Advertiser Disclosure
The credit card, banking, and other financial offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us – for example, when you click a link, are approved for a product, or open an account. This compensation may influence how and where offers appear on the site, including the order in which they appear on category pages. It does not influence our evaluations, ratings, or opinions, which are ours alone. We do not include every bank, credit card company, or offer available in the marketplace.
One money move at a time, short enough to read in two minutes. Pick one and act on it today.
Once your net self-employment earnings reach $400 a year, you owe a 15.3% tax for Social Security and Medicare in addition to income tax, and no employer withholds it. Set aside part of every payment and send it to the IRS each quarter, or have extra withheld from a W-2 job, so April never brings a bill you can’t cover.
Open a second checking account just for bills, and move each paycheck’s share of your fixed costs into it on payday. Send every autopay there and keep your everyday debit card on the other account, so once your savings are set aside, the spending account’s balance tells you exactly what you can spend.
If picking investments is what’s kept you from starting, open a robo-advisor account. You answer a few questions about your goal and timeline, and it builds a diversified portfolio of funds, then rebalances it for you. Schedule an automatic deposit for the day after payday, and investing happens without another decision.
Money you invest at 25 compounds for 10 more years than money you invest at 35, and that head start can outweigh decades of later saving. Start now with an amount you can automate, even if it’s small, and raise it every time your pay goes up instead of waiting until you earn more.
Your home equity is wealth you can borrow against at a far lower rate than a credit card charges, because the house secures the loan. That’s also the danger, since falling behind can cost you the home. Tap it only for costs that outlast the loan, and keep at least 20% of the home’s value unborrowed.
Most crypto, bitcoin included, has no company profits, interest, or rent behind its price, so its value rests on what the next buyer will pay. Treat any crypto you buy as a bet you could lose entirely, keep it to a small slice of your portfolio, and build your long-term savings on diversified funds first.
Before you pay a hospital or medical bill, ask for an itemized statement and check every charge against your insurer’s explanation of benefits or, without insurance, the estimate you got beforehand. Then call the billing office and ask for a lower price, financial assistance, or an interest-free payment plan, and get any deal in writing.
Before you buy online, click through a cash back shopping portal to the store you already planned to use. The store pays the portal a referral commission, and the portal passes part of it to you, on top of your card rewards. Use it only for purchases you would make anyway.
If you earn self-employment income, let an expense and mileage tracking app record every business drive and receipt as it happens. A log made at the time holds up better with the IRS than one rebuilt in April, and the trips you’d otherwise forget are worth more in tax savings than the app costs.
Once a year, price your pay and benefits against what the market would pay you now, and treat staying with your employer as a decision rather than a default. Then ask for a raise with that number in hand, and if staying still loses, start interviewing.
End of content
End of content
