5 New Year’s Resolutions That Will Save You Money
2019 is coming to an end and it is no surprise that plans are springing up from left, right and every corner. People are going on adventures, making amendments and readying for improvements. Positive personal, social and overall changes to the individual lifestyle of most people are definitely highlighted on the table of things to develop in the New Year. To make it a perfect list of resolutions, one key thing to put at the top of your to-do list for the New Year is to cultivate the habit of saving money. You can create a safety net for yourself, while exploring several opportunities, by saving money with these New Year’s resolutions!
Live by a budget
Having a budget is the best way to save money. You can start by making smarter decisions about what should be on and off the budget. Let the necessities be reflected and leave a little for contingencies. Living by a budget will help you reduce the incidence of unnecessary expenses and therefore, save more.
Quality first, always!
While it is truly enticing to buy more at a cheaper rate, in the New Year let your policy be to buy the best you can for the lowest you can. Not necessarily the largest number you can buy. One quality product that lasts long is better than a cheap product that requires constant changing. Save yourself the stress and expense of constant repair and replace it by going for quality items only.
Want or need?
This resolution should become a mantra as you go into the New Year. Before making a purchase of any sort, ask yourself 'is this product a want or a need'. Wants are in-the-moment urges that wear off if suppressed while needs, on the other hand, are essentials to your lifestyle. To save more, cater to your needs more than your wants!
Multiple streams of income
The best way to save more is to earn more. Make it a resolution to seek multiple streams of earning legitimate income in the New Year. Look for side gigs that won't infringe on your daily job and earn something extra that can help you save more -comfortably.
Invest in your retirement (RRSP)
Options like the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) in Canada help you save up against retirement by providing options for profitable investments. By investing, you are not just saving, you are saving towards a defined goal!
A money-saving lifestyle doesn’t have to be an over-the-top level of frugal. You can make simple changes in your habits and preferences to give you more money to tuck away in case of a rainy day!
5 Reasons to Open an RRSP
Saving can be really difficult, and laden with temptations, but having a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is a sure-fire way to achieve your financial goals with ease. This is a method that keeps some part of your income in a private account, against retirement. Not sold? Here are five amazing benefits of opening an RRSP.
1. Dip for essential needs
RRSP makes adequate provision for your needs through plans that enable you to withdraw the needed capital as long as you pay it back in the stipulated time frame. One of these options is the Home Buyers’ plan that allows you to take as much as $25,000 from your savings plan, in order to make down payment for your intended home. There is also the Lifelong Learning Plan that allows you to take up to $20,000 for costs incurred during an academic pursuit by you or your spouse. This way, saving with RRSP does not hinder your needs, but rather supports you in achieving them.
2. Spousal consideration
You may have noticed the provision for your spouse in the first point above, but it gets even better! If your net income is a higher amount than what your spouse makes, you can support their retirement savings by creating a spousal RRSP. As opposed to bearing the weight of higher tax deduction, the retirement funds that you contribute will become split across the both of you and that automatically reduces your tax payment on each income. A spousal RRSP emphasizes the ‘better half’ reference to being a couple.
3. Growing savings
With RRSP, your savings are no longer money you simply keep for rainy days. It grows with tax-free investments that are promoted by the government, so your savings actually grows faster with earnings in your RRSP.
4. Post-retirement income
The whole point of an RRSP is saving towards retirement but instead of getting your money in divisible huge chunks, you can switch the plan to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) after retirement. This way you get monthly payment, that is taxed based on your income bracket. So you still have a secured source of income that can aid your life plans.
5. Tax eduction
Saving only gets better when it balances your income. With your RRSP contributions, you get a deduction on the amount you pay for tax since the federal government calculates your savings split from your income before deriving your tax payment on that salary. The higher you earn, the lower your designated tax payment.
Creating an RRSP early is advisable because it just means a higher total of savings by the time you’ve hit retirement age –and you have the added option of progressing with an RRIF!
5 Money Saving Tricks for Students
An average student’s problems rotate around classes, friends, relationships and constantly running out of money. It gets more difficult when saving seems impossible. But it is, with the right tricks –five of which we have highlighted for you!
1. Budget
This should be the first thing you do when you get your allowance (or paycheck, if you work). Outline your priorities and plan according to the money you have, makings sure to include funds for emergencies and other contingencies. The trick to saving right is to be prepared for at least ninety percent of all your expenses and the best way to do that, is to have a budget. Creating a detailed budget is one thing, sticking to it is another. Discipline is all you need to spend wisely!
