Category: Financial

Learn from our financial experts who provide clear advice and tips on everything from taxes to loans and all that is in between.

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Credit Financial

Here Are The Best Credit Cards of 2021

best credit cards of 2021

There is a literal sea of credit cards out there, with hundreds of different features, rates, cashback perks, and discount programs spread across the entire spectrum of credit providers. There are cards to fit just about any type of lifestyle from active to digital to anything in between. But sometimes the research needed to come up with the best cards can be difficult.

While there are cards for any and every niche you can think of, we’re going to stick to some of the best cards. Most people can get some use out of the ones we have listed. There are going to be some similarities and some differences, but there should be something useful to almost everyone.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Card

The Chase Freedom card is one of the best cashback cards out there for this year. Customers can earn 5% back on all travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards. As well as, 3% back at drugstores and restaurants including takeout. They can even earn 1.5% on all other purchases. They even offer a $200 cashback reward if you join and spend $500 in the first 3 months.

American Express Gold Card

Not only is the American Express Gold one of the best travel cards out there, but it is also one of the leading rewards cards as well. It earns 4x points per dollar at all restaurants worldwide, as well as US supermarkets and grocery stores. Travelers also earn 3x points from flights booked through the AmEx Travel portal, or directly with the airlines. The downside to this card is the $250 annual fee.

Discover it Secured Credit Card

Too often when looking at the best credit cards available, the consumers needing some credit help are left out. Well, we see you, and if you are in the market to start rebuilding your credit this year, the Discover it Secured credit card is an ideal way to do that. Like most other secured cards, there is the minimum requirement of a $200 deposit. However, after 8 months there is the chance to move to an unsecured card and have the deposit returned.

Consumers can earn 2% cashback at all gas stations and restaurants up to $1,000 per quarter, reduced to 1% after that. Additionally, you earn 1% back on all purchases no matter what. Discover also provides a “welcome bonus” of a dollar-for-dollar matching of your cashback for the entire first year of new cardmembers. Another downside is the relatively low limit compared to other cards.

Titanium Rewards Visa Signature Card from Andrews Federal Credit Union

The Titanium Rewards Visa® Signature Card from Andrews Federal Credit Union offers a variable rate as low as 8.49% and up to 15.49%, which is a pretty amazing spread compared to some other similar cards. They also offer a balance transfer, but they cost a 1.5% fee per transfer. While you are required to join the credit union in order to qualify for this card, the membership is free.

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Career & Education Credit Education Financial Loans

Can You Pay Off Student Loans with a Credit Card?

paying off student loans with a credit card

Introduction

Though it may sound tempting, as the average person with student loan debt has about $30,000 of it, paying with a credit card is a bad idea long-term. It is technically possible to do this, but it comes highly unrecommended by any financial professional.

What Happens When You Try to Pay Loans with a Credit Card?

First off, federal student loan services don’t let you pay directly with a credit card; you must use an intermediary, which is essentially a middle man for lenders and buyers. The private loan services let you pay directly, but there is often a sizeable fee for doing so.

When you pay student loans with a credit card:

  • You give up student loan protections
    • Includes consolidation, deferment, forbearance, or loan forgiveness
  • Potentially move your debt to a credit product with an even higher interest rate than your student loans
    • Credit card rates sun substantially higher than student loan insurance rates—sometimes by 20% or more
  • You will likely be charged a fee (with interest)

Credit card companies do not design plans that let you pay off debt quickly because it is not lucrative. If you make a student loan payment and don’t pay it off by the time your credit card bill comes, you’ll be charged for interest both through the card and the student loan service.

What are the Best Ways to Use a Credit Card to Pay off Student Loans?

Some cards offer cash back rewards points that you can then use towards your student loans:

  • Look for cards with long-term cash back benefits (these are best for people with excellent credit)
  • If you are paying through an intermediary, make sure your credit card’s rewards program exceeds the intermediary’s fee
    • For example, Plastiq has a 2.85% fee for every transaction, so your card’s rewards program would need to be greater than 2.85% of your total payments
    • As most cards only give 1% to 2% on your purchases, this is fiscally unwise

You also have the option of making a balance transfer, which moves your payment over from the student loan lender and the credit card company.However, you do not often earn rewards with balance transfers.

