Check out these islands when you are ready to retire. Helioscribe / Shutterstock.com
Spending time on the beach is not just for vacations. If access to blue waters and sandy beaches are on your must-have list, take a look at the following island destinations when planning your retirement. Here are a few reasons to consider some of the best island-based towns in the United States.
Prescription drugs can be costly — and insurance doesn’t always cover what you need. These tips can help you save. wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Living on the Cheap. When my friend Mark developed whooping cough for the second time, he knew what to expect. A quick phone call to his doctor got Mark the antibiotics and cough syrup he needed. His only mistake? This go-round, Mark had the prescriptions called in to his nearest drugstore rather than heading to Costco like he had before.
Ready to give your loved one a ring but don’t have the budget? An antique store could get you something timeless, classy and, more importantly, cheap. YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV / Shutterstock.com
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Living on the Cheap. Even in these modern days, a diamond (or other gemstone) engagement ring is still the symbol of a decision to marry. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a trip to a traditional jewelry store. A vintage diamond engagement ring can be a romantic and economical choice. And it may be wise to let your partner have some input when it…
Following this Ramit Sethi rule could help you end up with a much bigger brokerage account balance.
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If you want to end up rich, there are different paths you can take to get there — some of which are easier than others.
Ramit Sethi, finance expert and author of I Will Teach You to be Rich, believes that there’s one simple move you can make that’s going to leave you with a ton more money for very little effort. Here’s what Sethi recommends.
Recently on Twitter, Sethi recommended making one simple decision that takes minutes and that can increase the amount of your investment account balance substantially. Here’s what it is.
“You can spend the next 15 years fighting to cut back on coffee or you can just create a rule to increase your investment rate by 1% every year,” Sethi said. “The second decision would make you hundreds of thousands of dollars more and take 5 minutes per *year.*”
Sethi is making the point here that many people focus on the wrong things when they try to improve their financial situation. Obsessing over every penny that comes out of your bank account can be stressful and leave you without much enjoyment in your life, and the impact that this will have is limited.
But, as he explains, if you simply commit to increasing your investments by 1% per year, this will make a far bigger difference without you having to spend endless hours worrying about little expenditures.
Sethi is absolutely right that increasing the amount you invest by 1% each year is going to make a huge difference in how much money you find yourself with in your brokerage account.
Say, for example, you’re 30 years old, currently making $40,000, and you’re currently contributing 6% of your salary into a brokerage account earning 10% average annual returns. If you got a 1% raise and upped your contribution to just 7% per year instead of 6%, you would end up with $130,492 more in your brokerage account at age 65 just from making that change.
And that’s just a single 1% increase. If you increase your contribution rate every year, the effects will be even greater thanks to compound growth. The more you invest, the more money you earn in returns, and the more returns can be reinvested to help you grow rich.
The good news is, increasing your savings rate by 1% per year shouldn’t be that hard for most people — especially if you get a raise at your job over time. When you make more money, you can divert it directly into your investment account without ever getting used to the extra income so you won’t have to change your lifestyle to invest more. And even if you don’t get a raise, a 1% increase is minor enough that you can usually absorb it without making dramatic changes to your lifestyle anyway.
Taking this advice is going to be a lot easier than penny-pinching throughout your life, as Sethi says, so give it a try and set this rule for yourself starting now.
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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.Christy Bieber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Could an RV loan help you get out the door?
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If you love to vacation but aren’t a huge fan of planes and hotels, an RV may be the answer you are looking for.
Recreational vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, from small and economical pop-up campers or truck campers to travel trailers to fifth wheels and Class A RVs that can provide you with all the comforts of home.
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Paying for an RV can be a bit of a challenge, though, as the price usually starts in the tens of thousands and goes up from there, with some luxury campers costing millions. While ideally you would be able to save up enough in your bank account to cover the costs with cash since unlike houses, RVs don’t usually go up in value over time, this is not always possible for many people.
That’s where an RV loan comes in.