2. Lifestyle
Your lifestyle may just be the reason why you are spending so much and saving so little if any. Cutting down on the outings, eat-outs and expensive fun time can have a tremendous effect on your savings because you get to spend less. Naturally, by spending less of your income, you have enough to set aside for rainy days, or concrete expenses. It doesn’t mean you have to be the killjoy in your group of friends though, you just have to adapt your lifestyle choices to the best fit for your account balance so you don’t end up with a deficit simply because you wanted to remain a cool kid.
3. RRSP
If saving was ranked based on academic degrees then, a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is the PhD. of having a savings account. Registered by the federal government, the RRSP is an account that you contribute to on a schedule (usually, a monthly basis) and can only access completely when you retire. It is advisable to create an RRSP as early as your college days so that your retirement funds will be considerably higher. Also, having an RRSP gives you access to the Lifelong Learning Plan, an education fund.
4. Thrifting
Thrift shopping is the best and most effective way to curb your spending and save more. Stay off the limited edition racks and opt for sales and thrift items instead. You look cool and spend less doing so!
5. Recycling
One thing that takes up your money which you may not notice, is buying stuff that you could have recycled. Your pajamas top has a cut and you start looking to buy a new one when you have old tees that you aren’t wearing anywhere. Basically, you need to invest in a lot of DIY so you can shave off unnecessary expenses.
Saving helps you live smarter and worry less!
How Can I Get Money to Repair My House?
Repairing a house is crucial to keeping it functional and aesthetically appealing. It is essential to renovate a home to prevent it from falling into disrepair and lose its value. Several parts of a house need to be appropriately maintained, repaired or replaced such as a window replacement
Although many homeowners turn a blind eye to house repair until they can no longer avoid it, the maintenance and repairs of a house should be on the priority list. If funding the repair of your home is your concern, read this write-up to the end to know the 5 ways you can get money to repair your house.
Aside from using your RRSP to get money to repair your house, here are 5 ways you can get money to repair your house:
1. Saving
When you need to repair your home, and you do not have the cash right now, you can choose to save up over time to have enough money to pay for the repairs outrightly. This is the best approach to repair your house without incurring any debts.
2. Credit Cards
You can make use of credit cards to pay for the essential repairs you have to carry out on your house knowing that you will pay off at each month-end. You can get a zero-interest card that does not require paying back until after six months or a year.
3. Personal Loan
Personal loans come with a lower interest rate than credit cards. Ask your bank for a personal loan that is payable after one year or as you deem fit. You can access quick cash to renovate your house and prevent your building from going into a bad shape.
4. Peer-to-Peer Borrowing
You can also look into borrowing money from colleagues, family members, or friends first repairing your house. This option does not usually attract interests, and it is a useful source of raising the money you need.
5. Personal Line of Credit
This is another way to get money to repair your house. It comes with a lower interest rate than the credit card. Besides, you pay interest only on the amount you use. You can also re-borrow funds without having to reapply all over again.
Must-Have Apps for Managing Your Finance
Successfully managing your finance can be one hell of a daunting task. This is probably not because you’re financially reckless or any other reason at all. A good number of people find adopting good financial management practices just as difficult, hence taking help from a financial advisor is a good idea.
We live in a highly digitalized era were we make transactions with the swipe of a card or click of a button. This makes it very easy to lose track of your spending or go way out of the budget without even knowing it. Everyone always has plans on saving better and sticking to their budget but I guess it never really happens. Effectively managing your money and keeping your finance in order isn’t the easiest thing to do after all.
Just as much as technology makes spending easy, it has also made provisions to help you save, budget and better manage your finance. The world is fast evolving and almost everything we do manually are getting automated by the minute. Technology has provided a wide range of mobile apps that will help you better manage your finance than any account manager ever will.
It’s time to say goodbye to ineffective budgets, manually tracking your expenses and constantly motoring your bank balance to know if you’re still within budget. These “finance management apps” are a must-have for every first-time iPhone owners who are looking to stay on top of their finance.
Whether you need to track the upcoming bill and pay on-the-go, a reminder when you’re almost eating up your budget or connect to your bank acct to get accurate details of your spending and even as much as keeping up with your credit score. These must-have finance management apps will make you a finance expert in no time. With these apps, you can easily….
- Get email reminders on the due dates for your various bills
- Track your subscription and make immediate renewal when due
- Manage your bank account and digital wallets from your mobile
- Create budgets and expenditures, set monthly financial limits…
Whatever your financial management challenges may be, we’ve sifted the internet and app store to help you compile a list of the best money management apps out there. These apps will help you keep up with your finance wherever and whenever.