  • Though you could get a temporary 0% interest rate, it often just buys time until you would have to pay even higher interest
  • Another downside to doing a balance transfer is that there is, of course, a fee—usually near 5%!

If a balance transfer isn’t an option, another is to use a convenience check:

  • These are drawn against your credit limit instead of your bank account
  • The student loan service processes this similarly to any other payment
  • But, you’ll still have to repay the money, and fees start at 3% to 4%

Conclusion

The only time it makes logical sense to pay your loans with a credit card is if you are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, able to pay off your balance in full every month. Or, if you find a card with a no-fee balance transfer that starts off with a 0% APR (annual percentage rate; the amount you pay each year to borrow money) financing, you may also benefit from this practice.But again, this must be paid off immediately lest the costs outweigh the benefits—make sure to stay on top of your loans and credit to avoid paying even more in the long run!

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Credit Financial

8 Tips to Make Credit Cards Work for You

credit cards work for you not against you

Your credit cards can be some of the most powerful tools in your financial tool belt. But if you don’t use those cards carefully, they can do a lot of damage. Knowing how to use those tools properly can be a great way to prevent damage that can take years to undo. Following these eight tips can give you an excellent foundation for using your credit responsibly.

How to Take Full Advantage of Your Credit Cards

1.     Pay the Bill in Full

Don’t be tempted to skimp on the payment no matter how appealing the minimum payment looks. Using too much of your available credit can quickly lower your credit score. 

2.     Use it With a Budget

Now that you are paying your bill in full each month, it’s time to keep your spending within a manageable budget. Small totals can add up quickly and even make it difficult to pay the total bill. However, if used properly, they are a great way to track and control your spending in specific areas.

3.     Check Your Accounts

Seeing how much you are spending and where you are spending it will make it much easier to stick to that planned budget.  Use online tools to check your credit card’s accounts weekly.

4.     Take Advantage of “Perks”

Most credit cards these days have some extra protection built into them. While all cards should be protecting you against fraudulent charges, others will offer you bonuses such as extended warranties on certain items. Knowing what those perks are is a big help when deciding which card to use and when to use it.

5.     Use Your Rewards

Do any of your credit cards offer cashback rewards? Be sure you are taking full advantage of those. Like other perks, these can vary a lot from company to company or card to card. One card might give you 3% back at restaurants, while a different one gives you 2% back with hotel stays.

6.     Save Them for Big Purchases

Saving your credit for big purchases can be a huge help when an emergency happens. Everyone is eventually going to face an unexpected problem sooner or later. This advice isn’t just for emergencies, however. Rather than paying cash, use a credit card with a great cashback rate. The reward can shave some of the cost off the purchase.

7.     Stay Under Your Limit

Not only should you take extra care to stay well below your credit limit, but you should also be aware of what all of those limits are. If you’re not sure you can handle the temptation that can come with a high credit limit, you can always ask for a lower limit.

8.     Don’t Pay the Bill Late

Late payments are another item that can potentially wreck your credit score. They can also cost you a lot. Many cards charge steep fees anytime your payment is late.

Overlooking something that affects your credit score can have lasting consequences that can make your financial life far harder than it needs to be. It’s never too late to develop better habits with all of your accounts.

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Credit Financial

How Do You Calculate Credit Card Interest?

credit card interest

It can be quite shocking to suddenly realize how much you are being charged in interest suddenly. It can be even more surprising if you look at it over 12 months. With the average American household paying over $1,000/year in interest alone, it is vitally important that every credit card consumer knows precisely how much they are paying in interest.

What Is Interest?

Credit card interest is simply the amount of money a bank charges for access to a credit line. It is calculated differently for different items. Rates can vary considerably depending on what kind of credit you are using.

