Category: finances

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Am I a Jerk for Being Mad at My Husband Who Was Going to Give $10,000 to His Sister Without Asking Me? Here’s What People Said.

When money gets involved in any situation, things can go off the rails in a hurry.

And this story is a doozy.

A woman shared her story on the “Am I the *sshole” forum on Reddit to ask the readers there if she was wrong for getting mad at her husband for going behind her back to give a family member A LOT of money.

Here’s how it all went down…

AITA For being mad at my husband who was going to give away $10,000 to his sister without even asking me about it?

“On Saturday morning, I noticed my husband was sending a lot of text messages back and forth. He is usually not much of a texter. He left the phone next to me to charge while he as in the other room.

The phone kept lighting up with text messages when I decided to open it up to see what the big discussion was about.

I know some couples view it as big breach of trust to read through a significant other’s phone, but my husband and I do it regularly so this was not a huge invasion of privacy on my end. We both have nothing to hide and it has never been an issue before.

Anyway, of course I saw something on the phone that I shouldn’t have that got me upset. For background, my husband is 34, I am 32, and his sister is 31 (she’s in this story). Husband and I have been together for 10 years, married for the last four years.

We are all college educated with jobs now. My husband and I each make good salaries around $150k each. We own our house. I still have about $60,000 in student loans I am working to pay off (luckily low interest rates so I just pay the minimum).

We have about $40k liquid in savings. So we are doing good financially but still need to build up more savings as we will probably try to start a family in the next 1-2 years and want to be prepared for an emergency and have a rainy day fund. Anyway, my husband’s sister is trying to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC.

I saw in the text messages that my husband offered to give her $10,000 for her down payment. The money is our savings is OUR money. Our bank accounts are 100% combined. My husband manages 99% of the finances because I prefer not to deal with it. However, it is understood we consult each other regularly on major purchases.

He did not ask me if I was OK with him giving this money to his sister. She didn’t ask, he offered. I immediately confronted him (calmly) and was like, “Hey – Did you tell your sister you would give her $10,000?” He said yes. I asked him when he was going to tell me.

He said, he probably wasn’t. He figured I wouldn’t notice and said he didn’t think I would care about “the details”. I said, “Um, do you think $10,000 is a detail?” He said, “No, that is lot of money. I should have told you about it. Are you OK with it?” I said, “No, I don’t think I am.”

Anyway we decided in that moment not to give the money. He said he would tell his sister and she would understand. He wanted the issue to go away after that.

But I am still mad. I said this was a big breach of trust. I let him control all finances because I trust him to never, ever take advantage of my ignorance. Shouldn’t you be able to trust your husband?

So now, I don’t have that full amount of trust I had before and I want to open my own bank account (which frankly, I should have anyway). But AITA for being totally upset and feeling betrayed about this?

I grew up poor and $10,000 is a ton of money to me (I mean, to most people right?!). I am horrified he would consider gifting it away and not even telling me.

Wow…let’s see what folks on Reddit said about this.

This person didn’t think the woman was wrong at all for being angry at her husband.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Another person made a good point: what else has her husband done with their money…?

Photo Credit: Reddit

Another reader called the husband’s actions “a lie by omission”, and I think they’re right about that.

Photo Credit: Reddit

This Reddit user called it “financial infidelity.” I’ve never heard that one before…

Photo Credit: Reddit

And finally, this reader said that $10,000 is a huge chunk of money and that the woman and her husband might want to think about getting separate accounts after this incident because there are clearly some trust issues here…

Photo Credit: Reddit

Now we want to get your take on the situation.

Do you think this woman was justified in her anger or did she overreact?

Tell us what you think in the comments.

The post Am I a Jerk for Being Mad at My Husband Who Was Going to Give $10,000 to His Sister Without Asking Me? Here’s What People Said. appeared first on UberFacts.

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What Was the Worst Financial Advice You Ever Got? Here’s How People Responded.

Hearing stories about people making really bad decisions with finances and then suffering because of it always really bums me out.

That’s why the stories we’re about to read are ones that you should remember because they’re things you DO NOT want to do.

Are we clear on that? Good!

AskReddit users talked about the worst financial advice they ever received.

Let’s take a look.

1. It adds up.

“”Just get it at Rent A Center.”

I had a coworker that got pretty much everything there.

“It’s only $20/week, and they’ll replace it if it breaks.”

$20/week for how long? Oh cool, so you’re paying more than double for it? Got it.”

2. Bad idea.

“So when I was 24, I was financially struggling. I had a job that worked me a LOT of hours, but only paid me $10 an hour.

My parents talked me into buying a BRAND NEW 2004 4-Door Honda Civic, the pre-interest price tag on it was about $25,000. A few weeks after getting it, my hours got regulated and it took one entire paycheck to make the monthly note on it – I could NOT afford the insurance on it.

I very quickly realized my parents were bad at money.”

3. You gotta save.

“My FIL when I mention our retirement plan “I never contribute to my retirement account. Money now is always better than money later”.

I needed to have a conversation with my husband how we would NOT be supporting his mom and dad and their insane spending when they have no retirement plan and make huge financial mistakes on a weekly basis (good news is they both make good money).”

4. Terrible advice.

““Spend it quickly or it’ll get stolen.”

Coming from someone with a history of losing and blowing their money.”

5. Pyramid scheme.

“A relative tried to recruit me into Amway. He wound up stuck with a garage full of their products.

My mom joined and ended up having to buy their junk continuously. They also promised to pay her, she never saw a dime from them.”

6. Scammer.

“One of my uncles once told me that I never really had to pay my phone bill.

He suggested that I simply jump to another carrier and let the first company cut you off.

His life has turned out exactly as you’d imagine.”

7. Is that how it works?

“”Once you cut up the credit card, you don’t have to pay it.”

My cousin is not doing so hot.

I’m pretty sure there are warrants out for his arrest in several states.”

8. Get in early if you can.

“1976 San Franciso.

“Keep renting, no one will ever pay $35,000 for a 2 bedroom house and garage with a sweeping view of the East Bay.”

I went back to vist the old neighborhood a few years ago, those $35,000 stucco homes up many flights of steps perched on the top of Potrero Hill were now all gentrified, remodeled, gated, and asking $1M+ and that was 5 years ago.”

9. Hmmmm…

“Don’t take a raise if it puts you into the next tax bracket.

