How to Reduce Taxes When Investing?

Whether you do stocks, crypto, or other assets, taxes are part of the trade. If you ignore costs, your investments will underperform. But that doesn’t mean you cannot save on your annual bill (or avoid most of them). Regardless of your income level and trading frequency, there are ways to pay less to the IRS legally (sometimes even 0%). If you want to make your portfolio more tax-efficient, learn more about the following strategies. 5 Strategies for Tax-Efficient Investing #1 …

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Certificate of Deposit: 3 Pros and Cons of Risk-Free Investing

Whether you invest or not, you probably keep some of your savings in a traditional bank account. This money loses value every year, either in form of inflation or opportunity cost. But what if there were a way to earn interest without adding risk? That’s the purpose of a certificate of deposit (CD). Keep reading to find out if it fits your financial strategy. How Certificates Of Deposit Earn You Money Simply explained, the certificate of deposit is an alternative …

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How to Nullify an Easement?

Whether you’re buying or selling a house, easements affect the price of the property. Maybe not on the appraisal, but it limits the use of the land and its perceived value. That’s not the only con though: Easements contribute to your estate tax, whether you use them or not Yearly inspections are required on the servient property Your neighbor might misuse the easement (e.g., parking) All the public could be using your easement when only the neighbor is allowed to …

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How Does Escrow Balance Work?

Whenever you make a big purchase, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Nobody wants to stress about money, let alone risking your life savings. Escrow services attempt to make the process as smooth as possible. And while many would rather avoid paying that 1% fee, it costs even more not to protect your transaction. The more money you move, the more expensive the mistake is. So how does escrow solve this problem? How Does Escrow Balance Work? Escrow companies …

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What Is It Like to Be Debt Free?

What Is It Like to Be Debt free

What is it like to be debt-free? Maybe you’ve been borrowing for so long. You don’t remember what it’s like earning money for yourself. To buy what you want, rather than what others tell you to pay for. How would it feel like waking up and not worry about money? Believe it or not, that reality may not be that far away. But is it worth it? You might have a dozen other questions in your head: The only way to …

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Calories Per Dollar: Great Idea Or Dumb Mistake?

Calories Per Dollar Great Idea Or Dumb Mistake

Does it make sense to count calories per dollar? Maybe you’re running out of money. You hope that you can save a buck here and there with a frugal diet. Or maybe you’re trying to build muscle. But you don’t want to spend $100s on chicken breasts and protein supplements. The good news is, it’s cheaper than you think. Every product has a different cost per calorie. So if you only buy high-calories-per-dollar products, you’re getting the most value from …

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How to Drastically Cut Expenses?

How Much Money Can You Save

No matter how much money you make, it seems you can never make enough. You’ve tried everything, but you still can’t explain where the money goes at the end of the month. Does that sound like you? You can, of course, get out there and make more money. But if you don’t solve your saving problems first, these will increase to the level of your income. Oftentimes, people believe saving doesn’t matter because you’re not earning enough in the first …

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How Can I Reduce My Cable Bill?

How to Reduce Your Cable Bill

Are you overpaying for something you don’t even need? It’s not rare that this happens with cable TV. One thinks that you need to have the most complete television for better entertainment. And why have a single TV when you can have five? Also, don’t forget about Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube TV. Yeah, $200+ a month are conservative numbers these days. Hey, at least you get the value for your money, right? Five different TVs, eight movie services, high-speed Internet …

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Do Consolidation Loans Hurt Your Credit?

Consolidated Loans

After doing the math, you’re convinced you’re doing everything you can to save up money. You took some loans in the past, and now it’s time to pay. But it feels like you can’t pay it all, no matter how hard you work. It’s fair to pay back what you owe. What’s stressful about loans is interest, which compounds over time. And the more loans you take, the more complex it is. Good news is, you can consolidate your loans. …

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How Much Can You Negotiate on a New Car?

How Much Are Dealers Making From Me

Do you know all those car billboards you see on the street? It doesn’t matter how good the offer looks. Most people look and think: “I will never buy a brand-new car. It’s overpriced, it devalues quickly, and it has high maintenance costs.” Someone is making a profit from the sale, which apparently means you can’t get a good deal. Then there are the used cars, which sell for cheaper. The problem is, the shops that sell them are usually …

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How Can I Avoid Paying Closing Costs?

