Month: January 2020

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These Financial Tips Can Help You Make the Best of Your Hard-Earned Cash

We all want to manage their finances, have good credit, and save up a bit of cash. And if for people who don’t have a financial advisor (i.e. almost everyone), Two Cents at Lifehacker is a popular site for financial advice. They compiled a list of some popular tips that could help you manage your money in 2020.

Check out these 8 ideas that might help you hack your finances.

8. When to Use a Savings Account

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When thinking about where to put your money, I often get questions about which high yield savings account is better. They're all so low it really doesn't move the needle.⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Cash under the mattress obviously isn't a good way to go.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ And your primary residence is more of a forced savings account than a great investment. The math in this example doesn't even account for the COSTS of homeownership (maintenance, insurance, mortgage interest, etc). When you account for those, you get a negative return. Note this only refers to your "primary residence". If you buy investment real estate, a property where you're getting an income stream, it changes the math dramatically in your favor.⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ But index funds are still king. Buying and holding index funds is the most efficient and effective way to build massive wealth.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ When I talk about index fund returns, I often hear "That's not realistic! What about inflation?!" And for sure, that's an important factor. A million bucks in 40 years from now won't be able to buy as much as it would today.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ But if you account for inflation, the math is even more ugly for everything but index funds. Assuming inflation of 3% per year, your $120,000 invested under your mattress would be worth only $68,316 today. Your savings account would barely have held it's value at $135,980. Your house would barely outpace inflation being worth $165,246. But your index fund investment, after accounting for 3% of inflation would still be worth $962,447. Almost a million bucks. And almost SIX TIMES MORE than the EXACT SAME amount of money invested in your primary residence.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ One last caveat: While an S&P 500 index fund is great, I personally think it's a better strategy to invest in a TARGET DATE INDEX FUND. That has the S&P 500 index fund inside of it and is better diversified⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ – Jeremy⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ #interestrates #savingsaccount #investing #growth #rate #investingtips #debtfreecommunity #stockmarket #indexfunds #inflation #savings #save #invest

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If you live paycheck to paycheck it’s hard to follow financial advice that applies to people with more stability. But once you get a little cushion going, keep only the minimum in your checking account. Move the rest into a savings account, and make sure it has high interest.

You’ll make money off what you keep in savings and feel less tempted to splurge when the time comes.

7. Pay Cash or Credit at the Gas Pump

It’s no secret that card skimmers still prey on debit card users at the gas pump. If you must use your debit card, go inside and pay from there.

6. Use Your Credit Card Points

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We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Things have been a little slow over here and will probably continue to be so while we enjoy this holiday break with family ❤ . Today I wanted to hop on and share the cards my mom and I signed up for in 2019! . Alex’s Credit Cards . ? Amex Marriott Bonvoy- This card is no longer available. When SPG and Marriott merged, this card got the axe. I signed up for it right before then and earned 75,000 points. . ? Southwest Premier Biz- My husband got this card back in May. He got 60,000 points. . ? Southwest Plus- My husband got this card in May as well when they offered a limited time bonus of 60,000 points. After meeting the minimum spend on both Southwest cards he got the Southwest Companion Pass ??. . ? Amex Marriott Bonvoy Biz- I signed up for this card in September while they offering a limited time bonus of 100,000 points. . ? Capital One Venture- My husband opened this card in November for a bonus of 50,000 points. . . . Pam’s Credit Cards . ? Delta Gold Card-My husband opened this one for 70,000 Skymiles. . ? Amex Green- My husband also opened this one for 35,000 Membership Reward Points. . ? Upgraded my Amex Bonvoy to the Bonvoy Brilliant Card- I upgraded my card after I got an email offering 100,000 points. . It’s been a slow year for me as I work to get under Chase 5/24. I’ve never had any of the Chase Ultimate Reward cards and am so close to being able to qualify for them ????. …. As you can see our husband’s cards count towards our points total. We travel hack in two player mode so we can get even more points! What cards have you opened this year?

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It’s tempting to “save” credit card rewards or points until the right moment, but they can actually lose value over time. Use them as soon as you’re able to because credit card companies sometimes drop or change partners, making it hard for you to get what you want later on.

5. Don’t Use a Credit Card with Venmo

Venmo can help you split bills with friends or roommates in a hassle-free way. That convenience is great, but make sure you don’t use a credit card with it because you’ll pay a 3% fee every time. If, for example, you’re splitting rent, 3% of hundreds of dollars every month is no chump change.