And pay the minimum on your credit card to establish good credit.”

10. Good thing you didn’t listen.

“”Don’t major in computer science. Computer scientists are a dime a dozen.”

I did not take that advice.”

11. But you get an iPad!

“About 5 years ago, I had a friend who was trying to convince me to study through a private college because they “gave her a free iPad”.

She never finished the course, but kept the iPad (you only got to keep it once you pay your fees and graduate. Mind you, the price of the course included the iPad so it wasn’t free).

So last year, four years later, I get a call from the college asking for her contact info. She put me down as a reference and they were chasing her down because she still owed her fees and wasn’t entitled to keep the iPad.”

12. Not smart.

“My cousin bought a camper, went camping once, and then decided camping wasn’t for them.

Rather than selling it they decided to just stop making the payments and “let the bank come and get it.”

Which, eventually, they did.”

13. They’ll go away, right?

“Just ignore the collection call and eventually they will leave you alone….

I didn’t follow this advice.

I had a parking ticket I didn’t know about that ended up on my credit and the guy I mentioned it to gave me that bit of wisdom.”

14. High roller.

“Not me, but my dad’s friend makes a decent more money than him.

He owns boats, takes luxurious trips, buys top of the line clothes and goes to the best restaurant where he orders the most expensive wine he can get. He always tells my dad to live more in the moment, telling him to invest in himself and enjoy his life.

My dad is happily planning his retirement with my mom.

This guy doesn’t have a dime saved. He will work to the day he dies.”

What’s the worst financial advice someone ever gave YOU?

Tell us your stories in the comments.

Thanks in advance!

The post What Was the Worst Financial Advice You Ever Got? Here’s How People Responded. appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Discuss the Worst Financial Decisions They’ve Seen Folks Make

I hate these kinds of stories.

I’m talking about the ones where people blow all their hard-earned money either through a scam, recklessness, or just plain bad luck. And, sadly, it happens all the time.

AskReddit users talked about the worst financial decisions they’ve ever seen.

1. Ouch!

“A private company announced a special dividend to all shareholders as of date of record one-month in the future. $1.30/share dividend.

There was an option holder with 300,000 options at a $0.10 strike price.

He did not exercise them. Had he exercised his options for $30,000, he would have been paid $390,000 the following month.”

2. Some people…

“I used to work for a company with an actuarial Department. There was a lovely young woman working in the call center with a masters degree in data science.

She was constantly talking about how frustrated she was with making $16/hour in a call center when she had a masters degree in data science, yet no matter how many times I told her to apply to the actuarial team she wouldn’t do so. The actuarial team was HUGE about promoting within.

I saw many people who wanted to learn more about what they do who had no experience whatsoever get excepted into the team because they wanted to learn. This girl was a shoo-in. And yet she never even tried despite the fact that there were always openings.

She also shared with me that she was $180k in debt for that master’s degree. Last time I checked in with her she had left the job completely and is now in school for art. (Insert facepalm emoji here.)

But my favorite was before I was even an accountant. I worked for a small CPA firm as a receptionist during tax time. I saw a full-grown woman sit down on the floor and start crying because she owed $900 in taxes that year when she had made about $150k that year.

I rolled my eyes so hard that I hurt myself. Later that day I had a guy who owed $750k to the IRS and said “woohoo! That’s way less than last year!””

3. Sad stories.

“The client who joined an MLM and racked up half a million dollars worth of losses before finally listening to us and quitting.

The client who spent $40k on Farmville over 3 months.

The clients who give their adult children allowances that exceed my salary, fancy cars, and houses without expecting them to ever hold down a job themselves.”

4. Bad idea, sir.

“Watched a client walk out of my office after I explained the risk in liquidating his 401K to start his own business.

He started it with no management experience or business model, real “fly by the seat of his pants” kinda guy. Wanted to start a career flipping houses in a college town, turn them into upscale rentals.

Did it in a bad neighborhood and lost EVERYTHING.”

5. Oops!

“My brother had a long standing client of around 10 years get married after only knowing a woman for 12 months. He was almost 55, she was in her early 30s.

55 y.o. man wanted to add her as a signatory on his retirement account. Basically giving her 100% power over the account. A quick soft credit check showed she was not good with money.

My brother offered up many different options as to how to give her access to the money but with limitations. He even straight up refused to do it, saying that he needed to think about it for a few days.

The guy came back in the next morning saying he would file a complaint against him if he didn’t set it up. My brother said that he would need to get the documents notarized, and sign a waiver that this is against the institutions advice.

The guy comes back in later that day and finalizes the deal.

You can guess what happened within about 6 months.

The account had around 600k in it to begin with, and she had managed to run off with about 65k before the account was frozen by my brother for review of withdrawls.

The man was f*ckin p*ssed and tried to lawyer up twice. Neither time did it even go to court.

His advice is that if you are married and have investment accounts, just keep them separate unless you REALLY have a reason to give them access.

You can totally notify the agency about your marriage, and sometimes in certain situations the spouse can get limited info confirmed for medical bills and such.”

6. Terrible decisions.

“Making over $250k (sometimes WELL over), no withholding, not paying estimated taxes throughout the year, can’t afford the tax bill with the return EVERY YEAR, then b*tching because they can’t afford the installment payments on the taxes they owe from two years ago.

Sell your gaudy McMansion, take your teenage daughter’s credit card away, let your drunk driving son stay in jail and get a public defender, and tell your b*tch wife to stop spending all day at the tennis courts sipping mimosas.

Get your sh*t together and pay taxes throughout the year like the rest of us. You aren’t being persecuted by the IRS, you’re just an idiot.”

7. Wow.

“I work for a bank. One of our branches had a customer who was basically homeless. Then, he wins the lottery!

Over the next few months, the staff watched him come in to withdraw thousands of dollars every day to spend on extravagances. Everyone tried to convince him to sit with a financial advisor to help him make the most of his money.

Less than a year later, he’s in slightly better shape than when he started; he’s at least able to live in the car he bought.”

8. Come on!

“I’ve had a client where I noticed this guy’s credit debt always remained hovering $13k to $15k… I asked him why he only makes minimum payments on his credit card instead of paying it off, because I see he has roughly $11k sitting in a bank account.

Interest per month on that credit card bill is roughly $250, and according to his repayment patterns it will take him roughly 19 years to pay it all off.