Here are 4 must-have apps for managing your finance:
1. Mint
Mint gives you a complete overview of your expenditure and absolute control over your spending right from your mobile device. Aside from helping you create a sustainable budget, once you connect mint to your bank account, mint updates you one every purchase you make, tracks your spending and provides email alert when your bills are due.
Mint allows users to view their credit score whenever they want and it also provides users with tips on how to keep perfect credit score and maintain a healthy financial life. Managing your finance and making the best of your money definitely gets easier with mint.
2. YNAB
YNAB (You Need A Budget) not only guides you in building and sustaining better budget but also allows you to gain control of your finance. YNAB achieves this by helping users spend an allocated fraction of their last month’s income judiciously.
When you have the YNAB app, you don’t have to worry about the imbalanced budget. The app adjusts your budget categories whenever you overspend and also provide a detailed report of all your spending for the month. With the YNAB app, you become the master of your own finance.
3. Personal Capital
Personal investment managers are now losing their job due to this app. This awesome app combines the feature of helping you create a monthly budget that gives room for saving and help you manage your assets and investments. With affiliations to over 14,000 financial institutions, you can rest assured managing your account and tracking your spending is as easy as it gets with Personal Capital.
Personal Capital has a distinguishing feature that allows you grow your investment, better manage risk and discover opportunities for investment portfolio diversification through the apps in-built AI and provided registered advisors that offer investment advice tailored to meet your investment goals.
4. Prism
Prism provides the ultimate solution to bill payment. This helps you better manage your finance by providing notifications when your bills are due. Prism can also be automated to directly pay your bills several days before or on the due date. Prism will definitely help you properly manage your finance and also prevent late bill payments.
5 First-Time Home Buyer Tips
Are you a first-time homebuyer looking for tips to help you in buying your dream home? Do you want to know the right steps to take to get the best value for your money? Do not stress out; below are the perfect tips for first-time homebuyers.
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Start Saving Early for a Downpayment
As soon as you begin considering the idea of buying a home, start saving for the mandatory 20% downpayment and avoid common mortgage mistakes that stem from rushing the financial preparation. Unless you can complete the purchase without borrowing, building savings early gives you more flexibility and financial security. As a first-time homebuyer, related mortgage programs require 3-5% downpayment, which can be huge depending on the cost of the house you intend to purchase. To prevent cash flow challenges later, starting your savings plan as early as possible is one of the smartest steps you can take.
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Assess Downpayments and Sources of Funding
Go through different sources of funding available to raise the money you need to pay for your new home. Each mortgage option comes with its pros and cons. If you need to raise fund through a mortgage, consider one of the following:
- Federal Housing Administration Loan - requires 3.5% downpayment
- Veterans Affairs Loan - requires no downpayment because the Department of Veterans Affairs secures it.
- Conventional Mortgage - requires as low as 3% downpayment.
If you have critical illness insurance, getting a preferred mortgage comes with some technicalities. Your lender may not require your critical illness cover because it will be added as a rider to a mortgage life insurance policy. However, the lender may request to be named as the beneficiary of the critical illness insurance as an assurance that they would recover some parts of the loan in case the recipient falls ill and cannot survive.
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Get Pre-approved for a Loan
Having chosen from the available sources of raising the money you need to buy your dream home, make savings for the closing costs too. After that, contact the mortgage company you have decided to raise fund from. Get pre-approved for a loan and obtain a letter attesting to your pre-approval status. A pre-approval letter shows that you are indeed serious about purchasing a home.
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Find a Home and Inspect It
The next step is to search for homes placed on sale that are within your price range. You need an agent to help you with the procedure. Go ahead with the negotiation with your agent and proceed to home inspection. Before making a purchase after and seal the deal.
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Prepare for Closing
As a first-time homebuyer, you should plan for closing the homebuying deal. Quite a lot of people make the mistake of not preparing for this closing process. It may take 43 days to complete the deal. This stage requires a series of documents to be signed and exchanged. As a result, you need the services of a legal team to interpret the content of the documents and assure you that everything is documented correctly. Bear in mind that you would be responsible for the legal fees and other expenses at the closing of the homebuying.
How do You Financially Plan for Retirement?
Planning adequately for retirement is the best way to avoid financial problems and going broke. Being able to meet financial obligations, health care, housing, and more after retirement depends on the efforts made during the pre-retirement period to safeguard the retirement years. Irrespective of your age, you should start making plans for your retirement now even if you do not have much money.