4. Use a Credit Card to Buy Flights

First off, credit cards offer more protection in case of fraudulent charges. Secondly, they offer additional insurance that can protect you in case of a delay or other travel mishap. Third, some cards have other specific benefits having to do with travel (although you should check with yours before you expect anything in particular).

3. Don’t Wait on Equifax

Millions of people were affected by Equifax’s 2017 data breach, but the company’s $31 million fund is not going to pay those whose information was compromised (SUCH A SCAM). That’s because $31 million divided by $125 (what they said they would pay out) is 248,000 people – and a lot more people than that are owed money. Most people will see significantly less, or no money at all.

2. Do NOT Spend Money That Accidentally Ends up in Your Bank Account

Banks make mistakes, including occasionally depositing money into the wrong bank account by accident. If that happens to you, resist the urge to splurge and let the bank know about the extra cash immediately. Spending the money will almost certainly cause legal problems for you, so do the right thing here.

1. Make Sure Your Credit Is Good Enough

Everyone wants to have an 850 credit score, but it’s practically impossible. A score of 740 or higher is good enough to unlock many benefits without the added stress. Here is one area where good enough is definitely where you should aim.

 

It may not be easy to adhere to every single tip here, but even implementing one or two of these is bound to help out.

Do you have any financial tips? Let us know!

The post These Financial Tips Can Help You Make the Best of Your Hard-Earned Cash appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Lighting Artist Explains His Job, and It Is Pretty Darn Cool

Animated films are a lot of fun, but most people don’t realize that it takes boatloads of creatives to really pull it off. One of those behind-the-scenes jobs in animation that you’ve probably never heard of before: lighting artist.

Like Dan O’Brien. He’s a lighting artist who has contributed to some really cute scenes. But how exactly?

O’Brien went on Twitter to explain what his job is because most people just don’t know what lighting artists do. He shared some illustrations before and after his involvement so we can see exactly what he contributes for ourselves. Check out his thread:

As you can see, the scene on the left looks half-finished, while the scene on the right looks three-dimensional and has a clear mood.

It’s easy to forget that O’Brien was working on a spy film when looking at the art on the left. On the right, we really feel the tension as police sirens pop.

Softer, moodier lighting also helps us see objects and facial expressions more clearly.

You can really see what adding the lighting effects does – without them, the scenes don’t look real at all. The light adds drama, context, and emotion that just isn’t there beforehand.

Of course, O’Brien wants us to know that it takes a team to truly make a good scene great.

Animated films feature contributions from all kinds of talented artists. That’s why they take so long to make – an animated movie can take many thousands of man-hours of work, distributed among an enormous team of different types of animators.

Now that we’ve learned a little about the people behind our favorite scenes we can better appreciate their work!

What surprised you the most about the before and after shots? The comments section is open and ready for your musings.

The post A Lighting Artist Explains His Job, and It Is Pretty Darn Cool appeared first on UberFacts.

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Watch Out! Tree Snakes in Australia Can Actually Jump.

Australia is full of terrifying creatures that you would never want to run into on a pleasant walk through the woods. Spiders and crocodiles and dingos, oh my.

Well, now you can add jumping snakes to the list.

Yes, you read that correctly. Australian tree snakes belonging to the Dendrelaphis genus can JUMP from tree to tree, flying through the air like winged serpents from mythology…or something like that.

A Ph.D. candidate named Michelle Graham from Virginia Tech University saw some footage of jumping tree snakes in Australia and set out for Down Under to do some research. Graham set up a kind of obstacle course for the snakes up in the trees using PVC pipe and tree branches. She then observed the snakes slithering and jumping through the trees from branch to branch.

Next, Graham plans to study why the Australian snakes feel the need to propel themselves through the air. Two scientific papers that are set to come out in 2020 will hopefully shed some light on that subject.

One good thing about this species: they’re not venomous. Whew! Still, I would not, under any circumstances, want one of these snakes leaping from a tree and onto my head or my back…or even into my path, to be honest. Ugh!

Let’s go to the video, shall we? This video shows a Dendrelaphis pictus, in case you were wondering.

Yikes! No, thank you!

Do you have a fear of snakes? Or of any other animals?

Tell us about it in the comments!