His answer to me is the bank charges him $7.99 per month for his bank account if his balance dips below $10k… So to save the $7.99 per month this guy is paying $250 in interest on his credit card.”

9. Gotta do your research.

“What I’ve seen, countless times, is someone who started a business with ZERO research, no understanding of what running a business involves. (Here’s a hint: practically every business involves paperwork and deadlines.).

The business models come in waves… for a while it was Barbecue shacks, then it was cupcakes, then house flippers, then food trucks. I think they see it being done on TV shows that make it look fun. It isn’t fun when they come to me with debt, tax levies and lawsuits. IRS and state labor department and health department on their backs, and suppliers taking them to court for unpaid bills.

Some of them cashed out their retirement account to buy a business; others put their house up as collateral for an SBA loan. it’s a nightmare. If they had come to an accountant first, we might be able to help them (or even better, dissuade then).

I usually see them after 18-24 months of screwups and by then it’s usually too late to rescue them.”

10. Those fees add up.

“I’m a banker. Banks charge fees for using other bank’s ATMs.

I had a customer that would check his balance and then do withdrawals daily at a foreign ATM. Guy did not have a lot of money to begin with and because he did this, would overdraw his account and get slapped with an overdraft fee which put him in the hole further.

We ended up taking away his ability to overdraw his account. Dude was p*ssed but it helped right the ship a little.”

11. All gone.

“Bank advisor here, a customer got an inheritance, about 200.000€, and just spent in like 2 years, not investing it or putting into a savings account.

Didn’t even buy something big like a car our part of a house, just spent too much every month for two years and it was gone”

12. The car game.

“Claims Adjuster here, and I see it happen all too often – trading in vehicles with negative equity.

Why? Why can’t you be financially responsible and pay off your vehicle instead of rolling the leftover loan onto that new shiny machine you just can’t resist, and rinse/repeat a couple of years later. Your loan is just getting bigger and bigger.

I had one client (recent, otherwise I had more than that) – who totaled his vehicle. He blew past a stop sign and collided with another vehicle. Guess what friend, out of that $70,000 you still owe to the bank because you’ve traded in 4,5 vehicles over the years – we are only covering you for what your current vehicle is worth today, around $25,000 or whatever it was .

Depreciation applies unless you have the proper endorsement in place. That means you will be paying the bank for the leftover loans of some vehicles, none of which you own.

Own one vehicle, one loan – if you ever totaled your vehicle, insurance will provide you enough to cover the loan. If it doesn’t quite cover it because of high interest, it sure as hell isn’t a $45k loan left.”

13. Listen to your accountant.

“Best friend is a CPA, and when he had his own practice, he had some pretty big-name clients (Senators, musicians, pro athletes, etc.).

One of the biggest mistakes people made were thinking they were smarter than an accountant. His biggest challenge were the people who heard about the “sovereign citizen” nonsense. To no one’s surprise, a random guy on YouTube doesn’t know more than an actual CPA with 40+ years experience.

At least a few of these new-found “sovereign citizens” ended up doing time for tax evasion.”

Have you ever seen someone make a really terrible financial decision?

If so, please tell us about it in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post People Discuss the Worst Financial Decisions They’ve Seen Folks Make appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Discuss the Really Bad Financial Decisions They Seen Folks Make

It’s really hard to see people go through very difficult times because of bad financial decisions that they’ve made in their lives.

And, as you probably know, it happens to quite a few people.

So what’s the worst financial decision you’ve seen someone make?

Let’s check out some interesting stories from folks on AskReddit.

1. Irresponsible.

“People who make over $250k (sometimes WELL over), no withholding, not paying estimated taxes throughout the year, can’t afford the tax bill with the return EVERY YEAR, then b*tching because they can’t afford the installment payments on the taxes they owe from two years ago.

Motherfu*ker, sell your gaudy McMansion, take your teenage daughter’s credit card away, let your drunk driving son stay in jail and get a public defender, and tell your wife to stop spending all day at the tennis courts sipping mimosas.

Get your sh*t together and pay taxes throughout the year like the rest of us. You aren’t being persecuted by the IRS, you’re just an idiot.”

2. Sad.

“I work for a bank.

One of our branches had a customer who was basically homeless. Then, he wins the lottery! Over the next few months, the staff watched him come in to withdraw thousands of dollars every day to spend on extravagances.

Everyone tried to convince him to sit with a financial advisor to help him make the most of his money. Less than a year later, he’s in slightly better shape than when he started; he’s at least able to live in the car he bought.”

3. Yowza.

“I’ve had a client where I noticed this guy’s credit debt always remained hovering $13k to $15k.

I asked him why he only makes minimum payments on his credit card instead of paying it off, because I see he has roughly $11k sitting in a bank account. Interest per month on that credit card bill is roughly $250, and according to his repayment patterns it will take him roughly 19 years to pay it all off.

His answer to me is the bank charges him $7.99 per month for his bank account if his balance dips below $10k… So to save the $7.99 per month this guy is paying $250 in interest on his credit card.”

4. Do your research.

“What I’ve seen, countless times, is someone who started a business with ZERO research, no understanding of what running a business involves. (Here’s a hint: practically every business involves paperwork and deadlines.).

The business models come in waves… for awhile it was Barbecue shacks, then it was cupcakes, then house flippers, then food trucks. I think they see it being done on TV shows that make it look fun. It isn’t fun when they come to me with debt, tax levies and lawsuits.

IRS and state labor department and health department on their backs, and suppliers taking them to court for unpaid bills. Some of them cashed out their retirement account to buy a business; others put their house up as collateral for an SBA loan. it’s a nightmare.

If they had come to an accountant first, we might be able to help them (or even better, dissuade then). I usually see them after 18-24 months of screwups and by then it’s usually too late to rescue them.”

5. Uh oh.

“An older gentleman came in worrying about a ton of overdraft fees on his 18 year old sons account. The fees added up to a hefty amount and he was worried that the charges were fraudulent.

Upon looking at the account history, every recent purchase was to OnlyFans. The fees were happily waived and no detail was given as to what OnlyFans is, as the kids old man clearly didn’t know.

I think about that kid often. I wonder how he’s doing.”

6. Car problems.

“Claims Adjuster here, and I see it happen all too often – trading in vehicles with negative equity.