An RV loan is exactly what it sounds like: A loan for the purposes of paying for your recreational vehicle. These loans are typically secured by the camper that you purchase, and as a result, the interest rates for well-qualified borrowers are usually below the rate on unsecured loans such as personal loans.
Because an RV is an expensive purchase, many RV loans have very long payoff times. Unlike a typical car loan, which you usually pay off in well under a decade, an RV loan may have a 10, 20, or even 30-year repayment timeline.
The interest on your RV loan may be tax deductible, though, depending on the specifics. You can qualify for a mortgage interest deduction if you itemize on both a primary and secondary home. Your RV can count as your secondary residence if it meets certain requirements such as having a sleeping area, cooking area. and bathroom area.
If you’re in the market for an RV and need a loan to buy one, your dealer is almost assuredly going to be willing to help you out with that. Most if not all RV dealers have a financing department that will work with you to get approved and compare financing options.
You don’t have to just accept the loan your dealer offers, though. You can also shop around with banks and credit unions, including both local and online institutions, that offer RV loans as well. Fortunately, this process is really easy since applying for an RV loan is more like applying for a car loan than a mortgage loan — you’ll need to provide details about your credit and income, but not a ton of financial documentation beyond that as you would if you were getting a mortgage.
When you compare RV loan offers, pay attention to all of the terms including your interest rate, monthly payment, and payoff time. Don’t just make a choice based on whether the monthly payments are affordable, but also think about how long you will be in debt and the total amount you will pay over time to make sure the RV is really affordable for you.
With the right loan, hopefully you can make vacation memories in your great RV while still keeping all of your financial goals on track.
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It’s not “goodbye, money,” it’s only “see you later.”
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A few days before writing this, I opened my first-ever brokerage account. I’ve never had investments of any kind — ever. Not even a 401(k) through an employer. And now I’ve got this taxable brokerage account that I chose from The Ascent’s list of the best online stock brokers for beginners. I arranged a transfer of $200 from my checking account, and now I get to pick some initial investments. To start with, I’m going to focus on exchange-traded funds (ETFs), because they’re an easy entry point for ultra-beginners like me.
I may be an investing newbie, but I’m not checked out from the state of the stock market these days. (I am also immersed in money news on a daily basis, due to my job.) Ongoing discussion about a recession, continued inflation, and a few highly visible bank collapses have left many Americans feeling nervous about the economy, and it shows. The S&P 500 index is down more than 13.5% over the last year, and this is surely not an ideal time to be getting started as an investor. But I’ve already waited this long. Here’s why market volatility doesn’t scare me — or at least, it doesn’t scare me enough to keep me from investing.
Despite how scary things look right now, I’ve got time for my money to grow. The money I put into my brokerage account isn’t earmarked for any specific purpose at this time, other than just “the future.” I’m not thinking about retirement at this point, and likely won’t be for at least 30 more years (giving my money time to benefit from compound interest). And it’s my hope to work at least part-time in retirement, because I think I’d be terribly bored otherwise.
The numbers are on my side as far as long-term investing goes, too. The S&P 500 gained value in 40 out of the last 50 years, generating an average annual return of 9.4% for investors. Over 30 years’ time, any peaks and valleys in individual years (or months, or weeks, or days) will cease to matter quite so much. If I buy and hold investments, I’m likely to come out on top.
One big risk of investing in a volatile market is getting too hung up on those peaks and valleys, and it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture if you check your brokerage account too often. So it’s my intention to just check up on my account once a month. This is also when I’ll be adding more money. That way, I can avoid the temptation to sell my investments at a loss. Remember, if the value of your stocks dip, you haven’t actually lost any money unless you sell and lock in those losses.
I’m trying very hard not to feel as if I’ve missed the boat on investing, especially given the state of the market these days. But I’m excited to see what the future holds, and to be able to ramp up the amount of money I can invest after reaching my current shorter-term goal of buying a home. If the best time to get started with investing was yesterday, the second-best time is today.
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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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