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16 Things Kids Today Will Never Understand

There are a lot of great things about growing up in the world today. It’s easier to stay connected to friends and family far away, easier to network from the comfort of your home, easier for introverts to stay “social,” and easier to find your tribe – online if not in real life.

As someone who grew up in the 80s, though, I still think there’s something to be said to living life without modern technology, with television shows that are cheesy and pure, and for playing outside for hours without adults looking on anxiously.

And these 16 things? Kids today will probably never really understand, no matter how well you explain them.

16. We had that delayed gratification thing down pat.

15. I’ll never know why they didn’t make them pocket-sized.

14. Or what it was like to hang out at the mall.

13. This is 100% true.

12. And you’d fight over who got a seat.

11. So I still do this on occasion.

10. And honestly, it shows.

9. And when it timed out with like 2 minutes left omgggg.

8. Don’t look away at the wrong moment!

7. Please don’t be fuzzy, please don’t be fuzzy…

6. Sometimes I miss these types of choices.

5. Was it because they didn’t want to talk to you?! ARGH!

4. Raise your hand if you remember.

3. They will in public school.

2. Or, you know, using a landline.

1. That shizz could take days.

I’m not saying I want to go back, but…maybe for a week or two?

What’s your favorite memory from your GenX, early-Millennial childhood? Share it with us in the comments!

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A Kid Got a Magnifying Glass for Christmas…and Promptly Set His Lawn on Fire

One minute you think you got your child a cool Christmas gift, and the next, the whole neighborhood is about to go up in flames.

That’s exactly what happened: a 12-year-old boy in Texas got a magnifying glass for Christmas – and then accidentally set his family’s lawn on fire. I can tell you, as a former 12-year-old boy, that about 99.99% of kids that age are going to use magnifying glasses to start some kind of fire (hopefully of the small variety that won’t spiral out of control.

The boy’s mother explained on Facebook,

“Christmas Day was memorable to say the least!?My twelve year old son Cayden, who is an avid reader, an honor student, and interested in science, asked for a magnifying glass for Christmas. (It’s like a basketball player asking for basketball shoes.) We thought it was for reading, but instead he tried to see if he could light a fire with it! We discovered that he and his two brothers went out on the driveway to see if they could burn a couple holes in some newspaper.

Everything was under control until the boys came running into the house telling us that a corner of the lawn was on fire and the Christmas lights were melting! Justin and I rushed outside to see the entire front lawn turning black! We grabbed buckets, turned on the hose and sprinklers, and I grabbed blankets to smother and trap it – before it could spread any more into the neighbors yard! What a sight to see – a bunch of people running around crazy trying to put a front lawn fire out while wearing matching Christmas jammies!

I want to reiterate this was an accident. It could have been worse but it wasn’t. So instead of a tragedy it will now be a Christmas to remember! 2019- The Christmas the lawn lit on fire. ???

Oh and never buy a magnifying glass for your son!”

Christmas Day was memorable to say the least!?My twelve year old son Cayden, who is an avid reader, an honor student,…

Posted by Nissa-Lynn Parson on Thursday, December 26, 2019

People on social media thought the whole incident was pretty darn hilarious.

Well, we’re glad no one was hurt and that they were able to get the blaze started by Cayden under control.

Note to self: don’t buy any young kids a magnifying glass anytime soon…

The post A Kid Got a Magnifying Glass for Christmas…and Promptly Set His Lawn on Fire appeared first on UberFacts.

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How Does Fluoride in Tap Water Affect Your Health?

Adding fluoride to water supplies or fluoridation is a common practice. The practice started after studies showed that fluoridation could decrease the case of food decay. Ideally, adding fluoride to water is a way of curbing tooth decay. Strengthens the enamel and enhances the remineralization of teeth. It fights decay-causing bacteria and hence prevents and reverses tooth cavities. Remember, tooth decay is a common health problem. Adding fluoride in water was a simple way of improving the dental health of the population. Thus, individuals and families could, in turn, save their dental care costs. However, the ingestion of high amounts

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Top 10 Beard Styles Followed by Celebrities

In this age of styling and fashion, a beard can not be regarded simply as a beard. It is a style statement for almost all men all over the world. A beard can change the look of the man completely and can make him look far more attractive and handsome. Also, a beard is a classy approach to look dashing and intense without much effort. There are many types of beards and they are completely different and unique in their own way. Nowadays celebrities have also started defining their styles with the help of beards. Top 10 beard styles inspired

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