Why? Why can’t you be financially responsible and pay off your vehicle instead of rolling the leftover loan onto that new shiny machine you just can’t resist, and rinse/repeat a couple of years later. Your loan is just getting bigger and bigger.

I had one client (recent, otherwise I had more than that) – who totaled his vehicle. He blew pass a stop sign and collided with another vehicle. Guess what friend, out of that $70,000 you still owe to the bank because you’ve traded in 4,5 vehicles over the years – we are only covering you for what your current vehicle is worth today, around $25,000 or whatever it was – depreciation applies unless you have the proper endorsement in place. That means you will be paying the bank for the leftover loans of some vehicles, none of which you own.

Own one vehicle, one loan – if you ever totaled your vehicle, insurance will provide you enough to cover the loan. If it doesn’t quite cover it because of high interest, it sure as hell isn’t a $45k loan left.”

7. Bummer.

“I had my former boss decide it was a great idea to buy land in Texas, our company was based in PA, in the middle of nowhere because he talked to another business owner who told him it was going to take off.

Myself and my co-worker advised against it but things were slow and he didn’t listen. At first it was going to be a place of operations but then he decided we would just rent out rooms to the people who worked down there in the oil industry. Dumped loads of money, time, and blood, sweat, and tears into it for it to just go bust not even a year later.”

8. Play nice.

“Worked in a family law firm.

Way too common of an occurrence is a client ignoring the lawyers advice for a balanced separation agreement and instead ambushing their spouse with an agreement that says they are getting everything.

Now instead of a relatively amicable breakup and maybe some mediation to sort out some sticking points it’s tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation costs.

If you are going through a divorce play nice. The only ones that win in a bad divorce are the lawyers.”

9. Hmmmm…

“I audit larger companies so I don’t work with individuals. However, my friend’s dad mentioned that he pays 3.5% annually in advisor fees to his financial advisor, and that’s not even including the fees that the mutual funds he’s invested in are charging him.

So annually, he’s paying out in the ballpark of 4.5% of his portfolio. That’s right, every freaking year. I tried to explain to him that these fees are potentially costing him millions more than a reasonably priced advisor who recommends low-cost mutual funds would charge him throughout a life time. He just kind of shrugged and told me that he felt comfortable with the guy.”

10. Time to mitigate the damage.

“A 94 year old woman withdrew a $540,000 annuity that she THOUGHT was a TAX FREE life insurance policy. She owed the IRS over $90,000 and the State of Michigan $14,000.

When I explained it was an annuity and not a life insurance policy she panicked. What was done was done and we just had to mitigate the damage.”

11. That’s not good.

“The parents of a young woman bought her a condo. They paid cash so she wouldn’t have a mortgage. She sold it so she’d have party money.

Not only did she no longer have a place to live, she owed taxes on the gain. But she’d already spent the proceeds so didn’t have money to pay the taxes.

Oh, and she didn’t have a job because it would interfere with her partying schedule.”

12. Family drama.

“Grandma pulls 50k to help grandson pay off college debt. He blows all the money, steals another 10k from her.

She won’t file police report because “they are family”, daughter steps in, grandma is furious with daughter for telling police what happened. Grandma takes daughter off as beneficiary, replaces her with grandson.”

13. “Still haunts me…”

“I’ve seen plenty that made me cringe, but the worst one wasn’t because there was a lot of money involved.

So I’m working at this bank branch years ago, I was tired of being stuck in the drive thru so I made a lateral move to be a floating teller among other things. But occasionally I’d have to fill in at the old branch, which sucked because the manager there hated me.

Anyway, during my time there I became acquainted with an older gentleman, he was a world War II vet and was always wearing his navy vet cap. I talked to him every time I saw him and he was always really nice, had a great sense of humor, and even in old age he was still mentally sharp.

So this one day I’m filling in at the branch covering for the new accounts person. This guy walks in and I immediately knew something was off. I greeted him and asked how I could help him, and what he said broke my heart. He told me that he wanted his daughter off of his account, that she had been taking advantage of him and his money was being wasted.

I did my due diligence and brought up some history and asked him about specific charges, I remember there were a bunch for a couple of salons, so clearly those weren’t his transactions. The last few times I had seen him, there was a younger woman with him that I hadn’t seen before, and he was pulling out cash and giving it to her.

It dawned on me that each time I had seen him, he was there with someone else that did all his stuff for him, and that this time he had come in alone, which never happened.

So while looking at his account I noticed that his daughter is an owner on the account, meaning he can’t just remove her, she has to consent to it. When I asked him if he thought she would agree to that, he said no and started crying.

Normally we weren’t supposed to keep pushing a situation like this, but I really wanted to help him. I told him I couldn’t get her off the account, but I could open him a new one where he would be the only one on it, and then we could transfer the money over.

I could tell he was relieved when I said that to him, so after a few minutes I took care of everything for him. I specifically remember that after I finished, I gave him my business card, and told him that if he had any issues he could call me. A few minutes later he left happy, and I briefed the manager on what had happened.

A day or two later I’m working at another location when I get a call on my cell from my boss, she asked me if I had helped an older gentleman with his account when I was at my old branch. It turns out that after I had helped him, his “daughter” had tried to use the account to pay for more of the sh*t she was wasting his money on, and the card was declined.

She had gone into the branch and raised hell, screaming at the employees there and demanding they bring her the person responsible. The business card that I had given the man didn’t have my direct number on it, the number went to my boss. She had screamed at my boss and demanded that I be fired for what I had done.

My boss as well as the branch manager that hated my guts had both defended me and neither of them would give in to her demands. But I found out later on the next time I saw my boss, she had forced the old man to either move all the money back to the old account or to make her an owner on the new one. When anyone asked her about the situation, she just claimed that he had dementia and didn’t know what he was doing.

I honestly hope she was telling the truth, but I never saw that man again, and had moved into another role and then to a different company not long after. I went to anyone that would listen about what happened, but no one could do anything because elder abuse is so difficult to prove.

The whole thing still haunts me, I saw an old man asking me for help and did the best I could for him. In the end he either made the decision to keep her around or was forced to, and I worry I just made things worse for him.”

14. Wow.

“My brother had a long standing client of around 10 years get married after only knowing a woman for 12 months. He was almost 55, she was in her early 30s.

