Money Management

Investing is widely recommended to improve your finances. Discover a few smart investing habits that will help you build wealth in 2024. 

We’re nearing the end of the year, which is a good time to think about financial changes you want to make. Most of us probably wouldn’t mind building more wealth in 2024. If that’s going to be a focus of yours, it’s largely going to depend on how you invest.

Over long periods, investing is a powerful way to build wealth. If you save $500 per month for 40 years, without getting any return on it, you’ll have $240,000. If you invest it in the stock market and get an 8% annual return, you’ll have $1.55 million.

Results like that are possible for any investor, but they don’t happen overnight. They take time and consistency. To get on the right track, make sure you follow these three investing habits next year and beyond.

1. Invest regularly

Consistency is key with investing. The best habit you can get into is investing regularly. Two popular options are investing every month or after every paycheck. For example, you could invest $500 on the 1st of every month. Or, you could invest $250 from every paycheck.

The schedule is up to you. What’s important is that you have a schedule, because this ensures you’re adding to your investments regularly. If you don’t have one, you’re more likely to forget, or decide you’d rather use your money for something else.

To make this easier, automate your investments. You’ve probably already done this if you have a 401(k) plan through your employer. Contributions to 401(k)s are automatically deducted from each paycheck. If you invest through brokerage accounts, including individual retirement accounts (IRAs), you can also set up automatic investments with your stock broker.

2. Maximize your tax savings

There are many types of accounts you can use to invest. Some of them help you save on taxes, so it usually makes sense to contribute to these first. Here are the most popular options:

401(k)sRoth 401(k)sIRAsRoth IRAs

401(k)s and Roth 401(k)s are employer-sponsored retirement plans. With a traditional 401(k), you contribute pre-tax income, and you’re taxed on withdrawals in retirement. It’s the opposite with a Roth 401(k); you pay income taxes on your contributions, but you can make tax-free withdrawals.

IRAs and Roth IRAs are accounts that individuals can open themselves. Taxes work the same way with these types of accounts. With traditional IRAs, you contribute pre-tax income. With Roth IRAs, you can make tax-free withdrawals.

All of those accounts have annual contribution limits. You also need to wait until you’re at least 59 1/2 to withdraw from them without an early withdrawal penalty.

3. Build a diversified portfolio

Risk is part of investing, but you can and should keep that risk to a minimum. The way to do that is by building and maintaining a diversified portfolio.

If all your investments are in the same industry, then any issues affecting that industry will have a huge impact on your portfolio. Having all your money in just a few companies is even worse. You never want your success to rest on a small number of investments.

A good rule of thumb is to have at least 25 companies, across a variety of industries, in your portfolio. You don’t need to do this yourself. Instead of picking stocks, you can put your money into investment funds. These invest in a large number of stocks for you.

For example, I invest most of my money in a total stock market mutual fund. It’s designed to provide exposure to the entire U.S. stock market. Like any investment, it goes through ups and downs. But because I’m investing in the whole stock market, which has historically produced an average return of about 10% per year, it’s one of the safer and simpler ways to invest.

Doing well as an investor is easier than many people realize. If you invest regularly, use tax-advantaged accounts, and have a diversified portfolio, you’ll set yourself up for success.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
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Getting a small business off the ground is no easy task. These grants are designed to help business owners find their footing. 

When times get tough, it appears that Americans start their own businesses. In fact, according to CBS News, about 5 million businesses were launched in the U.S. in 2022 alone. Since the pandemic began in 2020, Americans have created 15 million new businesses.

While getting a business off the ground is challenging, there are grants available to help entrepreneurs get ahead. If you’re a small business owner, you have all kinds of financial concerns to deal with, from keeping your business account in the black to knowing when it’s time to hire employees.

There are thousands of grant opportunities out there, just waiting for the right applicants. In the meantime, here are a handful you may want to consider in 2024.

