Cost More Than You Think

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Getting your finances in order can be an eye-opening experience, especially if you start listing all of your daily expenses. Most people move through life and do not really pay attention to how their daily spending is affecting their finances until they decide that they need to improve their finances. There are five everyday things that you are paying more than you think for. Learn about the real cost of these five things.

1. Your Daily Cup of Joe

How many people stop and grab a coffee on their way to work? Probably millions of people stop every day and grab a cup of coffee. We are going to lowball this cost and say you are paying $3.00 for your daily cup. That is $15 a week if you work a five-day work week, $60 a month, and $720 a year. When you look at it like that you can see how that one cup of coffee every work day can really add up.

Imagine if you invested that $720 a year or saved it for ten years at 0% interest you would still be able to take a great vacation, buy a decent used car, or contribute to your kid’s college fund. Can $720 a year improve your finances?

2. Meals and Snacks

On average Americans spend about $44 a week on snacks and a whopping $80 a week on take-out food. Let’s look at that math. In total, according to the USDA, that adds up to $124 a week on average. That is $496 a month, and $5,952. That money is a huge drain on your finances. With that amount of money, you can plan your own funeral and fully fund it in two years. According to the FTC, you can snag a coffin for around $2,000. You would still have almost $4000 left if you cut out snacks and take-out food for one year.

3. Legal Fees

Getting in trouble with the law can really put a dent in your finances. Legal fees are largely underestimated because most people do not look at legal bills as a daily expense, but if you get a DWI charge in Texas (and other states) you should look at it as a daily expense. In Texas, a first-time DWI can mean anywhere from three to 180 days in jail. That means you lose income for those days which you can look at as an expense. Of course, fines can be upwards of $2500 which means you are paying about $7 a day.

When you add it all up a DWI charge (and other legal fees) can cost you about $20 a day for 365 days. That is a ton of money.

4. Sometimes, the Money That You Don’t Spend Will Cost You Plenty

If you’re a homeowner and do not pay for pest control services you can find that your finances are going to take a huge dent. According to the EPA, termites cost homeowners about $5 billion in damages every year. Professional pest control can cost on average $1.33 a day. Pay it you will be glad you did.

5. The Cost of Gas for Your Vehicle

The cost of gas is on the rise and most people are complaining at the pump but you likely do not realize how much you are actually paying on a daily basis. Protecting your finances when gas prices are high can mean making some lifestyle adjustments and condensing your driving.

On average an American driver spends about $9 per day on driving costs. That is $252 a month and over $3,000 a year. If you want to conserve your finances consider public transportation or condensing your trips. Try to get everything done that you can on one trip out.

Getting your finances in order starts with figuring out where the money is going in the first place. Keep a spending journal for a week or two to find where your money is going, and then start trimming the fat. Your finances will thank you.

Five Financial Questions Women Should Ask About

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It’s no secret that women face unique financial challenges. From the gender pay gap, to managing household finances, it can be tough for us to make informed decisions about our money. To empower ourselves and make sure we’re on the right track financially, we need to ask the right questions. Here are some of the most important ones.

What Insurance Should I Have?

Insurance is a big (and often surprising) topic for women: we live longer, are more likely to experience a disability that impacts our earnings, and are more likely to support children or elders. We have a stronger need for a safety net.

As a high-level guide: max out any employer-sponsored coverage (like through your job) and then get an individual policy for the remainder of your need, as your budget accommodates.

Life Insurance

Life insurance is a tax-free gift you give the next generation, and term life insurance is inexpensive. Buy what you can afford, on the private market or through your employer.

Disability Insurance

Disability insurance is so important for women – it will replace a portion of your income if you can’t work, and you want to target 60% and 70%. Especially if you are a single mom or supporting family. To achieve this target, you will probably need a private policy in addition to any coverage from your employer (if available).

Long-Term Care Insurance

And finally, if you’re approaching retirement, long-term care insurance is important if you want to make sure you don’t have to spend all of your savings on health care in retirement. It can be very expensive, so don’t purchase this til you’re older and approaching the need for it.

These are just general guidelines – there’s no one right answer when it comes to insurance. It’s important to talk to an expert (like a financial planner) about what kind of coverage makes sense for you given your unique circumstances.

What is the Best Way to Budget?

There’s no one right way to budget your money – find the method that works best for you and stick with it! Consistency is much more important than perfection.