If you are looking for ways to plan financially for retirement or how you can take advantage of critical illness insurance during your retirement, read the information below to help you prepare adequately.
Start Emergency Savings
The best way to go is to start saving now before you figure out the best retirement plans to join. The fund saved through the emergency saving will help to prepare you for the process. You can run the emergency savings for about three months pending finding the right retirement program to join. Then you can move the fund into the retirement plan. Besides, you can create new savings account for the process to cater to your expenses because there may be delays in the start date of Social Security or pensions. You can rest assured that you would not have any inconveniences meeting your financial needs.
Make a Budget
You need to take time to analyze your likely expenses after retirement and make a corresponding budget to cater to them. It is crucial that you come up with an accurate estimate of your present spending and include the likely changes after retirement. Do not underestimate any expenses to avoid problems after retirement. Make an adequate budget that will capture all your expenses and some unforeseen expenditure that can come up.
Assess Health Insurance
As part of making a financial plan for your retirement, you should determine how your medical expenses and health insurance will be covered. Note that health insurance coverage will be more expensive if you choose to retire early. Remember that Medicare starts at age 65; you should arrange to cover your medical expenses before you begin to benefit from Medicare.
Critical Illness Insurance
You should safeguard your future health by subscribing to critical illness insurance to take care of any severe health issue you may have in the future. Several insurance companies offer critical illness insurance, but you need to read the details and other terms of the policy before you append your signature. After retirement, you may find it hard to afford medical expenses for debilitating illnesses; that is why you should consider signing up for critical illness insurance.
How Can I Save the Most Money?
Looking for the best way to save the most money? Are you searching for the best insurance policy that reduces your expenses and supports you? Critical illness insurance is the perfect policy for you.
As we grow older, the chances are that certain illnesses begin to show up. Without prompt treatment, such critical illnesses will be not only debilitating but also life-threatening. Treatment of such sicknesses is usually expensive for an individual, which is why getting an insurance policy to cater to such expenses is crucial to getting care when the need arises.
Unlike under life insurance where your beneficiaries get paid when you pass on, critical illness insurance caters to your treatment when you are diagnosed with major illnesses indicated in the policy, which saves you a lot of money. While a policy that pays your loved ones (beneficiaries) when you pass on is good, the policy that ensures that you get the best treatment and live well is better.
To benefit from critical illness insurance, you don’t have to die; and you are the sole beneficiary that is why it is referred to as a living benefit. Several critical illness insurance policies are on the market; however, you have to choose one that caters to conditions you are likely to develop later. Some of the conditions usually covered include but not limited to cancer, stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer’s disease, major organ failure, coma, loss of speech, coronary artery bypass surgery, kidney failure, paralysis, loss of limbs, major organ transplant, Parkinson’s disease, and much more.
So, how can you save the most money on a critical illness insurance policy? Read below
Choose a Suitable Policy
Do not choose a policy because your friends choose them. Your choice should be based on your health conditions considering your family health history. If the risk factor in your family is cancer, stroke, or heart failure, choose a critical illness insurance policy that covers this. Remember, the policy gets more expensive relative to the number of conditions covered. As a result, choose a policy that covers the high-risk factor for you to save the most money.
Benefit from Age Rounding
Insurers will round up or down your age based on when you apply for the policy. If your birthday is around November or December, buy critical illness insurance policy between January and June to benefit from age rounding. For instance, if you are 52 years 8 months old, you will be considered to be 53 years old while you will be considered for the same age when you buy a policy when you are 53 years 4 months old. The higher your age, the higher your policy is likely to be.
Ignore Riders and Extra Benefits
Some policies are bundled with additional benefits and riders such as a child illness rider, do not apply for it to save money on your policy.
Pay Annually
Paying an annual lump sum earns you lower premiums, unlike when your payments are processed monthly; it costs more for you and your insurer.
Get Rid of Bad Habits
If you are a smoker, you should consider giving it up because smokers usually pay almost double of what non-smokers are billed. As a result, if you have any habit that can interfere with your health and trigger your risk factor, it is better to quit to save the most money on your critical illness insurance policy.
How Can Students Save Money Wisely?