55 y.o. man wanted to add her as a signatory on his retirement account. Basically giving her 100% power over the account. A quick soft credit check showed she was not good with money. My brother offered up many different options as to how to give her access to the money but with limitations. He even straight up refused to do it, saying that he needed to think about it for a few days.

The guy came back in the next morning saying he would file a complaint against him if he didn’t set it up. My brother said that he would need to get the documents notarized, and sign a waiver that this is against the institutions advice.

The guy comes back in later that day and finalizes the deal.

You can guess what happened within about 6 months.

The account had around 600k in it to begin with, and she had managed to run off with about 65k before the account was frozen by my brother for review of withdrawls.

The man was p*ssed and tried to lawyer up twice. Neither time did it even go to court.

His advice is that if you are married and have investment accounts, just keep them separate unless you REALLY have a reason to give them access. You can totally notify the agency about your marriage, and sometimes in certain situations the spouse can get limited info confirmed for medical bills and such.”

How about you?

What’s the worst financial decision you’ve ever seen someone make?

Tell us your stories in the comments! Please and thank you!

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People Discuss the Worst Financial Decisions They’ve Ever Seen

Have you ever made a terrible financial decision that affected your life in an extremely negative way?

Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of good folks out there who made a bad money decision for one reason or another…and the aftermath can be pretty ugly.

Here are some stories about really bad financial decisions from people on AskReddit.

1. You gotta pay your taxes.

“Had a client who was extremely wealthy about eight years ago tell us he was no longer going to use our services. Last year we get an extremely angry phone call from his wife asking us why we haven’t been filing their taxes.

We showed her the paperwork where her husband said he was no longer going to use our services. And then sh*t hit the fan. This dude apparently just decided he wasn’t going to pay taxes anymore and didn’t file a return for eight years and had been lying to his wife.

They were rich and owed almost 1.4 million dollars in taxes not including interest and penalties. And oh yeah they got absolutely fried by the IRS. If you are in a relationship with someone you need to be involved in financial decisions.

Never let one party handle all of the money and make all of the decisions. That is how bad things happen in both business and in relationships.”

2. Start-up.

“Saw a guy invest about 600k in a start-up. He confirmed in the 1.5 pages agreement that he was fully informed about everything going on.

Please if you invest in that size, ask a lawyer to at least review the agreement.”

3. Didn’t take your advice.

“I had one client that had the money to pay for his kids college without taking out any loans. Instead, he decided to take out a loan on his house to pay for college in order to claim a deduction on his tax return.

When I explained to him that the benefits he’ll get from claiming the interest deduction on his return would not outweigh the amount he spends on interest he was certain I was wrong, even after I showed him the total amount of interest he’d pay and compared that to the expected tax benefit he’d receive for it.”

4. Big winner.

“I had 1 client that won the lottery. It was a $10,000/month annuity FOR LIFE, give or take. Pretty sweet deal, right?

Well, he never went and claimed the prize because he didn’t want to pay the taxes. I told him f*ck the taxes, he can retire and never work another day in his life while still earning $120k/year. Nope, he’d have to pay the taxes so he didn’t go claim the prize. I think he even threw the ticket out.

Dude makes like $60k/year and he turned down the lotto winnings. Like, if you’re not going to claim the winnings because you’re THAT against paying any sort of taxes why bother playing the lottery at all?”

5. A bad move.

“I had a client in her 70s put her whole savings in Tilray stock.

At the time it was trading above 150 per share. I told her it was a terrible idea to put all of her savings in one investment but she told me I was wrong. She argued with me for a good 15 minutes until I relented and said okay, it’s your money. So she put 300k in.

Couple weeks later it starts dropping, I call her and get no answer. It’s sitting at 6 dollars a share now, her account is down to about 12k. Last time I spoke with her I took no pleasure in telling her she’s no longer my client.”

6. He was warned…

“A client who tried to time the market with the coronavirus drop back in March.

He was 55 and had a 7 figure amount in his 401(k) and was 90:10 equity:bonds. His plan was to time the market by shifting his entire allocation to a money market/ bonds, wait for the market to drop more, and then shift back into equity.

This was at the end of March. I tried to warn him. He didn’t answer my subsequent calls.”

7. Credit card hell.

“I’ve had SO MANY people with credit card debt who talk about investing/ saving for a big purchase, but they have 5 figures of 20%+ credit card debt. “I’d rather focus on investments for this call” well you’re gonna get 10% in the market if its a decent year and you’re paying 26% in interest so you’re losing money.

You have a 50% debt to income ratio, you can’t get a mortgage. Yes, I know the kids really wanted a pool this year, but you have $50,000 of CC debt to pay down before it makes sense for you to start saving for their college. 90% of the time they seem irritated and ghost me because I don’t have some magic solution to make their credit card debt disappear.”

8. No understanding.

“I had a client who wanted to know how to give away her 401k because her and her husband’s pensions were already enough for their lifestyle and she didn’t want to be in a higher tax bracket.

She was in her 60s, worth millions, and did not understand how marginal tax brackets work. Or even basic math. She wasn’t looking to get a deduction through gifting stock.

She (clearly) was nowhere near that level of understanding taxes. She just spent her entire life working hard and being extremely frugal, which led to her being a millionaire who lacked a basic understanding of money. Not really a bad decision but I found it really interesting.”

9. A scam.

“Former manager at a credit union.

One seemingly smart lady in her 70s got one of those lottery scam letters saying she won, but needed to send them money to process her winnings. They kept getting her to send more and more money. We were telling her it was a scam from day 1, but we couldn’t stop her.

She burned through her IRA which had about 200k. Took out a loan against her paid off house for another 200k. Sold her jewelry. Probably paid out 500k total before finally realizing.

We truly did everything we could. Got her family involved. Several of us would confront her every time she came in and would plead with her to stop.

It was sad but at some point you have to cut your losses and realize it’s a scam.”

10. Listen to your accountants, people.

“Best friend is a CPA, and when he had his own practice, he had some pretty big-name clients (Senators, musicians, pro athletes, etc.)

One of the biggest mistakes people made were thinking they were smarter than an accountant. His biggest challenge were the people who heard about the “sovereign citizen” nonsense. To no one’s surprise, a random guy on YouTube doesn’t know more than an actual CPA with 40+ years experience.

At least a few of these new-found “sovereign citizens” ended up doing time for tax evasion.”