The Envelope Method

Some people use the “envelope system” where you put a certain amount of cash into an envelope for each category (like groceries, entertainment, and transportation). That’s all you get for that category for the month. This is great if you have to be very careful and want to stay away from credit cards entirely. It’s also a great system if you like using a physical planner over software/apps.

Budgeting Apps

If you prefer using technology to manage your finances, there are a number of great budgeting apps out there that can help you track your spending and set goals. Some popular options include Mint, You Need a Budget (YNAB), and EveryDollar.

Spreadsheet Budgeting

For those who like having more control over their budget (and who are comfortable with Excel or Google Sheets), creating a budget in spreadsheet form can be a great option. This method gives you a lot of flexibility to track your spending in the way that makes the most sense for you.

Pay Yourself First

One of the best ways to make sure you’re saving enough money is to “pay yourself first.” This means that as soon as you get paid, you put some money into savings before you spend any of it. This can be difficult at first, but if you make it automatic (i.e., set up a direct deposit from your paycheck into your savings account), it will become easier over time.

What is the best way to save money?

Again, there is no one right answer to this question – it depends on your goals and financial situation. But the upshot is that you can build an emergency fund or improve your generational wealth. Here are some general tips that can help you get started:

Increase Your Income

It can be very challenging, but to save money, you need to bring in more money than you spend. You can lower your costs and watch your spending, but you can also increase your income through a side hustle, a raise at work, or a promotion. You could sell extra things around your house. You don’t need to make a huge commitment – even small improvements in your earnings can make a big difference.

Automate Your Savings

Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings account so that you’re automatically putting away money each month. This is a great way to make sure you’re always saving something, even if you don’t have a lot of extra money.

Join a Savings Challenge

A savings challenge is a great way to encourage you to save more money and get some community support. There are all kinds of challenges out there (like the 52-week challenge, where you save $52 in week one, $51 in week two, and so on), but the important thing is that you find one that works for you and stick with it. Dasha Kennedy at the Broke Black Girl runs a great year-long savings challenge to help women save $1000.

How Much Do Women Need to Save For Retirement?

As much as you can.

Women retire disadvantaged: we generally receive lower social security benefits due to lower earnings. We also tend to live longer (which means more years in retirement), and we’re more likely to experience a period of disability. All of this points to the need to have a larger retirement nest egg.

Target 20% Savings

Controversial opinion: I encourage all women to target 20% of pre-tax household income for savings. That is a lot. But most of us are playing catch up, and starting from lower earnings. Build up to it by increasing your savings rate little by little, and remember that even small amounts add up over time.

Invest Your Savings

You want to make sure your money is working hard for you, and one of the best ways to do that is to invest it. Investing can be intimidating, but on average, female investors outperform by 1% because we are less likely to panic. 1% is what professional investment advisors charge. Set up auto investment, choose low fee index funds and increase your contribution little by little. Like saving, successful investing is about consistency and patience.

What Biggest Money Mistake Should Women Avoid?

The biggest mistake you can make is to hand your finances off to a partner and ignore them. Women are socialized to do this (and it’s changing, slowly) but we pay for it. If you are widowed or experience divorce, you will be adding a terrifying and steep learning curve to a personal crisis.

Additionally, and I say this as Chief Financial Officer of our family, financial decisions will be better with your input! Even though I do this for a living, my husband often has great insight and our decisions benefit from his involvement. Don’t discount your ability or perspective, especially given that women are better investors.

Retirement Bill in Congress

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Congress has a new retirement bill in the works. They’re calling it Secure 2.0 and it has a few transformational pieces to it that will change retirement saving and retirement income planning. Before we get too far into what this new bill looks like, let’s take a look at what the original Secure Act did.

Secure Act 1.0

The Secure Act was enacted on January 1, 2020, and was the largest retirement reform bill since the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The full title is Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE). And it passed through Congress with a 417-3 vote.

The beginning age to which to start taking required minimum distributions (RMD) from retirement accounts (excluding Roth accounts) was moved from 70 ½ to 72.

People can make retirement contributions no matter what age, as long as they have earned income. The previous limit was 70 ½ when RMDs would begin.

Inherited IRAs (non-spouse beneficiaries) have to have the entire account withdrawn within 10 years of receiving it. This means that if someone passes away and their beneficiary is someone other than their spouse, that beneficiary needs to have the entire account withdrawn and closed within 10 years of receiving the inherited IRA. However, there are exceptions, including a surviving spouse, a minor child (the 10-year rule starts when a child reaches the age of majority), a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, an individual who is not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner.