Out of all of the different credit types used in the economy, credit cards typically require you to pay the highest amount of interest. They are also usually offered at a variable rate (APR), which means they fluctuate over time with the markets. Rates can be wildly different from person to person. The interest rate you pay is typically based on your creditworthiness. So the higher your credit score is, the lower your APR.

How Do I Find Out How Much I’m Paying

Many consumers only pay attention to the APR on their accounts when they sign up for a new one.  Then they get a sticker shock months or years later. Your credit card statement clearly shows how much you are charged month to month but rarely gives you any indication of how that figure is calculated.

Thankfully the process to calculate your credit card interest is very straightforward. All you need is your statement and a calculator.

How to Calculate Your Credit Card Interest.

1.     Figure out what your APR means to you daily.

This is called the Daily Rate. Interest is compounded daily rather than based on your balance at the end of the month. No, your credit card company isn’t adding charges to your account every single day. Interest is still added in one lump sum at the end of the month but its compounded interest.

2.     Find your average daily balance

Make a note of each day of your billing cycle and the balance on that day. Remember, you pay the same compounded interest on the old balance as you do on any new charges. Then add the balances from each daily total, subtract any payments made, and then divide by the total number of days in your cycle

For example, if your cycle has 22 days: day1+day2+day3+…divided by 22days= average daily balance. Be sure to include the amount carried over from your prior billing cycle.

3.     Calculate your Interest

Calculate your interest by multiplying the average daily balance by the daily rate. Then you multiply by the number of days in your billing cycle. That final total is your average amount of interest.

Learning how to calculate the interest on your accounts can help you catch potential mistakes. It can also make you aware of exactly how much your credit accounts are costing you. Staying aware of all of your accounts is a vital part of managing your money effectively.

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Credit Financial

Will Multiple Credit Cards Hurt My Credit Score?

multiple credit cards will affect your credit

Everyone’s been there. You are standing at a checkout counter when the clerk tells you that “today only” you can get a great discount on the purchase you are making. All you have to do is open an account for a great new credit card. Of course, you want 40% off, who wouldn’t.

Or maybe you check the mailbox and discover you’ve been pre-approved! Get this great new card loaded with rewards and perks. Who doesn’t love mail telling them how awesome they are?

With all of the options out there, who hasn’t wondered, “Is it good to have multiple cards?” or “Will this hurt my credit score?”

How Too Many Cards Can Hurt You

Having too many credit cards can hurt your credit score.

  1. Some creditors might think you are a risk if you have too many open lines of credit. This is particularly true if you carry a significant balance from month to month.
  2. Too many accounts that you are regularly using can make it more challenging to manage your spending. Having your purchases split between multiple cards can also make it more challenging to follow your ideal budget.
  3. You can quickly lose track of when each payment is due. Late payments can be particularly harmful to your credit as 30% of your score is depends on making payments on time.
  4. It is much too easy to use “too much” of your available credit. If your overall credit utilization goes up over 30%, your credit score will begin to drop.
  5. Applying for too many cards too quickly can also hurt your credit. Every time a new hard credit inquiry appears on your report, it affects your score. Those hard inquires stay on your account for 12 months.
  6. Often once you realize you might have too many accounts, it is easy to be tempted to close one or two of them. Closing accounts can also damage your credit, particularly if you close the accounts you have had the longest.

How Multiple Can Help

Of course there, are ways that having multiple cards can help. Receiving a new credit line increases your total of available credit and can improve your overall credit utilization.

Having multiple cards can also increase the amount of credit you have available to use when an emergency arrives or can even be a big help when you need to make a big purchase. In fact, it is always a good idea to purchase big-ticket items with a credit card so that you can take advantage of any cashback perks you might have.

There is no concrete answer to this question. Ultimately how you manage your credit will always be far more important. It is possible to keep a good credit score no matter how many accounts you have.

Any time you are considering opening a new account, you should have a solid plan for exactly how to use that card.

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Credit Financial

Credit Card Fraud And How To Protect Yourself

credit card fraud

Credit card fraud is becoming so incredibly prevalent these days. It can seem overwhelming trying to prevent it with all the different ways it can happen. While you can’t prevent every case, you can certainly be prepared and vigilant against abuses, and put some challenges in the way for potential criminals to profit from your private information.