11. Lost everything.

“Watched a client walk out of my office after I explained the risk in liquidating his 401K to start his own business.

He started it with no management experience or business model, real “fly by the seat of his pants” kinda guy. Wanted to start a career flipping houses in a college town, turn them into upscale rentals. Did it in a bad neighborhood and lost EVERYTHING.”

12. Gold coins.

“I had a client Buy numismatic gold coins with an entire retirement account. She bought 266k worth of coins at almost double the price of bullion.

I got the gold salesman on the phone and asked him to justify the reasoning and I he said it was because the dollar was paper money and worth nothing and that gold was going to go to 10000 a coin. I asked him what he exchanged this gold for and he said “well she paid me dollars”.

Then I said “why would you accept a worthless currency for your rapidly appreciating gold currency?” He cursed at me and hung up and said I didn’t know what I was talking about.

I still haven’t met a gold salesman that can answer this. Their whole pitch is that the dollar isn’t worth anything but they happily take them in exchange for gold coins. The whole thing is sh*t. Poor lady. She can’t sell them now even with gold bullion as high as it is for anything close to what she bought them for.”

13. A shame.

“Former bank teller here.

Had an older gentleman who would typically only come in once a month and pull out a few hundred dollars for living expenses, nice old guy btw. One month he comes in twice in two weeks and pulls out $5k which was bizarre for him. When he came in the third week in a row I planned on asking him if he was remodeling his home or something but I didn’t have to.

He came in to get another $5k out and told me he had won the lottery but had to pay the taxes on his winnings, some of you already know what’s going on. He had received a letter that he won around $3mil from the Kentucky state lotto, we were in Florida, but before he could claim it he had to pay the taxes on it. His account was setup that you could only withdraw $5k a week hence him coming every week.

I tried to explain to him that he was being scammed and to stop sending them money. He was no longer a nice old man when I said that. He accused me of being jealous of his winnings and that “he’d show me” when he deposited his millions in a different bank, then he left. I talked to my manager who then talked to the cops and they said there wasn’t much they could do since it was out of state.

His family even contacted us and begged us not to give him anymore of his money when they found out what was going on, which we cannot legally do. The only thing we could do was close his account because we didn’t want to have any responsibility in his downfall. He came in the following week, manager explained what was going to happen, and he left with a cashier’s check after quite a few more expletives.

Found out a few months after that the scammers got another $50k out of him before his family was able to get power of attorney and control over his finances. Not sure what happened to him after that but it’s a d*mn shame.”

Now we’d like to hear your stories.

What’s the worst financial decision that you’ve seen someone make?

Talk to us in the comments!

The post People Discuss the Worst Financial Decisions They’ve Ever Seen appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Share Cheap Brands That Are the Same as Their Expensive Counterparts

Saving money is always advisable no matter what your financial circumstances. Sometimes it’s hard to know when to buy an original or a cheaper knockoff.

Thankfully, an AskReddit thread asked commenters to share which brands are just or almost as good as expensive ones. Maybe these tips will help you save some money!

25. Bass Pro Shop Gloves = Mesh Gloves

“You guys should see the stuff we deal with in the medical field.

I wanted to get a mesh metal glove to protect myself when using a saw during autopsies.

Our medical supplier, Fisher Scientific, sold the hospital a “medical grade” chain mail glove for $300. They forgot to take the Bass Pro Shops tag off.

It was a $12 glove for cleaning fish.”

—moby323

24. Mr. Clean Erasers Truly Are Magical

“Years ago I was on a similar thread and found that melamine sponges are the same thing as Mr Clean Magic Erasers.

So I hopped on AliExpress and bought 300 of them for a few bucks at 3am. I totally forgot that I’d done it until they showed up 6 weeks later. My wife was really confused.

They do work great though and now we’ll never run out.”

—GuessImNotLurking

23. Costco Brand Items Are Always Great

“Costco Kirkland brand is often white labeled brand name items.”

—asaltybrunette

22. You Can Buy Regular Silicone for Your Aquarium

“Aquarium nerds will know this one – silicone.

Aquariums are usually held together with silicone, and silicone is just 100% silicone so generally predictable product no matter who makes it. EXCEPT, many brands for kitchen and bathroom sealing have added chemicals to keep mildew from growing on the cured silicone. This is a big no-no for aquariums (basically poison that would kill your aquarium pets). So you gotta read the ingredients and information carefully to make sure it’s not anti-mildew or anything dubious added.

Or, you can pay double or triple for a pack of silicone with a big aquarium brand stamp.”

—Sisinator

21. Benadryl is Cheaper Than ZzzQuil

“ZzzQuil is at least a 200% markup from Benadryl.

The only active ingredient in ZzzQuil is 25mg of diphenhydramine, where’s Benadryl is also 25mg of diphenhydramine…”

—2DayOldOilPaint

20. Store-Brand Food Is The Same

“I used to work food packaging for Kroger. Roasted peanuts, dry oatmeal flavored or unflavored, cereal, chips. When we changed from store-brand to branded item, we would stop the line and change the box and the package. The food is the exact same. Exact.

Edit: for one thing, this thread was great to read. We all shared something today. Lol.

For another–although I thought it would be self evident–not every type of cereal, not every type of chips.

Those of you who love your brand. Fuck yeah. I get it. Cascade all the way. It’s better and no one is going to tell me different. But when we say there is no difference, we mean it.

Food handlers unite!”

—Groovychick1978

19. Laptop Bags

“I was in a shop looking at laptop bags and there were 2 brands right next to each other that were exactly the same, same dimensions, colour, materials, padding, everything.

Except one was almost twice the price than the other.”

—mandatorysin

18. Frozen Pancakes and Waffles

“I worked in a frozen waffle/pancake factory once and the only difference between the name brand and off brand frozen waffles and pancakes was a little metal arm flipping back and forth to ensure every other waffle/pancake of the same bakery/freezer line made it to the name brand packaging line or off brand packaging line.

Edit: It wasn’t fucking Eggos.”

—mactroneng

17. Crisps… or Chips

“In the UK, there was a news story about a man finding another brand of crisps (chips) in a multipack.

This made national news.

https://metro.co.uk/2017/04/18/it-turns-out-that-aldi-hoops-might-be-hula-hoops-in-different-packaging-6582393/.”