Employees who work part-time, at least 500 hours per year, are now eligible to contribute to their employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Secure 2.0

What’s different with this new law?

For one, the vote passed 414-5. Not as lopsided as the previous one, but still an incredibly convincing tally. “Secure 2.0 is fundamentally designed to make it easier for people to save” – Susan Neely, American Council of Life Insurers President and CEO.

The catch-up contribution provision got a facelift. 401k account owners that are 50 and over are eligible to contribute up to $10,000 more than the maximum for those under 50.

The beginning age for required minimum distributions (RMD) also went up, from 72 to 75. The Yahoo Finance article noted that some reps took it a step further. “ My goal is to get rid of it completely.” – Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX).

The bill would also push employers to automatically enroll new employees into the company-sponsored retirement plan.

Small businesses that stare down the, sometimes, daunting expense of establishing and maintaining a company-sponsored retirement plan can receive assistance. They can receive credits for matching contributions.

One very progressive part of the bill that is sure to garner a lot of attention is the ability of people paying down student loans to save for retirement. The bill would allow employers to “match” a students’ loan payment as a retirement contribution. For example, if the student made a $100 student loan payment, the employer would contribute $100 to their retirement account on their behalf.

The bill introduces a SAVERS credit, which would give lower-income individuals a tax break if they save for retirement.

This is another transformative retirement bill. I’m very pleased society is taking steps to encourage individuals to plan and save for the future.

Related reading:

Ensuring Financial Security Throughout Retirement

5 Solutions for Managing Your Money After Retirement

401k Withdrawal Taxes and Penalties

Disclaimer:

**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see the website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com

Investment Risks in the World Today

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The world is crazy right now. The war with Russia and Ukraine has created investment risks and opportunities with commodities, specifically. Inflation is also an issue. What do you do with all of these moving parts in the global economy?

Gold

Gold has only gone up since the war began, up over $2,000 for the first time since 2020. The reason being is that gold is a store of value and is often seen as a safe asset during times of uncertainty, like war, inflation, or a pandemic.

Gold isn’t the only asset that’s used in times of uncertainty. Cash, bonds, and other precious metals have also seen a massive inflow lately.

Crypto

Cryptocurrencies have also seen a run-up in recent weeks, for two reasons. One, some people do see cryptocurrencies as a store of value like gold. And two, cryptocurrencies have played a role in this war. Because Russia has been cut off, financially, from the rest of the world, they’ve used crypto to finance operations. Ukraine has done the same, but for the reason of being able to raise money from different channels.

Oil

The price of oil has been on a roller coaster since the war began. Russia supplies a lot of energy to the world. It supplies the U.S. with just 3% of oil, but it supplies Europe with most of what they use. That said, the price of oil went up very fast to about $125/barrel because the US and other countries blocked them off to further disrupt their finances.

It’s come back down since then thanks to OPEC+. They pledged to increase production to make up for the loss in supply.

Inflation

Inflation is off the charts right now. The most recent reading came in at 7.9%. There are quite a few things that are seeing the effects of it. Food is getting more expensive. Gas, obviously, due to supply constraints and inflation is getting more expensive. Property is also getting more expensive. Interest rates are going up as well. My wife and I refinanced late last year and locked our rate in at 3%. The most recent reading came in at 4.5%.

The FED is going to make some moves as well. Because of the war with Russia and Ukraine, they will take a more measured and conservative approach, so it’s possible that inflation is a problem for longer because the FED won’t hike rates as quickly as they may have previously intended.

Commodities

There are some other commodities, besides gold and other precious metals, that are feeling a pinch due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Wheat is the biggest example of this because between Russia and Ukraine, they produce and ship a third of the world’s wheat.

Unintended consequences

Even though the war is between two countries, it’s affecting everything (though differently than how it’s affecting Russia and Ukraine). There are logistical problems that are delaying shipments of things. The air space above the scuffle is off-limits, so flights around the area are taking longer than they previously would have. Longer flights = more fuel and reduced volume on flights = increased costs.

There are a lot of investment risks and opportunities due to the moving parts in the world right now and the market will continue to be volatile until things settle down. If you have time to ride out some ugly markets, stick to your plan. If you’re in retirement or close to retirement, reducing your risk might not be a bad idea.