All it takes is a few minor practices and safeguards incorporated into your daily life can go a long way toward keeping your financial information safe from fraudsters. Here is a list of things you can do to help protect against credit card fraud:

1.   Do Not Give Out Your Information

This one might seem obvious, but many people will still lose their privacy by simply giving out their credit card details to people who sound convincing on the phone. Social engineering is as old as fraud itself, so do not give out your details to anyone unless you called them specifically to make a purchase.

2.   Don’t Keep All Your Eggs In One Basket

Do not keep every credit card you own in the same purse or wallet. Make sure you have one or two that you carry with you, and one or two that you leave at home or otherwise carry separately. This can reduce losses in the event of a theft of the wallet or purse. If you will only need one card, bring only that one with you.

3.   Keep Your Cards In Your Sight

When you hand your card to a retail or dining establishment associate, you are trusting them to handle your card properly. Nevertheless, make sure you keep your eye on the card the entire time it is out of your possession. Criminals can swipe and scan a card in a fraction of a second.

4.   Only Sign Your Cards’ Accurate Receipts

Make sure your total is correct and shown on the receipt. It may sound silly, but don’t sign a blank receipt, and make sure that any unused blank lines above the grand total are crossed out or otherwise made unusable by anyone who may get possession of it.

5.   Monitor Your Accounts For Changes In Behavior

Be sure to keep an eye on your account balances, bills, and statements. Even small changes can signal that your card is compromised. Many times a criminal will try to charge only a dollar to a stolen card to see if it is noticed, and if it goes unnoticed they will then begin making larger and more numerous charges until the account is empty.

6.   If You See Something Say Something

Time is of the essence once you find out you have been the victim of credit card fraud. You will need to advise the card issuer as soon as possible, many of them have a 24/7 stolen card hotline that will let you report your card as compromised, anytime anywhere. When you report fraudulent charges, the law absolves you of any further liability for subsequent unauthorized credit charges.

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Financial Insurance

How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?

life insurance cost

Your life insurance cost depends on many different things, including your age, gender, and coverage amount. Many young people put off purchasing a policy because they view it as an unnecessary expense. However, you can often get a policy for very affordable rates.

What is the average cost of life insurance?

A single variable life policy can cost you as little as $40 a month. If you are more interested in a universal life policy, you could find yourself paying about $55 a month. Since those numbers are simply averages for individuals across the board, you could find yourself paying more or less.

In this article, you can learn more about all of the factors that determine your premium. We cover:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Timing
  • Health
  • Coverage Amount

Age and Life Insurance

As with any other insurance, life insurance premiums depend on the provider’s risk. It’s important to remember that insurance companies are a business, and they make their money from premiums. If a person is more likely to cash in on their policy after only paying premiums for a year, then there is more risk to insure them. For this reason, insurance companies have to charge a higher premium.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

A 30-year-old man in perfect health takes out a 20-year life insurance policy. Since it is less likely that he will receive his death benefits, he could pay less than $25 a month.

A 50-year-old man in excellent health may only need a 10-year life insurance policy to get him to retirement, but he could still pay twice as much for the same amount of coverage as the 30-year-old man.

Impacts of Gender

Your life insurance policies are calculated similarly to your health insurance premium. A lot of research goes into determining the risk of insuring women versus men. Most companies charge men higher premiums than women. While the difference is usually insignificant for people under the age of 50, the gap in premiums starts to become more noticeable after age 55. At this point, men start paying an average of 27% more than a woman. The gap widens with age.  

Timing—Should You Wait?

Most young people never give life insurance a second thought. They put off shopping for policies until later because they don’t think they’ll need it. Some people may choose to wait until they have kids. Others might wait until they have extra room in their budget to pay the monthly premium.

