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CEO & Co-founder
Andrew started his career at a Chicago hedge fund and quickly noticed a problem: the people who most needed financial guidance weren’t getting any. He co-founded Money Crashers in 2009 to fix that with free, plain-language money education. He’s been interviewed by MSNBC, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News, and featured in Forbes and US News & World Report. Off the clock he plays ice hockey and tennis, and meditates. Andrew holds a bachelor’s in economics from Brown University.
Get the Chase Slate Edge? only if fair credit rules out Freedom Rise and you’ll pay every statement in full. It charges no annual fee and checks you for a higher limit every 6 months, but it earns nothing and charges 28.99% on any balance. If you can keep $250 at Chase, apply for Freedom Rise instead.
Open the Chase Freedom Rise® if you’re new to credit and can keep $250 in a Chase account. It pays the same 1.5% as Freedom Unlimited, adds $25 for setting up autopay and reviews you yearly for an upgrade. If you already qualify for Freedom Unlimited, skip Rise and take its 3% dining and 0% intro instead.
Get the Chase Sapphire Reserve® only if you fly often enough to use airport lounges and you’ll spend where its credits point, at The Edit hotels, Exclusive Tables restaurants, StubHub and DoorDash. The $300 travel credit is the only one that works on any travel purchase. For a trip or two a year, take Sapphire Preferred at $95 instead.
Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you’ll book at least one hotel stay a year through Chase Travel, because that $100 credit alone cancels the $95 fee and everything else is upside. Skip it if your travel is rare or domestic and you’d never transfer points. A no-fee Chase Freedom card covers dining just as well.
Get the Chase Freedom Unlimited® if you want a no-annual-fee card that earns on everything with nothing to activate, and you’ll use its $200 bonus and 15 months at 0%. Its 1.5% floor trails the flat 2% cards, so pick it for the 3% on dining and drugstores, not for the base rate.
Get the Chase Freedom Flex® if you’ll activate its rotating 5% categories every quarter and pair it with a flat-rate card for everything else. The 5% on Chase Travel and 3% on dining and drugstores earn without any activation. If you won’t set the quarterly reminder, choose Chase Freedom Unlimited instead.
Many credit cards include purchase protection covering new items against theft or accidental damage for 90-120 days at no extra cost. Extended warranty coverage adds one to two years on top of the manufacturer’s warranty automatically. Most cardholders never use these benefits because they don’t know they exist, so read your card’s benefits guide today.
Download Snakzy if you already play mobile games on Android and can stick with it until the first $35 cashout unlocks. It’s a legitimate app from the Eneba marketplace that pays in gift cards, with PayPal open to some users. Skip it if you want quick cash or use an iPhone, where it’s web-only for now.
Every dollar you contribute to a traditional 401k or deductible IRA lowers your taxable income for the current year. At a 22% marginal rate, a $5,000 IRA contribution saves you $1,100 in federal taxes today. The tax break is immediate, and the investing benefits compound from there.
If you’ll owe the IRS $1,000 or more after withholding this year, your third estimated payment is due September 15. Don’t guess the amount. Pay a quarter of last year’s total tax each installment, 110% of that if last year’s adjusted gross income topped $150,000, and the underpayment penalty can’t touch you whatever this year earns.
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