—Randomusername12545

16. Store-Brand Batteries

“Duracell and Walgreens brand batteries are the same.

Source: I used to work for Duracell.”

—Xarathox

15. Champion Shoes Come in a Cheap and Expensive Variety!

“Champion does this so much. They have like “cheap champion” and the more pricey one. Champion literally used to be shit and you’d get made fun of for wearing it and now it’s all hyped up but you can still find a champion shirt for less than 10$ I have three.

Edit: Thanks for the likes guys ? I woke up and just saw all this and I didn’t know it would blow up.”

—Astraea_Nyx

14. For Canadians, President’s Choice!

“A lot of no name or President’s Choice here in Canada is just as good, if not better than name brand food items.”

—Shiny_Salamander

13. Aldi Products Are a Bargain

“A lot of food on Aldi is (at least here) overproduction from name brands which is labelled differently.

And one of the cheaper beer sorts here is entirely from overproduction. Which has the fun effect that you will always get a Pils type beer, but depending where you brought it, it is very different.”

—deterministic_lynx

12. Family Dollar Coffee

“I bought the family Dollar coffee the other day – the “aroma seal” said Folgers and it had Folgers imprinted on the side.”

—sonoranbamf

11. Pretty Much All Bottled Water

“Dasani water is just bottled tap water. Most bottled water is, really.

In the UK they tried to release Dasani and news that it was just bottled tap spread quick. The release failed miserably.

Despite that, and the revelation that most of the waters in the store are this way, other bottled water sells fine.”

—100percent_right_now

10. Store-Brand Bread (UK)

“UK my dad works for Hovis (bread factory) and alot of the supermarket homebrands are made by named brands.

I believe Hovis used to make M&S bread.”

—arandomsquirell

9. Basic Printer Paper

“Printer paper. I used to work in a factory that cut the paper down to size. We would load up the packaging material for say Staples, do our run of that then switch packaging to the generic packaging without switching the bulk paper out.

The plain white package holds literally the same as Staples brand but the brand name is expensive.”

—Cleverusername18

8. Spices Are Better At Ethnic Stores

“Supermarket spices cost twice as much for a third of the amount when compared to packets in shops for ethnic minorities.

I grew up black in a very South Asian community, so the idea of paying 2.50 for a tiny bottle of Schwartz when a full bag is .89…just, no.”

—justsomelady_3

7. Dishwasher Detergent (With Exceptions)

“Great value dishwasher detergent and cascade. GV is literally the same but more diluted.

I won’t skimp on Dawn tho.”

—themarajade1

6. Maserati Car Batteries

“Car batteries.

Same car battery from Maserati quattroporte can be found in some Fiats for ¼ price.”

—JPLSlo

5. Less Expensive Chocolate

“I use to work in a supermarket those Ferrero Raffaello coconut balls were fucking expensive.

There were cheaper brands that literally tasted the same. Also Mounds chocolate were more expensive than the Bounty. I don’t know why. But they tasted the same to me. My Supervisor always insisted on putting cheaper brands near the expensive ones. His logic they are the same kind of product so they should be found in the place.

What would usually happen is people would take the cheaper brands and the expensive ones would just expire on the shelves.”

—th1rdworld

4. Canned Vegetable Brands

“Canned Vegetables, often the only thing that changes in the production line is the label.

Commodities can be this way. Soda can be this way. On the flipside I feel Outlet malls have items made just for the discount Oulet Lines of fashion.”

—Biden_Is_GOP_Lite

3. Milk is All The Same

“Milk.

I was in a WalMart looking at milk and an old man stopped me. He said he retired from the dairy industry. He told me the same milk plant, from the same cows, fills different colored cartons, from the same batch. He tapped his nose and winked and said, ‘it’s all the same shit.’”

—ThisIsCody_

2. Girl Scout Cookies

“Girl Scout Cookies.

I have noticed that some grocery stores carry cookies with different names, maybe different shapes, but parallel to the Girl Scout Cookies, from a green box of chocolate mint cookies to a yellow box of shortbread cookies with lemon icing.

Probably the girl scout mafia will come after me for this post.”

—Litarider

1. Expensive Air Conditioning Units

“Back in the nineties I took a tour of a Frigidaire plant in NJ.

I was told half the air conditioners in the country were produced there, with different brand names put on them.”

—dbhaugen

Were you surprised to hear that certain cheaper items are just as good as more expensive brands? Do you think Redditors missed anything?

Go ahead and let us know any tips and tricks you know about in the comments section. Then we can all save a few dollars!

The post People Share Cheap Brands That Are the Same as Their Expensive Counterparts appeared first on UberFacts.

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Discover How Long It Takes to Double Your Investments by Using the Rule of 72

For young workers, a paycheck and maybe even health insurance benefits are the primary reasons to get a job. But that paycheck will only take you so far if you aren’t smart about utilizing it to build more capital for the future.

Of course, investing is such a broad term that involves its own set of vocabulary that many of us simply aren’t taught in high school or college.

However, even if you’re new to the savings and investing game, it’s important that you know about how to double your money with the Rule of 72.

So what exactly is the magic behind the number 72?

By dividing the number 72 by the interest rate of your return, you can calculate the number of years it will take to double your investment.

This applies to all your financial accounts, including savings, money market accounts, index and mutual funds.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Lifehacker writer Nicole Dieker utilized her personal financial figures to illustrate just how the formula works.

Dieker’s Capital One 360 savings account earns an interest rate of 0.63 percent. By dividing 72 by that paltry figure, it would take Dieker 114 years to double her money.

At least her Vanguard investment accounts are in better shape, as they earn an average rate of return of 10.3 percent. In that case, it would only take Dieker seven years to double her money.

Financial tips like the Rule of 72 can be critically helpful for novice investors like myself. Delving into the world of stocks, mutual funds, cryptocurrency and everything in between can be daunting for those without a strong financial background.

When it comes to the Rule of 72, percentage points matter. So take the time and do your homework on potential investments before you fully commit.

The post Discover How Long It Takes to Double Your Investments by Using the Rule of 72 appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Discuss What They Think Are the Biggest Rip-Offs

We’ve all splurged on expensive goods or services at certain points in our lives, and sometimes those things bring value, while other times…other times they’re totally useless. Useless isn’t always bad as long as an object brings you joy, but if your purchase doesn’t even do that? Well, maybe don’t put your money down, then.