Related reading:

How to Invest in Gold: 5 Ways to Get Started

How Inflation is Changing Our Lives and Not for the Better

Weekly Wrap: Crypto Aids Ukraine Putin Aids Inflation and Russian Investments Tank

Disclaimer:

**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see the website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com

Finance Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

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The Covid-19 pandemic changed life for two years and there are definitely still elements of what life was in the world today. No doubt there were some terrible things that happened. People lost their lives and their jobs. But there were also positives that came out of it. We’re going to highlight the lesson we can learn from this pandemic, particularly some personal finance lessons we can learn.

Working from home

This new type of work does not apply to everyone and I don’t like leaving people out, but this needs to be talked about. Working from home and articles about it took over during the pandemic and continue to be discussed.

Working from home, at least from some of those articles and studies, appears to be a net positive for employees and employers. Let time commuting, less overhead costs, more productivity thanks to no commute, increased job satisfaction, and improved work-life balance.

Thanks to the work-from-home setup, people who were able to do that moved out of the city or rented an Airbnb for an extended amount of time. In either case, those people were, likely, able to reduce their housing costs by moving to the suburbs or giving themself a little vacation/change of scenery.

Savings rate

A lot of people saved money during the pandemic thanks to stimulus payments. In April of 2020, the personal savings rate for Americans was 33%. In March of 2021, the personal savings rate for Americans was 26.6%.

The savings rate has fallen since then but is still above 12% which is higher than it was before the pandemic (less than 10%).

Stimulus payments

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), most Americans either saved or paid down debt with the majority of their stimulus payments. 40% of the stimulus payment was spent, 30% was saved and another 30% was used to pay down debt.

Personal finance lessons

I think there were a lot of personal finance lessons that can be learned from the pandemic. Here’s a list of them below:

People saved more money

The future was very uncertain so people were more conservative with their spending and less conservative with their savings. That mindset shouldn’t change. The future, in principle, is uncertain. We do not know what tomorrow holds, so saving for a rainy day/goals/retirement is very important.

You don’t need to spend money to have fun

At the very beginning of the pandemic, you couldn’t go anywhere. Quarantine and lockdown orders came in right away. Instead of getting together in person, people utilized Facetime, phone calls, and Zoom. I, personally, had group Zooms with family members where we played and had conversations like we would if we were in person.

Diversification is important

Early in the pandemic, the market tanked. We lost over 30% in six weeks. Granted, it came right back up not long after, but that might not always be the case. If you don’t have time to ride out the ebbs and flows of the market, it’s important you get your asset allocation right. Talk with your adviser to make sure your investment matches your time horizon and risk tolerance.

Get rid of debt

You never know when your job and your ability to earn can be taken from you. Some people lost their jobs, some people were furloughed, and some people just weren’t able to go to work. If you don’t have an income, the only other part of the balance sheet you can affect is your expenses. Get rid of your debt. That’ll help you reduce your expenses in case that happens (you can also save more).

Protect your loved ones

Get life insurance. A lot of people passed away during the pandemic. If you contribute income to your household, you need to make sure you financially protect the people that rely on your income.

Related reading:

5 Personal Finance Tips from the Pandemic

How to Regain Control of Your Finances Amid the Pandemic

How to Save Money on Your Post Pandemic Vacation

Disclaimer:

**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see the website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com

What To Do With Your Old 401k

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When you leave your job and you have a 401k, there are a few things you can do with it. You can leave it there, you can cash it out, you can roll it into an IRA, or you can roll it into a retirement plan with your new employer. So what should you do with your old 401k?

Theoretically, you have four options.

Withdrawing your funds

If you are under the age of 59 ½ and you withdraw the money, you’ll have to pay a tax penalty on it. UNLESS, you meet some of the exceptions: medical expenses, your first, primary residence (up to $10,000), health insurance premiums while unemployed, distributions from an inherited IRA, pay off an IRS tax levy, higher education expenses, as well as a few others.

If you don’t meet any of those criteria and you’re under 59 ½, you’ll have to pay that penalty. It’s not worth it. UNLESS you’re using that money to pay off a credit card. Credit card interest rates are usually well above 10%. So if you’re saving yourself from paying a 27% interest rate, theoretically, you’re making a 17% return on your money (27–10=17). But this calculation doesn’t account for taxes so you might come out even, or behind.