However, people without kids still need life insurance, and if you don’t have the funds to pay a small monthly premium, you definitely won’t have enough money to cover end-of-life expenses or debts. For that reason, you should consider getting life insurance right now. Putting off buying life insurance could end up being a costly choice, but it’s up to you to determine the best timing for your family.

Health

A young, healthy person can usually get a life insurance policy by simply answering a few simple application questions. However, the process can get more complicated for older people and anyone with a pre-existing condition. They often have to get underwritten life insurance.

Underwriting is the process an insurance company uses to determine the risk of insuring you. They often have you undergo a medical exam and testing to see how healthy you are. Though it is inconvenient, healthy people can also get underwritten life insurance if they would like to lower their premiums.

Coverage Amount

Lastly, your insurance premium is going to depend on the amount of coverage you need. If you require a lot of coverage, you should expect to pay more money. However, you shouldn’t skimp on coverage just to lower your premium. We recommend that you assess your current financial situation and any future financial factors to find the right balance for your needs and budget.

Request a Life Insurance Quote for More Information

Though we wrote this guide to tell you the basics of life insurance costs, we can’t give you a straight answer. Premiums vary so widely from person to person and company to company. The only way you can truly find out the cost of your life insurance is by contacting an agent. We suggest that you get a life insurance quote from several companies before making a selection.  

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Financial Tax Services

5 New Tax Changes You Should Know About

5 New Tax Changes You Should Know About

While most of us are happy to leave 2020 behind, there’s still one more loose end to tie up. Filing taxes. With the global pandemic, there have been some significant changes to the tax code. So, you need to be up to date on what those changes are.

1.   Tax Bracket Changes

Tax brackets have changed a bit, so depending on your income, your household tax bracket may change. The rates themselves haven’t changed, but the brackets have increased by a marginal amount to cover annual inflation.

As an example, if you are single and made $86,100 in taxable income last year you would be in the 22% bracket. That doesn’t mean that you’re paying 22% on your entire income, just that you are taxed up to that amount. You’re taxed 10% on the first part up to about $14k, then 12% on the next part up to nearly $54k, and 22% on the last approximately $24k.

2.   Boost To Charitable Contributions Allowance

Owing to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as CARES Act, you will no longer have to itemize the deductions in order to claim charitable contributions. So even if you don’t itemize and simply take the standard deduction for the 2020 tax year, you can still deduct $300 in donations to charity. Additionally, if you do itemize, you can deduct up to your full remaining adjusted gross income, based on your donations to charity.

3.   Stimulus Checks

One of the more widely-known benefits of the CARES Act, was the aid payments of $1,200 and $600. These were sent to millions of Americans. These payments were aimed at giving people some cash relief during the initial and continuing economic shutdowns. While they are not counted as taxable income, they are going to be treated as our old friend the “refundable tax credit” that is basically an advance on next year’s refund.

4.   Unemployment Benefits

This year was hard for a lot of people. Many of them needed to turn to unemployment benefits to try to stay afloat. If you were one of those people, you may have had the option to have income taxes automatically withheld. If so, hopefully, you used that option, otherwise, you will need to pay up come tax time. However, if you do owe, you can pay all at once. You can also split the amount into 4 payments that you would pay as quarterly payments.

5.   No-Penalty Retirement Withdrawals

If you needed it, the CARE Act allowed workers under 59 and a half to pull up to $100k from their 401(k) plan or IRA without any penalty. This does have the negative of counting as income and is then taxed as such. However, if you put it back into your IRA or 401(k) plan inside of three years, that tax can be refunded back.

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Financial Tax Services

5 Tips That Will Make Tax Season So Much Easier

tax season

With the yearly tax deadline rapidly approaching many people are gearing up to try to make the process as painless as possible. This year was hard on a lot of people, so many of them want to at least make the unpleasant business of taxes as easy as they can. Here are 5 great tips to make sure you’re ready to file on time.

1.   Get Organized

This is one of the most significant and powerful things you can do to be prepared for the annual chore. Most times, you can get a lot of pertinent info from last year’s return paperwork. However, if you’ve moved, bought a house, gotten married, or had a baby, then there are additional deductions you may be able to claim. Keep all that paperwork together in a folder for tax time, and file important emails in their own folder to be printed ahead of time if needed.

