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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.
Open a savings account for your emergency fund at a different bank from your checking. The day or two a transfer usually takes is enough to stop impulse withdrawals. And overdraft protection can’t drain the fund when a thief empties your checking, nor can your main bank take it for a late loan payment.
A standard savings account at a big bank pays as little as 0.01%, while inflation shrinks what the money buys. Move your cash to a high-yield savings account at an FDIC-insured bank, which carries the same federal protection as a big bank’s account and pays many times that rate.
Your first savings goal is a starter emergency fund of about $2,000 or one month of essential bills, whichever is larger. Until it’s full, pay only the minimums on debt and invest only enough to get any employer match. Without that cushion, the next surprise bill turns into credit card debt.
Cut one fixed bill before you start saying no to daily purchases. Lowering your rent, car insurance, or phone plan by $100 a month saves $1,200 a year with no further effort, so list your recurring costs from largest to smallest and shop, renegotiate, or restructure the biggest ones first.
Open Stash only if you’ll use its 3% IRA match or its Stock-Back card enough to cover the $108 annual fee, which takes about $300 a month into a self-directed IRA or $900 a month on the card. A managed IRA also charges 0.25% of its balance a year. Otherwise, Fidelity offers fractional shares and a no-fee IRA.
Use the Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® if you already pay for the Stash Plan, but don’t subscribe just to get it. Its 1% back in stock covers only your first $1,000 of purchases each month, so it earns at most $120 a year, just $12 more than the plan’s lowest price, $108 paid annually.
School costs for children are one of the most significant expenses for many middle-class families. Some parents pay thousands of dollars each year to send their kids to private schools, while others spend thousands in mortgage costs to buy homes…
There are some jobs in life that you can DIY and others that you leave to the pros. While you can handle simple tasks like paying your bills, what about doing your taxes, forming a business, or making a will?…
Whether you have questions about investing, taxes, retirement planning, or budgeting, there are professionals who’ve made it their life’s work to provide the assistance you need. One professional who covers all of those areas is a financial advisor. We’ve compiled a list…
Over long stretches, most actively managed stock funds lag their index after fees, and the few that win rarely keep winning, so you can’t pick them ahead of time. Put your stock money in a broad index fund that charges 0.10% a year or less, and hold it through the down years.
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