95% of the time, it makes the most sense to pursue other options.

Keep it where it is

Some people will leave their old 401k with their previous employer. I think a lot of that has to do with laziness, but it could be a good, rational decision as well. The primary factor has to do with cost. What are the expenses of the 401k? Typically, if it’s a large employer and/or a large plan with a lot of assets, the fees are going to be low.

That might be a good reason to leave it. The plan might also have good investment options. If the fees are reasonable, or at least average, then the investment options might be reason enough to stay.

Roll it to your new employer

Nine times out of ten, I’ll have people roll their old 401k into their new one. If they’re able to. Some employers don’t allow income transfers. Having everything with one firm makes managing it so much easier.

The only time I don’t think it would be appropriate is if the new firm has high fees, but it’s also important to compare the new fees to the fees of the alternative. That alternative is rolling it into an IRA at a separate firm.

Roll it into an IRA

As an independent financial advisor, this option is best for me, but not typically best for the client. If you take a standard fee for a financial advisor (1.00 %) and compare it to the standard expense paid by a 401k participant. Employers with 2,000 employees pay below 1% and employers with 50 or fewer employees pay 1.25%. Here’s some more info on that.

That might be the case if it’s a small plan. The large plans, however, can have ALL IN fees of around .5%.

As is the case with a lot of things in the finance world, the answer is not black and white. You need to compare and contrast your options and then make a decision. Here are things to consider: cost, investment options, ease of management, and customer service. How do the fees compare? What are the investment options? Do you have everything in one place and is it easy to make changes? Can you get in touch with someone if you have problems/questions?

Related reading:

7 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your 401k v/s Pension

401k Withdrawal Taxes and Penalties

Is your 401k Hurting you or Helping you?

How 401k Fees Impact Your Retirement

Disclaimer:

**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see the website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com

How to Increase Your Net Worth

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Your net worth is a benchmark for your financial success. Notice that I said financial success and not just success. That was intentional because money doesn’t define your success. Money can afford you freedom, but I believe real success doesn’t involve money. That was free of charge, now let’s talk about how to increase your net worth.

What is net worth?

Net worth is assets minus liabilities. How much wealth do you have after you subtract what you owe versus what you have? It’s typically used to gauge your progress in your financial life. If you have debt, then when you pay it down, your net worth goes up. The same happens when you increase your savings.

How to increase your assets

Honestly, the only way to increase your assets is to save money. At least, that’s where it all starts. The more you save, the more you have to work with.

How do you save money? Decrease your expenses and/or make more money. That’s what it comes down to. Figure out what’s important – in terms of your budget and spending. Everything else that doesn’t fit on that list needs to either be removed or reduced.

Once you have money saved, then you can put it to work. Invest it in securities or assets that have a chance to increase in value. What kinds of things have a chance to increase in value? Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, precious metals, real estate, certificates of deposit (CDs), and cryptocurrency/NFTs (though I would tread carefully here).

Growing your assets will help you increase your net worth.

How to decrease your liabilities

Pay down your debts. That’s it. Obviously, it’s more challenging than that. Ideally, what you’d want to do is pay down your debts before you focus on the saving aspect of it. If you have debts with high-interest rates, like credit cards, those should be your first priority.

We’ve gone into detail about the repayment methods before so we’ll only touch on them briefly, but what’s important is decreasing your expenses so you can make larger, more regular payments towards your debts.

The next step is developing a repayment strategy. The two we’ve talked about before are the debt avalanche and the debt snowball. The debt avalanche – you pay the debt with the highest interest rate off first before moving to the next one. The debt snowball – you pay the debt with the smallest balance off before moving on to the next one.

Paying down your debts will really help you increase your net worth.

Is there a net worth number you should hit?

At the end of the day, your net worth number is really a reflection of what you’ve saved for retirement. Ideally, you will not have any debts, including your mortgage. So there’s no math that needs to be done. What are your assets? Primary home, any rental properties, and then your retirement savings, with primary home and retirement savings being the two most common for everyone.

So the question becomes, how much should you save for retirement? Thankfully, we’ve created a guide for you to help answer that question (see below).

Related reading:

How much do I need to save for retirement?

Diving Deep Into Debt

3 ways to responsibly save money

Gig economy financial security

Disclaimer:

**Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Securities America and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice; therefore, it is important to coordinate with your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Please see the website for full disclosures: www.crgfinancialservices.com