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Showing posts from December, 2020

This Is How To Get Out Of A Car Lease

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This comprehensive post was written by Stephen Yao, a financial engineer with expertise in life insurance, pensions, and capital markets. He offers great advice on how to get out of a car lease if you agreed to a bad deal. Getting Out Of A Car Lease Like most people, you may need a car from time to time, whether for work, school, trips, or other necessities. However, as more of us are working from home, and the cost of renting a car long-term might not be worth it anymore. Do you really want to be paying that $300-$400 a month for your car lease when you drive your car, maybe once a week? Paying for a vehicle, gasoline, or even parking is now too costly and might even be a massive drag to your finances .  So, let’s get into some options available to you when getting out of a car lease. I have ranked each choice in terms of difficulty level (1 = easiest and 4 = most difficult, in terms of time and risk). 1. Transfer Your Lease Perhaps you have a friend or family member that’s lo

12 Best Investment Apps You Might Not Know About

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Looking for the newest and best investment apps? We’re here to help you find the perfect app to improve your finances. Remember when you had to call up your broker or  financial advisor  to buy a stock or scan the newspaper for the latest quotes? No? Me either. But I heard it was rough. With today’s best investment apps, all of your finances are just a few taps away. But the array of options and features can be dizzying. Do you need an individual retirement account or an individual brokerage account? Can you transfer money automatically? What about account service fees? Set your worries aside, and let us review the best of the best investing apps, so you can decide which one is the best fit for you. 12 Best Investment Apps for 2021 Finny – Best for personal finance education Acorns – Best for automatics savings Robinhood – Best for free stock trading Betterment – Best robo advisor for portfolio management M1 Finance – Best all-in-one app Ally Invest – Best full-featur

Best Personal Finance Strategies For 2021

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As of February 2020, the student loan debt crisis is at $1.6 trillion , with an estimated 45 million borrowers. The average monthly student loan payment is about $400, but it could be higher depending on the degree you have. There are much better ways you can be spending that money, such as car payments, investing in your child’s college fund, or saving for a down payment on a house. But navigating and escaping debt is tricky. What works best for your friend may not work for you. However, there are some things everyone can try to reduce their debt. What many people don’t know is that there are people you can turn to for help. McCarthy Law is a law firm that specializes in resolving student loan debt. Make a Plan A financial plan is key to helping you reach your financial goals. If you don’t trust yourself to pay your bills on time, put a monthly reminder in your calendar to pay your bills. You should also check the interest rates on your loans . The first loan you

The Best Budgeting Methods: A Complete Guide

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A budget method sets out how an individual, company, or organization plans to spend money over a period of time. Budgeting methods vary by needs, but a failure to budget is a quick path to long-lasting debt problems . The process constitutes a critical part of your financial plan. Yet, nearly one in every three respondents of a 2019 survey admitted to  not preparing a budget . Though not a majority, the proportion of those who live without a budget is sizable. It also speaks to some concerning statistics regarding overall financial awareness, even among those with well-paying jobs or income sources. Here Are A Few Shocking Financial Statistics: Nearly 80 percent of individuals facing financial problems earned at least $40,000 per year or otherwise were not living below the poverty line. Approximately 37 percent of those with annual salaries of $50,000 or higher report living from paycheck to paycheck. Nine percent of those who struggle to meet monthly expenses earned at least

House Hacking: Make More Money With Less Down and Live For Free

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My first house hacking was my first primary residence. Although I technically became a landlord, I didn’t consider myself a real estate investor. I sold that property at my first opportunity. However, if I only understood real estate investing strategies, I would have never let that property go! In 2011, my wife shared that she wanted to own a condo downtown and rent it out. I quickly disagreed with her and told her, “I didn’t want to fix toilets.” Fast forward, and I now own multiple investment properties in my local real estate market. My journey reminds me of two things 1) I love  real estate investing , and 2) my wife is always right! What is House Hacking? House hacking is when an owner lives in their property and rents out other parts of the property. Ultimately, the tenants are the ones paying the monthly mortgage payment while the owner lives rent-free. For example, a person can buy multi-family property (e.g., triplex), live in one of the units, and rent out the other