How Can I Avoid Paying Closing Costs

Lucky you. You just found the house you want, which happens to cost exactly what you can afford. Who knows for how long this opportunity will last? You don’t think much about it and proceed to close the deal. Surprise, surprise! The price has just gone up by 5%. The house may be worth the same, but there are still necessary costs you need to cover in order to buy it. And we’re not talking of paying ~$50 on bank …

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How To Buy A Used Car & What To Ask

What To Look For In A Used Car

Are you looking for a car but don’t want to overpay? In that case, used cars may be your best bet. New models devalue quickly once bought. So even if the owner never drove it, the vehicle is far cheaper than in the dealership. What a deal! But the opposite can also happen. Sneaky sellers may try to offer the car for more than it’s worth. You drive away thinking you made a good purchase, but you don’t know all …

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Do You Really Save Money With Solar Panels?

Solar Panel Myths You Need To Stop Believing

Do solar panels save you money? In most cases, you do. It sounds very attractive: never pay anything for the electricity bill again. Instead, have a system that produces free energy forever. Even if you use them past the recommended time, they keep performing beyond 80% of the original efficiency. If you know anything about solar energy, prices have never been this low.  That doesn’t make solar panels the perfect investment necessarily. There are misconceptions about this technology that people …

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How To Eat Healthy On A Budget

Why Healthy Meals Dont Cost Much

Aren’t you tired of wasting your money? You want to start eating healthy, but you don’t have much time for it. So you end up buying any food to push throughout the day. Shockingly, you feel like having less energy than before you ate. That means less motivation to work on your career or to create healthy habits. More chances to follow unhealthy diets. Everybody is busy. But if we are what we eat, do we really save time with …

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What’s the Best Time to Save on Furniture?

Tips For Saving On Furniture

Did you know you could save over 50% on furniture? Depending on when you buy, you will usually find different prices. What’s the point of selling the same piece for less? The answer is supply and demand. Retailers want to profit as much as possible while reducing expenses. Keeping large units in storage is expensive, so they try to find a balance between units sold and price. When nobody is buying, or they have an excess of inventory, prices fall. …

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How to Save For a House

How to Pay Less for the Best Home

How do you buy a house?  The question may sound obvious and complicated at the same time. The way you buy a house may save you thousands of dollars buying the same property. Why pay more than what you have to? Why invest too much today when you could use it to invest money somewhere else? Most people see their dream home as the biggest investment of their lives. Whether it’s profitable or not is debatable, but who wants to …

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How To Save Money On Groceries?

Can You Save Money On Groceries

How much do you spend on groceries? Most consider this expense as essential for living healthy. You are what you eat, and the better the quality of your meals, the better you will feel and go through your day. Up to a certain point, diet quality can affect your results indirectly. But once you cover the essentials, everything else becomes an expense. Should you even think of saving a couple hundred a month of groceries? Groceries don’t give you any …

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What is Airbnb? Premium Lodging at Low Prices?

What is Airbnb

Travel anywhere anytime you like. Sounds too expensive? Think again. As a frequent traveler, you must have heard of Airbnb. Even if you never felt interested in learning about it, you still find their brand name wherever you go. What is this company, and how did they get so big? What is Airbnb? You can bet most hotels would love to have the visibility that Airbnb does. But this company has a different selling point: local rentals. It may sound …

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Where To Exchange Currency At Fair Rates

How To Exchange Currency The Right Way

Your money doesn’t have the same value when switching countries. Whenever you convert to another currency, you’re paying a conversion fee to do it. But some companies take advantage of some situations with the worst rates possible. Say you just arrived at the airport and need money right away. You can’t find anywhere to trade your currency except for that airport exchange. Because you have no choice, you take the worst rates and move on. Or perhaps you’re a tourist …

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The Best Day To Buy Plane Tickets

How To Really Save On Plane Tickets

If you knew how airlines change their prices, you would think twice before buying. But if you’ve never traveled before or don’t know why airfares change, you could end up paying more than needed. All we want is to travel from point A to point B on a convenient date. Preferably, we want to complete the flight fast and pay only as much as necessary. But because airlines have to work on profitability, their goals may be different than yours. …

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