A Redditor asked contributors to expose some of these major money-wasters. Let’s dig in!

10. Edible Gold

Apparently it’s not a seasoning.

“Any food or drinks with gold flakes, it does nothing for the taste.”—OldMork

9. Abs Shortcut

Nothing can guarantee abs, ever!

“Those stimulation stomach belts that tell you it will give you six pack abs.”—steph074

8. Being a cheapskate is actually a waste.

Take it from this Redditor.

“Counter-intuitive but, buying cheap stuff to save money and then having to buy it again or pay for reparation. Example: appliences, shoes and furniture.”—marioguitar85

7. MLMs

Just stay away.

“Timeshares or any MLM program.”—llcucf80

6. Education

Well, in this context.

“An education for a degree you didnt end up using but whose loans you are still paying off.”—WindyShores42

5. Throwing a Fancy Wedding

Unless you can afford it without taking on debt, right?

“Throwing a lavish wedding. I get that people want to make the day special, but you can still have a very nice wedding without breaking the bank. Instead of spending so much on the wedding, you can use that money to help get your new life together as a married couple off to a great start!”—Gilbert_the_Gobblin

4. Paying for Cable

Especially with today’s streaming options.

“Cable TV. There are so many streaming options out there that cost a fraction of what cable costs.”—DeathSpiral321

3. Club Alcohol

This is why pre-gaming exists.

“Alcohol at clubs! 15 dollars for a drink in NYC. Flasking is the move!”—Reventon0207

2. Freemium

Apps can be a rip-off.

“In-game purchases in apps.”—wildjuicechase

1. Um…cults are bad.

Moral of the story: be careful about the groups you join!

“I was in a cult for decades that asked for 10% of my income every time I got paid. If I didn’t pay it, I couldn’t access the super secret magic rituals that would let me into Heaven.

Also they asked me to work for them in a foreign country, for free, for two years convincing other people to join the cult. I was supposed to pay my own way. While this wasn’t exactly considered necessary to get into Super Extra Heaven, it was heavily implied that it would help. Also that my future spouse would be better looking if I did it.

Turns out my money, and the money of millions of others, is now sitting in a tax free, 100 billion dollar investment fund.”—applezombi

Regardless of what you think of some of these opinions, you can be certain Reddit users will always find a way to entertain you with their insight. What did you think of these “money-wasters”? Sound off in the comments!

The post People Discuss What They Think Are the Biggest Rip-Offs appeared first on UberFacts.

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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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15 Pieces of Advice That Might Save You a Lot of Money

When it comes to saving money, every little bit of advice helps. We can all be smarter with our finances, so it’s time to keep your mouth shut and your ears open.

People on AskReddit weighed in with their advice.

1. Avoid them at all costs.

“Don’t use credit cards.

Unless you know you’re one of those people that will pay the bill off completely at the end of every month and want to take advantage of the rewards.

Even then… don’t use them.”

2. Check Amazon first.

“That thing you want might be way cheaper on Amazon.

You never know unless you search. It takes two minutes.”

3. Take this one to heart.

“Work like an adult, live like a college student.”

4. Don’t spend it.

“If you are lucky enough to receive a substantial inheritance, DON’T SPEND A DIME OF IT (unless you owe the mob some money and your legs are about to have a rough encounter with a baseball bat).

Seriously. I got about 10k from an inheritance while I was a senior in high school. I blew through it in less than a year. Most of it went towards cigarettes, pot, alcohol, other non essentials, etc. All I really have to show from it is my laptop.

Now I’m a sophomore in college and working a shitty job, donating plasma, and participating in research studies monthly just so I can make rent payments and pay off shitty internet service. I can’t even imagine how much easier my life would be if I had just saved that money or even invested some of it so help me out in the future.”

5. Not for everyone.

“For the youngins: Really think about if you want to go to college. It’s not for everyone.

There’s a lot of opportunities in the skilled trades now if you’re into one of them.

College can put you into major debt, so make sure you want to make the investment beforehand.”

6. Some good tips.

“Housing and food / eating out will eat a lot of budget if you let them. Live within your means.

Don’t get payday loans. Ever. Credit card interest will eat you alive if you make minimum payments, so if you must let a balance float, pay it off the next month.

Get a cheap but affordable car. You don’t need a $30k car. A $15k car will do, if you must by new. Appropriate tires will be cheaper than paying insurance deductibles or increased premiums if you live somewhere with weather. If you can take public transportation, you can save a lot by doing that instead of getting car in the first place.

Alcohol at a bar is very expensive. Buy Cards Against Humanity and have a guest bring a bottle of rum.

Save for a rainy day, even a little, every month or pay period.”

7. This will pay off when you’re older.

“Brush your teeth. Taking good care of your teeth will save you a shit ton of money.”

8. Don’t be a lead foot.

“Drive the speed limit and buckle your safety belt. It costs me $120 a month in car insurance for a 12 year-old Prius because I had a lead foot in my younger days.

Now I have a bad catalytic converter and my car is physically unable to exceed the speed limit. I haven’t received a ticket in two years & my insurance rates have flat-lined.”

9. Avoid the big-name companies.

“Instead of getting your taxes done with a big-name company, use a Mom-and-Pop company that has had the same owners for years.”

10. It’s pretty expensive.

“Learn to relax after work without drugs or alcohol.”

11. STOP.

“Just stop buying shit. Seriously, stop it. Look how much fucking junk you have that you don’t need and have never needed. Look how much of it was never any use or any fun.

Stop caving in to advertising and marketing and learn to stop buying garbage.”

12. Things won’t be as appealing.

“Go grocery shopping after you’ve eaten.”

13. Fund your fun.

“Get some kind of marketable skill in your twenties. A trade. An IT skill. Even if it is not your dream job. Then put time in doing it. It gives you something you can use to build income value on, by building experience in your field.

It might not be fun, but it will FUND your fun. That’s what jobs do.

Not many jobs are fun after 10 or 20 years, even if they were your dream job.

That’s why the call them jobs, not hobbies.”

14. As simple as that.

“Quit buying shit you don’t need with money you don’t have.”

15. And then there’s this…

“Men: Always wear a condom Women: Take your birth control every day.

There. Money and sanity saved.”

So… did you learn anything? Pick up any handy tips?

What about your own tips? Got some you’d like to share?

Let us know in the comments!

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