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Business Program

The Rural Development Business Program provides financial support (as well as technical assistance) to promote rural business development. In addition to grants, the USDA offers loans and financial guarantees. It’s all about enhancing business opportunities in rural communities. So if you’re starting a business in a less-developed part of the country, this one could be for you.

2. U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)

The U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the only federal agency committed solely to helping minority businesses grow and compete in the global market. MBDA achieves this goal by providing businesses with the capital, contracts, and markets they need to get off the ground and expand.

In an effort to customize services, MBDA pours resources into building centers, each designed to enhance businesses in a different way. Here are the four centers MBDA operates:

MBDA Business CentersMBDA Advanced Manufacturing CentersMBDA Export CentersMBDA Federal Procurement Center

Thanks to MBDA, minority-owned businesses are eligible for these targeted grants and loans.

3. U.S. Small Business Administration State Trade Expansion Program (STEP)

The Small Business Administration (SBA) State Trade Expansion Program is intended to help small businesses that want to export their products. Because SBA is nationwide, the criteria for financial assistance are set by SBA offices in each state. Businesses can use the financial assistance to take part in foreign trade missions and shows, to break into foreign markets, and for practical marketing concerns, like building a website or designing marketing materials for an international audience.

4. Amber Grant Foundation

The Amber Grant Foundation exists with the goal of supporting female business owners. The foundation awards one $10,000 grant monthly and an additional $25,000 each December to female entrepreneurs with a great backstory. Whether you’re running an online business or have a brick-and-mortar storefront, $10,000 can go a long way toward helping you get established.

5. Walmart Local Community Grants

Given the number of communities Walmart plants itself in, it’s no surprise that the retail giant provides grants to local nonprofit organizations. Grants range from $250 to $5,000 for nonprofit businesses with a focus on one of these eight areas:

Community and economic developmentDiversity and inclusionEducationEnvironmental sustainabilityHealth and human servicesHunger relief and healthy eatingPublic safetyQuality of life

6. IFundWomen Universal Grant

Another resource for female entrepreneurs is the IFundWomen Universal Grant. Through partnerships with companies like Visa, COMCAST, and Caress, IFundWomen has provided over $170 million in grants to business owners.

IFundWomen takes a holistic approach to its support of female business owners. Rather than measure a company’s success solely on the amount of money it’s pulling in, IFundWomen also focuses on the overall well-being of the business owner. According to the organization, the success of a business depends on more than its equipment or marketing budget. Success depends on how prepared a business owner is to cope, solve problems, and pivot when needed. To help female entrepreneurs build confidence and resilience, grants pay for traditional business expenses as well as the cost of coaching, therapy, and other wellness-related expenses.

7. National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) Growth Grants

So far, NASE has given away more than $1 million in grants to its members. Although you must be a member of the organization for at least 990 days before applying, NASE grants provide up to $4,000 to business owners to help with training, marketing, and more. When you’re in the first several years of running a business, getting $4,000 toward operations could really help.

If any of these grants appeal to you, check out the organization’s link. If you don’t see anything here that fits your specific situation, the best place to begin any search for grants is at Grants.gov. Grants.gov provides the most comprehensive database of funding opportunities from the U.S. government. There are, literally, thousands of grants waiting to be applied for, with opportunities for all types of businesses.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Dana George has positions in Walmart. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Visa and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Streaming used to be a cheap cable alternative, but those days are fading fast. Here are some price hike tricks to keep an eye on. 

At the peak of high cable prices, many of us have moved to streaming to help our finances. But the once-affordable streaming services have gotten more and more expensive. If you haven’t checked your monthly statements in a while, take a look — you’re likely paying more than you remember. Here are just a few examples of how prices have gotten so high.

1. We have ads now! (AKA: Give us more money or else!)

Somewhere over the last couple years, streaming platforms suddenly discovered the not-so-shocking “secret” that ads make a ton of money. Even those last bastions of ad-free streaming — HBO, Disney+, and Netflix — have all adopted ad-supported streaming plans.