Being a student is really hard, especially if you are in a new country, all by yourself. The most difficult burden is that you have to survive while not getting broke and falling your exams. Balancing work and study is a hassle on its own, so instead of working a part-time job, consider using these tips for saving some cash at the end of this month:
Define a Goal
The key to succeeding at a task, whether it is staying fit or saving up some money, is to define a goal. Ask yourself questions like: Why do I want to save money? How will more money help me in achieving my goal? Besides answering the questions, take a journal and start to write down small goals leading to the main one. For example, I want to save up $300 this month, $400 the next, etc, so I can save up $5000 and buy video making equipment. Goal defining helps you in understanding your values. Is dining at an expensive restaurant more important than your goal? If yes, you might have to change it!
Ask Around
One of the main benefits students have is discounts! Ask around your peers and find out which places (restaurants, museums, movie theaters…) offer certain discounts for students. Some may even have signs in front of the store. Transportation discounts are amazing for students. Usually, the city you are studying in has lower prices for bus and train tickets. If this isn’t the case for yours, consider biking or walking to your destinations, instead of taking public transport or using the car. So keep your eyes and ears open and save up some money this month.
Note: If you have a student loan, consult with financial advisor to find solutions on repaying it more quickly and efficiently.
Share Rent
The biggest money eater students face is rent. As days pass, the prices are getting higher. Today, rent money is ridiculous. If you want to pay a reasonable price, you will have to live in a dump or an apartment filled with cracks and mold. To make it easier for your pockets, decide to share that rent with a friend or colleague. If you are new to the city and don’t know anyone, consult with your university or find a roommate online. Remember to analyze him/her thoroughly since you don’t want to be stuck for months in an enclosed space with someone you don’t get along with.
Compare Prices
Remember to calculate too: If I drink 2 cups of coffee a day and spend $7, this means that monthly I spend $210 on coffee. So what should you do? You can make coffee at home, of course, purchase an espresso machine or you can change the coffee shop. The most important thing about saving money is by comparing prices. You can even make a notebook consisting of prices for each product you buy on a daily basis like bread, noodles, tomato sauce, etc. Check which stores have better offerings for the same product. If you spend a dollar less just on bread, remember, that is $30 a month!
Tips for Choosing Health Insurance
If you practice yoga and drink green tea on a daily basis and plus have no history of severe medical conditions, you might not need critical illness insurance. But also keep in mind Canada’s health system does not cover dental care and with those pollution levels rising and food being sprinkled with health hazardous chemicals, who knows?
Surely at least your teeth will become rotten and in need proper medical treatment. The point being made is: no one knows anything and this is exactly why you should at least consider purchasing a health insurance plan. And If you are already in the process of choosing, here are a couple of useful tips:
1. Take Out The Calculator
Health insurance plans consist of 3 important things: deductible, co-pay and out-of-pocket. This is why you shouldn’t only take in mind the monthly fee, but also all of these factors in an insurance plan. The deductible is the amount you have to pay for medical care before the insurance activates. Co-pay or co-insurance is the percentage which you’ll pay for the necessary medical treatment gotten after the deductible.
Insurance plans don’t cover these two, but they do cover everything else which is extremely more than the deductible and co-pay combined together. These costs covered solely by the insurance plan are called out-of-pocket and cover a minimum of 2 million dollars on an annual basis. So purchasing insurance for a lower monthly price won’t do you any good if the deductible and co-pays are high.
2. Be Realistic About Your Health
The best health plan for you depends on your lifestyle, medical history, family tree and the type of work you do. If you are stuck on the decision for a health insurance plan, simply look at your family tree.
Each insurance plan offers coverage for different health conditions. It’s a difficult subject to talk about, but identifying your unhealthy habits, the threats (physical & mental) which you are faced with at work and the medical conditions in your gene pool or family tree will help you in finding the best health plan. It is better to clear things up now, rather than choosing a health plan that won’t prove to be beneficial for your health in the future.
There are 4 main types of health insurance in Canada: critical illness insurance, health & dental, long term care and disability insurance.
3. Ask Millions of Questions
Choosing the right insurance plan is important. If you make the wrong decision, bad health insurance can leave you scammed and without enough money for health coverage. This is why, when choosing a health insurance provider one must dive deep into their offers. When inspecting the insurance plan keep in mind these couple of things:
- Which prescription drugs are covered
- Which medical treatments are covered
- Other benefits such as lab tests, hospitalization, emergency situations, rehabilitation, dental and vision care, maternity and newborn care etc.
- Do you have to stay in the network of medical providers to get your treatments covered?
Contacting the companies through email and phone might not be enough as person-in-person communication always reveals much more about the reality of a company’s professionalism and dedication. When you visit them, ask every important question you can think of. If the company is legit then each of your concerns will be understood by the insurance experts and solved with adequate suggestions and advice.