2.   Get Help

If you need some in-person, face-to-face help, you may be able to get IRS-endorsed help through a program called VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Low-income taxpayers who earn $57k or less annually, or are disabled, can get help from the tax preparers in VITA. Those in active-duty capacities in the military even have their own tax channels like TurboTax Military or TaxSlayer Military to help them get the most out of filing.

3.   Don’t Forget Your Retirement And Charity Contributions

Make sure that you are aware of your IRA and 401(k) contributions, limits, and overages. You have until the tax deadline to make any IRA contributions that you need to make to catch up, and if you’ve contributed excess, make sure to withdrawal to avoid penalties.

Charity contributions have also changed this year. If you are taking the standard deduction you can automatically claim $300 in charitable donations without needing to itemize. If you itemize you can claim up to your entire adjusted income.

4.   File For Free

The IRS allows any individuals or families with an income below $72k to use the Free File software to both prepare and file their federal taxes. It will also allow the free filing of state taxes in some states. Even those with incomes over the threshold can use the IRS’ Free File Fillable Forms, though they do generally need someone familiar with paper filing.

5.   File For An Extension If You Need It

There’s no sugar-coating it, tax season is stressful. Not only is there a nationwide rush to file in the final few weeks, but that is also when millions of Americans file an extension. A tax filing extension needs to be filed by April 15th. However, it does allow until October 15 to finish filing your return.

There is a catch, however, and any estimated owed taxes by the original tax deadline. If not, they will accrue penalties and interest. If you aren’t sure how much you’ll owe, start by paying what you paid the previous year.

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Financial Insurance

8 Questions To Ask Before Buying Car Insurance

car insurance

Car insurance is one of those things that everyone has to have, but now and then you probably see an ad that makes you wonder if you might be overpaying. So you inevitably shop around, but when you’re getting quotes from various agencies, there are some important questions to ask before you cut a check for those first premiums.

1.   What Coverage Options Do You Have

You will want to know if there is coverage for any other drivers. Often this will be needed in situations where a roommate or family member borrows your vehicle. You want to make sure that anyone else driving your car is covered should an accident happen. Another good option is underinsured or uninsured motorist insurance.

2.   Will My Job Alter My Coverage

You’ll be asked certain questions about your driving, how far you drive on average, how far you drive for work, and so on. If your job is in delivery, transportation, sales, or similar lines of work, be sure your vehicle will have coverage if an accident happens while you’re working.

3.   Why Is My Premium So High

This is a great question for your current insurance agent if you feel you’re paying too much. Ask them what factors are driving up your costs. You may be able to address them.

4.   How Significantly Does Raising My Deductible Lower My Premium

Frequently, insurers will offer lower premiums for drivers choosing a higher deductible. This can be good to keep your premiums low, but it can also work against you if you are no good at saving. While you can get lower rates with a higher deductible, if you don’t generally keep that much in savings for an emergency, you may find you can’t pay.

5.   What Discounts Are Available Through The Agency

This is a great question for any insurer, current or potential. There are often insurance discounts for everything from airbags, to theft-deterrent devices, to good students, and even jobs that are known for having safer drivers.

6.   Is Gap Coverage Available

This is a crucial question to ask if you still owe on your vehicle. Gap insurance will make sure that you aren’t paying off a car that’s been totaled by covering the amount remaining on your loan.

7.   Are There Fees Or Discounts For Certain Payment Options

Some insurance companies charge a fee to take a debit or credit card. Some offer discounts for setting up a direct debit through a bank account, as well as discounts for paying 6 months or a year at a time.

8.   Is A 24/7 Roadside Assistance Option Available

If you have a mechanical breakdown or an accident while you’re on the road, it will be when you least expect it. 24/7 roadside assistance is important for things like breakdowns, flat tires, dead batteries, things like that. While they are often available from just about any towing company, they are usually quite expensive, and having your insurance pick up the tab is always nice.