At a quick glance, it’s not so bad, right? For people who don’t mind ads, it’s a cheaper way to stream. Except these companies don’t just add ad-supported plans; no, they also tend to use it as an excuse to extort more money from those of us who specifically pay for streaming to avoid ads. Enjoy your higher prices on those new “ad-free” and “premium” plans!

The latest example is Amazon Prime Video, which is not only adding ads in 2024 — it’s also jacking up the price of its ad-free plan by $2.99.

Fun fact: Number and duration of ads varies a lot by streaming service, with some of the worst loading you up with 15 minutes or more of ads per hour. Ads typically play at the start, end, and during videos.

2. We-want-you-on-this-plan alt-tier increases

Alright, so this is the one where companies increase prices on all their plans — except one, ostensibly the one with the best profit margin.

We saw this last year with Disney+ when the company increased prices on everything except its premium bundle. While the $19.99 (at the time) Trio Premium bundle did offer a good deal if you actually wanted all the services, it was still more than twice as expensive as any of the individual services, so I could see why Disney would want to push people towards it.

Fun fact: The same plan is now $24.99, but don’t worry — Disney added a new Duo Premium bundle plan that offers less for the same price you were paying before. Isn’t that wonderful?!

3. New merger, new name, new (higher) price!

The most recent example of this particular situation was the merger of HBO with Discovery. At first, existing HBO Max subscribers enjoyed more content at the same price. Sounds like a win, right?

Well, that didn’t last. It wasn’t long before the new merged service, Max, launched an updated pricing plan that would require an upgrade (and price hike) to keep features like 4K resolution.

Oh, and if you were a Discovery+ subscriber with no interest in HBO’s content? Don’t worry, you don’t have to join Max. We’ll just add some ads and charge you more for the same content you had before!

Fun fact: Warner Bros. Discovery has more than 95 million global subscribers across all of its services.

4. The plain old price hike

Of course, I have to include the because-we-said-so price hikes that every streaming company does seemingly every other year. For example, let’s consider the OG streamer, Netflix.

When the company debuted its on-demand streaming service in 2011, it had one tier (Standard) and it cost $7.99. Despite all the other changes Netflix has made over the years, the Standard plan still lives — but not at that price. Oh, no, it’s gone up more than 51% in the last 12 years to a whopping $15.49 today.

Fun fact: If the price of the plan had only increased with inflation, it would cost just $10.88 in 2023.

Tips for keeping your streaming costs down

The easiest way to cut your streaming costs is to simply cancel your services and do without. But that’s a bit extreme if you’re only trying to slim your entertainment budget, not eliminate it entirely. Instead, try using some of these tips.

Rotating streaming services

My go-to method for keeping streaming costs in check is to rotate services. Basically, each month I only pay for two or three primary services (the ones my family wants access to year-round), plus a single additional service. We watch everything we want to see on the extra platform during that month, then cancel before the renewal date and sign up for something else.

Loving the library

Joining your local library is absolutely free, and it unlocks so much value! This often includes access to tons of streaming content, from audiobooks to movies. While it probably won’t replace all of your streaming services — some new releases and original content may not be available through the library apps — it’s definitely a great way to cut your overall streaming costs.

Credit card rewards and credits

Your rewards credit cards may offer all kinds of ways to save. A good streaming rewards card can earn 6% back on streaming purchases.

Don’t forget to look for credits or discounts, too. For example, several Amex cards have monthly credits for select streaming services. Plus, Amex and Chase cards often have streaming deals in their offer portals.

Annual plans

If you love a certain streaming service and know you’ll keep it month after month, look to see if it offers a discounted annual plan. Max, Disney+, and Paramount+ all offer annual plans that will save you 15% or more.

A net positive?

At the end of the day, as much as it stinks when streaming services increase their prices, remember the most important thing: At least it’s not cable. Because if it were, you’d not only be paying more every year — but you’d be stuck with commercials whether you like it or not!

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Brittney Myers has positions in American Express and Netflix. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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